Previous owner '68

[raggedjim]

Decided to push the fender to the back burner and installed more front end parts.

I had the '85 1.25" rotors turned and installed new bearings and seals. I found a 72 power steering gearbox out in the horse shed. Not sure if it's good, so I painted and installed it. My motto is "Make it pretty, it gives you incentive to make it work".

[raggedjim]

A couple more pics of the assembled front end, I was feeling good, until the brake caliper fiasco...

[joeydurango]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Not sure if it's good, so I painted and installed it.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

My motto is "Make it pretty, it gives you incentive to make it work".

I like that moto. Nice progress so far. I'll be following along with your progress.

[raggedjim]

I decided to rebuild the brake calipers I have. I know, rebuilds are cheap, but I like to learn and do so I have always rebuilt them myself. It's not that hard.

Unfortunately, when I went to install them the caliper pins would not line up on the drivers side spindle.

I had heard that some of the aftermarket drop spindles have this problem but I suspect the true problem is the poor casting quality of the aftermarket calipers. The passengers side caliper I had is an original and it fit fine with room to spare.

[raggedjim]

I decided to grind the offending caliper. I know, if I had ground the spindle area then all calipers from now on would have fit. But I have this thing about things not fitting correctly, if you don't fit, you will be ground down and made to fit. I'm not going to grind a good part to make it fit a bad part.

The second pic shows the comparison of the 2 calipers. The passengers (original GM part) casting on the right is crisper and not as bulky. The drafts from the dies are more pronounced and it fits. The drivers caliper works, now.

[raggedjim]

Finally got the calipers installed.

[raggedjim]

The front brake hoses are for an '85, I had to tweak them to make them fit without hitting the spindle.

[Shifty One]

Looking good!

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by Shifty One

Looking good!

Thanks!

[raggedjim]

I hand bent some brake lines for the rearend and installed the trailing arms, springs, and rearend. No excitement, which is good.

[raggedjim]

Finally back on all 4 wheels.

[68Gold/white]

I have some of those later brake hoses I plan to use on my 67 and 68.
Those CPP lower control arms, are they 73-up, or earlier???

I am/or was planning on using 71-71 upper and lower control arms, because the shaft/bushings can be greased. Now that I'm educated on how they work, I'm not sure..
The 72 and earlier control arms do NOT pivot on rubber bushings. The caps on the upper and lower control arms screw into the control arms with external threads and the shaft screws into the inside of the caps. The bushings only capture the grease coming out of the caps, and only serve that purpose and to keep dirt and moisture out of that area.
THose pickups have always rode real nice, maybe I am over thinking this...

[raggedjim]

DA68 wasn't too sure which the CPP a-arms were for, turns out they were for the earlier trucks, I had to change out the ball joints to make them work with my 73-87 spindles. They take standard press-in balljoints.

I've had 67-72 pickup and 73-87 pickups, and I can't tell the difference in ride. Some people claim they can, that the rubber bushings are smoother, but I could never tell the difference. I really don't think you can go wrong with either setup, these old chevys are great.

[raggedjim]

Went back and forth on where to put the proportioning valve. Finally decided to put it in the squarebody location since I already had one.

[raggedjim]

Then I went to the back and installed the adjustable track bar. I also had to remove the u-bolt nuts because someone forgot to put the shock relocator brackets in place. I blame my wife, even though she isn't doing any of the real work on this truck.

[raggedjim]

Started installing the gas tank. I had already removed the crossmember and will deal with any interference with the bed crossmembers when I get to them.

January 6, 2024

[raggedjim]

The straps will be bent the WRONG way when you get a new tank (bottom strap). You need to bend them like the top one (or something reasonably close).

[raggedjim]

An original blazer strap for reference.

[jaros44sr]

Roger, the tank looks to have the straight fill neck on it, don't know if it will cause you any problems when you try to install hose, but mine caused a kink, and ended up removing neck and installing original neck

Now is the time to fix it if you want before you put gas in it

Straps I got with tank didn't have J bolts so I used the original ones

Nice work so far

[raggedjim]

Thanks for the heads up Jim. I do have a couple blazer fill necks I could use if I need to but I'm hoping I can work something else out since I'll be running a stepside bed. I know the blazers have a body mount right where the fill is and I won't have to worry about that.

[raggedjim]

I took a minute to stand back with a critical eye and there were a couple things I didn't like. The first was the way the rear brake hose was mounted. Obviously it wasn't the correct one for the rearend I have, so I changed the mounting bracket. Now the hose isn't so near the shock.

[raggedjim]

I also hated the way the gas tank straps looked. So I took them off and spot welded them so they stay flat.

[raggedjim]

Another full shot.

[chevmn]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I decided to rebuild the brake calipers I have. I know, rebuilds are cheap, but I like to learn and do so I have always rebuilt them myself. It's not that hard.

I also would rather rebuild vs. buying rebuilt or china new where I can. Recently I was having issues with my alternator, and guy at parts store said "I can have you a new one in the morning for $85". Rather than go that route, I tore it down and found the issue, and after a few bucks for a brush set, it was back in business (and likely will outlast the rebuilt $85 unit). I did consider buying a "new" AC alternator from amazon for about $35, and using for parts. I would like to support the local businesses, but they also need to be somewhat competitive, and that is rarely the case these days, usually not even in the ballpark.