Project - '69 4x4 named "Patches"

[sdailey]

Well, I finally had a productive weekend. Alan and I went to the Super Chevy Show on Saturday where we bought a few parts and met a few board members. We chewed the fat with Down South Truckin(Mike), uncle(Tim) and Tim Christian of Christians Classics. There were alot of good deals to be had on new and used parts. Alan and I spent probably a good 2 hours or more with Tim and we both bought parts from him. And if you've never dealt with Tim before I'm here to tell you he knows these trucks and will do anything he can to help you out.

I ended up buying a few items for my truck at pretty good prices and avoided shipping/oversize charges.

71-2 Front Bumper
Rear Sport Bumper
Front/Rear Bumper Brackets
Jegs mini-starter
Radiator accessories
Valve covers
Air filter kit



I bought the f/r bumpers from Southern Kentucky Classics (only because Tim was sold out of them) and they are pretty good quality for an aftermarket part.




Also, my hydraulic clutch kit was delivered on Friday, so I had already made plans to get it installed and set the motor in this weekend. The kit from Novak is real nice.



Of course, things aren't never as easy as they should be and the "bolt-on kit" needed a little modification. The clutch fork was the same width as the hole in my bellhousing.



Nothing a 3" cutting wheel can't take care of though.

[sdailey]

Sunday morning I started getting everything ready to drop the motor in the frame. I modified the bellhousing, installed the clutch and finally got the motor off the engine stand.



Alan had offered to help with the install so I go the motor lined up and ready to mate it to the tranny, before he showed up.



Alan called and said he was coming over and also that Old School Kid (Taylor) was coming by sometime soon as well. Cool, more help. Taylor pulled up in the driveway driving his '65 (I think) about the same time that Alan walked over.



You can see more of Taylor's truck here.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=317013

We chewed the fat for a few minutes and then we got busy.




Here I am drilling the new holes for the tranny/x-case crossmember. We had to move it back 2 inches. 67-69 4x4 trucks had the 221 x-case and 70-72 had the 205 x-cae and the mounting locations are different and being that my frame is a '69 I had to move it back.



I used a standard bit to drill the bottom hole then switched over to a longer bit to drill the hole through the top of the frame for the upper bracket. I drilled the top hole from the bottom up using the lower x-member bracket as a guide to help line up where to drill the top hole. Thanks Yukon Jack for the idea.

We then got everything bolted together and I added a little bling.



Of course I had to roll it outside for a few poser shots.

[sdailey]

Here is a shot of the hydraulic clutch set-up after it was was installed.



Other than the bellhousing issue everything went pretty smooth. The only other problem that I had was the air cleaner hitting the electric choke on the carb. I'll get an air cleaner spacer and raise that up and solve that issue.




Many thanks to Alan and Taylor for the help getting it to this point.

[Alan's Classic]

Your welcome!! Lookin' good. You have reached another landmark in your build.

[Rack Man]

Awesome pics man...your making some great progress....Unlike me

[Yukon Jack]

That looks so incredibly great!

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Your welcome!! Lookin' good. You have reached another landmark in your build.

I've still got a ways to go to catch up to you though.

Originally Posted by Rack Man

Awesome pics man...your making some great progress....Unlike me

Thanks Dan. At least yours is running. Where do you stand on yours now?

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

That looks so incredibly great!

Thanks Mark. I appreciate it.

[msgross]

looking good... I thought that you were getting the black cap HEI? you know that the vac advance usually sits on the other side right?

good work, I need to get off my duff and get busy...

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

looking good... I thought that you were getting the black cap HEI? you know that the vac advance usually sits on the other side right?

good work, I need to get off my duff and get busy...

Thanks Mike. I had already bought a red cap one before Skip White started offering the black capped ones I think. Yeah I know it points the other way, I just dropped it in for some quick poser shots. I'm trying to button it up pretty soon so I can test fire it before the warranty expires.

You better get to work on yours before I catch up to you.

[sdailey]

Gotta love Advanced Auto. They may not have the most knowledgable sales staff, but everyone once in a while they get things right. Fortunately for me the local store has a great GM and some old school employees, including one who used to own a local mom and pop parts store, but has since sold out. Anyway, I went by at lunch today to get a few small items and price a set of Flowtech headers for the '69. The GM gave me the price for the headers and said that if he/I ordered them in the next 15 minutes, it was currently 12:30, that he/I could have them by 4pm this afternoon. So I went ahead and bought a set. They are ceramic coated with 1.5" tubes going into 3" collectors. They are Flowtech's model #31500.

Anyway here are the pictures.

[msgross]

FANCY!

we need some video of this bad boy...

and since your in Georgia it's probably legal to strap a lawn chair to it and ride it down the street!!!

no offense to any of my Southern board brothers... just making jokes here,, it would be legal in Indiana, where i'm from!

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

FANCY!

we need some video of this bad boy...

and since your in Georgia it's probably legal to strap a lawn chair to it and ride it down the street!!!

no offense to any of my Southern board brothers... just making jokes here,, it would be legal in Indiana, where i'm from!

Thanks Bud. I'm trying real hard to get it fired up soon. I'm almost positive it's a requirement in Georgia that you have to strap a chair to it for a quick test drive around the block. I'm picturing America's Funniest Videos now.

I've said numerous times that if the build went south for some reason I could always mount a bench seat to the frame, buy a team of mules to pull it with and I could have the nicest wagon around.

[Yukon Jack]

Those headers appear to fit very well!

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

Those headers appear to fit very well!

YJ they fit really well. I admit though that I had my fingers crossed when I went to test fit both of them. There is one little problem that I see so far, but maybe it isn't that big of a deal. The second plug on the driver's side is really close to the header tube and I'm not sure how to address that yet. The picture below doesn't show the angle really well of how close it is. A plug boot will probably slide on the plug, but it will be touching the tube at the same time. Any ideas what my options might be on that?

[prg machine]

some people buy the shorty plugs. I have heard they don't work very good though. Some dimple the tube. I have some close ones with mine and use insulating cloth.

[jaros44sr]

OEM heat shields are available, might work. I think I see the taped bosses on your block. Really nice build you got going. Really like your valve covers, but then again all your parts look cool

[msgross]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

but then again all your parts look cool

so that's how two Marines talk when nobody is around..

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by msgross

so that's how two Marines talk when nobody is around..

Now THAT was taken out of context...not having the edit button really sux

Change that to, Dailey, all your truck parts are top notch

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

so that's how two Marines talk when nobody is around..

What the........... I log off for a few hours and come back to this.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Now THAT was taken out of context...not having the edit button really sux

Change that to, Dailey, all your truck parts are top notch

jaros44sr

Thanks for the compliment on my truck build. You'll have to overlook the flyboy, he's good people, but I believe all of those hours in the clouds are starting to get to him.

[msgross]

all us military guys have a dark sense of humor don't we!

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by msgross

all us military guys have a dark sense of humor don't we!

[Old School Kid]

sdailey, it was great meeting you guys again... You have a thing of beauty on your hands.... You must be getting perma grin every time you walk by that thing!!

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by Old School Kid

sdailey, it was great meeting you guys again... You have a thing of beauty on your hands.... You must be getting perma grin every time you walk by that thing!!

Thanks for the compliment and thanks again for the help getting the motor dropped in. We'll have to get together again soon.

[dammitmitchell]

crap!
im jealous! you are making mroe progress then me!

[CUSTOM/10]

Awesome build, I have a 72 swb 4x4 that's just about at the same stage as yours. It's been sitting for about a yr now, been collecting parts and have just gotten started on it again.

Do you know what tranfercase cross member you used. Did it come from a truck with a 205 or a 221, I'm mentioning this because there is a 1" difference in the amount of drop. The 205 member having more drop, so if you used a 221 cross member with a 205 TC you might have a problem with the trany hitting the cab floor. Just a heads up.

221 has 11"s of drop and the 205 has 12".

Gary