Omodified's 1970 SWB Custom/10

[omodified]

Today, I made some magic happen. I finally pulled the trigger and turned this...



into this...



...with the help of Old Air Products of course. They also were nice enough to include some new cables.



I considered reconditioning the old cables, but when they told me that the new cables were coated and would never need servicing, I was sold. The install was pretty straight forward. The adjustments were sort of tricky but persistence paid off. The new control also came with a new heater switch, so I am confident this will be an worthwhile upgrade. Everything is installed and is working great! My only complaint is that the sticker they use for the backlit indicator was white and not blue-green like oe. So, I had to spray paint the led again.

[omodified]

Member PipsC10 posted up some nice powdercoated parts today. I would like to buy them all, but it's not in the cards. He was nice enough to sell me a pair of alternator brackets that will be a nice replacement for the rusted up, chrome peeling brackets that I currently have. I hope they are as nice as what his picture shows...

[omodified]

I got the brackets in today form PipsC10. Absolutely beautiful!



Removed the old brackets. Wow!



Everything back together and looking right. Thanks a lot Jarrod!

[jeffg1010]

Tailgate band looks GREAT. I may need to try to find one for my Blazer.

And the wheels are looking good too.

[gcburdic]

This thing is turning out better and better everytime you work on it!!!

BTW...I see in your sig that you are board member #31,051.....but when I roll my mouse point over your user ID it shows you as #87,725....

[omodified]

Originally Posted by jeffg1010

Tailgate band looks GREAT. I may need to try to find one for my Blazer.

And the wheels are looking good too.

Thanks Jeff. Pretty soon I might feel comfortable enough to leave my neighborhood with it. LOL

Originally Posted by gcburdic

This thing is turning out better and better everytime you work on it!!!

BTW...I see in your sig that you are board member #31,051.....but when I roll my mouse point over your user ID it shows you as #87,725....

Thanks for the compliment Geoff. I did notice the board number thing. However, if you click on Member List up top, there are only 39843 results. So, apparently 73,419 have cancelled their memberships to date. So, 56,674 have moved their feet and lost their seat to me. Seems crazy that many people have left since 2010, but the math doesn't lie (unless my logic is incorrect). For arguement sake though, I will renounce my position as 31,051 and reclaim my place at 87,725.

[omodified]

The big brown truck brought me some ride control today.



Got all 4 installed and took her for a spin. It rides sooo much better, but I think the rear shocks are acting like a hinge. So, I went ahead and ordered CPP's rear shock relocator kit and a super trac bar kit. Also, my daughter talked me into taking it up to the local cruise in tonight. I still don't think it's ready for all that but she said if anybody had something bad to say, she would set them straight.

[jeffg1010]

Not to hijack, but which cruise in?!?

Originally Posted by omodified

The big brown truck brought me some ride control today.



Got all 4 installed and took her for a spin. It rides sooo much better, but I think the rear shocks are acting like a hinge. So, I went ahead and ordered CPP's rear shock relocator kit and a super trac bar kit. Also, my daughter talked me into taking it up to the local cruise in tonight. I still don't think it's ready for all that but she said if anybody had something bad to say, she would set them straight.

Posted via Mobile Device

[omodified]

Originally Posted by jeffg1010

Not to hijack, but which cruise in?!?



Posted via Mobile Device

Kat's Patch, if you can call that a cruise in...

[lolife99]

Keeps getting better.
You will like the rear shock relocators and track bar.

[omodified]

So, it's been killing me. I really want to know if my rear end has posi and what gear ratio it is. Considering this trucks history, I don't want to assume anything. I know I could do a burnout and count the stripes, but I am not to the point where I want to treat it like that(if I ever do get to that point). I also know that I can rotate the tire(s) and count driveshaft rotations, but that's guesswork. Since I am not sure when the diff fluid was last changed, I decided to go ahead change it. Of course this site was insightful on what fluids I would need. So I ended up buying a Felpro gasket and two quarts of the good stuff...





Time to dig in...

[omodified]

Update...

No posi-traction. Also, for documentation purposes, the gears are a 3.07 ratio. The fluid that came out seemed fairly new. I could see through it and it didn't smell too bad (at least I thought so). Gears all look good too. So, that's a plus.

[omodified]

I wanted this fluid exchange to be a quick turn around because I am leaving town for a bit. The plan was to clean up the diff cover and seal the new gasket to the cover for 24 hours. Then install and add fluids. Well, it didn't quite go that way...

So, the diff cover was really greasy and dirty as were the bolts. I also trashed the brake line clip during removal. I took all the parts to work intending to clean them in the parts washer. Well, the stupid parts washer was broken. So, I decided to go the brake cleaner route. Well, that got everything clean but it ruined the black finish. So, I had no choice but to go ahead a media blast it and throw the bolts in the trash. I got the cover home and sprayed it with five coats of that new roll bar paint. It looks a lot better! Now, the problem is that it has to dry and I have to leave town. I'll have to finish it up when I get back.

[omodified]

I have been gone for a few days now. My wife called today to tell me that it smells like something has died in the garage. I told her not to worry about it. I guess she doesn't like how my rear end smells...

[VA72C10]

Looking good! Nice progress!

[gcburdic]

Reading that you changed the rear gear fluid, brings back that wonderful smell!!! continuing to look good!!!

[Chvy2NV]

Truck is looking real good. Great way to spend Fathers Day. Congrats!!!
Posted via Mobile Device

[omodified]

I got the shock mount brackets back from the powdercoater this week. The weekend came and it was time to start the installation. I did as much research as I could to find out what I needed and what obstacles I could expect. It seemed fairly straight forward as long as everything goes smooth.

First thing's first, removing the upper shock brackets. From what I read, this was probably the hardest of all the steps. So, it was nice to get it out of the way first. There are a few different ways that are suggested to remove the upper mounts. I felt the safest way was drilling out the old rivots. First, I used a center punch and followed up with a 3/8 drill bit. Two were really easy and the other two were a bit tricky because the mufflers were in the way. So, I had to drill at an angle. It took a bit more time, but they did come out without any damage to the truck. Phase one complete!

[omodified]

Before I started the installation, I went and picked up some grade 8 hardware. The hardware in the kit was grade 5 and was probably good enough, but it didn't look as nice. Here I got the newly powdercoated upper brackets installed. I made sure not to repeat other's mistake of putting the bolts in upside down. Bolted right in with no problems!

[omodified]

On to phase two, removing the lower mounts. From what I read here, people have had mixed results. It just depends on how badly the u-bolts are rusted. The threads on my u-bolts don't look too bad. However, I planned ahead and bought a new pair of u-bolts to make disassembly easier down the road.



So, I started on the left side first. I couldn't budge the nuts with an impact, but they were no match for my extended length breaker bar. Once the nuts were off, I was able to lightly pry the lower shock mount bracket off. No wonder I had to pry it off, look at all the surface rust!



I ended up having to use the breaker bar on the right side too. The bracket on that side fell right off. There is a lot less rust on this side. Phase two complete!

[omodified]

So, we are moving right along here. Phase three, removing the old right side u-bolt (and 50 pounds of hidden dirt). I started on the right side only because that's where I had just left off. For this step, everybody recommends what they called a BFH. Well, I don't have a BFH but I do have a nice lead hammer left over from my 1990's wire wheel days. It makes for a nice dead blow hammer and it dosen't damage whatever I might end up hitting. So, I got to swingin'. To my surprise, The right side u-bolt was out after just a handful of whacks. What really surprised me was all the dirt that fell on the ground that must have been hiding on the tops of all the rails. Good thing I was wearing my safety glasses!

[lolife99]

Looks good as always.
Where's the drop rear spring?

[omodified]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Looks good as always.
Where's the drop rear spring?

Thanks for the compliment.

LOL, well I guess it depends on what you mean about the rear spring. My rear springs are there and the truck is dropped. Whether they are dropped springs or not, I dunno. They could have been heated for all I know. If it turns out that they were heated, I will probably keep them in there. The truck sits level rides pretty good. In fact, I was considering powdercoating these springs down the road. Let me know if I am crazy, but I figured that is money I can put somewhere else.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Looks good as always.
Where's the drop rear spring?

Uh ya thanks. LOL.

Well, I took the test drive and I have been kind of upset ever since. I decided that it rides terrible in the back and always has. I suppose I was kidding myself before. Most of our racecars ride have a terrible when we coilbind them, so it makes sense. So, after stewing over this for a few weeks, I decided to do something about it. I placed an order for some 5" drop coils today (thanks for the heads up lolife). Not sure if it will be enough drop but I can add blocks if need be. Hopefully this will do the trick because the last two trips were no fun at all!

[gcburdic]

Nice work O!!!.....I got fed up with my original u-bolts and just cut those darn things out!!! We need a side picture once you get it outside for the ride!