71 Cheyenne Super- A Combined Effort

[brn agn]

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Thanks for the review buddy!

Satin vs. Semi? Is that what your statement was referring too above?

What all is involved in the mixing of the paint? Not a pour and shoot?

That's right, I think the Satin looks good compared to semi-gloss or gloss. JMHO

There was no mixing...it was just a matter of pouring it in the gun...seriously. I know it doesn't make sense, but it seemed to work.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by brn agn

That's right, I think the Satin looks good compared to semi-gloss or gloss. JMHO

There was no mixing...it was just a matter of pouring it in the gun...seriously. I know it doesn't make sense, but it seemed to work.

I'm interested in hearing how durable your chassis paint is. I know the Rustoleum enamel sure scratches easy. I have my doubts.

[gcburdic]

Originally Posted by brn agn

...you may be waiting awhile. Geoff has been looking for a Suburban like the one I described and has not been able to find one...yet. I was just pulling his chain.

You mean we're not getting a burb

Originally Posted by brn agn

I am sure Geoff is tired of hearing this, but I am really glad that we went with the satin version. I think it looks nice.

Not at all tired of hearing it.....actually really like looking at it

Originally Posted by mcbassin

I'm interested in hearing how durable your chassis paint is. I know the Rustoleum enamel sure scratches easy. I have my doubts.

I can tell you that I banged on the chassis several 100 times with the wrench while installing the hardware.....I didn't see any chips, etc to it.....seems to be tough stuff

[Dieselwrencher]

Great progress guys! It is looking great!

[RCbowtie69]

Just checking up on any progress on the Cheyenne project,what you've done so far is looking great & keep on truckin''

[brn agn]

If everything works as planned, the chassis should be rolling this weekend. I will definitely get pictures if that is the case.

[RCbowtie69]

Cool,hope to see them soon

[brn agn]

I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked to. I did get the rear u-bolts installed, rear shocks installed (CPP) and got the wheels bolted back on:





I then moved to the front end and got the power steering box bolted in place and cleaned up the dust shields for the brakes. I had planned on installing the rotor on the driver's side, but discovered that I have the incorrect inner bearings. I'll exchange them tomorrow.



We are still waiting on one grease seal for the lower control arm cross shaft. Once that arrives, we should be able to wrap up the front end and get it back on the ground.

[STOCKISH]

Cant wait to see it buddy! Great work so far.

[RCbowtie69]

Looking great,love pictures of the progress,shouldn't be long now the body be ready to install,

[gcburdic]

Nice work Jesse....hopefully it'll be down on all 4 today

[brn agn]

I love progress! As I told Geoff the last time we worked on the truck together, "there are less parts on the floor and more on the truck!".

I was able to exchange the inner wheels bearings last weekend and the grease seal for the lower cross shaft arrived this week. It didn't take long to wrap up the work on the passenger side:



After that, I cleaned up the brake rotors, painted the hats to prevent them from rusting and installed new wheel bearings and seals:





Don't worry, I left the rust inhibitor on the surface of the rotors that will come into contact with the brake pads. Once we install the calipers, pads, the paint on this surface should wipe off.

Here are the rotors installed:

[brn agn]

I then installed the new shocks that came with the CPP lowering kit and bolted the wheels on and rolled the frame out into the sunlight.

Front end:



Rear suspension:



This is what the same frame looked like last Fall:





Here is what it looks like now:

[lolife99]

What,... no drop spindles?
J/K
Nice work!

[brn agn]

Originally Posted by lolife99

What,... no drop spindles?
J/K
Nice work!

We definitely considered that, but decided to be conservative with a 2"/4" drop. I was actually thinking today, "man that frame would look sweet if it was about 2" off the ground!".

[72chevy383]

Originally Posted by brn agn

We definitely considered that, but decided to be conservative with a 2"/4" drop. I was actually thinking today, "man that frame would look sweet if it was about 2" off the ground!".

Just wondering when you put the CPP lowering shock on the rear, did you also use there relocating brackets? I'm looking into buying the lowering shock kit for my truck.

[brn agn]

Originally Posted by 72chevy383

Just wondering when you put the CPP lowering shock on the rear, did you also use there relocating brackets? I'm looking into buying the lowering shock kit for my truck.

We were able to use the stock shock mounts with this kit. Once we get the full weight of the truck on the chassis, we should have a better idea how much shock travel we will have.

For reference, I used 6" drop springs from GMC Pauls and I had to use the ECE relocation brackets in order to have enough shock travel.

[spike38]

Looking good!!!

Feels good, Doesn't it

Spike

[gcburdic]

Awesome work Jesse....man that looks goood!!!....thanks for tidy-ing things up and getting it down on all 4's now Roscoe can get back in the garage

[Leroy-B1]

good work guys

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Looks great guys what and improvement.......

[RCbowtie69]

Hey it's looking good on all 4 wheels,you are making alot of headway,when's the date to put cab back on?Cool build,keep the pictrues of the progress coming

[brn agn]

Do you all ever have days that nothing seems to go right? I worked on fitting the driver's side cab corner to the cab yesterday. It took a lot of manipulation to get it right, but I finally got it lined up and tacked it in place. Things were going well, so I decided to weld it solid. The outside turned out OK and won't take much filler to make it right:



However, no matter how hard I tried to get the seam in the back smooth, it got worst. I concluded that the original metal in the cab was very thin (not rusted, just thin compared to the replacement cab corner) and it either warped when I was welding it or I didn't fit the cab corner as good as I thought. I finally gave up when it got to this point:



BLECH!

By then, my wife was telling me that dinner was ready, so I put the tools up for the night. However, all I thought about last night and today at work is how ugly the back of the cab turned out. I know some would say, "just finish welding it and let the bed cover it up"....but I just couldn't leave it like that. So, I cut out the worst section tonight and fit a new patch panel to it. I only had enough time to tack it in place tonight. However, I am much happier with how it is turning out. I think it will look much better when it is finished. Here is how I left it tonight:



Have fun with your build and don't give up!

[mcbassin]

That looks great to me. And in the long run it may take less time than trying work the worpage out of the thin metal. Keep the pics coming.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice fix on that. I've had the same problem in the exact same area when doing cab corners on these. Maybe the metal is thinner there from where it stretches when the stamp it at the factory? IDK