Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dsraven]

just as a side bar for you on the brakes.
the abutment plates (those stainless steel plate things that come with the pad set usually) that fit onto the caliper mounts where the pads fit up, are prone to rust underneath. the abutment plates get pushed outwards from the rust swelling up underneath and make the pads fit tight so they don't slide well. I usually sandblast these brackets and also pull the caliper mounting hardware pins out of the brackets, clean the bores and pins, grease well with delco synthetic brake lube, and assemble. put a layer of the lube onto the back side of the pads as well, wherever they contact the brake caliper pistons and also the caliper mount bracket. I usually put a liberal coating on the underside and top side of the abutment plates as well, where the pads actually fit in. anywhere that the new pads will contact other than the friction surfaces. we get extreme weather up here in Canada and this is what works best for here, can't be that wrong for other areas with humidity. also, where the rotors fit against the flanges, usually some antiseize compound just to keep the rust off. I undwerstand you are installing new stuff but you can lube accordingly to keepthe rust devils at bay.
the air in the brakes may be due to trapped air in the antilock brake motor valve system. it takes a scanner to open the valves in that unit so it can be bled out. maybe have to "take it in" when you are all done and ready to put tags on it.
I wish I was as far ahead as you are. buddy just dropped off the doors for his '54 for me to do some bodywork and spray some high build. gonna get on that when the audi tt is out of the shop..........another day another issue, haha.

[dsraven]

oh, good snag on the spare. have you found a spot to install a spare or are you gonna put one in?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

oh, good snag on the spare. have you found a spot to install a spare or are you gonna put one in?

Spare will be in factory location utilizing the factory winch in front of the soon to be modified factory receiver hitch. The side plates on the hitch will be cut and extend down so the receiver lines up behind the spring loaded license plate holder.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

just as a side bar for you on the brakes.
the abutment plates (those stainless steel plate things that come with the pad set usually) that fit onto the caliper mounts where the pads fit up, are prone to rust underneath. the abutment plates get pushed outwards from the rust swelling up underneath and make the pads fit tight so they don't slide well. I usually sandblast these brackets and also pull the caliper mounting hardware pins out of the brackets, clean the bores and pins, grease well with delco synthetic brake lube, and assemble. put a layer of the lube onto the back side of the pads as well, wherever they contact the brake caliper pistons and also the caliper mount bracket. I usually put a liberal coating on the underside and top side of the abutment plates as well, where the pads actually fit in. anywhere that the new pads will contact other than the friction surfaces. we get extreme weather up here in Canada and this is what works best for here, can't be that wrong for other areas with humidity. also, where the rotors fit against the flanges, usually some antiseize compound just to keep the rust off. I undwerstand you are installing new stuff but you can lube accordingly to keepthe rust devils at bay.
the air in the brakes may be due to trapped air in the antilock brake motor valve system. it takes a scanner to open the valves in that unit so it can be bled out. maybe have to "take it in" when you are all done and ready to put tags on it.
I wish I was as far ahead as you are. buddy just dropped off the doors for his '54 for me to do some bodywork and spray some high build. gonna get on that when the audi tt is out of the shop..........another day another issue, haha.

Didn't see any rust to speak of. All the stainless was still stainless. Had one sliding pin that was a bit dry but it wasn't even on the side that was the worst. This frame had a bunch of miles on it so I went for the full clean up. Man, I hope I don't have to scan to get the air out. I hope the fact that I was able to drain the brake fluid through all four corners today using my buddy Jim's pressurizing contraption means I'm off the hook. I'll let you know how the final bleed goes tomorrow.

By the way, to give others who may be contemplating a body swap like ours, I could have bought a 2006 Envoy XL yesterday in the IN-OP lane at the auction for $350 plus auction fees. Vehicle was in tact, had a 6 cylinder and had 143k on the clock. It was not wrecked so I am not sure what was wrong with it. It would have certainly been a good starting point especially in light of the fact that you could have recouped some of the money, if not all, selling off body parts.

[dug224]

Finished the brake job. Was't happy with the pedal travel so I replaced the master cylinder as well. Ended up buying a Harbor Freight compressed air powered vacuum bleeder (#92924) and dragged another 20 oz through the system. The HF tool worked great. Still not entirely happy with the pedal travel but is closer to the 2.4" factory requirement than I was. May ultimately have to take the ABS module out of the system since I have nothing controlling it and you can't modulate it manually to get out any air that may be in there. Will drive it around the neighborhood once the rain stops to see how they really feel.

Started seat belt install. Initially started trying to the fit the adjustable shoulder mount but decided a fixed position would be easier to install not to mention easier to finish aesthetically. Found a little more structure behind the post than expected. I'll surface weld the 6" bracket and drive really defensively to keep from having to structurally test my solution in real life. The seat belt reel will be mounted inside the cab corner area using a short piece of angle iron bolted through a plate below the cab floor ..

[dug224]

Seat belt install complete with the exception of final weld on upper post plates and seat belt reel plate weld under cab. Cut lower reel brackets out of 4" angle. Reel bracket is slightly out in front of the door jamb (towards middle of cab). The photos make it look like it is out more than it is. It is about 3/8" out. I wanted to push it further back into the cab corner but it made the belt rub against the post a bit too much.