1947 Chevy Truck Hotrod

[1957 chevy]

Did you cut the front cross member in half ? Did you take the same out of center link to get the steering setup rite? Any closer pictures of gear box mounted I'm at that spot now having problems getting all the steering setup. Thanks jason

[Angryman117]

57, I did cut the front cross member in half, plasma cutter worked great. I removed about 1.5 inches of material. I did not cut the center link, however I did take the tie rod adjusters off and remove about 1/4 inch of material from both sides and also did the same thing on the tie rods them self with plenty of area left for adjusting and securing.

Here is a closer pic of how I mounted the gear box. I tried to keep everything close to the measurement I took before pulling everything off.

Idler assembly with no spacer as I am not sure it will need one, if I am wrong hopefully someone will chime in and let me know.

Forgive my welding job, not my best work but is solid.

[Angryman117]

Also made some progress today on getting the cab patched up, looks like a frankentruck, but it will be smoothed out some, sealed with POR15, then have sound dampener / insulation installed on top of it. I decided to wait on some of the other systems until i get the cab fixed and mounted. Still have some patch work on drivers side yet, but not much.

Once again some welds look good and others do not, but getting better.

[Angryman117]

Pulled the cab off the truck and starting on the corners and small spots on the floor that need some patching. The corners have been replaced before, poorly I might add. The used a crap ton of bondo on the outside and some kind of fiber fill on the inside with some tar. Glad I have a big ass heat gun to help remove it all.

[Angryman117]

Started removing the passenger side today and found the previous "fabricator" put a new corner piece over the old one and did a crappy job of welding it. I know I am not that good, but better than this awesome job. This was all under a whole bunch of bondo.

[Angryman117]

Also started install drivers side inner and outer corner patch panels. Need to smooth out and welds and make some of my own patches. But overall not too shabby, or so I think.

[Angryman117]

Have not posted for awhile now. Made some progress but not much.

Shortened steering column by about 2 1/4 inches.

[Angryman117]

Also working on mock-up on stuff on the cab including the new mounts before I pull it off one more time to finish welding the floor, mounts and other misc stuff.

[Angryman117]

Also got my bench seat installed and made some new mounts for them. Don't have pics yet. Seat is actually out of a ford but it fits pretty good. Also started putting in some of my sound dampening material. Should be starting final assembly in a month or two I hope.

[Angryman117]

Made my brake pedal assembly, also used my old gas pedal as my new brake pedal.

[Angryman117]

Starting on body work. Got most of the old paint off and sanded around the windshield. Going slow at this as I think the paint is original, also uncovering all the lead filler around the seams. So I have been using a heat gun, scraper and wire brush so I don't create lead dust cloud to breath in. Also got the windshield staged and ready to install once paint and primer goes on.

[Matt_50]

Just read through your build. Are you going to lower the front? I started with a c10 suspension, decided to go back to stock. Great job on shortening it, I don't have the skills yet lol. What did you use for sound deadener?

[Angryman117]

Originally Posted by Matt_50

Just read through your build. Are you going to lower the front? I started with a c10 suspension, decided to go back to stock. Great job on shortening it, I don't have the skills yet lol. What did you use for sound deadener?

I do plan on lowering the front 1-2 inches, was thinking about swapping out the 3/4 to 1/2 ton springs to see how much that will help. As for sound deadener I used Siless 80 mil 7.5 sqft Sound Deadening mat from Amazon. Hopefully can drive it some soon, will post a video when I do.

[Angryman117]

Have not posted for a bit now, but do have some updates.
Windshield and Rear Right corner window installed. Corner window was a PITA to install the lock / seal ring. Have painters tape and paper over them now to keep paint and primer off them.

[Angryman117]

Also got my Firewall cover and front rubber floor mats installed.

[Angryman117]

Also finished building my steering linkage and one coil pack cover. Next is finish brakes, and install Vintage Air system that will hopefully be here soon!

[8man]

Interesting work on the steering. Nice build.

[HAULIN' IT]

Originally Posted by 1957 chevy

Did you take the same out of center link to get the steering setup rite? Thanks jason

What Jason is asking about here is valid. What is important is that the steering gear pitmon arm & idler arm be level to the crossmember, both pointing forward when going straight & be on the same plane viewed from the side. Another area of concern is that the pivot of the inner tie rods match very closely the width of the lower control arm pivots (yours will be much wider). Removing the amount from the tie rods & sleeves solved the obvious problem but is really only a partial "fix" & will likely lead to other problems. The "correct" way to do it would be removing the same 1 1/2" from the center link & leave the tie rods alone.

I can see in the photos, you have the box moved out from the frame on your brackets, but the idler arm is bolted up flat. Some of this may be good (you have room to move the box inward) but some not so much.

What you need to be concerned with is the centerline of the inner tie rod pivots compared to the control arm pivot centerline while maintaining the pitmon arm (steering box in the center of it's travel) & idler arm facing straight ahead.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but hope this helps clear up a few things, let you know how to go about fixing it or also if you chose to do nothing & down the road something odd shows up in the alignment, bump steer, ect. you'll at least know the how's & why's of what's going on. Lorne

[Angryman117]

Haulin, Thanks for the info, this is definetly not one of my strong areas. My goal initially was to try and keep all the measurements as they were on the truck I pulled them off and then fine tune from there.

As for the idler arm I plan on moving that out as well, just have not done that yet, moving in the middle of a build sucks.

I was trying to avoid cutting up the center link if I could . Bump steer is also one of my main concerns. Was thinking about pulling the spring out and rasing truck up and down to test. Need to get ones that are less stiff anyway.
If you have good links that explain or show it I will definetly check them out! Matt

Originally Posted by HAULIN' IT

What Jason is asking about here is valid. What is important is that the steering gear pitmon arm & idler arm be level to the crossmember, both pointing forward when going straight & be on the same plane viewed from the side. Another area of concern is that the pivot of the inner tie rods match very closely the width of the lower control arm pivots (yours will be much wider). Removing the amount from the tie rods & sleeves solved the obvious problem but is really only a partial "fix" & will likely lead to other problems. The "correct" way to do it would be removing the same 1 1/2" from the center link & leave the tie rods alone.

I can see in the photos, you have the box moved out from the frame on your brackets, but the idler arm is bolted up flat. Some of this may be good (you have room to move the box inward) but some not so much.

What you need to be concerned with is the centerline of the inner tie rod pivots compared to the control arm pivot centerline while maintaining the pitmon arm (steering box in the center of it's travel) & idler arm facing straight ahead.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but hope this helps clear up a few things, let you know how to go about fixing it or also if you chose to do nothing & down the road something odd shows up in the alignment, bump steer, ect. you'll at least know the how's & why's of what's going on. Lorne

[HAULIN' IT]

Matt, I thought I'd wait for a reply of your thinking before I got too far into writing a book.

Unfortunately I don't think there is a good way to know how "wrong" it is going to be with the center link that way until you drive it. By all suspension logic & design...it's rather wrong however I'm not sure how that relates to what you experience driving down the road. With a stiff 3/4 ton spring & a truck that will no doubt weight less than the 70-80 truck the suspension is from, it likely wouldn't be that much of a problem due to the suspension not having much travel...riding much like a buckboard. As you start to lighten the spring to make it ride the way you will want it to...the problems will start to show themselves based on the control arms & the tie rod traveling in Two different archs.
Again, it's not like you cut 5" out of the cradle & cut the tie rods to work. One thing you have going for you is that the steering linkage appears to be rather level. What shows up often with a rack & pinion set-up is guys mount the rack low to clear the oilpan or something & then either by choice or because of added weight they didn't plan on, the frame ends up lower & the inner tie rods are angling upward toward the knuckles. Now when the suspension bounces, the wheels toe in right now due to the level was already "broke" before the suspension moved...as the vehicle rebounds, they toe out. Known as "bumpsteer"

Now the bad side, Of course the longer the total is from the inner tie rod pivot to the knuckle...the less variation in toe there would be during the suspension travel. If the original design changed a total of say a 1/4" (I don't know the number I'm just using that for reference), yours toward the ends of travel top & bottom may move 3/4" or more. Once it is part way through the "break", the amount will escalate rapidly. Say a 1/2" up & down from static ride will only move a 1/8" of toe but a bounce of an inch, that may result in 3/8" or 1/2"

In hind sight as mentioned (which you can still do if it proves to be a problem) is shorten the center link & put the tie rods back. The other option from the start could have been to move the ball joint placement inward the 3/4" to get the trackwidth narrower...the tie rod angle part would still be "worse" than factory, but at least everything would be working at the same archs.

Your idea of removing the springs & testing is a valid idea. If you place the tires on pairs of flooring tile squares, face to face...this will aid in seeing what the wheels are doing without the friction. Another way to check could be (with the springs out) to place the truck on large wooden blocks under the control arms, without the wheels on you could clamp straightedges on the rotors...measure between them, raise the vehicle from static ride (tie rods basically level) with a floor jack under the crossmember & measure, lower it below static ride an inch or so & measure. I think you will get a pretty good idea if this is a staggering amount of change or not so much.

There are some good videos on the web about checking the toe change using a straight edge & plumb bobs, ect., just do a search. Hope this Helps, Lorne

[Angryman117]

Finally got to drive the truck for a short distance today. Steering will definitely need some work and discussed with HAULIN above and think I will start with the spacer on the passenger side, along with adjusting the tie rods as the wheels are not straight.
Also need to hook up some gauges so I can see temp and oil pressure, then make sure my transmission wiring is good as it was not shifting smooth. I have yet to supply the power for the TCC input on the ECU so that could also be art of the problem.

But FINALLY runs and moves under its own power.

Sorry no pics or video right not but should have them up in a few days.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Angryman117

Made my brake pedal assembly, also used my old gas pedal as my new brake pedal.

That's a nice bit of engineering on the pedal! I've thought about making similar instead of the S10 one I stole and trying to make it somewhat adjustable so I can find the perfect foot placement.

[Angryman117]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

That's a nice bit of engineering on the pedal! I've thought about making similar instead of the S10 one I stole and trying to make it somewhat adjustable so I can find the perfect foot placement.

Thanks. Will have to drive the truck for a bit to see if I like it. There is a bigger gap between the gas and the brake than I would like.

[Angryman117]

Got the AC system charged up and man does it blow cold. Also discovered that my alternator is not working. Pretty sure I messed up putting the pin in the right spot when I modified the harness, as it was working before messing with it.