Green Gus the 68 shortbed convert

[hewittca]

It's been about three months since I've updated my build thread so I figured I'd add something just to keep up with what I've done, as mundane as progress has been lately. Part of the reason for my lack of any major updates has also been because I need to keep the truck functional right now. I was recently approached by someone (while I was out with the truck) and asked if I was willing to let them use my truck as a prop in a Christmas themed photo shoot in late November. It is for a local photographer who sets up themed photo sessions and then does photos for a number of families. I thought it was cool so I agreed but then I realized, oh man that means I can't tear the truck apart any more until after November!

Before the photo opportunity came along, I did try a few things that didn't turn out so successfully. First, I set out to rebuild the steering components. My wheel was really free and had no feel to it so I wanted to tighten it up some by putting in a variable ratio box from a '75 along with all new lines, tierods, pitman arm, idler arm, and coupler. Well, the Cardone 27-7512 box I got was complete junk and the steering felt horrible, so I pulled it out and put the stock box back in. The steering is still really free but at least I know the whole setup has been gone through and refreshed. At some point I'll revisit the steering box but not until after I get over the mistake of buying a cheap remanufactured box.



The other thing I did that was a fail was to swap out the front springs. I recently acquired a complete front cross member from GR8-68 (thanks Larry!) that had the stock springs still in it, or at least I thought they were stock. My truck had the stock coils in it with 1 coil cut out, but I have seen people go as far as two coils out. So I figured, I'll cut two coils out of these other springs and if I don't like it, I can just put my old ones back in. First off I noticed that these other springs had one less stock coil than my coils when stock (which I thought was odd) but I decided to cut 2 coils out anyway. It lowered the truck an additional 2" and sure looked cool but the steering was way off and the ball joints were maxed out in range, so I had to toss those springs in the trash and put my old springs back in. At the very least, I know what it will look like now with the drop spindles when/if I ever get around to putting some in.







I most likely won't have any updates on the truck until after the new year since I have to keep it together until after November and then we're into holiday season. Time to start collecting some parts I suppose...

[preacher anthony]

Bring it on to Goodguys show in Charlotte next week. I will be in the membership booth.

[GR8-68]

The 67 that front end came out of was a hacked up mess, it was a truck I would not have even wanted to pull out in the driveway with let alone the street, does not surprise me at all.

[rusty76]

Glad to see your doing well. Been thinking about you and Gus. Truck still looking killer.

[Low Elco]

Power Steering Specialties, Springfield, Mo. Ask for Chip. He'll build you anything you want. High effort, fast ratio, whatever. A couple of bucks, but worth it. Snag one form the yards and ship it to him. Truck looks cool with a bit of rake!

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by preacher anthony

Bring it on to Goodguys show in Charlotte next week. I will be in the membership booth.

I completely forgot that Goodguys was coming up! I probably won't bring the truck because it's not where I want it yet, but I may come out to spectate.

Originally Posted by GR8-68

The 67 that front end came out of was a hacked up mess, it was a truck I would not have even wanted to pull out in the driveway with let alone the street, does not surprise me at all.

Yeah, that thing had some scary modifications to it.

Originally Posted by rusty76

Glad to see your doing well. Been thinking about you and Gus. Truck still looking killer.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Power Steering Specialties, Springfield, Mo. Ask for Chip. He'll build you anything you want. High effort, fast ratio, whatever. A couple of bucks, but worth it. Snag one form the yards and ship it to him. Truck looks cool with a bit of rake!

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely look into them once I commit to buying another box.

[hewittca]

This weekend is when my truck is getting used as a prop in the photo shoot, so I haven't done anything to it recently that would leave it immobile. I did, however, test fit my rear drop components. I added wheel spacers and drop blocks to get it where I wanted. The spacers are 1/2" billet aluminum from Baer. They are nice but I did have to bore out the centers to fit on the stock axles. The drop blocks are the generic 2" extruded blocks from Western Chassis. This was somewhat of a sore point for me since I ordered from Western specifically because they advertised their blocks in pictures as solid aluminum, but what I got were the hollow extruded blocks. I called up and questioned this and was told these blocks were just as strong and they must have forgotten to change their website (obviously). I paid the couple dollars extra for these since I thought they were the solid blocks, so I was also told I would receive a partial credit back since their blocks are more expensive than the same exact extruded blocks you can get elsewhere. Guess what, that never happened. Oh well, I was too impatient to return the blocks and order them from somewhere else, so I am stuck with these. Also, if you use the CPP track bar, the u-bolts in this kit aren't really long enough. The bolt is just flush with the back side of the nut, where I'd like to see a few threads past the nut.





The resulting drop puts the rear right where I want it in relation to where the front will be once I get that done. The fender is just level with the top of the rim which gives it a little tuck when viewed at eye level, and I have 1/2" of space between the tire and fender. Having the adjustable track bar was also useful here since I'm running a close tolerance between tire and fender. I will definitely need a c-notch though because I only have 2" before the frame bottoms out. I will include this in the list of things to do once I start tearing the front apart.









I also forgot to mention in an earlier post that after I z-ed my frame I had a driveline vibration. Turns out my driveshaft angles were wrong. After realizing I could not get them where I wanted, I found this idea that I first saw posted by IvelDesigns. Basically you just flip the carrier bearing mount so you can get more upward adjustability. Once I did this, I was able to put the carrier right where I wanted it and now no more vibrations even with 4" springs, 2.5" z-ed frame, and 2" blocks for a total drop of 8.5".

[rusty76]

Truck looks good with a little tuck. Digging it.

[hewittca]

The photo session with the truck was a success, but for copyright reasons I can't post any of the photos here. If you want to see a few previews, they are located at the Morgan Greene Photography facebook page. Here's a photo I took on the way to drop the truck off.



After getting the truck back, I wanted to start on everything I need to do to complete the final stage of lowering the truck. At this time I can't afford to dive right in and do everything I need to, so I'm taking it in stages for now. First off, I needed to replace the balljoints. I don't think GM ever intended for those things to come out! After fighting with them for quite a while, I finally got them out. The originals were SHOT, so I'm glad I tackled this finally.

Also, while at it I decided to try out the lower control arm caster mod. The details for the mod are found here. Essentially, you move the lower arm forward which gives you more positive caster. Most seem to go with 3/4", but it requires a fair bit of clearancing. I ended up going with 1/2" which only took a slight amount of clearancing on the arm. This should result in roughly 4-5 degrees of positive caster. I still need to get the front end aligned but I can already feel an improvement. The steering is more confident and marginally tighter.

Since I had the whole front apart, I figured I would take the opportunity to mock up the final ride height and make sure everything would work where I wanted it. The stock front wheel tubs are absolutely not going to work, but there's no way I'm dropping $1k on aftermarket tubs, so I will probably eventually raise the stock tubs like a few others have done. Other than that, everything else works just how I planned and I love the look! I can't wait to finally be able to drive it like this.





One nuance of lowering the truck this much is the rear wheels move forward. At 8.5" of drop, it is noticeable and looks awkward to me, so I'm thinking of how I want to remedy this. I will probably add a 1" spacer behind the trailing arm mounts, which is what others have done. The only thing I need to figure out then is what to do with the driveshaft. I don't feel comfortable with just pulling it out of the trans another inch, plus that would bind up the carrier bearing too I would think. I will probably have the rear section lengthened by 1". We'll see.



Oh, and you probably noticed by now that my wheels are white again. I liked the silver, but the white looked better to me for some reason. Maybe because it's how the truck looked when I got it. Anyway, I really didn't intend to switch them back yet but I was trying to clean something off the silver and the silver wiped right off (with carb cleaner) and the white was left mostly unharmed. I took the truck out to take a few photos and put some miles on the new front end work.







Lastly, it was time to get a Christmas tree so we brought the truck down the road to a local tree stand we get our tree from every year. They get their trees from right down the road a way in the Appalachian mountains.



That's it for now.

[rusty76]

Digging the pics and the truck still looks awesome. Looking at the truck in the pics out in the wilderness makes me think you went hunting. You should get out today and head down to Foothills Brewery. They are having a Hops and Shops event. Santa will be there and there is supposed to be a Christmas lighting this afternoon. The event will be at their warehouse and brewing location on Kimwell Dr off Stratford Rd from 12-6. I wish they’d do a car show here. Still the truck looks killer.

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Digging the pics and the truck still looks awesome. Looking at the truck in the pics out in the wilderness makes me think you went hunting. You should get out today and head down to Foothills Brewery. They are having a Hops and Shops event. Santa will be there and there is supposed to be a Christmas lighting this afternoon. The event will be at their warehouse and brewing location on Kimwell Dr off Stratford Rd from 12-6. I wish they’d do a car show here. Still the truck looks killer.

Thanks! I didn't know about the Hops and Shops event. I would have come by if I saw this sooner! We were in Winston today around noon before we headed over to my inlaws for the afternoon.

[Bennett68C10]

I always thought the wheels looked better white, very nice.

[rusty76]

Yeah it was pretty cool. Lots of crafters and vendors. If you couldn’t of found an present for whom ever then you didn’t look hard enough. Really nice place. Foothills does a good job helping get things in the warehouses moved and so on. I image there was close to two thousand people there. You can come by in the spring. We will be at Wisemen Brewery Thursday afternoon I think. I have to check the schedule.

[hewittca]

This weekend our small town held their annual Christmas parade. I decided we should participate this year since the truck was all in one piece. You're supposed to decorate your vehicles, so I "gift wrapped" the sides of the truck two tone style. The kids had a ton of fun throwing candy and the truck was a big hit. It was nice to enjoy the truck a little because I haven't done much with it other than working on it since I got it. Happy holidays!

[SKT]

.

^ Great update!

Merry Christmas!

.

[rusty76]

Nice. Can’t wait to unwrap it. Lol. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[68bowtie]

That’s awesome!

[botoepfer]

Love the truck,, in case I missed it do you know the name of the color and where I can get some?

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by botoepfer

Love the truck,, in case I missed it do you know the name of the color and where I can get some?

The color is original 505 dark green. They used it for many years and was also called woodland green at some point. Any paint shop should be able to mix it up for you using the 505 code. I would recommend getting single stage to match the original paint as close as possible.

[botoepfer]

Thanks Corey !

[hewittca]

I haven't worked on the truck in the past few months, so not much to report in terms of progress, but I have been getting it out to drive and use a few times. Just figured I'd post some updated pics to keep this thread alive





I'm swapping out the heated rear springs for some 5" drop springs. Thanks to Graham57a for the springs. While I wait on a chance to go pick them up, I figured I'd pull the old springs and lay it out. Once I add the springs, blocks, and c-notch this is about where I will be able to run it static with no interference or rubbing.

[c10jmac]

Very nice truck!

[rusty76]

Glad to see ole Gus. Hope all is well.

[GR8-68]

Looks good buddy, hope all is well with you and the family

[sduckworth13]

The truck looks great! I like the white wheels instead of the silver too.