72 GMC Short Step Build

[Z10]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

I like this Car boss fellow...

He's the best! Couldn't come close to doing this without him!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Z10]

Richmond PowerTrax

Well we needed a reason to add a polished diff cover, so we pulled the spider gears out and added a Richmond Powertrax. This should put the power down. If you're not familiar with this, check out this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k-LmnS3ED0

Went from this...........

[Z10]

To this...........

[Z10]

And last two

[Z10]

I about forgot the cover pic.

[Z10]

Panhard Bar

We needed to replace the factory Panhard Bar with a bent bar to accommodate the new larger dif cover. I sourced the bar from CPP, but as you'll see, it wasn't bent enough, and didn't leave us enough room to remove the cover. So...........Car Boss to the rescue with a little modification. The bar was bent, cut, lengthened, welded, and painted. It should have been made like this to begin with. Not a big fan of CPP.

[mcbassin]

Very nice work on the diff and panhard bar. Oh and that cover is super cool!

[Z10]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very nice work on the diff and panhard bar. Oh and that cover is super cool!

Thanks McBassin!

[Z10]

Doors Insulated

Went to work on the doors and got the outer handles replaced with NOS handles. Also, added GT Mat to the inner door and the inside of the door, followed by MLV, then aluminized foam. I never cut and bruised my hands and arms as I did working inside those doors. It's really not difficult just hard to get at and time consuming.

Conclusion: The doors don't rattle when you close them! Have to wait to see if the noise levels are reduced when we get it back on the road. A few pics.

[Z10]

Time for the Wilwoods!

Car Boss finished up the rear end, so it was time to install the Wilwoods that had been sitting in my garage for a year. I sourced these from Travis at Pro Performance in Arizona and all went well. The only exception were the front braided lines that where about 10" to long. So, unless you're lifting your truck you might request shorter lines. We also added a Wilwood master and proportioning valve, and Car Boss bent up some very nice stainless hard lines. You'll also notice if you look carefully, he welded on a couple of brackets on top of the axle tube to securely hold the lines in the rear.

[Z10]

Boss 338, here we go again

For those of you that have followed the thread concerning fitting Boss 338 wheels to the fronts of our trucks, you know that the brake hubs have to be reduced in size to fit. I was hoping this would not be the case with the Baer front disc, but indeed it's still an issue. Off come the disc and Car Boss cut them down on the lathe. Fit's now!

[OutlawDrifter]

i'm really interested to see how the powertrax works out for you. i've been wanting to try one in my 95 sierra, but i don't want something noisy or that makes corners or lane changes under power "interesting".

[jmking9]

Where did you get the little brackets you welded to the axle?

[jmking9]

Also, are you running a booster with your Wilwood master? Do you have any pictures of the way you ran the stainless lines you bent up?

[Z10]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

i'm really interested to see how the powertrax works out for you. i've been wanting to try one in my 95 sierra, but i don't want something noisy or that makes corners or lane changes under power "interesting".

Drifter,
I installed a unit in my 69 Camaro several years ago, and I do notice a little "squirm" when the rear tires don't have equal pressure. But if the pressures are the same, not so much. I drove the truck about 250 miles this past week, more than half of it at 75mph and didn't notice anything. I'm not sure how it would work for auto crossing, but for pulling and straight-line traction, pretty awesome. I'm happy.

[Z10]

Originally Posted by jmking9

Where did you get the little brackets you welded to the axle?

Jmking, that's a Car Boss fabrication piece, like so many details on this truck.

[Z10]

Originally Posted by jmking9

Also, are you running a booster with your Wilwood master? Do you have any pictures of the way you ran the stainless lines you bent up?

Yes, it's a CPP booster. It took me 3 tries to get this one. The first one had the wrong bracket, the second didn't work, and I'm not confident this one is working correctly. Also I was on my second CPP master cylinder. The first one leaked. Finally decided to replace the unused replacement with Wilwood.
Once again, not a fan of CPP.

Here's a few pics I had, if you need to see something else, let me know and I'll take some more for you.

[jmking9]

Thanks for the pics. Your setup looks great! I'm also using the CPP booster with the same Wilwood MC and prop valve kit that you're running. S here are my ?'s
*Was the pushrod that was in the CPP booster and MC the correct length to work with the Wilwood MC?
*Did you have to use the little bullet looking thing? I know Wilwood sells them in different lengths, so I was curious.
*What did you use for sealant on the threads of the plug where the brake switch was? Wasn't sure if brake fluid neede something different than normal.
*Do you think it would be ok to plug one of the "front out" ports on the prop valve and just run one hard line down to the T fitting on the crossmember?
I really appreciate your help. I'm going to try and install all of mine this weekend and it's nice to know ahead of time what additional parts I might need, so I can have them on hand. I live out where it's over an hour round trip to a good parts store. So, if there was anything else you can think of that you needed, let me know. Thanks again!

[knomadd]

Everything looks awesome! Love the wilwood brake system. I'm going through a similar install myself.

Originally Posted by jmking9

Thanks for the pics. Your setup looks great! I'm also using the CPP booster with the same Wilwood MC and prop valve kit that you're running. S here are my ?'s
*Was the pushrod that was in the CPP booster and MC the correct length to work with the Wilwood MC?
*Did you have to use the little bullet looking thing? I know Wilwood sells them in different lengths, so I was curious.
*What did you use for sealant on the threads of the plug where the brake switch was? Wasn't sure if brake fluid neede something different than normal.
*Do you think it would be ok to plug one of the "front out" ports on the prop valve and just run one hard line down to the T fitting on the crossmember?
I really appreciate your help. I'm going to try and install all of mine this weekend and it's nice to know ahead of time what additional parts I might need, so I can have them on hand. I live out where it's over an hour round trip to a good parts store. So, if there was anything else you can think of that you needed, let me know. Thanks again!

Not to hijack here, but to help out, I'm doing this install now. I'm using a Hydratech hydro boost system instead of the vacuum booster you are both using, but yes, I used the "bullet". The pushrod from the hydratech system is about flush with the MC mounting flange. If your booster is similar, I'd use the bullet.

**I am also curious about the plug in place of the brake light switch.**

You can absolutely plug one of the front outputs on the prop valve. I'm doing this myself and it even says it can be done in the instructions (I think that's where I read it). I've seen this done multiple times with other setups too.

One thing to be cautious of... If you are using the existing brake lines, or same size lines as factory, while the front lines are 3/16 tube and use 3/8 fittings, the rear line is 1/4" and uses a larger fitting (the original prop valve uses a very large fitting, not a standard 7/16 typically used for 1/4" tube). However, the Wilwood prop valve only accepts the 3/8 fittings. You can get an adapter from 3/8 to 7/16 from Oreilly's. Ask for Edelmann Part No. 2858430. You'll need to check to make sure your fitting is 7/16, and if it isn't you'll want to cut it off and reflare the line for a standard fitting to use the adapter.

[Z10]

Not to hijack here, but to help out, I'm doing this install now. I'm using a Hydratech hydro boost system instead of the vacuum booster you are both using, but yes, I used the "bullet". The pushrod from the hydratech system is about flush with the MC mounting flange. If your booster is similar, I'd use the bullet.

**I am also curious about the plug in place of the brake light switch.**

You can absolutely plug one of the front outputs on the prop valve. I'm doing this myself and it even says it can be done in the instructions (I think that's where I read it). I've seen this done multiple times with other setups too.

One thing to be cautious of... If you are using the existing brake lines, or same size lines as factory, while the front lines are 3/16 tube and use 3/8 fittings, the rear line is 1/4" and uses a larger fitting (the original prop valve uses a very large fitting, not a standard 7/16 typically used for 1/4" tube). However, the Wilwood prop valve only accepts the 3/8 fittings. You can get an adapter from 3/8 to 7/16 from Oreilly's. Ask for Edelmann Part No. 2858430. You'll need to check to make sure your fitting is 7/16, and if it isn't you'll want to cut it off and reflare the line for a standard fitting to use the adapter.
__________________
-Duane

Your fitting info is correct. However, you should use the longer rod with the booster and not the bullet. Although it may work, the smaller rod can actually fall out of the Master and leave you without brakes. Car Boss may chime in with a story about this. Have no idea when using hydro boost.

I stand corrected, please see Car Boss' explanation below.

[jmking9]

Originally Posted by knomadd

You can get an adapter from 3/8 to 7/16 from Oreilly's. Ask for Edelmann Part No. 2858430. You'll need to check to make sure your fitting is 7/16, and if it isn't you'll want to cut it off and reflare the line for a standard fitting to use the adapter.

Thanks for the info.


Your fitting info is correct. However, you should use the longer rod with the booster and not the bullet. Although it may work, the smaller rod can actually fall out of the Master and leave you without brakes. Car Boss may chime in with a story about this. Have no idea when using hydro boost.[/QUOTE]

This is what I was afraid of. I've been researching the compatibility of the CPP booster and Wilwood master for 2 months. The only thread I could find where it was discussed was by Chad(CC69RAT) who got his feelings hurt and left the board. So I couldn't ask him what he did. So you're my lone resource
So what length of rod, and where did you get it? Also, I'm guessing regular thread sealant works for the plug?

[Advanced Design]

After some test drives I would be interested in your evaluation on braking performance compared to the before Wilwood brake system. Is it worth the investment? My Burb could use braking performance improvement and this package looks good. Really appreciate your thoughts.

[diceman50]

Originally Posted by jmking9

Thanks for the pics. Your setup looks great! I'm also using the CPP booster with the same Wilwood MC and prop valve kit that you're running. S here are my ?'s
*Was the pushrod that was in the CPP booster and MC the correct length to work with the Wilwood MC?
*Did you have to use the little bullet looking thing? I know Wilwood sells them in different lengths, so I was curious.
*What did you use for sealant on the threads of the plug where the brake switch was? Wasn't sure if brake fluid neede something different than normal.
*Do you think it would be ok to plug one of the "front out" ports on the prop valve and just run one hard line down to the T fitting on the crossmember?
I really appreciate your help. I'm going to try and install all of mine this weekend and it's nice to know ahead of time what additional parts I might need, so I can have them on hand. I live out where it's over an hour round trip to a good parts store. So, if there was anything else you can think of that you needed, let me know. Thanks again!

Car Boss here. I don't think an online forum is the place to solicit or give advice about brakes. Also, there are too many variables in supposedly identical vehicles to assume that what you are told will work on your vehicle. Without hands-on access to your truck I think it would be dangerous to offer advice. You should educate yourself on all of the components in you system and seek help from a brake professional. If you don't understand how it all works find someone who does.

[jmking9]

^I understand where your coming from. I was just trying to get an idea of any additional parts I may need to have on hand to make the master to the booster work together. I don't want to have the truck apart for weeks while I'm waiting on parts. I understand how it works, and I know all 50yr old trucks aren't identical. I just thought it would be helpful to get an idea from someone who is doing the same swap.

Z10 your truck is looking great, Thanks for the pictures and info.

[diceman50]

With the understanding that this is not what I suggest for your situation I will tell you what we did on Z10's truck.

As for the push rod. It depends on whether or not your truck had power brakes from the factory or not. We used the pushrod that came with the CPP booster on Z10"s truck. On a vacuum boosted system there are 2 separate push rods. (I don't know about the hydro boost units) One from the pedal to the booster and one from the booster to the M/C. The one on the pedal can be installed and adjusted independently of the other. I suggest installing the booster without the master cylinder and hooking up the pushrod to the pedal. You can then adjust the rod until there is approx. 1/2" pedal travel before engagement. Make sure that the pedal bushings and other hardware are in good condition.

If your truck had a manual brake system originally there are different pedal ratios and pushrod lengths and possibly other differences.

As for the M/C you must use the bullet with a vacuum booster. If you look at the front of the booster you should see a short pushrod protruding from the center. This short pushrod will not engage the piston in the M/C unless the bullet is installed. With a straight edge and ruler measure the distance from the front of the booster (where the M/C bolts on) to the end of the pushrod. Then measure from the same mating surface on the M/C to the center of the cup on the bullet. Make sure the bullet is fully seated in the M/C. The second measurement should be close to but not greater than the first. In other words there should be slight clearance between the pushrod and the bullet when the brakes are not applied. Without some clearance the brake might not release completely when applied and released.

As for the thread sealant we used a Teflon based pipe dope being careful not to get any on the face or the first thread of the plug.

As knomadd said the Wilwood instructions say you can plug one of the front out lines. On Z10"s truck the adapter for the stainless flex lines required a different size tube nut than the original line. Instead of cutting and reflaring the original I decided it would be easier and look better to make a separate line for the left side. I replaced the "T" fitting on the cross member with a coupling of the same size.

These suggestions are just that and are my opinion only. You may get some different views form other people but, it is your responsibility to decide what to do. Also, I don't care to get into a debate on this and I will respond only to you on this subject.