Omodified's 1970 SWB Custom/10

[omodified]

I spent the last few days finding out what I might have done wrong with the Chassis Black. It seems most people that had success in the past have all sprayed the stuff on. Spraying really isn't an option for me right now because it's too cold outside and there is no way I am spraying inside the house garage. I won't even spray paint in there. So, I considered foam brushing again except this time, doing it horizontally. I went to Lowes to get some more foam brushes and I found this...



I could use this system at work but it looks like the reviews are mixed. Mostly people that didn't take the time to prep their projects correctly, which is typical. I'll report on the results soon.

[omodified]

So, I got to use the Preval system today. All set up and ready to spray...



I started on the sides that can be easily seen. I applied two coats and laid the second coat on pretty thick. The finish looked absolutely gorgeous. I had to reduce the paint down so it would spray correctly. This cause it to be even thinner and it ran down to the lowest points. It puddled up pretty good. I'll see how they turned out when I come back tomorrow to paint the other side.

[omodified]

So, I came back today for more painting. The undersides turned out really nice. The paint self leveled as advertised and you couldn't even tell where it had puddled. The only issue I saw is that it overflowed off the back under the bushing hole. The string of paint froze in mid air so I just broke it off and you could even tell it ran. So, I proceeded to paint the top sides. I didn't thin it as much this time, in hopes that it wouldn't run. I went with three thinner coats this time. We'll see tomorrow how it turns out.

[omodified]

Well a few days have gone by. I had to take a few days off to calm down from my anger and disappointment. The topcoats didn't turn out well at all, which I'm afraid to say was my own fault. The thin coats were where I went wrong. The paint still managed to run down into the gutters. However this time, there were visible thin spots on the vertical surfaces where you could see the bare metal beneath. Also, there were several dry areas that just looked like really bad overspray. So, needless to say, it is time to start over. The good thing I have to report is this... After two days of this stuff setting up, I tried to media blast it. It took almost one hour just to blast the idler arm bracket. It took 30 minutes to blast one half of one side of a backing plate. Forget that, this stuff is crazy tough! So, I did what I should have done to begin with, called the dang powder coater. He told me he would get the coating off one way or another and to bring them on over. Bottom line... the Preval Sprayer and the POR15 Chassis Black are both great products. I am quite sure the coating would have lasted the life of the truck. However, you need to practice the application technique before you paint something important!

[omodified]

I called the powder coater today to check on progress. He informed me that he wasn't able to blast the POR15 off with sand and his outdoor pot blaster. So, he acid dipped it, and it melted right off. Powder coating is coming in a few days.

We had a chance to install one of the exhaust manifolds today. I can't wait to fire it up!

[omodified]

While we are waiting for the powder coating to be finished, we decided to paint the last two parts with Metal Mask. I forgot to get a picture of the centerlink, but here is how the pitman arm turned out...

[omodified]

I got the parts back from the powder coater today. We went ahead and installed the ball joints and the cross shafts. I saw where several people here said to make sure that you have equal threads showing on each side of the cross shafts after installation. However, the assembly manual says something different. I went ahead with what the manual said. I still need to grease the fittings, but I will do that after everything is installed on the truck. We also installed the idler arm to the chassis.

[omodified]

We installed lower control arms tonight. There was a ton of clay packed to the crossmember, especially inside the saddles for the lower control arms. I cleaned all of that up to make sure everything seated up real nice, especially around the guide pin. After careful placement, we installed the refurbished U-bolts and made sure to torque them to 40 foot pounds. It's coming together slow but sure.

[omodified]

We got a few more things installed tonight. We started with the upper control arms. When we first removed the old stuff, I tagged and bagged all of the old camber shims so I could reinstall them they way they came off. I figured this would get us close. However, the old shims were half painted over and very rusty and greasy. It sure would look a lot better if I had new ones. It took me awhile to find some them locally but NAPA came through for us. Here is the UCA installed with the new shims...



Here are both arms together. We also got the centerlink installed...



Spring is going in...



Spindle is on...



Steering feels nice and tight now. It's getting exciting over here.

[lolife99]

Thanks for the info on the crossshaft installation.
I saved those pics for future reference.
Everything is looking good!

[omodified]

Thanks for the compliment Keith. That assembly manual has really come in handy for this project. The torque specs alone are invaluable.

[omodified]

We got the tie rods installed today. Then we set the toe to -0.125". Torqued all of the new parts to proper specs.

[omodified]

We painted the new drums today flat black and the front hubs cast color. Between coats, we assembled the front brake internal parts.

[Palf70Step]

Very nice. It's not often you see folks going to this detail and sticking with front drum brakes.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Very nice. It's not often you see folks going to this detail and sticking with front drum brakes.

Thanks for the compliment I think. LOL. It almost sounds like you are saying that I should have gone with front disks. Hopefully I won't regret it later. I have to learn my lessons the hard way though...I always have!

[omodified]

Allowed the hubs to dry for a few days. We used Mobile 1 synthetic grease to pack the bearings and installed new Timken seals. Finished everything off with new grease caps from Classic Parts. The front is pretty much finished...for now we move the back of the truck.

[omodified]

Got the rear brakes dismantled tonight. Everything came off really easy, it is just very dirty. Leaky wheel cylinders and axle seals will do that. Time for some clean up and more powder coating.

[omodified]

So while I am waiting on the powder coater to finish up, I decided to change out the rear brake hose. The old one was in very bad shape so it definitely needed to go. Unfortunately, the fitting on the frame rail brake line was frozen. I rounded the stupid thing off, even though I was using a line wrench. With the help of vise grips, the line eventually came loose. Once I got it off, I realized that I bent the line pretty bad at the fitting and it won't even spin now. So, now I have three brake line fittings that are rounded off (previous owner rounded off the two front ones), and a bad brake line. I didn't want to do it, but here lies the crossroad...time to order a new brake line set. I researched what pre-bent lines guys usually go with around here. It seemed like manufacturers all had some negative feedback, but some a lot more than others. So, I narrowed it down to Inline Tube. I ordered their nine piece stainless set, new brake line clips and two new brake line tees. Now I wait for even more work to arrive. This is never ending!

[omodified]

Had a spare hour that I could dedicate to cleaning the axle tubes and installing new Timken seals. It turned out pretty good. Still waiting on parts.

[omodified]

I have been wanting to address a few small transmission leaks. While I wait on parts, I figured it was a good time to address it. I marked the driveshaft and removed it. Then I removed the tail shaft. While the drive shaft was out, we went ahead and replaced both u-joints. I'll take the tail shaft to work tomorrow to remove the old seal and bushing, so I can do it right.

[omodified]

I brought the tail shaft housing to work today. I used a seal puller to remove the old seal. I read on this site, that a Craftsman 30mm socket would push the old bushing out. If you didn't have a 30mm socket, a 1 1/4 would also work. Let me tell you...a 1 1/4 does not work. I used the press and I got socket stuck in place of the bushing. I managed to press the socket back out the way it came in. Fortunately, I didn't go too far because it gouged the housing wall pretty good. So, I put a piece of aluminum stock in the lathe and turned it down until it was just a fraction bigger than the id of the bushing. This got the bushing out with no problems. I should have done this to begin with. Then, I took emery cloth and smoothed out the area I damaged Then I used my aluminum stock piece to press in the new Timken bushing and seal. No wobbles and everything its tight.

On the way home, I stopped at O'Reilly Auto Parts and bought a new tail shaft housing to transmission case o-ring, new speedometer housing o-ring and seal, new fill tube o-ring and new detent cable seal.

When I got home, I checked the yoke fit in the new bushing and seal and proceeded to install the tail shaft housing. I installed the new o-ring on the tail shaft housing and installed. Finished it by torqueing to 25 foot pounds.

While I was underneath the truck I decided to check the torque on the transmission pan bolts. The assembly manual said to torque to 125 inch pounds. To my surprise, they were all loose in comparison. So, I torqued them all down and called it a night.

[omodified]

I haven't mentioned it, but during all of the downtime I have been dealt since Christmas, I decided to remove all of the lower trim to refinish it. I removed all of the pieces, but I have been slow at stripping them. I stripped two pieces at lunch today and they are ready for fresh black paint. Good bye wood grain!

[Palf70Step]

Originally Posted by omodified

Thanks for the compliment I think. LOL. It almost sounds like you are saying that I should have gone with front disks. Hopefully I won't regret it later. I have to learn my lessons the hard way though...I always have!

No I was not suggesting that. I had drums on my 70 and didn't feel the need to switch them out either. Of course mine didn't look nearly as pretty as yours after my brake job.

[Shady Rascal]

This is sure a neat thread. I wonder what happened to this build.

[omodified]

It's still in my garage. I haven't done much to it since this last post. Mainly because I ran out of storage space at home. We just bought a new house last week and the truck has its own garage now. So, it may soon be time to resurrect this thread.