65 shorty build

[chev-obsession]

well i was talking to a guy at napa today and he said that he has a baer brake 4 wheel conversion kit for a 62. he wants $1500 for it so im leaning towards that right now

[Captainfab]

A '62 suspension and running gear is different than a '65.

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

well i was talking to a guy at napa today and he said that he has a baer brake 4 wheel conversion kit for a 62. he wants $1500 for it so im leaning towards that right now

[chev-obsession]

aw crap so its not gonna work?

[Captainfab]

Nope....not if it's for a '60-'62 truck. Unless these parts are some sort of conversion that will work for the '63-'70 as well. Like I said the '60-'62's have an entirely different suspension (torsion bars) and rear differential than the '63-'70 trucks

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

aw crap so its not gonna work?

[chev-obsession]

the rear diffs are different? how so?

[Captainfab]

The late '55 to '62's had a 10 bolt. Starting in '63 they had 12 bolts, except for some of the GMC's that had Dana 44's, usually with the leaf springs. So the backing plate flange is going to be different between the early 10 bolts and the '63-'81 12 bolts. The axle offset may be different as well, don't know for certain.

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

the rear diffs are different? how so?

[chev-obsession]

ok well i talked to the guy today and he said that baer sent an extra set of spindles for the 63 up. that still leaves me with the rear end caliper mounting plate issue, weather it would work or not. i plan to look at it this weekend

[Captainfab]

The rear caliper brackets may be able to be modified to work. Might see if Baer has the correct bracket for a decent price. Like I said, I don't know for sure if they are different or not, they might fit. I'll look up the bolt pattern in the truck 12 bolt tomorrow and post it here. That way you have some info with you when you go look at the parts.

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

ok well i talked to the guy today and he said that baer sent an extra set of spindles for the 63 up. that still leaves me with the rear end caliper mounting plate issue, weather it would work or not. i plan to look at it this weekend

[chev-obsession]

ok sweet thanks!

[chev-obsession]

i called baer brakes and they said that the rear bracket is the same and that they use cpp's drop spindles so i guess we will see. hopefully i can get the kit this weekend

[Captainfab]

The measurements for the backing plate flange on the truck 12 bolt (what you have) is 2 21/32" vertically by 3 3/8" horizontally.

[chev-obsession]

allrighty thanks

[Captainfab]

Any updates on this?

Did those Baer brakes work out for your truck?

[chev-obsession]

ok so i got the brakes and springs today!!!! with shocks soon to come! heres some pics!
I got everything disassembled


front brakes, with 60-62 spindles


Rear disc's


front springs i beileve they are "stock" height


These are the '73 to '87 2.5 lowering spindles that i will mount everything on and sell the 60-62 2.5 lowering spindles


4'' rear drop springs. i might paint these springs, not really liking the color!


rear calipers and mounting brackets


the next step for me is to get the a-arm's cleaned and painted with ball joints put in, and por-15 the frame!

[chev-obsession]

question: since my spindles are a '73 to '87 do i need tie rods (inner and outer) drag link, idler arm, power steering box (did i miss anything?) for a '73 to '87 as well or can i use my stuff?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

question: since my spindles are a '73 to '87 do i need tie rods (inner and outer) drag link, idler arm, power steering box (did i miss anything?) for a '73 to '87 as well or can i use my stuff?

You can use 73-87 stuff or adapters to mate the 63-70 inners to the 73-up outers.

[chev-obsession]

where would i find these adapter? what about for the pitman arm going to the drag link? (i will be getting a power steering system)

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

where would i find these adapter? what about for the pitman arm going to the drag link? (i will be getting a power steering system)

I've used 73-up stuff & didn't do adapters. Try CPP or ECE for the tie-rod adapters.

[Captainfab]

X2

The '73 and up tierods are a little beefier too. Those rear calipers look exactly like the '93-'97 Camaro calipers.

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I've used 73-up stuff & didn't do adapters. Try CPP or ECE for the tie-rod adapters.

[chev-obsession]

idk what the camaro calipers look like but if you say so lol

btw i just realized that there is no sway bar on my truck. is there a kit i can get to put one on or would it make much of a difference?

[Captainfab]

Just get a sway bar from a '73-'87 truck or Suburban. The C20 Camper Specials and the 1 tons had a 1 3/16" sway bar. You'll want to get the brackets off of the frame too. And yes it does make a difference, especially if you install a rear bar too.

Both CPP and ECE sell kits to install sway bars as well.

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

idk what the camaro calipers look like but if you say so lol

btw i just realized that there is no sway bar on my truck. is there a kit i can get to put one on or would it make much of a difference?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by chev-obsession

idk what the camaro calipers look like but if you say so lol

btw i just realized that there is no sway bar on my truck. is there a kit i can get to put one on or would it make much of a difference?

Definitely makes a difference. Post-73 HD trucks have solid 1.25" bars that can be swapped on the cheap side (use Energy Suspension poly bushings for even better results).

[chev-obsession]

that sounds like a thing to look for at the junk yard

[chev-obsession]

Its been a while since i have been on, but i got the frame, control arms and motor mounts painted with por15 finally!!! Ball joints are in, and control arms are bolted up. I need to paint the original springs because the new springs are 2'' drop as well as the spindles and it will be too low for me. The brakes are swapped over to the correct spindles now. QUESTION: when doing a v-8 swap do i move the motor mounts to the forward holes or rear holes? I still have quite a ways to go. Here are some pics of the little progress i made.....

[Captainfab]

The factory location for the V8 motor mounts is in the rear holes. Some guys insist on moving them forward for better distributor to firewall cleaeance with the HEI. I've run small blocks with the HEI in the rear position and had enough clearance.