67 Plain Jane C10 396 build

[rustytruck50]

Cool project!!

[ghalperin]

Today I replaced the home brew sunvisor with a good used fawn sunvisor and I also repaired my broken driver's door limit strap with new pads from Classic Parts.

[ghalperin]

Swapped out the Chinese stainless mirror head for an OE factory white mirror head. It looks much better.

[rustytruck50]

Looking real nice!
On a different note, have you competed in the Race of Gentlemen?

[ghalperin]

Originally Posted by rustytruck50

On a different note, have you competed in the Race of Gentlemen?

Unfortunately not, my Banger raced it in 2014. Next weekend, I'm working the Pismo event; I'll be working the Friday night party and pits all weekend. I'm also building a 29 AV8 Roadster for next years race.

[rustytruck50]

Sure sounds like a great time! I need to get out to California some time just to take in the car culture! There are some really neat cars around here, but it's like people are afraid to get them out and have fun with them other than attending car shows....never have figured that out...

[Orange67]

Love the idea of this build. Good luck!

[ghalperin]

I had to stop using my truck, due to a leaking core plug. The core plug was the hardest one to change, behind the flywheel.

My 396 isn't ready and I missed driving it.

So, last week I decided to fix the core plug and perform some other maintenance. The coolant was non existant, so while I had the engine out, I pulled the head and replaced the gasket, the old one was still fine. I also replaced all the other steel core plugs and the intake gaskets. After I reinstalled the engine, I flushed the cooling system several times and then replaced the water pump, thermostat, hoses, belt, cap and new coolant.



I had purchased a carb kit months ago, so I decided to rebuild the carb. I soaked it in my ultrasonic tank and it came out great.



I runs like a champ and purrs like a kitten. I may keep this engine for another project after I swap it out. But for now, I can drive it.

[Jason7121]

Nice work on the engine. Maybe one day we will see each other in pismo. I'm not to far away in Visalia ca.

[ghalperin]

I just picked up a 72 rear end with 3:08 gears and while I'm in there; change the trailing arm cross member (I have one with adjustable mounts for pinion angle), C notch kit, trailing arm bushings, rear springs and blocks, shocks, u-joints, adjustable track bar, GM Trans Am sway bar and 5 lug wheels. Probably easiest if I pull the bed.

And then I go to the front end; drop spindles with disc brakes, power brake booster and master, springs, shocks, sway bar, power steering box and pump, and 5 lug wheels. Replace all control arm bushings and steering linkage. And then align it.

I wonder how much I can get done this weekend? I have all the parts taking up space in my garage.

[ghalperin]

My Pypes exhaust system finally came in yesterday, after being on backorder.

So I got the ball rolling. Since, I'm cutting out 3 crossmembers and changing the cab mounts, I pulled the body.



All by myself. I used a 10 ft 2x2 with a bow in the middle and put a 1x6 fence board on top of it. I had thought of making a fancy jig, but this worked fine.



Last night, I pressure washed to chassis to remove the layer of desert dust. (It's a good rust inhibitor).


This morning, I'm going to tackle the 50 years of baked grease on the control arms and front cross member. I'm soaking it in engine degreaser.



I also sold the 250 yesterday, it was a productive day.

[68bowtie]

looking good. nice progress.

[hotrodchevy1999]

good looking 67 I am in to watch your build

[darkhorse970]

Nice build, subscribed

[SatinSeventy2]

Originally Posted by ghalperin

Dazza Photoshopped the COPO caps, yellow wheels and lowered height:

Yes sir...that's the look!!!

[ghalperin]

Thanks guys.

Today it was more of the same. All the zerk fittings had a solid mound of baked on grease. It has all original ball joints and control arm shafts. They appear to be in pretty good shape, although I purchased all new Moog replacements. I'll make a decision after I have the arms off. I picked up some Zep oven cleaner to attack the grease. I coated the front end with it and went to town on the rivet removal.

44 rivets took about an hour and a half. I'd blast the head off with the chisel, then let the compressor build back up to 140 psi and hit the next one. After I had all the heads off, I went back and knocked the rivet out with a punch shaped bit. A good Snap On air hammer and a new chisel bit, made it quick work. I'm sure my neighbors hated it, although I only had one visit from an enquiring mind.



After that fun, I pressure washed again and then coated the front end again with oven cleaner. Some scraping and another pressure wash and at least the frame is almost clean enough to proceed.



I got the frame up on my scissor lift and started removing the front suspension. I got the steering linkage and shocks off, but couldn't get the ball joints to come loose. I broke out the Victor persuader, but ran out of acetylene. I started on the rear suspension, but again I need the torch. Tomorrow I'll get some gas and start again.

[54Caddy]

That escalated quickly hahahah. Looking good

[ghalperin]

After I got another tank for the welder, I started heating up the spindles. The ball joints have never been touched, so they were stuck. After a few grease fires and a 6 b. sledge hammer, I got the ball joints loose. It's been a while since I removed front control arms with coil springs, it was a good thing that I had the correct spring compressor.

It turns out that the shafts are junk, so all new Moog parts are going in the control arms.

I moved to the rear ended and started heating up the trailing arms where the
U-bolts go through it. A few whacks with the sledge hammer and the U-bolts came right out. The trailing arm, track bar and spring retainer bolts were next, a little heat and they were convinced to come out.

Since the rear was pretty bare and I was getting tired of turning wrenches, I decided to start on the C notch. 6 more rivets that I didn't notice, ugh. At least the Snap On air hammer bangs them out pretty quick.

I got some C notch brackets for free, but they don't fit very well. I'll go by CPP tomorrow and pick up a kit. From looking at photos on their website, they look like they'll fit a little better. While I'm up there, I'll also stop by The Truck and Car Shop, I've got a short list of parts still needed.

The scissor lift makes it so much easier to work on. It's rated for 6,000 lbs, so I'll contilue using it for my trucks. In the past, I've only had Porsches and light cars on it.

[ghalperin]

Today I went to Napa, The Truck and Car Shop and CPP. The CPP C-notches fit well and all the holes line up pretty well.




I spent some time and finished stripping the frame. Time for more pressure washing and scraping.




I have a bent rear crossmember. It's the very last one. I'm going to try to find another one, before attempting to straighten it.

[Jason7121]

Early classics make a rear crossmember that you can use when putting a tank under the bed. Doing some nice work btw.

[ghalperin]

Originally Posted by Jason7121

Early classics make a rear crossmember that you can use when putting a tank under the bed. Doing some nice work btw.

Thanks for the lead. I looked online at the ECE crossmember. They have a horrible photo, it's hard to tell what it looks like. I'm going to try to get a perfect used one. If not, I'll call them, it's only $45 plus the ride.

I'm adding a Blazer tank to the rear to have 40 gal. total capacity.

My Blazer tank fits almost perfectly, it's like the frame and tank were made for each other. I'll have to dimple the top of the frame for the filler neck. I'll do that when I dimple the side of the frame for the power steering box. I saved one of the lower control arm shafts to help shape the frame.

[Jason7121]

Great idea on that. The crossmember comes with hardware and fits pretty good. Give then a call on the blazer tank option there good about advice on stuff like that.

[ghalperin]

Since the rear crossmember was bent, it had to come out. I also forgot to remove an exhaust hanger for the I6. Six more rivets came out in a few minutes.

I decided to try and straighten the crossmember in my 20 ton press. I spent about 10 minutes on it and it came out pretty straight. One less part to buy.



Next on the list was mounting the C-notches. The hardest part was drilling 10 7/16" holes in the frame.



Once the C-notches were installed it was time to dimple the frame for the Blazer tank. I positioned the tank in place, marked the spot to be dimpled and broke out the torch. I used one of the old lower control arm shafts and my 6 lb sledge to get the clearance for the neck on the tank. I only had to heat the frame twice and I was done.



I mocked up the V8 crossmember and the POL trailing arm crossmember.

[ghalperin]

I then spent some time removing the lower ball joints and cleaning the control arms. The original ball joints were not cooperating so I applied some heat. They came right out using my OTC ball joint press.

I positioned the power steering box in place to mark the spot for the frame divot.




I then noticed that the front of the steering box is hitting the core support mount. I wasn't aware that this needed to be trimmed.




Is there a pattern to follow when trimming the mount?

[54Caddy]

What's that v8 crossmember for exactly???