The Old Yeller Resurrection Project

[RedRider]

Getting everything cleaned up and ready for assembly. Thought I would try some POR-15 on the front coil springs:

[RedRider]

Got the front brakes and steering put back together this weekend:



The hardest part is the dust cap, which as you can see I still haven't gotten on right.

[RedRider]

Ran into my first "red flag" rust spot of this project, front lower fender (passenger):

Without the flash, which helps characterize the extent of the damage:

Inside:

That little-inner pocket was FULL of rusted junk; I even found an old steak knife (a great place to hide a murder weapon I guess )
Yes, the best answer is to replace the fender, but POR-15 has been working wonderfully for me lately. I plan to paint the truck though, so a short-term fix may not be feasible?

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by redrider

i even found an old steak knife (a great place to hide a murder weapon i guess )

hahahhhahaha!!!

[RedRider]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

hahahhhahaha!!!

[RedRider]

Bed is off!


For all the bolts, I used the "tighten-until-they-snap" technique as described in other threads. This had about a 90% success rate; the rest of them came off via cutoff-wheel. I would recommend a breaker bar instead of an impact gun though, as you get a better feel for the torque and the subsequent bolt break.


Also, there was quite a wasp infestation:


I liked this one, they sure know how to adapt!


Oh, and if anyone needs a couple bedsides and/or a steel floor, let me know:

[RedRider]

Hauled home my SWB steel floor. Thanks @Smitty for hooking me up.



Then another trip up to Brother's Trucks to haul down a parts order. It was cool to see the place in-person; their staff was very helpful and friendly.

[RedRider]

Frame chop is on the horizon, so I figured it would be good time to finish some pending projects before diving into that.

Installed new SS lines. Routing the pre-bent lines was fairly straightforward. Valuable tip: Save the OLD lines for reference until you've installed the new ones.



No connection issues with the flex line to the caliper, although it doesn't look right when I installed it...no sure how the snake is suppose to coil:



Finally, I cleaned and painted the rusty-ol brake booster:

[RedRider]

Made some progress over the holiday weekend, got the frame cut down and reassembled. Aside from a few hiccups, the Brothers conversion kit was great. I created a separate thread here detailing my experience:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=753975

Ready to cut:


Finished product:



And here's what you get in return for all that hard work:

[RedRider]

Before the bed goes back on I need to paint the rear frame and suspension. Just like the front, I took a wire wheel to everything behind the cab. It was tough, but effective. Then I used a pressure washer for the nooks and crannies (and sprayed off the cab as well).

Before:


After:


Ready for some POR-15:


Some questions:
1) Would it be worth changing the diff oil at this point?
2) Worried some water got in the wheel cylinders so I sprayed some brake cleaner in there to dry it out? See any problem with that?
3) Plan to paint the frame, trailing arms, axle and underside of bed with POR-15, any places it SHOULDN'T be applied? I'm aware of its UV sensitivity.

[OL SKOOL]

The por 15 co. does make a chassis saver paint that is uv tolerant.I used this on front end suspension parts before.Acts the same as por 15.I think i paid like $38 a quart.

[RedRider]

I fit the new bedsides onto the floor yesterday. the driver side bolted up flawlessly, yet the passenger didn't line up exactly. By exactly, I mean the floor bolts are about 1/2 inch off alignment.



Visually, everything looks great, all the lines are good and the gaps are symmetrical. Maybe I just got a bad bedside with the mounting holes shifted slightly? If that's the case, I'll just drill out the bed to accommodate the bedside. Reasonable approach right?

[RedRider]

I'm embarrassed to say that I accidentally cut the fuel return line while chopping the frame. Therefore, I had to craft a new one out of stock 5/16 steel line. Not bad eh?

[RedRider]

I wanted to add some info here for myself and anyone who purchases the complete steel bed bolt kit from Brothers (or from anywhere else I imagine).
There are four types of bolts in the kit, and determining their placement can be confusing.

The long bolts obviously attach the bed to the frame.

The hex bolts are for the inside wheel wells

The Phillips head bolts are for the tailgate

The 9/16 bolts are for bolting up the front panel

The rest of the carriage bolts are for the bed floor and external wheel tubs

Hopes this helps someone in the future. I’m trying to decide how I want to paint the inside of the bed without painting the nice shiny new bolts.

[RedRider]

Slowly making progress on some little tasks around the truck:

1) Installed a new battery tray (old one was lost to the typical rust in that area. The radiator support had a bit as well, but I'm not going to worry about it for now)

2) New heater core housings (thanks Smitty) since the old one split apart when I pulled it away from the firewall



3) New radiator support bushings (as you can see, the old ones were pretty shot):



4) New driveshaft. Drilling/grinding out the rivets of the carrier bearing bracket was a real pain in the butt!



5) Installed the old tailgate back on, with a new set of trunnions:



Next up is the carb and intake. I gave up on the Edelbrock carb and found a deal on a Performer RPM Air-gap intake/Demon carb combo. Stay tuned.

[rjs53]

Great job! When you shortened the driveline, did you shorten both pieces or just the front?

[RedRider]

Originally Posted by rjs53

Great job! When you shortened the driveline, did you shorten both pieces or just the front?

I scrapped the two-piece driveshaft. The cost to chop it down and rebuild it (including the carrier bearing) was more than a new one-piece driveshaft, so it was an easy decision.

Typically though, you take the length out of the front-end of the driveshaft.

[RedRider]

New wheels came in yesterday, corvette rallys from Speedway Motors. Bowtie derby caps from Summit.

Just doing a little test-fit, thinking maybe a 275/60 tire?

[Smitty]

Just found this part of your post Josh! It's looking great. I think that I'm running 275/60's on the rear and 255/60's on the front. Only problem with that is you can't rotate. But as little as I'm likely to travel that shouldn't present a problem.

[mattfranklin]

Looking great!

[RedRider]

Went with 275/60 Cobras all around, I think they turned out pretty good mounted:

[KevinR]

Looking good! Neat that it’s got the family history.

[RedRider]

Found a great craigslist deal on this new Edelbrock intake and demon carb combo, gonna bolt it down tonight.

[RedRider]

Fired the engine up and the idle is a little rough.

Set the timing at 8 degrees, I think. DUMB QUESTION: what are are intervals of the timing marks on the timing chain cover? That is, how many degrees is each mark?

Gonna check the cylinder pressures next...

[RedRider]

Pressure test: