Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Low Elco]

Scott's good people. Dang, that's a good roll 'o wire! Can't wait to see what you do with it!

[Vic1947]

Made some progress on my "recycled" exhaust system. Welded out the tubing from the shorty header flanges to the butt splice at the electric cutouts. Plan to use Walker Mega Clamps to join the 2.5" tubing to the cutouts. That way I can remove things easier later on if needed. Scuffed everything and painted with high heat aluminum paint which hid a lot of evil. Added two more rubber insulated hangers on each side to keep all the pieces in place.

I was concerned that the metric bolts holding the cutout butterfly plate assembly and the turn down pipe together might vibrate loose. Too hot there for Loctite and not any room for locknuts. Ended up drilling all the bolt heads for safety wire. The AEM wideband O2 kits are due in on Monday, so I can weld the bungs in and that should just about do it for the exhaust.

With the mufflers and etc. final mounted, it looked like there'd be a lot of heat directed toward the fuel and brake lines running inside the passenger frame rail. Decided to go ahead and make an aluminum heat shield to protect them somewhat. Next trip to Sedalia, I'll take it along and punch some vertical louvers in it at Keith Daleen's shop. That should serve to vent any trapped heat behind the plate while still blocking the worst of it. Just in case I need to gain access to that section of the frame, I drilled and tapped 8-32 holes for stainless screws to hold the shield. After final assembly isn't the time to find out maintenance requires pulling the bed off.

[sduckworth13]

Looks real clean Vic.

[Vic1947]

Today I felt like working on small stuff like torque converter bolts and cotter pinning all the steering castle nuts. During the process I found an issue that needed attention. Namely, when the steering sector was turned all the way right, the idler arm hit the sway bar before the steering arm stop made contact. Not a good thing. I knew when I disassembled the front end for cleanup and paint, the steering arms didn't appear to be a matched set. I just didn't realize how different they were. On the driver side, the stop cast into the rear of the steering arm is at an acute angle which causes it to contact the pedestal on the A-arm correctly. However, on the passenger side, the stop extends straight back instead of angling inward. This allowed the wheels to turn much more to the right than they would to the left. The unwanted side effect was to cause the idler arm to contact the sway bar. The fix was to weld a small spacer to the stop. It now contacts the A-arm pedestal properly and the wheels track right and left equally.

[Low Elco]

Nice stuff!

[mcbassin]

Very clean work Victor! That exhaust looks great

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very clean work Victor! That exhaust looks great

Thanks, Mike. The AEM A/F gauges arrived around lunch today, so I was able to weld in the O2 sensor bungs and tidy up the tubes with some ceramic high heat paint. Soon as it dries completely, I can install them and be done with exhaust until it comes time to wire everything in.

Still waiting on the firewall and etc. from Eagle. They were closed for the holidays, which I think is great. Since I had a little time on my hands, here's a sneak peek at what's coming soon.

[mcbassin]

The paint looks really good on the pipes. I assume it hardens with heat?
Your sneak peak looks familiar to some of my recent fun.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Mike. The AEM A/F gauges arrived around lunch today, so I was able to weld in the O2 sensor bungs and tidy up the tubes with some ceramic high heat paint. Soon as it dries completely, I can install them and be done with exhaust until it comes time to wire everything in.

Still waiting on the firewall and etc. from Eagle. They were closed for the holidays, which I think is great. Since I had a little time on my hands, here's a sneak peek at what's coming soon.

Is this the first time you have done this? how hard is it to make the panels match after sections are removed?

[jlsanborn]

Anxiously await this!

[Low Elco]

Hee Hee Hee... Wanna have a tack weld party this weekend, Vic? The bed floors are nice and thick, no problem. This is gonna be good!

John's sittin' over there with his ears pricked up like one of them Meerkats. lessons from the Master await!

[sduckworth13]

Awfully quite over here Vic. I'm off tomorrow, if you need a hand let me know.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

The paint looks really good on the pipes. I assume it hardens with heat?
Your sneak peak looks familiar to some of my recent fun.

Hey Mike,
My past experience with the paint is that it does get a bit harder after some heat/cool cycles, but you need several coats as it tends to disappear off the areas of highest heat. The ceramic stuff lasts a bit longer than the high heat, but no paint I've found works as good as coatings like Jet Hot. I used stainless steel tubing, etc. on the silver truck, but even though it doesn't rust, it will still discolor.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Is this the first time you have done this? how hard is it to make the panels match after sections are removed?

Yes, this will be the first time I've tried this mod. From what I've read, the panels line up fairly well except for the lower quarter behind the wheel well. I have a shortbed patch panel for the passenger side rear quarter, so if that area turns out to be a problem on the driver side, I'll invest in the same panel for it as well.

The build threads that describe how to do this generally leave everything assembled while removing the unwanted sections. Then shove the pieces together and use a screwdriver to work the body lines together while tacking it all in place. I don't have the manpower for that approach, plus I think I can do a better job of finessing the body lines by working the panels individually. As soon as the firewall comes back from the metal blaster, I plan to finish up the floor and f/w on the cab, then it will be time to saw up the bed.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Hee Hee Hee... Wanna have a tack weld party this weekend, Vic? The bed floors are nice and thick, no problem. This is gonna be good!

John's sittin' over there with his ears pricked up like one of them Meerkats. lessons from the Master await!

Nope, but hold that thought ...it will happen soon enough!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Awfully quite over here Vic. I'm off tomorrow, if you need a hand let me know.

Thanks, Scott, I've been out of pocket for a few days working on another project. I finished up the exhaust and got it all assembled, then set to work on the center caps for the wheels. When the wheels come back from the blaster, I need to shoot the clearcoat on them and I'd like to do the caps at the same time. One of the machining processes required the services of a CNC shop, so I just finished up putting a slight dome on the centers and now I just need to machine the flats to make the shape of a hex nut. I appreciate the offer of help. You and Chip and Brian have all been very supportive. I'll be abusing all of you soon enough.

[lolife99]

Love the quality of this build!
Just a question,... why you are running drum brakes up front?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Love the quality of this build!
Just a question,... why you are running drum brakes up front?

Simply a matter of economics. When I acquired the truck, it had a decent set of six lug wheels as well as new drums and shoes. To convert to five lug and purchase a new tire/wheel package would be expensive. At the start, I wanted to get the truck on the road with a minimum cash outlay, but it's morphed into more of a money pit than I'd planned. So five lug discs and a new rolling stock will have to wait a while. I picked up a nice used power booster to help the drums do their job and I'm rarely in a situation where drum brake fade is an issue. Maybe later...

[lolife99]

Why not a 6-lug conversion for the front with the same rolling stock?
You can use Auto parts 71-87 HD calipers and bearings and even stock 5-lug spindles.
I would just spend $229 on a set of 63-70 conversion spindles.
And then use aftermarket 6-lug rotors.

[Low Elco]

I'll have some stock 1 1/4 disc spindles to donate soon, hopefully!

Anytime you need anything, (or just need beer-slurping comedy relief) don't hesitate to call, Vic. I'd be honored to help.

[lolife99]

Conversion spindles would keep you from having to change ball joints or tie rods.
Definitely worth the money.

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Scott, I've been out of pocket for a few days working on another project. I finished up the exhaust and got it all assembled, then set to work on the center caps for the wheels. When the wheels come back from the blaster, I need to shoot the clearcoat on them and I'd like to do the caps at the same time. One of the machining processes required the services of a CNC shop, so I just finished up putting a slight dome on the centers and now I just need to machine the flats to make the shape of a hex nut. I appreciate the offer of help. You and Chip and Brian have all been very supportive. I'll be abusing all of you soon enough.

Lol, good deal. The exhaust is looking great.

[jlsanborn]

Those center caps are going to be cool! So the CNC bit - are you doing a logo or something on them?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Those center caps are going to be cool! So the CNC bit - are you doing a logo or something on them?

No, I just wanted a 15.5" radius dome on the top and shoulder of the cap so they wouldn't be flat. Also when I mill the flats, there will be thin little half moon areas where the material is removed which should be an interesting feature. Logo isn't a bad idea, though. Might be cool to etch them instead of CNC. I'll have to think about it.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Why not a 6-lug conversion for the front with the same rolling stock?
You can use Auto parts 71-87 HD calipers and bearings and even stock 5-lug spindles.
I would just spend $229 on a set of 63-70 conversion spindles.
And then use aftermarket 6-lug rotors.

Thanks for the info, never considered doing a disc swap and keeping the six lugs. I definitely need to read your disc brake conversion thread.