Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[chevy_man5]

Having the straight on pictures make it easier to be accurate. From the middle like that one is, perspective comes into play. I can give it a whirl though!

[piratexpress1369a]

McMurphy you have to post up what he gives you ..play nice now lol

[chevy_man5]

Pirate, you are first in line when I get that far.

When I get the basics for the '60 - '63 done, and the '64 - '66 done, it is just tweaks to make them fit the specifics for each year, so it will be semi-easy to modify the drawings.

Got the rear view of my truck almost done last night. I'll post them all up in my thread once I get them done.

[McMurphy]

Well I tell ya....
Talk about a forehead smacking weekend.

Bad enough I didnt do the proper research and bought the external coil spring compressors, because then I could not figure how to get the clearance once they were installed, to back them off. There just was no physical way of doing it that I could find!

But then a couple weeks ago, I had gotten my upper and lower ball joints and when asked at the parts store I totally told them it was for a 66 half ton. It never crossed my mind to tell them I needed them for a 1981 GMC 1500 (which was the donor front end for my spindles and disc brakes...). What ensued yesterday was a long and painful lesson in trying to install ball joints that were about 1/2 inch too short.



Yes I did totally destroy a complete set on one side.
The threads on the upper ball joint were stripped down to a smooth shaft, and I ballooned the bottom of the lower joint to the point that it looked pregnant!

I am not one to generally string cuss words into full sentences or fling tools (particularly my 8lb sledge) around but I succumbed to the tidal wave of frustration and had the first temper tantrum of my life since age 3.....

Thankfully I have a wife that picks up on these hard to read mood changes and she took a quick Youtube peek, then came down stairs and showed me that it was my lack of good sense, and not my lack of skills that was the problem by holding up the old and the new joints to show me the length difference.
My non-calibrated eyes would have sworn they were identical

Anyways, I should post pics of my destruction so that generations to follow will not forget these awesome details when combining differing aged rigs...

Hope the rest of you had better progress than I did this weekend!!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

I am not one to generally string cuss words into full sentences or fling tools (particularly my 8lb sledge) around but I succumbed to the tidal wave of frustration and had the first temper tantrum of my life since age 3.....

Outatanding!!!
Now I feel that we are on the same level!!!
I had an episode just like this one during the weekend, when after 9 hours of total time block-sanding on a box-side (it was ready for paint), I noticed that one spot-weld where the upper outer meets the lower outer wasn't good. So I drilled the ledge thru the first thickness on the inside of the box & plug welded it. Simple fix right?
You can just imagine my response when I walked around to see that the primer was bubbled on the outside of the box!
I was so F-ing PO'd that I cussed out loud for about a half-hour(probably longer)
I feel your pain!

[Alan's Classic]

It's called tuition, the cost of learning. We all have moments like that. If you make the same mistake again then there might be an issue.
Posted via Mobile Device

[CRGRS 66]

[Jeff La]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

It's called tuition, the cost of learning. We all have moments like that. If you make the same mistake again then there might be an issue.
Posted via Mobile Device

The more you pay the better the lesson learned, I think that's how it works

[piratexpress1369a]

hard lesson from the school of hard knocks

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Outatanding!!!
Now I feel that we are on the same level!!!
I had an episode just like this one during the weekend, when after 9 hours of total time block-sanding on a box-side (it was ready for paint), I noticed that one spot-weld where the upper outer meets the lower outer wasn't good. So I drilled the ledge thru the first thickness on the inside of the box & plug welded it. Simple fix right?
You can just imagine my response when I walked around to see that the primer was bubbled on the outside of the box!
I was so F-ing PO'd that I cussed out loud for about a half-hour(probably longer)
I feel your pain!

Modges, I am just glad it was not a person that was the object of my outburst. No doubt many police and at least one hospital would have been involved had that been the case. LOL . Sometimes it amazes me the level of language I can sink to due to my Soldiering experiences.

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

It's called tuition, the cost of learning. We all have moments like that. If you make the same mistake again then there might be an issue.
Posted via Mobile Device

Someday I will be a graduate from this University of Life, and that might be a bad day indeed... I could not imagine you losing your cool like that on your build. I read every page and your build had some set backs, but seemed like it went very smoothly. Perhaps I did not read between the lines very well....

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Yes CRGRS, yes.

Originally Posted by Jeff La

The more you pay the better the lesson learned, I think that's how it works

You may be right Jeff, the higher the dollar amount the deeper the lesson learned...

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

hard lesson from the school of hard knocks

Yeesh, they suck sometimes dont they?

Ok boys and girls, todays lesson is to ALWAYS remember what the original vehicle was for the parts you are working on! This is what happens when you are working with 1981 suspension, but tell the kids at the parts store you want ball joints for a 1966:

This is as far as I can get those castle nuts on with the incorrect ball joints. This is finger tight, but trust me, they dont go much farther...


I am sometimes reminded that as a grown man, armed with power tools, it is possible to be mightier than things like nuts and bolts!! As soon as I took the socket off the castle nut and saw the hair-thin strands of metal I just knew what had happened....


No, boys and girls, these are NOT supposed to bulge on the end like that, eveyone that noticed right off gets a gold star for today!!


So now resupplied with another $130 worth of ball joints, I am ready to try this again. Oh, and I have the right spring compressor now too.... just sayin

[CRGRS 66]

Did you ever find your 8lb sledge?

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Did you ever find your 8lb sledge?

Yeah.... I can fling it like a manly man having a temper tantrum like a 3 year old child, but I am still not Superman. It did not go far after bouncing off the deflection plate on the bottom of the crossmember.

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.

Thanks for asking though, taking care of one's tools is important

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Yeah.... I can fling it like a manly man having a temper tantrum like a 3 year old child, but I am still not Superman. It did not go far after bouncing off the deflection plate on the bottom of the crossmember.

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.

Thanks for asking though, taking care of one's tools is important

We all have our moments, hope you are back on track my good man!

[clemdaddy]

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.
[/QUOTE]

well lets see... does a field goal kick of her cat count for uncontrolled anger.
when the cat decides my, new from the upholstery shop seat, is a scratching post, i can invent new profanity with a fast physical reaction... wifes still not speaking to me but i got the 3 point goal.

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

Scared the out of my poor wife though. I am usually the calm and collected voice of reason.

well lets see... does a field goal kick of her cat count for uncontrolled anger.
when the cat decides my, new from the upholstery shop seat, is a scratching post, i can invent new profanity with a fast physical reaction... wifes still not speaking to me but i got the 3 point goal.[/QUOTE]

yet another reason to dislike... if not detest cats

[McMurphy]

Ok... this is definately a support forum.
I like this !!

[McMurphy]

Has anyone used these?
They are Gabriel Load Carriers. We have these on both our Pontiacs and I really like the ride they give (and the look would fit this build awesome) !!



As I start my reassembly of this rig, I am probably going to be asking a lot of questions about parts like this, so any comments would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks guys, and yeah CRGRS I think I am tracking now.... until I melt down again!!

[fryer1979]

Wow, seems you've had a bit of a rough go at it for a bit. Like mentioned about though, that is the cost of knowledge sometimes. Glad to see that you have it under control, and are back on track. Aren't understanding wives/girlfriends great? lol. Keep it up my friend.

[fryer1979]

Question for ya, did you get your distributor orientation issue figured out? I know some tricks I use all the time from when I was a mechanic that are darn near fool proof....heck, they are Fryer proof, lol. I've never had one lined up wrong or fail to start on me yet (assuming parts are all good of course).

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

Question for ya, did you get your distributor orientation issue figured out? I know some tricks I use all the time from when I was a mechanic that are darn near fool proof....heck, they are Fryer proof, lol. I've never had one lined up wrong or fail to start on me yet (assuming parts are all good of course).

I have not revisited that issue yet, no.
Right now my front end has consumed me, and now I am on a short time table, wife and I are going home on leave next week so I am really trying to get the front end done and back on the truck before we bug out of here.

After the front end it should be engine and tranny install ..... then ???

[dbomb53]

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

well lets see... does a field goal kick of her cat count for uncontrolled anger.
when the cat decides my, new from the upholstery shop seat, is a scratching post, i can invent new profanity with a fast physical reaction... wifes still not speaking to me but i got the 3 point goal.

yet another reason to dislike... if not detest cats[/QUOTE]

LMAO!

[shok]

I have cats so kicking one seems idiotic to me at best.
I did have to throw a kleenex box at mine today tho, didn't exactly intimidate the little bastard.

[fryer1979]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

well lets see... does a field goal kick of her cat count for uncontrolled anger.
when the cat decides my, new from the upholstery shop seat, is a scratching post, i can invent new profanity with a fast physical reaction... wifes still not speaking to me but i got the 3 point goal.

Missed this the first time through, and it is a perfect example of one of the many reasons why I don't have cats anymore. I grew up with them and have always had them until a couple years ago...just got sick of it all I guess. I love my little Boxer pup!

Originally Posted by McMurphy

I have not revisited that issue yet, no.
Right now my front end has consumed me, and now I am on a short time table, wife and I are going home on leave next week so I am really trying to get the front end done and back on the truck before we bug out of here.

After the front end it should be engine and tranny install ..... then ???

Well, when you start getting close to the time to get back on it shoot me a PM. I've got a real easy way to get it all set in there right, and I'll bet it fires on the first try (again if everything else is working right). I'd be happy to help you out bud.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

Missed this the first time through, and it is a perfect example of one of the many reasons why I don't have cats anymore. I grew up with them and have always had them until a couple years ago...just got sick of it all I guess. I love my little Boxer pup!



Well, when you start getting close to the time to get back on it shoot me a PM. I've got a real easy way to get it all set in there right, and I'll bet it fires on the first try (again if everything else is working right). I'd be happy to help you out bud.

Thanks Fryer, I am going on vacation later this week, so it will certainly be September before I am ready to do this.
First though is getting my transmission completed so I can slide it in along with the motor in one stroke.

[McMurphy]

Sooooo I got some stuff done!!

Once I got the proper ball joints installing them was a piece of cake. The cool thing about learning things the hard way, is when you learn how to do them right.... well suddenly what you thought was going to be a cruddy task turns out to be not so bad at all.

After that it was a simple matter of putting everything back on it and completing the suspension. Bolting that sucker back onto the frame was quite a satisfying moment for me. Keep in mind I have never done anything so aggressive as this build before, so my small victories are pretty awesome still for me !!!

I knew before hand that the engine frame mounts were going to take some attention. This is how I attended to it:

The top of the frame mount where it bolts to the frame rail needed some holes drilled, and it had a 1/8" gap I was not happy with. I made these shim plates to fill at least half that gap space.



I also sunk a hole for the bottom of the frame mount so I would have 4 bolt points.


And here it is all together....


And here is my front end as it looks now! I got the PS pump on, and I really have to echo the props to Captain Fab for his adapter plate and the fantastic template and instructions he provides!! He stuff bolted right up like it was supposed to be there !!! Also that collapsible steering column shaft works like a charm too, and bolted right up to the rag joint on the PS pump.


I was so pumped up with putting stuff back on the truck that it was hard to stop, but a growling stomach convinced me it was time to head up and get some dinner and call it a day.