Working Man's Burbon

[richard2717]

If it had 3rd row seating this is what the underbody support would look like. It is the same as the one on the Blazers


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[CG]

Geeze I dunno why it just hit me ... I had to drive down to Portland several days in a row this week. I should have contacted you to check out your Burb!!!

[HO455]

"Originally Posted by HO455 View Post
I wonder at what stage in the assembly process the wood was installed at the factory. It is hard to believe there was any cost savings for GM by using wood instead of a metal pan.
(Photo #4)."

While under the truck I started thinking that maybe they had to use wood to fulfill a contract obligation to a woodworking union. But sound deading is a good idea. It certainly is loud without any wood. And I haven't even left the driveway.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by CG

This thread is one of the reasons that I sometimes think it would be better to have all of our trucks grouped in one area instead of split up. Sure there is some burb specific stuff you are doing, but overall this is just a really good build thread with a ton of great ideas and fixes. Things that everyone, no matter what they are building would benefit from.

Blazers was an area I seldom looked at until I picked up a SWB K10 truck project. My thinking was they would have a similar overall look because the wheel base was so close. There was so much stuff there that pertains to all of our trucks, I wish I would have dug in earlier

Thanks for a very good build thread. You are doing a great job!

Thank you very much.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by richard2717

If it had 3rd row seating this is what the underbody support would look like. It is the same as the one on the Blazers


.

I assume it would be somewhere in the area of the rear axle?

[HO455]

Originally Posted by CG

Geeze I dunno why it just hit me ... I had to drive down to Portland several days in a row this week. I should have contacted you to check out your Burb!!!

That would of been cool. Except this week would have not been the best. Not only am I doing this, but my better half had her hip replaced last week and I'm also doing all the cooking, cleaning, toting, and fetching too. This paper hanger needs an extra arm.

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by HO455

I assume it would be somewhere in the area of the rear axle?

yes it falls in directly behind the other cross member
it is in the far left of this pic, not what i am pointing at

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[HO455]

Originally Posted by richard2717

yes it falls in directly behind the other cross member
it is in the far left of this pic, not what i am pointing at

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That makes sense. The support piece just aft of that one is different than mine is. Mine is flipped over with the flange edges down instead of up. Are other ones the same? I'm assuming your pointing at a seat belt attachment point.

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by HO455

That makes sense. The support piece just aft of that one is different than mine is. Mine is flipped over with the flange edges down instead of up. Are other ones the same? I'm assuming your pointing at a seat belt attachment point.

I have not had the opportunity to dismantle any 67' burbs so yours might be different but all of the 68-72 ones I have dismantled have been the same style I have shown. Here are a couple more pics. The far forward one you have for the middle seat is actually welded to the step down on the ones I have pulled.

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[HO455]

Interesting stuff. I wonder if there was some kind of issue with the second row staying in place in an accident and the cure was welding the plate to the step.

[HO455]

OK now back to our regularly scheduled repairs. After the removal of the wood yesterday and a bit of clean up I began the suspension part of the project.
The factory track bar needed to be replaced due to the usual issues involving lowering. I purchased an Super Track Bar from Early Chevy last winter and I can't think of a better time to install it. First off I jacked the truck up and put it on jack stands. The stands were placed under the trailing arms as the rear end would have to moved around to install the components. I had hit the U bolts with penetrating oil the night before to help get things off easier. Never the less I broke out the 1/2" bad boy impact to hurry things along. Good thing I did, as three of the four nuts fought a bit, but one of them flat out laughed at my 600 ft impact wrench. Time to get serious and apply some heat with the Mapp gas torch. A couple minutes of heat and bingo the last one spun right off. Tapping the U-bolts was went easy on one side but one bolt took some more oil and a bigger hammer before it moved. I'm pretty sure that the rear end was replaced with a junk yard special when they converted to five lug wheels. The track bar mount on the axle is damaged (Photo #1) and I can see no evidence that it hit any where on this truck.
The Super Track bar is a longer bar that comes with a new mount for the passenger side. This mount is sandwiched between the top of the trailing arm and bottom of the axle mounting pad. ( Photo #2) There is a spacer for the driver's side to make things sit the same. (Photo #3 See green arrow) As you can see in the photos the kit also provides new U-bolts. Now the fun begins. Torquing the nuts to the 225 ft lbs required. I knew there was a reason I had the torque wrench calibration check last winter. Man I remember years back torquing dozens of head bolts to 200+ pounds in a day. Now doing 4 bolts almost about did me in. I must have gotten old.
The only niggling item about the kit is there are too many threads sticking out of the nuts on the U-bolts. (Sorry I didn't get a photo but will try to tomorrow.) After a couple if hundred miles when the retorquing has been completed I will jump under the rear and cut them shorter.

[Average Joe]

Truckin' right along!

[HO455]

Rolled out today to finish the installation of the track bar before it starts to rain. Basically the alignment of the axle side to side in the frame was all that was left to do so I felt confident I could beat the Weatherman's prediction.
First step was to set the ride height and once that was achieved on both sides. I measured the frame and found the center line and marked it on the cross member. (Photo #1). And to allow me to measure directly to the top of the rim on each side i clamped a straght edge to the cross member. Then I had to rig away to move the chassis side to side to get the axle centered and then hold it where I wanted it until the track bar was bolted in position.
To get in the ballpark I used a Come-a-Long rigged from the trailing arm on the passenger side to the frame rail on the driver's side. (Photo #2 at the bottom) ( 3/4" was the smallest increment the Come-a-Long would let me make. They not really known for their accuracy ).
Then for fine adjustment I wedged a small bottle jack on the driver's side and pushed the axle over to center. (Photo #3). The bottle jack worked very well for this, allowing me to make 1/16" adjustments. Once the axle is centered the track bar now has to be lined up to the mount on the trailing arm.
The adjustment is made on the passenger side end of the track bar. You have to turn the end out and try to eye ball the hole in the bushing with the hole in the mounting bracket. The bushing fits snugly and is hard to get into position I so lubed the sides of the mount with some anti-seize and things went much easier. It took 3 tries for me to get the bushing adjustment right so the bolt would slide right through. Then when I released the bottle jack it looked like things moved quite a bit as the bushings deflected. But a quick remeasure of the axle showed only 1/16" of deflection well within the standards for this vehicle.
I then checked the tire to wheel well measurements. (Photos #4 & 5) There definitely is a difference when measuring from the outside. Probably some body deflection from fifty years of abuse. I know the rear of the frame is tweaked and currently one set of body mounts are not installed. It was about a 3/16" to 1/4" difference from side to side.

[HO455]

Couple more photos of the track rod installed. It looks like I need to clean up some anti-seize.
Since the promised rain had not yet arrived I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with these. (Last photo)
And it never did rain!!!

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Average Joe

Wow! Nice work and fantastic write up!!! Your abs must have really gotten a work out going back and forth so many times. Very creative idea though fastening the vice grips down.

Thank you Joe! Its allways go to hear from my southern neighbor.
I have to admit I only got to do the five at a time once. Most of the rest were 2's and 3's. But it still saved wear and tear on the Carharts.

[HO455]

After a relaxing afternoon wire wheeling the surfaces the wood bolts to I have a clear picture of the rust that is living in the WMB. The photos pretty much speak for themselves. I need to come up with a plan to deal with this.
One of these is not like the others. (Photo #3) PO fabricated mount for the rear paneling. (Photo #4). It doesn't look as if my Burban left the factory with the rear side panels as none of the paneling mounts/brackets match the trucks paint color. Or maybe someone wanted more noise and removed them.
In addition to the new track bar (It's a Super one!). I want to relocate the shocks to a more vertical position. This will require removing the factory mounts that are riveted to the cross member. First step for me is hitting the rivets with a disk grinder to make a flat spot so I can center punch a countersink for the pilot drill. This keeps the bit on center so I don't damage the hole. After the pilot (1/8") was drilled I used two step up bits (1/4" and 7/16") to drill the heads of the rivet down to the level of the cross member. Then a punch with a good hammer drives the rivet out without damage to the holes. I should mention I like to drill the pilot hole down past the bottom of the cross member. I feel this allows the rivet to collapse some as I drive it out. (Last photo). I didn't use the big chisel shown in the photo. I just like showing my big chisel off.

[HO455]

Last winter I made these shock mounts to relocate the shocks. (Photo #1)
I would like to thank member Lakeroadster for the thread on them.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=451200

They are not done yet. (No holes) When I mocked them up and I found that the notch where the shock mounting ring goes needs to be deeper to maintain clearance between the shock and the axle. I will lose a bit of vertical but it's better than having to dent the shock to install it.
One of the benefits of the air ride suspension is it is very easy to travel the suspension to check these things out. During the clearance checks with the bags aired out I measured from the lower shock bolt to where the new upper mount hole will be to get compressed shock length. The stock shocks are to long. My new measurement is 12.25 inches. I believe the factory shocks are 14 inches.
After several hours of research I have located what I think will be a good replacement shock. 1963 through 1973 Jeep Wagoner rear shocks are 11.25 compressed and 17.75 extended. Plus they are from a comparable vehicle. That would give me one inch of room for the bumpstop to compress before the shock bottomed out internally. Peace of mind for me as I'm pretty sure that once the wood and the second row seats and the spare tire are installed the bumpstop will compress more than it did today.
Jeep CJ5's and 7's front shocks would be a slightly longer shock with a 11.6 compressed and 18.1 extended length, but they would be valved for the heavier front end. They maybe a good choice if I find the Wagoner shocks to soft.
As a side note there are some differences in shock lengths for specific vehicle applications between different manufacturers. Especially in the aftermarket upgrade shocks. Rancho shocks in particular I found have compressed lengths that are longer by at least an inch than what the OE shocks are listed as.
As much as I would like to bolt the shocks in from above before the floor gets installed it is probably a good idea to wait and see what the compressed height will be with everything installed. At this point in life I'm pretty much out of coupons.

[HO455]

I got the upper shock mounts finished today. In order to keep the shock from hitting the axle at maximum extension I had to deepen the notch a lot more than I expected to. (Photo #1) It was about an additional 1/2" to make sure there would be no problems down the road.
With the notches finished I drilled the mounting holes and bolted the mounts to the cross member so I could then determine where to drill the holes for the shock bolt.
This involved mocking up the shock in postion. To make sure I had enough clearance between the axle and shock body I put a 3/16" magnet on the side of the shock for a spacer. (Photo #2 at end of green line.) (The photo shows the magnet not perfectly centered which is a result of the photo I took during the actual process was too blurry to use, so I when I went back to get another photo I was too concerned about trying to get a clear photo I didn't notice the magnet was off center until now. Dhoo!)
I made a black mark on the white shock bumper disk to represent the center of the hole in the shock's bushing. (Photo #3) Once everything looked to be in the correct position I made the silver mark on the mount to represent the center line of the shock bolt. (Photo #3 again)
Then it was unbolt the mounts and clamp them in the drill vice. I used a washer of the same diameter of the rubber bushing in the shock. I put the very bottom edge of the bushing even with the mount and then laid the washer on the mount to mimic the bushing's position. With the hole in the washer centered on the silver mark. (Photo #4) A small magnet held the washer in place while I marked the hole. Then it was center punch the hole and drill a pilot hole and then a 1/2" hole in both sides from the one pilot hole. (I Cheated and used a drill press.)
The last photo shows the difference in the two mounting locations.

[HO455]

During the breaks in the rain I got parts cleaned up and some of them painted. And I finished up the bolts for the back angle piece when it was raining. (If you're watching Richard I should get them shipped tomorrow.) I dropped the back angle piece at a sheet metal shop to have them bend me up some so I can try to replicate my rusty one. I was hoping they could do the countersunk spots (Photo#2) but was told they couldn't. Looks like it will turn into another project of it's own.

I picked up new fasteners at Winks Hardware. I didn't think I would have any luck finding the little inserts with the points to catch the wood and a square hole for the carriage bolts. They are used for the bolts going through the 3 support pieces. (Photo #3 shows the originals and photo #4 shows the new one with an old one for comparison. They did have some but they are definitely larger. Which will mean drilling a larger hole. I will try to reuse as many of the old ones as possible but, I think about 1/3 of them are too rusted.
I also noticed a discrepancy in my bolt count. I believe that said there were 11 of the wide headed carriage bolts (bolt #1 in the photo). But having looked at things closer I believe there should be 12 of them. The bolt in question was in a particularly rotten spot and the head looked smaller due to it wasting away from rust. I will edit the earlier post if it will let me.

[HO455]

I spent several hours today making a pair of dies to countersink the holes in my new rear angle. I think the photos are pretty self explanatory. Basically a male and a female with a dowel pin to guide them. The idea is to drill a hole in the angle and then put the angle between the dies and them force them together with a press. I did get 2 spare angles made just in case things don't work as expected.

[LockDoc]

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Good deal! Looks good. Let us know how it works for you.

LockDoc

[HO455]

The first test of the die set revealed a problem. The top side was great (Photo #1) but the bottom was not correct. I used a 1/4" hole for my pilot which was too large. When the metal is deformed it stretches the hole and makes it larger. This in turn reduced the amount of material to make the square hole the correct size. (Photo #2). Basically I was able to push the bolt in with my thumb. Admittedly I used a thinner piece of stock than the actual material for the truck, but it was handy and as a proof of theory it did the job.
The cure was to make a pair of bushings and use a 3/16" pilot. I found some large 1/4" pop rivets removed the center pin, head on the end and cut them to length. Then drilled them to 3/16" on the lathe (To make sure the hole was centered) and I was ready for the second test run.
It was a success! I found a piece of a fender off a 90's Buick I scrapped that is near the same size as the angle. The jack on my "Toys are Us" press doesn't even start to work and the countersink is made. The photos show it all.
Some notes are I had to make sure the pilot holes in the stock were deburred completely or things don't work properly. And I used some anti-seize on the dies to allow the metal to slide easily.
The next step will be to file the holes square. I don't have a square file anywhere near the size I need so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

[HO455]

More photos from previous posting.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by HO455

More photos from previous posting.

Wow, that worked pretty slick. It shouldn't take too long to file them with a good square file.

LockDoc

[HO455]

Thanks Doc. I have to admit it works better than I thought it would. It took me about 10 minutes to do the set of four including drilling the holes.

Saturday was POR-15 day. I used a brush and went around the perimeter of the cab where the wood bolts up along with the 3 underside support rails. For the front end I decided to treat it with POR-15 and leave it for now. After having read 04ls1GTO's thread on repairs to the step up area I decided that much work would exceed the amount of time I have at present. And thankfully the rust demon hasn't run wild there yet. I would like to thank him for his great thread.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=724682

To optimize the coverage I got with the POR-15 on the front edge. Used a scraper to separate the top piece of metal from the bottom piece. The majority of the rust was on the top piece which was next to the wood. Now I had about 3/16" gap between the two pieces on the rear edge. When I applied the paint I loaded the brush with paint on one side and then scraped the paint off on the top piece. The paint then was heavily applied to the under side of the top piece. Then I used a air nozzle with only 10 psi of pressure to blow the paint to the front edge of the gap between the two pieces. I felt this would make sure I had as much paint coverage as possible. Seeing paint bubbling up from pinholes in the top piece helped confirm my theory. I would paint about 6 inches of the gap and then take some pliers and close the gap back together.
The idea being if I waited until the paint was dry to close the gap there would be areas that the paint might crack as the metal was bent. The paint still being wet should help seal the area and slow if not block further oxidization. There were no photos taken of this process but if anybody has questions I could get some after the process photos


I got some miscellaneous things done today. I replaced the replacement compressor mount I installed quite awhile ago. It worked fine with the original compressor but the new compressor weighs more and I could hear the mount flexing when going over bumps on the freeway. It wasn't really terribly noisy but I knew it would only be a matter of time until it flexed enough times to break. (Photo #1 old mount). Not to mention the fact that the old mount always seemed to be in the way when ever something needed to be done to the compressor or the tank. Photo #2 shows the new flat bar strap mounts I used and photo #3 shows the completed compressor mounting.
Last photo is the painted support rails.