Project Reno - 72 cheyenne rebuild

[cmabolt]

OK, So got another set of decal made up for the engine cover. Had the little lady massage them on and they turned out fantastic. Amazing how some small ticket items can really make a difference.


And the finished product!

I was going to paint the cover with gloss trim paint, but kinda like the stock sheen it has going on. Any opinions on that?

[rgunlock]

I vote for the stock sheen. All these finishing touches are making a big difference - kind of taking it from "that's a really nice truck" to "man, I want my truck to look like that!".

[Trixxterr]

Loving this build.. I have got to get mine out of the weeds and do something w it.

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

I vote for the stock sheen. All these finishing touches are making a big difference - kind of taking it from "that's a really nice truck" to "man, I want my truck to look like that!".

Originally Posted by Trixxterr

Loving this build.. I have got to get mine out of the weeds and do something w it.

Thanks guys! I am pretty happy with the way the vinyl came out. Rick, I think I agree. I'm gonna leave the stock sheen and not clear coat it.

So, I have been chasing an intermittent coolant leak and finally it has begun to be a more consistent leak. The water pump is gonna need to be replaced. No big deal as I was going to have to install the new AC bracket setup so might as well get it out of the way and do it all at the same time. I'm actually happy it happened when it did. At least I can drive her from here on out knowing I have a new AC Delco pump on there. This week I should be able to wrap up the odds and ends I have had to deal with.

I was able to re-locate the wheel spacers and it eliminated about 50 percent of the vibration, but not all. I may need to have a custom set made and or check the driveshaft for balance.

[cmabolt]

New Holley AC brackets installed. I am very impressed with the engineering on these. Fit together nicely and looks like a stock setup. After install, not a squeak from the belt.

[ssuth9]

Looks Awesome.. Great Job again Little Lady..

Steve

[DWilbur]

What brackets did you have before that caused the sqeeeek. I'm using the brackets from Vintage Air.

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

What brackets did you have before that caused the sqeeeek. I'm using the brackets from Vintage Air.

Unfortunately, I was using the kwik setup from vintage. I got about 400 miles out of it before it started to squeak. It was aligned perfectly and still had issues.
I never liked that setup but at the time I think it was the only setup available for our trucks. Now there are many to raise the compressors away from the frame. I will see how the Holley setup performs over time and report back. I have heard some people have had good luck with the kwik setup. I am just not one of them.

[DWilbur]

I will keep my finger crossed I don't have issues.

[cmabolt]

This past week I was able to finish off the truck gremlins. I installed the new ecu in the vintage air unit which fixed the blower issue. Now I have heat and soon AC. Just in time I got the speedometer set correctly and the new water pump fixed my leak. Ahhhhhhh. So, to celebrate I purchased some LED bulbs for the cargo, courtesy, tag, glovebox and AC controls to complete the LED bulb replacements. Now the entire interior is LED. I used superbrightled.com as my source. They have about every bulb imaginable in LED.

After getting the interior finished up, my speakers sounded pretty anemic. The custom steel trim panels for speakers behind the seats look great, but offer little in terms of speaker sound reinforcement. I needed to enclose them. I built 2 steel enclosures off of a template to seal up the area behind the speakers and that seems to have been the trick. It improved sound a lot. I do need to add a single subwoofer to the system and that shouldn't be a problem with the enclosure I built behind the seat. I just need to upgrade the amp to drive everything.

That will be a bit as the amp is expensive.

As for the vibration, I took the driveshaft off and back to the company that modified it for me. They checked it for balance and it was 3/8 off.
Bingo!!! They fixed it for free. I reinstalled it and the vibration is gone. Hopefully there isn't something going on that throws it out of balance. If there is I have never heard of that happening. Bad yoke etc.?? who knows. What a difference though now as it's soooo much smoother to drive.

Now that I have some confidence in the truck, I started testing the power a little bit. On sunday, I hammered the pedal at a stop light and much to my surprise, broke the tires loose and got pretty sideways. The LS motors are just amazing. Reliable, decent mileage and plenty of power in reserve. couldn't be happier with that decision.

[rgunlock]

woohoo! All great news.

[DWilbur]

That's good to hear the gremlins are gone. the truck looks great.

[swamp rat]

Glad your getting it all worked out!

[my67chevytruck]

Awesome Build, hope to get back on my build in the near future...

[cmabolt]

A few tidbits to report

Well, as I think I mentioned prior, the stereo was a little anemic so I upgraded the amp and added a subwoofer to the stereo system.


I ordered a 4 channel amp JL Audio and JL 8" sub to compliment the 6.5" speakers behind the seats. This definitely did the trick. I of course had to modify the box behind the seat so Modify I did.

I made a bump out on both drivers and passengers sides. Behind the passengers seat I made a small sealed box for the sub. Behind the drivers seat I made a small compartment for the scissor jack and handle so it can be grabbed easily with the seat slid forward. It all fits perfectly and really happy now with sound and accessibility of the jack. Almost like it was meant to be there all along.

So, now just enjoy for a while longer before the snow creeps up on us.
Chris

[y5mgisi]

Nice!

[77K10Silverado]

Awesome thread!

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Nice!

Originally Posted by 77K10Silverado

Awesome thread!

Thanks guys! Really appreciate it.

[mcbassin]

Looking good! Digging all the upgrades. Keep up the good work

[cmabolt]

Hi everybody and Happy New Year to all!

Well, had some down time and decided to get back into the vibration issues on Reno. Yes, It's back. Today I replaced the wheel spacers with billet pieces and once drilled they fit tight with little to know movement whatsoever.

Since I had the driveshaft re-balanced and that solved the issue for a bit, but worsened over time, I was told it might be a warped yoke. So, next I pulled the driveshaft and inspected the rear transfer case yoke. I put the truck in gear and ran it in first gear while underneath watching the yoke spin. It did have a little wobble. Next I removed the yoke and watched the shaft. It was true. i ordered a replacement 1310 yoke, so will try that. I wanted to upgrade the axle shafts as well, but those will be last resort.

[swamp rat]

Welcome back!

[cmabolt]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Welcome back!

Thanks swamp rat. Good to see your back at it as well!

I decided I might as well get these last few things taken care of while the truck is in cold storage this winter. Hopefully one of these two things is the culprit. Once it warms up a bit I am going to get back into the interior, well door panels and console to be specific, and do some more wood treatment.

For now though, working on the smooth non-vibratory ride.

Chris

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by cmabolt

After going through all this with the Novak hydraulic kit I am going to do some drawings and a write up to make it easier. There is definitely a gap between what they give you for installation and what is truly needed to easily understand how to make it work well.

Did you ever get this info posted? Anything you would share with someone wanting to use the wilwood/Novak combo? Still working well?

Killer build, by the way. Hope you're enjoying her

[cmabolt]

Hi Chris. here are the drawings I did. Hope this helps. I thought they might be as confusing as the Novak site directions? My system is still working well. Best clutch pedal feel I have ever had.


Good luck Chris

[rgunlock]

Ok Chris, been some time since there's been an update on this thread. I need a little better closure on this I think you need to post at least a few pictures of how the truck's being used, or places it has taken you to. Help a guy out, please