Ackattack's Pro touring restoration thread

[thor]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

I worked for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton for 7 years as an engineer. Moved back to KS to be closer to family with the kid and all.

Nice to be closer to family for sure. When you said you were an engineer and lived in Poulsbo I was guessing you worked at naval or sub base. Anywho, awesome truck and I look forward to the "little" things you want to change.
Posted via Mobile Device

[jcaugmented]

this is a cool truck man!

[Ackattack]

Ordered a few parts including an adjustable proportioning valve. I'm planning on getting rid of the disc-disc distribution block and just run the proportioning valve to see if that is the cause of the "not up to par" braking.

My wife asked me what I wanted for Fathers Day, and I told her that I wanted a whole day to work on the truck, so next weekend is the day (not sure which day right now). So I hope to get the truck all "finished". Just all the little things that I haven't gotten to.

With moving twice in 6 months and being busy with everything else, I just haven't gotten a good chance to work on the truck. Hopefully this will be it. Especially since I have the garage all set up now too .

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Ordered a few parts including an adjustable proportioning valve. I'm planning on getting rid of the disc-disc distribution block and just run the proportioning valve to see if that is the cause of the "not up to par" braking.

My wife asked me what I wanted for Fathers Day, and I told her that I wanted a whole day to work on the truck, so next weekend is the day (not sure which day right now). So I hope to get the truck all "finished". Just all the little things that I haven't gotten to.

With moving twice in 6 months and being busy with everything else, I just haven't gotten a good chance to work on the truck. Hopefully this will be it. Especially since I have the garage all set up now too .

Try this one. It is the closest to what would be on the truck if GM built it the way you did and is adjustable. It is reasonably priced too.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WIL-260-11179/

[Ackattack]

Got some work done on it. I replaced the CPP disk-disk distribution block with a summit adjustable proportining valve. No effect at improving the brakes. As I was driving around testing stuff out, I was also playing with the line lock. When I would turn it on, I could just keep driving right on through it, and my brake pedal would get hard. On previous cars with line lock, you could turn it on, and then push the brake pedal in to build additional pressure. The the light bulb (in my head) turned on!

I had the line lock solenoid plumbed in bassacwards. The input line was going to the output and vise versa. So I replumbed that and bled the brakes again (my wife hates helping bleed the brakes after about 15 times doing it (between this truck on my other truck).

Drove it around and it brakes much better. It will definalty stop, though the pedal is still pretty firm, so it doesn't have the same "feel" as a newer car, but it stops good.

I also installed my radiator overflow can, re-routed the drain hose from the A/C unit, and covered up a bunch of wires.

I also polished the wheels, which really needed after moving 2000 miles in December with all the road salt and stuff that got on them. They don't look perfect, but much much better than the did.

My next, "project" is to take off the wheels and paint the hub of the brake. Its all rusty now, and looks like poop.

I also still have a high RPM miss. I thought I'd gotten it taken care of when I relocated the coils and change the spark plug wires, but I guess not. I have a set of new spark plugs on the shelf. Maybe that will take care of it. If so, I may take it to the track on Friday and see what it'll do in the 1/4 mile

[Ackattack]

I changed the spark plugs last night, and took it for a test drive just now. Looks like that cleared up the miss

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Got some work done on it. I replaced the CPP disk-disk distribution block with a summit adjustable proportining valve. No effect at improving the brakes. As I was driving around testing stuff out, I was also playing with the line lock. When I would turn it on, I could just keep driving right on through it, and my brake pedal would get hard. On previous cars with line lock, you could turn it on, and then push the brake pedal in to build additional pressure. The the light bulb (in my head) turned on!

I had the line lock solenoid plumbed in bassacwards. The input line was going to the output and vise versa. So I replumbed that and bled the brakes again (my wife hates helping bleed the brakes after about 15 times doing it (between this truck on my other truck).

Drove it around and it brakes much better. It will definalty stop, though the pedal is still pretty firm, so it doesn't have the same "feel" as a newer car, but it stops good.

I also installed my radiator overflow can, re-routed the drain hose from the A/C unit, and covered up a bunch of wires.

I also polished the wheels, which really needed after moving 2000 miles in December with all the road salt and stuff that got on them. They don't look perfect, but much much better than the did.

My next, "project" is to take off the wheels and paint the hub of the brake. Its all rusty now, and looks like poop.

I also still have a high RPM miss. I thought I'd gotten it taken care of when I relocated the coils and change the spark plug wires, but I guess not. I have a set of new spark plugs on the shelf. Maybe that will take care of it. If so, I may take it to the track on Friday and see what it'll do in the 1/4 mile

Holy crap, Topeka KS!! When did that happen? Guess I haven't been paying attention to the thread. How are you liking it there? Let us know what you figure out on the brakes, I still haven't put my rear disks on, but I'll have to get a new proportioning valve when I do. I'd like to know what you figure out to cure your soft brakes.

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by red71cheyenne

Holy crap, Topeka KS!! When did that happen? Guess I haven't been paying attention to the thread. How are you liking it there? Let us know what you figure out on the brakes, I still haven't put my rear disks on, but I'll have to get a new proportioning valve when I do. I'd like to know what you figure out to cure your soft brakes.

Yeah, I moved here in December

I figured out the brakes....I had the line lock solenoid plumbed in backwards.

I have a disk-disk distribution block from CPP that I could sell you (a got the adjustable proportioning valve and I figure its doing the same thing, so I'll just leave it rather than re-do the brake lines again and have to bleed the brakes again)

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Yeah, I moved here in December

I figured out the brakes....I had the line lock solenoid plumbed in backwards.

I have a disk-disk distribution block from CPP that I could sell you (a got the adjustable proportioning valve and I figure its doing the same thing, so I'll just leave it rather than re-do the brake lines again and have to bleed the brakes again)

Sounds good, did you just go with the stock M/C or did I see you are using a corvette one? I'm not in any hurry for it, just let me know. I'm looking for someone to transport the Blazer and Pickup back to MO when we move there. I just retired from the Navy and am trying to get rid of our house here.

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by red71cheyenne

Sounds good, did you just go with the stock M/C or did I see you are using a corvette one? I'm not in any hurry for it, just let me know. I'm looking for someone to transport the Blazer and Pickup back to MO when we move there. I just retired from the Navy and am trying to get rid of our house here.

Corvette manual M/C

I was thinking you were originally from around these parts

We didn't sell our house in WA, so we rented it out. Figure we'll try again next year....hopefully the market is better then.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

I changed the spark plugs last night, and took it for a test drive just now. Looks like that cleared up the miss

Glad that set of plugs took care of it. I hate chasing ignition issues.

[1967wannabe]

This build thread is close to what I have in mind for mine. What a cornucopia of helpful info (for me anyway), thanks for posting!

Badass truck.

[Ackattack]

Took the truck to the goodguys show in KC this weekend. I had a lot of polishing to do on the wheels to get ready for it. Took the brakes apart and cleaned up the rotors (the hub part was rusty, so I cleaned and painted that part as well as the ribs and holes in the rotors) I also sanded on the pads and rotors to remove any glazing since the braking performance isn't up to par of what I expect. No improvement in performance

I may try different brake pads cause I'm out of ideas.

I also had to recharge my AC system. Friday it was 105 out, and bellowing out 105 degree air...not fun. A few cans of refridgerant and it was ~55. I tightened the connections, so we'll see if that help. But I also noticed some oil on the air inlet of the underdash unit, so I'm gonna be calling up Old Air to see if they have suggestions....but it doesn't seem good. And that thing was a PITA to get in with where my hoses are and the way they are routed.

A couple of notes:

My cruise control hadn't been working recently. I checked all the connections and relays and they all seemed to be working fine. So finally on one of the trips to the show I pulled up on the brake pedal and wala...it works. So apparently the brake switch needs just a little adjustment to work correctly.

I passed 1000 miles on the truck!

The truck ran great, humming along at 75-80 (2700ish rpms in an OD LSx is fun ). I played around quite a bit doing some burnouts in the tunnel under the track and general just getting on it and I still managed 14.9 mpgs

[VA72C10]

Nice update! Glad it's doing well overall...hope the a/c was an easy fix and doesn't need further repairs!!!

[Hard Luck]

Sounds great! Love to see some pics from that show.

[awc7772000]

where is your filler neck? i might have missed it

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by awc7772000

where is your filler neck? i might have missed it

In the right rear wheel well


So I've been thinking and reading (not a good combo sometimes). I read over No Limits build where they relocated the lower ball joint to gain more caster and negative camber. As I stated in the VERY beginning, I want my truck to handle, but in the process of the build I passed on aftermarket lower control arms to put that money else where. I felt that most of the aftermarket lower control arms were more orientated for getting the truck lower, not going faster. Since then I have seen that Hotchkiss has a performance orientated set of lower control arms, but they're very spendy!

Also, when I got the truck put together, I had an alignment done on it, just to get it on the road. I had the shop just dial in the stock specs. At that time I had individual lines on the airbags, where as now I have them teed together. I trailered the truck to the alignment shop, and had to have it aired up to get it on/off the trailer. When I got it off the trailer, I wasn't on perfectly level ground, so the height probably wasn't perfectly level. I intended to get an alignment once I started driving it, yet I still haven't had another alignment.

So here's what I'm planning: I'm going to work on some alignment stuff myself. I was doing a little reading on DIY alignment, and it seems relatively simple. Being an engineer, I started on a spreadsheet that will do the calculations for me, so while I'm doing the alignment, I just have enter the measurements, and the math part of it will already be done.

I wanna see where I'm at to start with. One of my big complaints about actually driving this truck is the steering is VERY light and seems to wonder around a bit. I attribute this to not enough caster and probably improper toe.

I'm gonna see what I can do by using the stock setup. I think I can gain a bit more caster by adjusting the control arm shafts. Since they are threaded onto the control arms (using the 67-72 control arms) you can position the arms a little by turning the shafts. When I rebuilt the arms, I set the shafts in the middle of its travel, so there should be a little room for improvement there. I'll see there that gets me as far as caster/camber goes.

Eventually (probably over the winter) I'll get an extra set of lower control arms and modify them via the "No Limit mod".

Further, I was doing some reading on the moving the trailing arm mounts up. I have the ECE extreme drop crossmember, so the trailing arm mount is just bolted on. So I could just flip this over (assuming its orientated like the stock one). I also saw that Hotchkiss had a trailing arm mount with multiple positions. The Hotchkiss mount is WAY over priced for what you actually get, but it may be nice to be able to adjust it. So I may just make my own multi-position mount.

I'm probably going to do something with the front sway bar. the one side is poking the air bag when dumped. I'm probably going to modify the stock bar to accept end links and then mount the bar directly to the frame. But we'll see.

Just thought I'd update my build thread for the "next step". However, the No-buck build is still going and about to get a TBI engine, so that is still taking most of my shop time and why this truck hasn't gotten much further for a long time.

[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

In the right rear wheel well


So I've been thinking and reading (not a good combo sometimes). I read over No Limits build where they relocated the lower ball joint to gain more caster and negative camber. As I stated in the VERY beginning, I want my truck to handle, but in the process of the build I passed on aftermarket lower control arms to put that money else where. I felt that most of the aftermarket lower control arms were more orientated for getting the truck lower, not going faster. Since then I have seen that Hotchkiss has a performance orientated set of lower control arms, but they're very spendy!

Also, when I got the truck put together, I had an alignment done on it, just to get it on the road. I had the shop just dial in the stock specs. At that time I had individual lines on the airbags, where as now I have them teed together. I trailered the truck to the alignment shop, and had to have it aired up to get it on/off the trailer. When I got it off the trailer, I wasn't on perfectly level ground, so the height probably wasn't perfectly level. I intended to get an alignment once I started driving it, yet I still haven't had another alignment.

So here's what I'm planning: I'm going to work on some alignment stuff myself. I was doing a little reading on DIY alignment, and it seems relatively simple. Being an engineer, I started on a spreadsheet that will do the calculations for me, so while I'm doing the alignment, I just have enter the measurements, and the math part of it will already be done.

I wanna see where I'm at to start with. One of my big complaints about actually driving this truck is the steering is VERY light and seems to wonder around a bit. I attribute this to not enough caster and probably improper toe.

I'm gonna see what I can do by using the stock setup. I think I can gain a bit more caster by adjusting the control arm shafts. Since they are threaded onto the control arms (using the 67-72 control arms) you can position the arms a little by turning the shafts. When I rebuilt the arms, I set the shafts in the middle of its travel, so there should be a little room for improvement there. I'll see there that gets me as far as caster/camber goes.

Eventually (probably over the winter) I'll get an extra set of lower control arms and modify them via the "No Limit mod".

Further, I was doing some reading on the moving the trailing arm mounts up. I have the ECE extreme drop crossmember, so the trailing arm mount is just bolted on. So I could just flip this over (assuming its orientated like the stock one). I also saw that Hotchkiss had a trailing arm mount with multiple positions. The Hotchkiss mount is WAY over priced for what you actually get, but it may be nice to be able to adjust it. So I may just make my own multi-position mount.

I'm probably going to do something with the front sway bar. the one side is poking the air bag when dumped. I'm probably going to modify the stock bar to accept end links and then mount the bar directly to the frame. But we'll see.

Just thought I'd update my build thread for the "next step". However, the No-buck build is still going and about to get a TBI engine, so that is still taking most of my shop time and why this truck hasn't gotten much further for a long time.

I plan to modify my lower arms like you mentioned when I rip the truck apart full a full tear down. I might actually just have no limit handle that and alingment since there local.

Be kind of cool if they could get some lower arms and offer the mod on an exchange basis...cough couch

When you mention your air lines are your R/L fronts t'ed together? I would think you would want them sererated as when cornering it would lean and force air to teh outside wheel creating a anti sway bar. I know when I put bags in the coils of my 06 gto you had to do them individual as it made the handling worse when together.

Beautiful truck.....Time for a blower

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Cole Trickle

When you mention your air lines are your R/L fronts t'ed together? I would think you would want them sererated as when cornering it would lean and force air to teh outside wheel creating a anti sway bar. I know when I put bags in the coils of my 06 gto you had to do them individual as it made the handling worse when together.

Oh yeah, I have 2 ball valves to keep air from transferring from side to side. When I fill or empty it, I open the valves.

[68 TT]

Sounds like you have some great ideas for making the next step in the trucks evolution.

Have you seen the upper A-arm shafts with the slotted mount holes that use offset inserts to add caster? That may be an option if you want to dial in the caster beyond what the relocated lower ball joint mod gives you.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

I'm gonna see what I can do by using the stock setup. I think I can gain a bit more caster by adjusting the control arm shafts. Since they are threaded onto the control arms (using the 67-72 control arms) you can position the arms a little by turning the shafts. When I rebuilt the arms, I set the shafts in the middle of its travel, so there should be a little room for improvement there. I'll see there that gets me as far as caster/camber goes.

Can probably gain a little by re-drilling the lower shaft locator, as well.

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Further, I was doing some reading on the moving the trailing arm mounts up. I have the ECE extreme drop crossmember, so the trailing arm mount is just bolted on. So I could just flip this over (assuming its orientated like the stock one). I also saw that Hotchkiss had a trailing arm mount with multiple positions. The Hotchkiss mount is WAY over priced for what you actually get, but it may be nice to be able to adjust it. So I may just make my own multi-position mount.

The ECE mounts should flip, no problem. It would be VERY easy to duplicate an adjustable mount, though, ala Hotchkis.

Originally Posted by Ackattack

I'm probably going to do something with the front sway bar. the one side is poking the air bag when dumped. I'm probably going to modify the stock bar to accept end links and then mount the bar directly to the frame. But we'll see.

How do you plan on doing this? Drill a hole, and? Sounds intriguing.

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Just thought I'd update my build thread for the "next step".

Cool. Sounds like you're pondering a lot of the same mods I am

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Have you seen the upper A-arm shafts with the slotted mount holes that use offset inserts to add caster? That may be an option if you want to dial in the caster beyond what the relocated lower ball joint mod gives you.

Do tell! Have a link? I haven't seen these for our trucks...

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

How do you plan on doing this? Drill a hole, and? Sounds intriguing.

I was pondering this today. The way I see it there are kind two options.

1) Drill a hole perpendicular to the end of the bar and use kinda "standard" end links. Maybe grind some flat spots on them as well.

2) Drill into the bar ends and thread in some rod ends, then end links.

The problem with option 2 I see is then the rod ends will flex, fatigue, and break since they will be smaller than the bar itself. So I think option 1 is the better option.

Did I also mention that I will mount the bar directly to the frame (instead of the ECE short stands I have now. This will move the bar up a little and reduce flex a little further (from the stands).

I haven't seen the upper control arms shafts with the slotted holes. Any info on who sells something like that?

[gringoloco]

I like option 1, too. What about a countersink instead of a flat spot, to give the bushings a 'home'. Was pondering doing this after seeing my poly bushings tearing out of the sleeves on the arms. Mounting directly to the frame would be more rigid, for sure, but I think I recall guys having clearance issues with steering linkage after mounting them this way?

Slotted, caster adjustable upper shafts would be sweet!

[RdoubleU]

Just wondering if you could post up some pictures of your new MC and prop valve setup. This is the exact setup I'm going to use and just wondering how it all fits/looks together before I order.

Are you using the stock lines/bends from the prop valve down?

Also any reason you went with a 72 vette MC rather than an earlier model one 68-69?

Thanks - awesome looking build

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Well I got a master cylinder for a 72 corvette with manual brakes (1" bore). I took a few initial measurements, painted it, bench bled it, then installed it.

It was a bolt in deal, the two lines from it line up with the proportioning valve, the push rod depth was the same.

I did start up the truck to see how it feels. The pedal has more of a natural feel to it, rather than being stiff and little movement. Guess we'll see later for sure.

Got some work done on it. I replaced the CPP disk-disk distribution block with a summit adjustable proportining valve.

[jbice70gmc]

Was wondering which caliper perch's you used for the rear brake calipers and where you picked them up at. Beautiful truck thanks for the detailed thread.