Project Goldilocks, '66 C10 SWB BBW Build

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Katchi

Hey John! Really interested in the interior & seat photos of your ‘66 and photobucket isn’t loading them them. Any chance you’d repost or message themti me?

Hey, photobucket has really messed up a lot pics on here, not just mine. If you're using Google Chrome, try adding these two extensions to restore photobucket pics posted on forums. I've read that there are extensions available for other browers too. I you add them then all of the missing pics on the forum will automatically show up again.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...fegnfnflicjjgj

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...alioapbifiaedg


I also have a Facebook album for the truck, it can be seen here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=75d7674613

[okndn]

following

[cullman]

i will bet Goldie locks is getting jealous of the car.

[theastronaut]

Back from the dead... I cleaned out the corner of the shop the truck is parked in a few months ago to get ready to start back on it. I've got all week off so I wanted to get the front crossmember finished and make a plan for the rear suspension.

I pulled the engine and trans back in May to sell the T56- I decided to go with an AR5 5 speed from a Colorado instead. They're reportedly just as strong, don't take up as much tunnel space, the shifter location is better for a bench seat, and they're only around $300. Fabbot makes an adapter that uses a 4l60e bellhousing to bolt the AR5 up to a LSx. I can buy the adapter setup from Fabbot, an LS7 clutch kit, the trans, T/O bearing, and lines for around $1200 bucks. The T56 sold for $2k by itself so I'm money ahead now, and especially money ahead if I ever blow up the trans from beating on it. I'd much rather replace a $300 buck trans than a $2k trans!





Saturday I blocked the truck up at ride height (4.5" at bottom of the rails under the cab) and took measurements of the bag height, then I dissasembled everything to make patterns for the upper bag mounts.








I opened up the hole that's in the coil spring retainer for the air line and fittings to pass through, then welded in the plates.






Bag bolted in, its about 7.75" tall at ride height, a little over 2" taller than just bolting in bag mounts to the stock crossmember. This should let me run more pressure at the same ride height to increase the spring rate. If it's too stiff I can add spacers between the bag and LCA to drop the pressure/spring rate. I'll finish the other side tomorrow, then weld up any extra holes and prep it for paint.

[theastronaut]

So a lot has happened in the 4-5 year break on Goldilocks. My plan was to build this thing for autocross and track events... that's probably not going to happen now. I posted about the Festiva earlier in the thread... it just doesn't make sense risking an accident on the track with the truck now that I have a car that is track capable and cheap/easy to repair/replace if it gets busted up on the track. I'll still autocross the C10, but probably won't do any big track events with it. If you've followed the Festiva's build thread you know how ridiculously well it handles. I know the C10 will never do that well so there's no point in trying to go slower than a Festiva on a road course in a truck that would be impossible to replace.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=727205

I've learned a ton about chassis setup, track prepping a car, and what to look for to make a car handle well by building and thrashing on the Festiva. A lot of that info can be used to make the C10 handle better.









I also did a frame-off resto on the '63 VW I posted about earlier in the thread. It's finished now and will probably be posted on Bring A Trailer soon.








I was able to acquire my granddad's '64 C10 about a year ago.

[mongocanfly]

Pawpaw looks like a solid project John....what's the plan for him?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Pawpaw looks like a solid project John....what's the plan for him?

Nothing major, I’ll probably do the same suspension and wheel/tire setup I did on the blue ‘66 I had. I don’t want to change it too much from how it is now, I may just do a tune up and brakes and drive it as is for awhile. It has a 283 and three speed so I’ll do a 3:08 rear gear to make it a better cruiser. It’s been brush painted with house paint at some point but it’s coming off easily so I’ll lightly wetsand and buff the original paint.

[jhrusk]

Man your Grandads truck is so cool, im sure goldilocks will be a stout runner and looking forward to seeing more of it. When you get to the point of the trans install please show it. The vw is one of the coolest, I've never had one but if I did that would be it. So cool

[likaroc13]

Glad to see you back on Goldilocks, & I think the new direction is a sound idea. Love the VW vert, & it came out killer. I dig granddad's '64 as well, & it's no doubt a special one to have & cherish. Looks really solid as well. Look forward to seeing more progress on any of them!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by jhrusk

Man your Grandads truck is so cool, im sure goldilocks will be a stout runner and looking forward to seeing more of it. When you get to the point of the trans install please show it. The vw is one of the coolest, I've never had one but if I did that would be it. So cool

Thanks Jay, it was great to see you and your truck at the show in Anderson!

Originally Posted by likaroc13

Glad to see you back on Goldilocks, & I think the new direction is a sound idea. Love the VW vert, & it came out killer. I dig granddad's '64 as well, & it's no doubt a special one to have & cherish. Looks really solid as well. Look forward to seeing more progress on any of them!

Thanks Phillip!

[LT7A]

It would be cool to hear the latest on this.

[theastronaut]

There were raw corners left from cutting back the spring cup area, so I rounded them and welded the two layers together, then smoothed up the edges.












Since the crossmember is moved up the top two mounting points were just above the frame rail. I slightly recessed and welded in 1/2" threaded bosses, made rounded covers to hide them, then welded them in and blended the welds.








Since this mostly finishes up the front (besides shock, sway bar, and engine mounts) I went ahead and shot a coat of semi gloss rattle can to get it all one color and keep the bare areas from rusting.

[SCOTI]

Very clean looking work!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Very clean looking work!

Thanks!

I started detailing and assembling the driver side, this was as far as I got. I'm really happy with the new installed height of the bag with the raised mounting points! It may be too tall as-is but that leaves room to add shims to adjust the installed height which should allow me to tune the pressure and effective spring rate without changing the ride height.

I may also swap to smaller bags since they'll have a steeper rate of spring rate rise as they compress compared to a larger bag. From setting up the Festiva I've learned that a soft initial rate works best to absorb bumps and maintain ride quality, but is mostly important for soaking up mid-corner bumps without upsetting the chassis and causing the car to skip around and lose your line. This was a huge difference I noticed between my softly sprung Festiva and my much stiffer Miata. I could go over curbing and bumps in the Festiva and it soaked it up like it wasn't there, and the same lines in the Miata would make it side-step and skip around... not very confidence inspiring.

A stiff sway bar to reduce body roll negatively reduces the independence and free movement of the suspension, so on the Festiva we use the small stock sway bar and add progressive rate bump stops that engage after ~1" of free travel. These aren't hard stops; they're soft enough to seamlessly engage and compress but stiff enough add to the overall spring rate the more they're compressed- that reduces body roll without the negative aspects of a stiff sway bar. I'll look into some way to incorporate progressive rate bump stops on the truck if the natural progressive rate of the bag isn't enough.

Pics of the Festiva's coilovers with the bump stops installed over the shock shaft. The rear spring rate is only 105# so it's very soft and compliant but after the first inch of travel/body roll it seamlessly firms up in corners while maintaining full L/R independence without a rear sway bar.







I'll wait to reassemble the other side so I can take the spindle/brake assembly to have caliper brackets made. Neither of the first two shops I've taken them to ever got around to making them after waiting for months in each shop.

[aggie91]

Looks good. I like how you added that upper mounting point to the frame.

Whose upper ball joint are you using? Can you share the part number?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Looks good. I like how you added that upper mounting point to the frame.

Whose upper ball joint are you using? Can you share the part number?

Thanks Karl! They are QA1, here’s a link to them. I believe they are for 73-87 spindles.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/QA1-1...tud,84116.html

[tinydb84]

Really cool to see you working on this again.

[88Stanger]

30 pages i just went over of this build, and i am beyound impressed! You are a craftsman, pure and simple.
I just got a "66 factory shorty fleetside and i am planning on bagging it, not for autocross, but just because i like the look and well want to. So i watched and read what you are doing and how. It has opened my eyes to a few things, so thank you for writing all this. Cannot wait for any new updates.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Really cool to see you working on this again.

I'm excited to be back on it!

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

30 pages i just went over of this build, and i am beyound impressed! You are a craftsman, pure and simple.
I just got a "66 factory shorty fleetside and i am planning on bagging it, not for autocross, but just because i like the look and well want to. So i watched and read what you are doing and how. It has opened my eyes to a few things, so thank you for writing all this. Cannot wait for any new updates.

Thanks for checking out the build! I ordered No Limit's three link rear suspension last week and will be picking it up as soon as it's ready so there will be more progress soon!

[pdxhall]

Hey, it's great to see you back Goldilocks, I took a 3 year break on Sanity after I retired but I'm back on it again. You know I'm a big fan of your work. I'll be following along.

[dean jendro]

Looking good! I will be watching the progress and can't wait to see what you do on the short stepper.

[theastronaut]

I picked up the three link kit while I was in TN for the Rod Run last weekend. Got to meet Rob and take a tour of the shop. Next step will be to assemble the sheetmetal so I can figure out the front wheel width and offset, and then from that I can figure out an axle width. I want to run a square setup with the same offset front and rear so I can rotate the tires. I'll try a 295/40-18 to start with but that may be too tall up front.

I'd rather have a little bit narrower tire for autocross, a ton of pro-touring builds are running 315 and 335 square and that's probably ok for managing tire temps when pushing hard lap after lap on a road course but no tire is going to have time to come up to temp on an autocross run. A narrower tire puts more pressure per square inch on the tread blocks, forcing the tire into the surface better. At least on the Festivas, we've seen better better cold tire lap times on narrower tires, so I want to try that idea for autocross. 295's will also weigh less than 315's or 335's, and unsprung/rotating weight is doubly important. I'm thinking about going with Wilwood's ProSpindles to cut down on unsprung weight up front.





Quick check of where the axle will roughly be... it's definitely going to need a step notch.

[theastronaut]

Forgot to mention it in the earlier catch-up post, but I've been working on a '69 C10 we found about a year ago. It's been a filler project for when we're slow on our other jobs, so its taken awhile to get this far with it. It was one owner until we got it. It's pretty close to being ready to sell, I just have to assemble the bed floor and coat the paint with Penetrol. It was suppose to be a quick flip but I ended up spending too much time on it...

[raylube]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Forgot to mention it in the earlier catch-up post, but I've been working on a '69 C10 we found about a year ago. It's been a filler project for when we're slow on our other jobs, so its taken awhile to get this far with it. It was one owner until we got it. It's pretty close to being ready to sell, I just have to assemble the bed floor and coat the paint with Penetrol. It was suppose to be a quick flip but I ended up spending too much time on it...

Tell me about how you do the penetrol and what you think about it. I just did my truck with penetrol but have been using boil linseed oil

[FamilyTruckster65]

Nice build. I think I missed it in here somewhere, why did you go away from the 4200 idea?