My Unexpected '66 SWB-Fleet-Restomod Project!

[Modges'66]

Even though I have pressure-bled the brake system twice, and flushed about a quart and a half of fluid through it without seeing a single air bubble, my pedal still felt very soft, and also felt like the travel of the pedal was excessive.
I soon googled "CCP master cylinder issues" an was connected to some threads concluding that the linkage rod for power brakes should be re-located 1+ inch lower than the manual brake location.
When I attempted to lower the pivot point, it made the rod angle excessive, and seemed to be close to binding at the brake booster.
To correct this problem, I welded an ear onto my drive rod, allowing me to attach it to the lower location on the pedal arm, and still remain horizontal and direct at the booster assembly.
I don't have very good pics, but I think that you will get the idea.
By the way, this immediately cured my issue with the brakes....Another item to scratch off the list of things to do!


Here are some pics of my already modified booster linkage.
The cut-off end slips into a pocket in a coupler that I fabricated that is attached to the brake booster. The ear that I welded onto it relocates the pivot point about 1-1/8" lower on the pedal arm.




Here are a few pics of the arm mounted into place.
You can kinda see the old pivot point for the linkage that is in-line with the rod, and if you look real hard you can see the coupler that I made from some hex-stock that the rod slip-fits into, allowing for easy adjustment of the rod length.

[earl84]

Excellent ideas here on the brake linkage, especially the hex nut for easy adjustment. I'm gonna steal this if I have to change mine anymore, 'cuz it's a pain to make adjustments the normal way that GM designed it.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by earl84

Excellent ideas here on the brake linkage, especially the hex nut for easy adjustment. I'm gonna steal this if I have to change mine anymore, 'cuz it's a pain to make adjustments the normal way that GM designed it.

Thanks Earl,
I was hoping that someone could benefit, or maybe come up with a better idea than I did!

[Pro Performance]

Just found your thread and very nice work... subscribing.

[Modges'66]

Thanks Bud!
The progress on the project that you are helping your dad with with is moving in fast-forward.
Look great so far!

[Modges'66]

I know that even though I have NOT posted much lately, it is because I have been working on items that are not really visual....
I was working hard to figure out how to make my '66 wiper motor work with the intermittent wiper components on my '91 chevy steering column. After many hours of frustration, I came to the conclusion that if I added a diode into the harness, that I could emulate the signals that the '66 motor was needing when using the '91 switch!
I now have intermittent speed controlled wipers using all factory GM components!
Also I have been working hard to get the '96 LT1 cruise control working with no avail....Really? after all of the custom stuff that I performed on the cable, and it doesn't work?
I resorted to doing many hours of research online only to realize that the GM cruise speed control unit uses the bulb filaments in the 3rd brake light as a bleed down circuit to drain residual power to ground.
Since I do NOT have a 3rd brake light, I substituted a resister into the circuit to imitate the 3rd brake light...And it works perfectly now.
All of this work remains hard to see with the naked eye, but is very satisfying once sitting behind the wheel!
Most recently, I have been working on getting the windshield installed.
I installed it twice yesterday, with NO success!
Today I looked at the areas of interference closely, and compared them to the original window seal & came to the conclusion that the original glass NEVER fit correctly, based on all of the caulk added to the same areas that I was having difficulty with.
In some areas the inner panels & outer panels mismatched by over 3/16" and this made the window opening too small to fit properly.
Between Saturday afternoon & Sunday morning the windshield had basically worked its way out of the opening, and was ready to fall out.
This thing must have been built on a Sunday morning, when everyone had a hangover or something, as this is NOT the first MAJOR quality issue that I have noticed with this area. The passenger side dash was welded to the cowl several times with no success, but I have long since fixed that.
I proceeded to grind the window opening lip so that the inner & outer panels had a consistent length of lip for the gasket.
The windshield seems to fit perfectly ...NOW!
Here are a few pics, because I know that everyone likes to see them!

Here are some pics of my windshield installed...Hopefully for the last time.



Oh, I forgot, I also got a chance to install my matching brake pedal, and close off my steering column from the outside world with this sheet-metal piece that up until now, I had no idea where it went!



Oh, and I also got a chance for a pic in the driveway!
I know that it is dusty...But I also know that the POSI works!

[Bomp]

I've come across a few things on my truck that makes a guy sit and wonder if there ever was a quality inspector on duty.
I'd never figured out the third brake light thing, good work on getting that one figured out.
Truck looks great.

[McMurphy]

Wow man.... the solutions you have worked out on your cruise control and intermittent wipers would have sent me to the nut house!!
Nicely done

Truck looks amazing out in the sun like that....cant even see the dust!!

[aggie91]

Awsome! I would like to see how you did the wiring for the wipers. Maybe a schematic and some details?

Looks good out in the daylight! dust and all!

[jlsanborn]

Nice work on all that! Truck looks great too!

[comegetsome2003]

Just read thru all 28 pages.....man your attention to detail is amazing.....very good job on this build and looking forward to seeing finished pics

[chevyrestoguy]

Great work on the brake pedal mod! I did something similar, but used a different method (see post# 324):
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...446527&page=13

I'm really anxious to see how the pedal ratio changed the travel of the pedal.

I really like your build. You're scrutinizing all of the details and making everything work better than it did before. I have always felt that anybody can order stuff out of a catalog and bolt it on, but it takes a special breed to utilize what he has available and make it better, and save a bunch of money in the process. That's right up my alley!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by Bomp

I've come across a few things on my truck that makes a guy sit and wonder if there ever was a quality inspector on duty.
I'd never figured out the third brake light thing, good work on getting that one figured out.
Truck looks great.

Dude, I have seen so many things on this truck that make me sit & shake my head as far as quality level goes, but you gotta remember that these were trucks built to be used as such, and not Cadillac's, so I kinda understand.

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Wow man.... the solutions you have worked out on your cruise control and intermittent wipers would have sent me to the nut house!!
Nicely done

Truck looks amazing out in the sun like that....cant even see the dust!!

Murph, this is not all on me!
My dad is a retired GM electrical automation engineer, and he has helped me greatly to figure these things out. through the years some of it has rubbed-off on me, but we have had brainstorming sessions, then he will come up with options to try. eventually something works! He is 75 now, and has forgotten more that I will ever know in this department!

Originally Posted by aggie91

Awsome! I would like to see how you did the wiring for the wipers. Maybe a schematic and some details?

Looks good out in the daylight! dust and all!

Thanks aggie91,
I need to double check my work before posting something!
I know that mine works with the set-up that i've got, but I really haven't sat down to figure out why. I don't really want to post bogus info that people will have difficulties with!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Nice work on all that! Truck looks great too!

Thanks a bunch, I love any comments!
Thanks for looking!

Originally Posted by comegetsome2003

Just read thru all 28 pages.....man your attention to detail is amazing.....very good job on this build and looking forward to seeing finished pics

Thank you much!
I tend to overanalyze everything, because I don't want to look at things later and think that maybe I should have done them differently!

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

Great work on the brake pedal mod! I did something similar, but used a different method (see post# 324):
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...446527&page=13

I'm really anxious to see how the pedal ratio changed the travel of the pedal.

I really like your build. You're scrutinizing all of the details and making everything work better than it did before. I have always felt that anybody can order stuff out of a catalog and bolt it on, but it takes a special breed to utilize what he has available and make it better, and save a bunch of money in the process. That's right up my alley!

Thanks!
I guess that you & I are on the same page then!
I personally think that there is no better satisfaction as when some walks up & asks, "that's cool, where did you buy that?" and I say that I made it!
There are many people that can just open up their checkbook, but they aren't real hard to single out in a crowd!
Thanks again!

[Pro Performance]

Very nice work, and love the color combination! It goes together very well.

[chad64chevy]

looks great sitting outside! I don't know how many times I loss stuff for my truck, but it never fails when im not looking for it I always seem to find it, but i'll loss it again, lol!!!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by Pro Performance

Very nice work, and love the color combination! It goes together very well.

Thanks Travis!
It took a while to decide on what I thought was the right color!
I am so pumped with how it is turning out!
Looks like you are making some good advancements too!

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

looks great sitting outside! I don't know how many times I loss stuff for my truck, but it never fails when im not looking for it I always seem to find it, but i'll loss it again, lol!!!

Thanks Chad!
You gotta remember, I didn't take this thing apart, but I did bring it home on three trailers!
I have done a lot of sorting with parts, but the bonus is, the pile of parts remaining is getting much smaller!!!

[Modges'66]

I haven't had a lot of progress on my end lately. I have been been tied-up with work, and welding on some special projects for a client.
The most recent thing I have been working on is calculating my wheel offset & widths in order to order my wheels. I am so nervous about getting something wrong that I must have measured everything 5 times, and double-checked it twice every time!!!
I started out by taking measurements from the bed which was in a separate part of the building, and compiling them with the measurements from the frame, wheel tubs, and rear axle, which were in different areas...
Needless to say, by the time that I was finished, I had put the bed on my truck and mocked up everything in order to confirm my calculations.
It seems that with my widened wheel tubs that I should be able to get a 20"x11.5" wheel, with a 315/35/20 tire under the rear with a 1/2" clearance on both the front & back sides...I wish that I would have measured closer when I was widening the tubs, because I would have went a bit wider.
I have learned that almost every wheel supplier makes a 10" or 12" width, but only a select few make any width in between, which limits my choices.
I have been contemplating very heavily on what to do, but I think that Travis at Pro-Performance has helped me come up with a solution.
His help has been very monumental in this task!!!
I think that I have a wheel picked out, and now it is just a matter of coughing up the mountainous pile of money to make it happen!
It seems scary for me, because this will probably be the largest purchase that I have made on this vehicle so far, so I want everything to be correct...in my mind anyway.

Here are a few pics of the truck with the unpainted bed on it.
I hope to get it back off & to the painter in the next week or so.
This looks a lot more like a truck, eh?

[Ta2Don]

WOW!!!

Looks great, and to echo what McMurphy said…

"the solutions you have worked out on your cruise control and intermittent wipers would have sent me to the nut house!!"

Good to have Dad's input… You can't beat the Wisdom and Knowledge that comes with age!!!

[CRGRS 66]

Looking real nice... Eh! Do you have some Canadian blood in those veins?

[aggie91]

not to try to change your mind on wheels, but did you look at wheels made by American Eagle? I know that they do custom orders on some of their wheels and made them in 20x11 with custom back space. I learned about that a bit to late on my 20x8.5 Eagle 225's that I got from another forum vendor. After he finally got the wheels from them, he was told they are now a custome order only wheel with many other options and backspaces offered. IF we would have known that when we ordered them, I could have gotten a better backspace than one of the two that where offered when the wheel was a production wheel.

BTW, the truck is looking great!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

WOW!!!

Looks great, and to echo what McMurphy said…

"the solutions you have worked out on your cruise control and intermittent wipers would have sent me to the nut house!!"

Good to have Dad's input… You can't beat the Wisdom and Knowledge that comes with age!!!

Thanks again Don!
Even though he may not thinks so, I take a lot of what he has to say to the heart....I just pretend not to hear all of it!...Ha-Ha!
At 75-plus yrs. old, he has forgotten more that I will ever know about a lot of things!

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Looking real nice... Eh! Do you have some Canadian blood in those veins?

No Canadian blood here. Does Polish count?
Thanks BTW!

Originally Posted by aggie91

not to try to change your mind on wheels, but did you look at wheels made by American Eagle? I know that they do custom orders on some of their wheels and made them in 20x11 with custom back space. I learned about that a bit to late on my 20x8.5 Eagle 225's that I got from another forum vendor. After he finally got the wheels from them, he was told they are now a custome order only wheel with many other options and backspaces offered. IF we would have known that when we ordered them, I could have gotten a better backspace than one of the two that where offered when the wheel was a production wheel.

BTW, the truck is looking great!

Thanks for the tip Aggie! I appreciate it!
After you commented, I searched their site intensively to find a wheel similar to the style that I am looking for, but without success.
I know that the wheels that I have picked are much more costly than originally budgeted, but I also know that I will kick myself in the a$$ for years to come if I don't buy exactly what I think is perfect for this build.
Years back, I stepped over the edge on a wheel choice for one of the Corvettes that I had, and never looked back.
To this day, I still think that they were the coolest wheel for that car.
I seriously think that wheel choice is a major part of what separates a true custom from the average person's hot-rod.
This is ALL my opinion, but wheels are the single most item that catches a person's eye besides the year & make of the vehicle itself...
Again, All my opinion!
I just need to pull the trigger!

Thanks again for the comments!

[matt_l]

Build is coming along great. What fuel tank are you using?

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by matt_l

Build is coming along great. What fuel tank are you using?

Thanks man!
I have no idea what the fuel tank is for!
The previous owner had it in (backwards) when I bought the truck.
I have a binder filled with receipts for items purchased, but I have never seen one for the tank...The owner had died, and that is why the truck was for sale.
I think that it was for an early blazer (67-72) and it has a GM sending unit with internal fuel pump. I have never seen one exactly like it advertised before. It has some shotty straps holding it in right now, but I am going to make some stainless ones for it soon.
Sorry that I couldn't be more help.
Thanks for the comment!

[chad64chevy]

looking good, I think the tank ur using is the same as mine, it's a poly tank! truck looks real good with the bed on it! you can always widen those rear wheel tubs, and a big back window in later, lol!! just saying!!!!

[McMurphy]

You are not very far behind me at this point Modges !
I only have a half dozen more things to accomplish before I can "claim" mine is "finished" but we will see.....

I cannot wait to see what wheels you go with, as with everything thing you do on this build I am sure it will be completely appropriate !!

Great progress, even if you dont feel it.