Shop truck build

[Whamo]

Alrighty...time to detail what I've been doing to my Annabelle...

I live in the hood on the eastside of Indianapolis (by choice) and the roads aint the greatest. Well, the shocks had given up the ghost and with the potholes my ride was bouncin like a hoopdee. After crawlin underneath and seein the arthritic state of my steering components, I realized it was time for some surgery.

Did a little research and decided to give a rebuild kit from performanceonline.com. Specifically this kit...
https://www.performanceonline.com/73...-kit-frk7387p/

When I got the kit, I laid out the components and did a direct comparison to MOOG, Duralast and Valuecrap. I was pleasantly surprised! Visually, they look very similar to Moog and Duralast ED - when buying Duralast, look for the words "Enhanced Design" on the box, these parts are made to Moog specs by Federal Mogul (which makes MOOG)...

The parts went together smoooth and actually fit like they were supposed to...Huh! Pics to come and I let you know how they ride - gonna be a bit before she hits the road...

[Whamo]

Since things were gonna be in pieces it was time to lower things a bit...drop springs, shocks and shackles...all Belltech. I didn't go with drop spindles because I didn't think I needed them to level out the stance...welllll, that didn't exactly work out. Last year, I yanked the craptastic 4.3 disaster and dropped a 350 from a 75 donor in her. When I did, the front went down...way down and I thought I just needed to bring down the rear a bit. It's funny what new springs will do, even 2" inch drop springs. Long story short, the 2" inch drop only gave me a 1/2" drop, so I ordered the some Belltech drop spindles.

Ain't they just the cutest...they even sent me some Go Fast stickers - they gotta be good for at least 10 horses...I'll post pics before and after...here's the before...

[StorminNorman]

What thickness rotors are those belltech spindles for ?.
I ask cuz I have recently ordered set of belltech spindles and they look like they were made in the crappiest foundry on earth. No part numbers or ID at all.

[Whamo]

Originally Posted by StorminNorman

What thickness rotors are those belltech spindles for ?.
I ask cuz I have recently ordered set of belltech spindles and they look like they were made in the crappiest foundry on earth. No part numbers or ID at all.

I have the 1 1/4" rotors...Belltech part #3100...I got mine through Summit since they offer free shipping and I usually get my parts the day after I order them...Summit's part # is BEL-3100.

Man that sucks and is concerning...I've crawled under a crazy # of trucks in the last couple years to check out different set-ups and have seen nothing but super quality out of Belltech...Did you get them from Summit or Belltech?

Here is a closer pic of the spindle

[StorminNorman]

Originally Posted by Whamo

I have the 1 1/4" rotors...Belltech part #3100...I got mine through Summit since they offer free shipping and I usually get my parts the day after I order them...Summit's part # is BEL-3100.

Man that sucks and is concerning...I've crawled under a crazy # of trucks in the last couple years to check out different set-ups and have seen nothing but super quality out of Belltech...Did you get them from Summit or Belltech?

Here is a closer pic of the spindle

Yeah I have the 3100's as well, also from Summit. But mine look way rougher than yours. Im not sure what to do. Had these for 3-4 months now.
Made my own thread on it :
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...12#post8168712

[Whamo]

My crew and I are back in the groove and we are cooking with cow chips!

Here are a few pics of the front end with the new steering components before the new spindles go on...

[Whamo]

Soooo...my Pop is retired and has been without a hot rod for a couple years...I got this txt from him the other day...Bored. Need a project. Bring me the bench seat, I'll recover it. Well, as a good son, if my Dad needs a project it is my responsibility to help him out!!

[Whamo]

Very pleased at how little rust was under the floor mat...just a bit surface crust here and there on the driver's side...scrubbed it the wire brush and slapped on the POR 15...I was quite surprised at how watery this stuff is...covered great be is definitely going need a second coat.

The plan is DynaMat Everything before laying the carpet (Annabelle ain't gonna know how to act with all this fancy stuff)...any of you fellers have experience with DynaMat? Comments? Suggestions? Pics?

[flashed]

I used Peel n Seal from Lowe's ,worked good and much much cheaper .

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by flashed

I used Peel n Seal from Lowe's ,worked good and much much cheaper .

x2.... I did the peel and seal with some bubble wrap type duct insulation over top. It really did a nice job and cost a fraction of what dynamat costs.

[Whamo]

Not much progress in the last week...Dad and I did manage to get the new seat covers on...probably should've bought a new seat pad, but it is a dramatic improvement...

[Whamo]

After a bunch of research and some guidance from dieseldawg142 I ordered 50 sq ft of Fatmat's Mega Mat...I'll pic detail the install...

[Whamo]

Happy to report that we slapped the slick new spindles on and hooked up the drop shackle and hanger kit - all Belltech...I DIG IT!! The stance is exactly what I was hoping for...

[Woodyboat]

WOW! I LOVE IT!

That is exactly the stance I want for my Crew Cab Dually.

[Whamo]

Originally Posted by Woodyboat

WOW! I LOVE IT!

That is exactly the stance I want for my Crew Cab Dually.

Thank you!
I can't believe how nice and how easy the Belltech stuff is...

[Palf70Step]

Stance looks great on the truck.

[Whamo]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Stance looks great on the truck.

Thank you Bill!

[Whamo]

Update on a few little things...

decided to do some cosmetic surgery on the Ole Girl’s dash and grill...🤨 Doing this operation myself cause last time I paid fer some bolt on’s her warranty ran out before they did...

Cut a bunch out of the grill and gonna fix up some gutter grabber mesh behind it...

Don’t know what I’m doin with the dash yet

[rip2174]

What size are the wheels and tires?

[Whamo]

Originally Posted by rip2174

What size are the wheels and tires?

18 front, 20 rear...245/45r20, 275/45r20

[HunterRotten]

Wasn't too sure how that grille would look, but wow it looks pretty darn good!

[Whamo]

Originally Posted by HunterRotten

Wasn't too sure how that grille would look, but wow it looks pretty darn good!

Thank ya Rotten!

As I mentioned, the grille was already busted up and so it was a great piece to test out some ideas. That applies to just about everything on this truck and it's rebirth. She was busted up and tired and needed some love. I do not have the time or finances to restomod her the way I would soooo love to. This girl will be a workin shop truck, so this build can be categorized somewhere between rebuild and Roadkill...I like to call it a rattle can resto...

Here is Her backstory...

I got this truck in 2009 for $1600 off Ebay. I was in a real bad spot in life and I was buying her as my only means of transportation. My situation continued to be ugly and for a short while she was not only my truck but my house as well.

Things got better...got a dually for biz and a regular ride for daily duty and started thinking about tearing Annabelle down for a rebuild...then the following happened (and this is the Reader's Digest version):

...Got rear ended on the interstate by a waterhead in a tuner that sent me bouncing between 2 semis like a pinball...Insurance totaled her and I bought her back.

...went through 3 jasper long block 4.3's...yes, 3! The 4.3 stinks and so does Advance Auto Parts!

...traded my dually for a vortec V-8 and a paint job...when I got the truck back it had a tired 350 from a 75 donor in it and the fella shot the whole truck with rhino guard...Said fella had screwed several people over and had bolted to AZ to hide out on a reservation. I could write a novel on how bad a job that cat did - I think an 8th grade shop class would've done a better job.

...after a month of peeling off rhino guard, removing all the V6 bracketry and parts that nimrod tried to make work on the V8...and removing all the bolts that nimrod had welded to the exhaust and then to the bottom of the bed of the truck as support (yeah, that idea didn't work!), I'd had enough and started fixing her up myself - when I had time - which is rare.

This build ain't near as exciting as most that I follow (and you guys are doing some killer work!) and she ain't gonna be all that purdy, but with some Hillbilly Handlin, hopefully she's gonna get around ok and not look too shabby...

[Whamo]

Cut up, glued up, waiting to be cleaned up...yes, that is Play Doh don’t judge...

[Whamo]

It's the little things in life...like a new black t-shirt...Roadkill gives me hope for our future....

[Palf70Step]