Project: Blank Slate

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by Bruce88

You have a very nice truck there to start with and it’s nice to see that there are still some pristine trucks out there. Your posts are very informative in the real world experience of making the modifications. Between your write ups and pictures it’s put together very nice and understandable, thank you for taking the time and effort. Ill be keeping an eye on this build. Keep up the good work

Well, I hope I can do that for the front as it went by pretty fast...

Thanks!

[lolife99]

Your were slinging wrenches on the front,... there was no time for picture taking!

[72BlckButy]

That's true...

I hope to get some more pics up either today or this weekend.

[C20-67_N_MO]

WOW! Looking good as always.

I only have 2" lowering springs for the front and 3" for the back when I do my installation. But might have to look into 2.5" lowering spindles up front as well. Not sure what I can do about only having a 3" lowering springs for the rear (from GMCPauls).

Keep us updated as you process thru the build.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by C20-67_N_MO

WOW! Looking good as always.

I only have 2" lowering springs for the front and 3" for the back when I do my installation. But might have to look into 2.5" lowering spindles up front as well. Not sure what I can do about only having a 3" lowering springs for the rear (from GMCPauls).

Keep us updated as you process thru the build.

You could always add a 2" lowering block for a total of 5" rear drop.

[powell72]

That's looking really good Nate, I can't wait to see it with the front down too.

I see you're undecided on wheels, my $.02- stock steelies but with 8 inchers on the back, and the stock dog dishes..........

If you go the 200R4 route, it'll need to get broken in on a road trip to Colorado.

[C20-67_N_MO]

Originally Posted by lolife99

You could always add a 2" lowering block for a total of 5" rear drop.

That sounds great!

But where would I find this part?

Thanks for the reply!!

Now I see why Nate calls you his Secret Weapon!

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by C20-67_N_MO

That sounds great!

But where would I find this part?

Thanks for the reply!!

Now I see why Nate calls you his Secret Weapon!

You can click the link to POL on the top of the page, or get with ECE(early classics enterprises) or CPP. I got my 2" blocks with the new longer U-bolts from CPP off of ebay cheaper than I could find them anywhere else. And it's an easy mod if you're swapping the springs as you'll have the old U-bolts loose anyways...

[C20-67_N_MO]

Great thanks!

[bigguy69]

any updates?? is the front down yet?

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by bigguy69

any updates?? is the front down yet?

Actually the truck has been on all four's for the past week, it just takes me a while to get a lot done.

___________________________________

Well I had hoped to continue writing about my install, but I wouldn't have all these pics up for you guys for the next two weeks.

So.... I figured I would post all the pics I have and then answer any/all questions that might arise. I will tell you, we were throwing wrenches so fast, I wasn't able to get a alot of pictures during the disc brake upgrade. Let me know if you guy's have any questions.

Here we go...

After you blow apart your front suspension, you will need to grind your a-arms in the bumpstop area, and then along the front/rear edges for better wheel clearance. The following pics will show the bump stop area, and the front/rear areas that were trimmed.









After the grinding and a little big of paint.... (the spindles were painted before they were installed on the truck)

Also if you notice in the last shot here, this truck still has the original balljoints.... and they are still in the truck!

[72BlckButy]

Following the pics above, we threw the disc brakes/calipers/brake lines on, (I know, I should have gotten some pics). ECE provides new brake line holders (not sure what to call them) that replace the original mounts. Instead of remove the originals we just used the old mounts and took a file to the "star" design (I know pics would help). After doing so we noticed the c-clips that hold the line to the mount didn't quite work so lolife99 was able to fab up two spacers (one for each side) to help hold the line in place.



Also, I'm not sure if I was supposed to receive the spindle nuts from ECE, but since there were none in the packages, we reused the originals without any issues.

Following the brake install we moved onto the master cylinder. One of the best tools to pick up during your M/C removal (change) is a $1.00 Turkey baster... (I'm not sure why the M/C looks "wet" as we didn't spill any brake fluid)



I kid you not! This will help to remove the brakefluid from the M/C and save your paint in the long run. Thank my wife for this one.


As you can tell, during the 40 years this truck has been alive it has obviously had a few leaks in the M/C area. I cleaned these areas up and attempted to remove the majority of the residue that remained on the firewall. When you reinstall your M/C, or install your new M/C, you will need to be sure to remove the rubber boot from the old M/C.

[72BlckButy]

Wha-lah... and you have now just installed your new M/C.



Okay so it wasn't that quick, but again, I didn't get a lot of pictures during the install. When using the proportioning valve from ECE we had to think outside the box, but I think it came out nicely. With the angle the bracket put the proportioning value the rear line was rubbing against the firewall, so with a tweak here and there, and a little creative thinking, we were able to get the lines routed. (By we I mean lolife99... I was there for moral support at this point. )

What to expect when running new lines...
- expect to take your time
- expect to take the line in and out about a 1,000 times
- expect to make a mistak.... unless lolife99 is running the lines

Also, in this shot you can see how we tied the lines in with the supplied "T" from ECE and you can also see the spacer lolife99 made for the rubber brake line mount.



Here's a few more shots of the lines and the M/C:

[72BlckButy]

Wait.... I did take some pics of the front end!!!! They were taken after the install was complete.

Here ya go:

Another shot of the spacer...

[72BlckButy]

After we buttoned up the front install, we checked out the rear brakes and thought it would be a good idea to replace them. We also figured it would be a good time to go ahead and replace the rear wheels cylinders. So as Keith headed home for the night, I got to work.

Before you start on the rear install, do yourself a favor and pick up some Brakleen from your local autoparts store. This stuff is the greatest and made the install a lot cleaner.

Now I took the rear brakes a little farther than most would, but I definitely this they turned out great. I pulled each piece and painted the brackets and springs to match the other pieces we installed.

Before:







After:

[72BlckButy]

Now following the install of the rear brakes and wheel cylinders it was time to bleed the brakes. Due to being limited on tools (), we had to benchbleed the M/C on the truck. After checking each corner about 5 times and ensuring the lines didn't have any air in them, we were ready to move up front and install the factory sway bar and ECE lowered sway bar brackets. (Sorry no pics...)

Here's a few more shots of the rear kit (before paint) and just before the final payoff shots.





One thing I have failed to mention earlier was the painting process I went through. The majority of all the pieces will be "raw" when they arrive, so it will be in your best interest to paint those pieces. The method I used that seemed to work the best was:

- Clean them with thinner and allow time to thoroughly dry
- Paint the piece with etching primer
- Followed by the color of your choice

Now for the other issue we had with this kit, which was resolved by ECE by a simple phone call. After getting the M/C painted I pulled the cap back out and went to install it on the M/C, but after I flip the holding clamps up I noticed one didn't quite hold the cap down. Apparently during shipping the M/C suffered a rougher ride than the other pieces and ended up denting the M/C cap. After we got the truck on the ground and took it for its maiden voyage, it started to leak. After a call to ECE, they had a cap shipped out and after installing a new one, no more leak. Thank you ECE!

Notice the paint that was removed from the M/C. You can also see out attempts to tighten down the M/C cap by adding clear tubing surrounding the clamps; yet the cap must have been really tweaked as it still leaked. (Be sure you keep enough paint for after the install... )

[72BlckButy]

PAYOFF TIME!!!!!!

I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but I couldn't wait to get them taken after we returned from it's maiden voyage. Don't mind the dust/grime on the truck, after the install she definitely needed a bath.

Now referring back to the measurements you initially took... right???

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

Driver's Side Front: 33 1/2"
Driver's Side Rear: 33"
Passenger Side Front: 33 1/4"
Passenger Side Rear: 32 7/8"

Here's how things looked after we measure again; however these measurements were taken in the garage vs. on the driveway, but they should be close enough.

Driver's Side Front: 28"
Driver's Side Rear: 29"
Passenger Side Front: 28 1/4"
Passenger Side Rear: 28 3/4"

Overall change...

Front Drop: 5"
Rear Drop: 5 3/4-6"

Ending result.... PRICELESS!!!!!

[72BlckButy]

Now as you can tell, after installing the front drop spindles and disc brake upgrade, the frontend widened by 1.5" over (3/4" on each side). As a result I will be mounting a borrowed set of 15x7 6-lug rally wheels to help pull the front tires back under the inner fenders until I can figure out which way I want to go with the truck. (Thank you hot trux!)

The 3rd and 4th pics below will show the difference between the front and rear wheels.

Here's a few more shots:

[72BlckButy]

And the final two shots of the night... These were taken at a local cruise this evening, so the truck is partially road worthy.

Let me tell you this too.... I have had this truck at a couple local cruises earlier in the year, but I had more people look, comment and ask questions after it's attitude adjustment.





Again a special thanks goes out to all the members that helped me determine the correct pieces to use (tcb-1, see ten, powell72,.... and several others).

And a BIG thanks goes out to lolife99 for all his help during this project, and to hot trux for helping to keep this truck rolling.

[72BlckButy]

Next on the list:

- Exhaust
- Alignment
- Sandblast the (2) 15x7's and the (2) 15x8, etch, prime, and paint

After that.... you'll just have to check back.

Stay tuned!

[lolife99]

Great write-up!
What Nate failed to mention was all the people "checking it out" at the Cruise tonight.
Now it's time to change your avatar,...

[VA72C10]

Very nicely done and props to Keith for the help!

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Great write-up!
What Nate failed to mention was all the people "checking it out" at the Cruise tonight.
Now it's time to change your avatar,...

Consider it done... (At least until I can get a better shot.)

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Very nicely done and props to Keith for the help!

Thanks!

[72BlckButy]

Oh... one thing I failed to mention about this evening. Aside from talking with a lot of people about the truck, I was able to meet two people from the truck's past. One gentleman stopped by and remembered being at the estate sale where the truck was sold to the 3rd owner (the gentleman I purchased the truck from). About an hour later I was privileged with meeting the 2nd owner's wife. She was really glad to see the truck stayed within the area, and provided me with a lot more history on the truck, especially during the time they owned it. As I've mentioned previously, they mainly drove the truck on beautiful Sundays, up to the local ice cream shop, and back home to the garage.

Needless to say, I might be getting a couple of things for the truck's book:

- A copy of the estate sale list
- A Baker Chevrolet (initial dealership where the truck was sold) tissue dispenser

It was a good night....