66 pro-touring build

[williamsboys]

Where did u get ur driveshaft?
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[Captainfab]

Somehow I missed your dash mod until now. I like it .......kind of has a little '60-'63 dash look to it.

[Benny-]

impressive! I love what you're doing, giving me some great ideas for mine.

[66shortwide]

Denny's driveshafts is who made the shaft - they were great to work with. Asked all the right questions before making a recommendation on what i needed.

[Hideintire]

Hello!

Really nice build-up. Thank you for sharing!

I have been thinking of doing this and would like to ask a question...How did you determine the ride height? Are you planning on say a 4/6 drop roughly from stock or much more? Did the Flat Out crossmember allow you different ride height options? Could you have went with only a 2" drop? I am only using these drop dims. for reference...something I can relate to. Did you do the "C-Notch" like shape in the rear because you were planning say...an 8" drop?

I am an old-timer and I am not into the "lay it on the ground" look...I want a truck that handles like a C4/C5 but will function somewhat like a truck when needed. It is surprising how close the weights match from the C4 to the C10...I have even considered installing a C5 rear transaxle setup, but I am not sure I want to deal with the large driveshaft hump required.

One other thought...could you not get the engine behind the rack like it is in the Corvette? Was it just to much set-back into the firewall?

Thanks for the time you are investing in this article...it means a lot to fellow hot rodders!
Jimmy

[66shortwide]

Honestly, I just set ride height with a 28" tire height and the front lower control arms level to the ground - then built the rear to match. With the flat out engineering front crossmember, you could have raised or lowered it some before welding to get the drop you wanted. With my build the plan is for autox and roadracing with some cruising and street driving, so I wanted it as low as possible. Currently at ride height the frame under the cab is 7" off of the ground.
The step notch needed to be that high and long to get the rear end up high enough to match the front. I set up ride height on the rear with the lower link bar level.

The rack is only a little higher than the crossmember, so to move the engine back more it would have to be raised. Also if moved back another foot, it would really effect foot space and floor space inthe cab. On a "race" truck it would probably be worth it, but as a driver not sure.

Not sure what the official drop measurements would be, as I didnt start with a complete truck to see how much the difference would be. I usually just get a wild hair and do it, then figure out what it changes after. I know what I want in my head, just most of the time I'm not 100% sure how to get there, so I just start going and by about the 3rd time doing it I have what I want!!

[jimmydean]

Originally Posted by 66shortwide

I usually just get a wild hair and do it, then figure out what it changes after. I know what I want in my head, just most of the time I'm not 100% sure how to get there, so I just start going and by about the 3rd time doing it I have what I want!!

This is the story of all my projects

Nice work.

[66shortwide]

Been awhile since an update - had to go out of town for a while and work, plus got side tracked with a couple of other things.

Finally got 95% of the patch panels welded in and dressed on the cab. Ordered my rear wheels and tires - mickey thompson wheels 20X10.5 and 315/35 nitto invos. After a quick test, it looks like I will be able to run that same size in the front as well. I'll get some pics up soon of the little bit of progress i've made lately.

[66shortwide]

Here is the pic of the wheel - due to the track with of the c4 corvette stuff it is a 20x10.5 with 7" of backspace. Still plenty of wheel without a big lip, not something you see very often in the classic truck world.

[likaroc13]

Nice looking wheels! I must admit when I got email notification of your previous post, I was thinking "how's he gonna fit a 20x10.5 up front?" Without realizing which thread it was from, I forgot about the Vette suspension.

[darkhorse970]

Cool build! I will follow along.

[66shortwide]

yeh, I was originally planing on running a 20x9 in the front, nut after getting the 10.5s in - i mocked them on the front and everything clears the suspension and frame. just need to get the front fenders on and see exactly how much clearance I have. The front track width is a couple inchs shorter than the rear, so I think it will be ok. we will see.

[Jeff La]

Looking good and waiting for more pics LOL

[66shortwide]

finally had some time to sneak out to the shop and try to get some work done. Mounted the cab back on the frame, hopefully for the last time in mock-up, threw the bed on and a front fender to try and get some motivation back. Also started widening the wheelwells to fit the 315 tires. Looks like a 315 on the front will just touch the frame at full steering lock, so thinking of going with 295 for the front tires.

[poorboy]

Awesome build!

[mud.man.rj]

cool, nothing like pushing the tire size, do it all the time.

[66shortwide]

Got a little time during thanksgiving holiday to do some more work on the cab. Got the vintage air mocked up and holes drilled, then started working on the dash vents, a/c control, and radio. Also got my painless wiring harness - went with the integrated chassis and engine harness, also got my gauge package in. Here are some quick mock up pics.

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks good! Nice work!

[hotrod1]

Originally Posted by 66shortwide

Got a little time during thanksgiving holiday to do some more work on the cab. Got the vintage air mocked up and holes drilled, then started working on the dash vents, a/c control, and radio. Also got my painless wiring harness - went with the integrated chassis and engine harness, also got my gauge package in. Here are some quick mock up pics.

Hey, any updates? I want to see pics of that dash install.

[McMurphy]

What are the two screens on the guage set up for? I am guessing they show idiot lights symbols like check engine, fasten seatbelts, stuff like that ??

[duallyjams]

Cool build hope your still working on it.

[mr incredible]

guess it's lost

[66shortwide]

its been over a year since my last post - where does the time go? Finished most of the cab and got it mounted on the frame. Sprayed bed liner on the bottom of the cab. Have decided to go seude(spelling?) on the paint - so, gloss on the inside the engine compartment and seude everywhere else.

Decided that I needed to get the interior painted so I could start reassembly just to try and get remotivated. That is done and dash and air conditioning assembly has started as well as wiring. Below is a cell phone pic of where it sits today. Hopefully I can get some time on this poject and get-r-done.

[66shortwide]

the two screens are dispays that you can set to show different read outs of voltage, trans temp, oil temp, PRND, etc.

Ended up changing jobs and the new job requires alot more travel which of course means less time for the truck. I plan on getting some real pictures for the next update as well as trying to stay current on my post.

[likaroc13]

Glad you're back on it! Life does get in the way sometimes. I like the suede paint idea. How is that achieved? Do you just reduce the gloss a certain percentage?