Francis the Tow Pig - 1949 GMC 250 Dually

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by lower50's

I'm liking the deep dish rear. What did you not like about the metal blast?

I don't feel it did a good enough job converting the rust that was there. I had higher expectations, it just requires a "cleaner" surface. If you have to remove that much rust to begin with, what's the point? When I do the back, I'll let it soak for a few hours and see if that makes a difference.

Yes, I'm pretty excited to get some tires mounted on the wheels and get the frame on the ground!

[Nut Case]

OutLawDrifter

Love your Grandfather truck, My Grandfather had on just like it in faded Black, with 2 of those long arm rear view mirror (so you could see around the bales of hay and straw we used to buck for him on his farm. He would start it in Granny (deep under), set the throttle tie bail twine from the vent window and steering well and we would walk along and buck hay. We got all his hay and straw in and stacked for the winter.. So much fun. Must have five big cab lig6hton th cab. SUCH GOOD MEMEORIES
fUN FUN FUN, DONT EVER STOOP

kEEP ON KEEPIN NC

[OutlawDrifter]

Last night I was able to get some work done in the shop. Pulled the rear axle and springs, and installed new drop leafs. Completed the front suspension less front shocks with newly acquired and modified internal spring compressor. Started on installing the steering components. I also picked up a ZQ8 quick ratio steering box on the cheap, should have it first of next week.

So the Bravada rear end I had sourced was a bust, it ended up being from a newer Trailblazer style unit. Between that an pulling my hair out, I jumped on the web salvage yard search and came up with a few 8.5" ZR2 rears for pennies on the dollar. Hopefully I'll be picking one of those up Saturday, it will need changed over to 3.23 or 3.08 gears for my tire size and overdrive ratio. The added width should help with my phantom dually look, however.

Wheels are painted, they turned out great. Dropped them off for tires yesterday. 295/50R15 in the back and 215/70R15 in the front, Cooper Cobra Radial GT's with the white letters out.

[OutlawDrifter]

Tires were on at lunch, so I snapped some pics and threw them in the shop.

I'm very pleased

[lower50's]

Well it sounds good but I can't see your pictures.

[OutlawDrifter]

Well, Photobucket just ruined quite a few of my build threads. I sent a message to the admin of the site to see if i could fix the initial post, I'll just upload pictures directly from now on. Previous post is fixed!

[OutlawDrifter]

The cab is not on...yet. I was able to get quite a bit done this weekend. Finished up the front suspension and installed brakes/spacers/wheels. Picked up my new to me 8.5" ZR2 10 bolt axle. This sets the wheel spacing up perfect for what I'm trying to accomplish, and it get's me a stouter axle than the 7.5", and none of the hassle of the 8.8 swap. I spray bombed it and ordered complete new brakes for it. I will change the gears out to a 3.23 or 3.08 ratio to comply better with my tire size. Might update the carrier while I'm in there also.

Fab'd up about 85% of the cab mounts. Still need to weld the top plates on and bore the 2" hole. My ZQ8 steering gear will be in tomorrow, along with my new computer setup for the shop. That will make parts searching and general shop time more enjoyable. No more trips to the house to look things up on the laptop, or searching on the phone.

Threw on both center cap choices to see what I like best. Baby Moon is the current front runner, but the Highway Patrol cap is growing on me.

My goal is to have the cab set and engine mounts welded in by the end of next weekend.

[OutlawDrifter]

Yesterday was a very productive day. I was able to get the cab mounts tacked in, cab set on the frame, engine/trans in place, and engine mounts fab'd and tacked in. I did have to clearance the firewall for the 4L80E. With all the weight in place, the front should tuck just a small amount of front tire, which is what I wanted. Today is clean the shop day and order more parts to progress forward.

I've been going back and forth on the exhaust. Decided I wanted a "period correct" sound. I'll be running true dual exhaust with no crossover and a set of 26" or 30" 2.5" inlet/outlet Smithy's. I've spent all week reading myself blind on all of the different glasspacks still available, I think the Smithy's will do the job I'm looking for, and my dad used to talk about them all the time, so why not! The 6.0L's are loud, so it should be interesting to see how mellow the tone is.









This one is my favorite.

[lower50's]

Loud or quiet it will sound great.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Loud or quiet it will sound great.

That's what I'm hoping for!


Didn't get as much accomplished last night as I'd hoped. Pulled the cab back off and started fab'ing up a tranny cross member, got sidetracked and started finish welding the cab mounts. Well, neither of my MIG welders wanted to cooperate last night. Not sure if it was the heat or what, but I will probably end up doing some grinder work and hitting them again.

Yesterday I ordered all of my exhaust. Ended up going with the 26" Smithy's and 2.5" exhaust pipe. I've got some old Meg's oval exhaust tips I used on my Z28 in high school, I think I'll run those out the back. Planning to chop the triangle flanges off of the factory manifolds and weld in some pipe with v-band clamps on the ends.

[OutlawDrifter]

It's fair week in my county and I worked the "Hot Dog Feed" for the swine show yesterday. When that was said and done, I was told to go home for the rest of the afternoon...you don't have to tell me twice!

When I tacked my engine mounts in, they weren't quite right, everything was just twisted enough it bothered me. So that was the first order of the day, getting that fixed. Once I had it dialed in where I wanted it, I set my sights on building the transmission cross member. Used 2x1 11ga tubing and gusseted the joints. This should be more than enough to carry the weight of the 4L80E. Once that was finished up, I cut the 3-bolt flanges off the exhaust manifolds in preparation of welding on some pipe extensions and v-band clamps. Finished out the day with a good ol' cleaning of the shop, and a beer of course.

Parts are starting to stack up again, with more coming in today.

[iowaboynca]

Welds look good.

[lower50's]

Nice looking cross member. How will it be removed once the cab is on?

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

Welds look good.

Thanks, really liking my Eastwood 135.

Originally Posted by lower50's

Nice looking cross member. How will it be removed once the cab is on?

I haven't decided how I'm attaching it just yet. There will be 4" of clearance between the frame and the cab, so if I welded it to the angle as it lays, I could just bolt the angle through the frame from the outside. There would be room to remove it then. I also thought about boxing in the inside of the frame and connecting it there. I decided to sit on it for a few days and throw the exhaust on first.

[joedoh]

looking good!

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by joedoh

looking good!

Thanks joedoh!




Santa Claus arrived in the form of the big brown truck yesterday.

My intake and the Smithy's came in. I'm looking forward to this intake setup, it will give it that classic look when you pop the hood, but have enough "modern" there to make a person scratch their head. There is no way to make a truck intake look good in my opinion. LS engines just aren't as "pretty" as a Gen 1 SBC.

Should have the rest of the exhaust today. Hoping my throttle body adapters from Delmo's show up also. I'd like to get the tuner started on the harness so it's ready to drop in.

Hopefully I'll have the exhaust knocked out to the rear axle this weekend.

[OutlawDrifter]

Busy day at Aces High yesterday, I wandered in the shop without a direction and knocked out quite a bit. I was able to get the exhaust out past the transmission, including smoothing out the manifolds and welding on the v-bands. Also finished up the transmission cross member.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

This one is my favorite.

I was doing the same task this weekend. Very exciting to see the truck look sort of like a truck again! I probably sat there for an hour on a board of wood just checking the rake on the cab, the centering of the front wheel, a little adjustment here, there. Glad the front mounts were tacked in the right place but I think I cut my rears too short. You have some massive cab mounts there, which ones did you get? I could use an extra inch or so height on the rear of mine. Maybe I'll do like the original truck and put a wooden block in there as a spacer haha.

Keep up the good work! I just got my intake and carb for the engine too.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

I was doing the same task this weekend. Very exciting to see the truck look sort of like a truck again! I probably sat there for an hour on a board of wood just checking the rake on the cab, the centering of the front wheel, a little adjustment here, there. Glad the front mounts were tacked in the right place but I think I cut my rears too short. You have some massive cab mounts there, which ones did you get? I could use an extra inch or so height on the rear of mine. Maybe I'll do like the original truck and put a wooden block in there as a spacer haha.

Keep up the good work! I just got my intake and carb for the engine too.

Thanks for stopping in! The mounts are Dorman brand factory replacements for an S10.

[OutlawDrifter]

Haven't done much work in the shop this week. The heat index has been over 100* and our humidity has been in the 90% range. Not ideal for wrenching.

All that has happened, is stacking up more boxes as they arrive. The steering column is in, LS6 valley cover, 4150 carb spacer with PCV port, and my 30lb @ 3 bar Brown/Orange Bosch injectors should be in today. They flow approx. 37lbs at 58psi (4 bar).

I was going back and forth on what to do with the PCV routing when it dawned on me, duh, buy the LS6 valley cover with the built in PCV valve. I have this same unit on my 6.0L powered Z28.

I'm taking 1 more week off from the shop and then I'm going to hit it hard. My goal is to have this truck running and driving by our local car show on October 14th. It may not be "finished", but I'd like to have it there.

I have the faux-wrecker bed penciled out, and my local sheet metal company on board to do the slip rolling and breaking. Just need the cab back on so I can get the measurements completed. I'm going to run a Tanks, Inc. Mustang fuel injected tank, probably use the 16 gallon unit. It will mount in between the frame rails behind the rear axle. I'll be using a 255lph pump and a Corvette regulator/filter, so I'll only have 1 fuel line that runs all the way to the engine. Planning on running the Classic Instruments "Hot Rod" series direct fit gauges and dash mounted tach that looks like a 60s vintage Sun unit.

Need to get the cab over to the big door, drag the hose over, smother the inside in purple power and hose it out. Let her dry out, and then slap it back on the frame and get to gettin'!

[joedoh]

looking really great!

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Haven't done much work in the shop this week. The heat index has been over 100* and our humidity has been in the 90% range. Not ideal for wrenching.

boo hoo!

I have been working OUTSIDE on the bed. when that sun comes around the corner of the house you can fry eggs on the sheetmetal.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by joedoh

looking really great!




boo hoo!

I have been working OUTSIDE on the bed. when that sun comes around the corner of the house you can fry eggs on the sheetmetal.

Sounds like you need a cooler full of beer and a shade tree!

I'm originally from Western Nebraska, like almost Wyoming, so this humidity and I don't play well together. It's a poor excuse, but welding when it's 95+ degrees in the shop is unpleasant. I prefer a dry heat, haha.

[joedoh]

the sun skips the shade trees on the summer solstice.

I know what you mean, I grew up in western pa and my folks didnt even have an air conditioner, let alone central ac. If I could mount an umbrella on my cars to keep the sun out of the interior I would. in fact if I park the saturn in a certain spot in the driveway, the sun comes in full blast, warps the steering wheel center plastic and the horn sounds till I wrest it away from the contacts. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP took forever to figure out what it was from inside the house, sounded like the worst tornado siren ever.

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by joedoh

the sun skips the shade trees on the summer solstice.

I know what you mean, I grew up in western pa and my folks didnt even have an air conditioner, let alone central ac. If I could mount an umbrella on my cars to keep the sun out of the interior I would. in fact if I park the saturn in a certain spot in the driveway, the sun comes in full blast, warps the steering wheel center plastic and the horn sounds till I wrest it away from the contacts. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP took forever to figure out what it was from inside the house, sounded like the worst tornado siren ever.

Now that's funny!

[lower50's]

It sucks working on your truck when it's that hot out, makes it feel like work. We have been having 85-95* with humidity up here. Having the boxes pile up is not a bad thing tho.