1972 SWB Build

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice progress. Removing the bed that way was pretty handy.

Thanks. Slow progress but it’s progress!

[my67chevytruck]

nice work...

[beaterku]

Sigh, progress has been at a snails pace. Between the holidays, sickness coming to my house and ravaging everyone and life, it's been painfully slow.

The shock cross member is in, finally. I started in on the bolt in RideTech c-notches and quickly found that the paper template supplied is more of a suggestion than the answer. The holes were sorta kinda close to where they needed to be. Instead of taking 30 minutes to drill out the holes, it took 2 hours. A lot of measuring, marking, drilling pilot holes to see how close I was. Finally, one of the notches was all drilled an bolted in. I ran out of time on Sunday, but now I have a plan for the other side. The I'll cut the notches in the frame and be done with this debacle.

I not placing blame on RideTech here for the pattern since my truck was not originally a coil truck. The holes are all in "flux" since I am locating the cross member with a 50 year old dimensional drawing on a frame that was never mean to be square. It's more of a throw the dart at the wall kind of locating method.

I put the rear in yet another time to triple and quadruple check that the notch was located where it was supposed to be and all is well. The problem I am having is that I am a Type A, so close enough is really bringing my anxiety up.

One thing I am concerned about is the Ridetech track bar clearing my Moser girdle cover. The cover is quite large and just by quick inspection, it looks like it will interfere. I've got a bit of wiggle room since I get the locate the mount on the frame.

Also, the hardware is just fit-up hardware. It will all be 7/16" GR8 hardware on final assembly.

[beaterku]

Forward progress. Started working on the panhard bar cross member. Ran in to a problem that I knew I was going to have. The girdle cover I have sticks out to far. To get the panhard bar to clear the cover, I have to move the cross member back 3.25". This is not going to work with the Boyd tank I have so I am going to have to ditch the girdle cover for now. I may, down the road, fabricockle a new panhard bar that clears the girdle cover, but for now, I am going to use the stock cover and locate the crossmember were it is supposed to be.

The front edge of the blue tape is where the center of the cross member is supposed to be. I installed the shocks to see where the axle will hang at it's lowest, which also happens to be the worst case scenario. It's a bummer, but I'll make it work at a later date.

[beaterku]

My conversion U-joint arrive yesterday. I was out in the shop verifying that it's going to work and I noticed something that may be an interference. When I lift the axle up to approximate ride-height, the drive shaft is really close to the center crossmember hoop. The truck does not have the stock trans crossmember. It was originally a manual truck that somewhere along the line was converted to auto. I believe it has a 73+ trans crossmember that is bolted to the bottom frame lip. My gut is telling me that there may be something funky going on with the trans mount and cross member. I'm going to check it out tomorrow and see what is cooking.

I am hopefull to get the stock diff cover on tomorrow and located the panhard crossmember and be done with the conversion, finally!

[beaterku]

The conversion is complete. I'm going to break it down to touch up paint and clean up the frame. I'm glad to finally be beyond this point. It's been a long process when I'm only working on it an hour at a time. I'm excited to start installing some of the Ridetech and Wilwood goodies!

I am going to clean up the stock diff cover and put a coat of paint on it. I need to get a list of all of the bolts I need to order in GR8 to re-assemble.

Forward Progress!

Here is a link to the most current YouTube video on this build: https://youtu.be/gyM_SIwGh4g

[beaterku]

Made decent progress on the leaf to coil spring conversion today. It back on the ground temporarily. The conversion is complete! I put it on the ground to check driveshaft clearance on the crossmembers. It's clears no problem. I still need to get the truck on the lift to see what is going on with the trans mount. It is sitting off to the drivers side. I broke it all back down to do touchup on the frame paint. I also decided to remove the stock leaf hangers. I ran out of time today, but should be able to work a few nights this week.

[stevenfromtexas]

Originally Posted by beaterku

I also swapped out the non-functioning AM radio for a Retrosound Zuma (I am not a huge fan of this unit, but it does the job.)

may i ask what you're not too happy about with your radio. i have the hermosa unit and so far i like it. just curious if there are quirks i should look for down the road

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by stevenfromtexas

may i ask what you're not too happy about with your radio. i have the hermosa unit and so far i like it. just curious if there are quirks i should look for down the road

It is not a bad radio, don't get me wrong. For what it cost, I am not really that impressed. The screen is too dim, even on it's brightest setting, the rotary shafts work fine and then huge jumps (always fun when turning up the volume) and clunky interface. Like I say, for the money, I expect a little more refinement.

[stevenfromtexas]

i gotcha...thank you for the reply

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on the truck. Does ridetech recommend you mount the shocks like that?

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work on the truck. Does ridetech recommend you mount the shocks like that?

It seems upside down, but that's how they want them installed. The sleeve inside the shock is a different diam on each end. Only goes on one way.

[Dieselwrencher]

Ok, it definitley looked odd. But they are the ones who design it and if it only goes on one way, it is what it is.

[beaterku]

What started out to be an easy day of applying chassis saver for touch up ended up being 4 hours of grinding to remove the previous owners "work". But, it's all cleaned up now and finally ready for paint.

I went ahead and removed the crossmember at the front leaf mounts. I am going to bolt this in for easy removable. I got to thinking, if I had to remove this crossmember with the bed on... what a nightmare! I am going to use it for a little extra rigidity.

The frame, all of the crossmembers, brackets and do dads have been scuffed and are ready for paint. I ran out of time yesterday. Hopefully Wednesday I'll have some time to start painting.

The pace of this project is getting comical now. That's how it goes I suppose.

[beaterku]

Getting closer. The frame and loose parts are all top coated. I'm going to let them cure for a couple of days and start final assembly. This has got to be the longest project I've even done. I am a little embarrassed at how long it has taken to get this far. Unfortunately, baseball has started for one of my sons, so I fell like I'm going to have to double down and start working on it nights after the kids have gone to bed.

Here is a YouTube update on the truck: https://youtu.be/fUetpeVKbpk

[beaterku]

The rear frame is all bolted together and torqued. Started setting up the brakes on the rear end, but ran out of time. Everything went together smooth as silk. Just need to bolt the rear end back into the truck for the final time!

[builtbyKane]

Sure is pretty.

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by builtbyKane

Sure is pretty.

Thank you! I know it's been said a thousand times, but this board and it's members are the number one reason I keep tinkering. I really appreciate it!

[Jason7121]

Nice work looks great

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by Jason7121

Nice work looks great

Thanks!

[beaterku]

I uploaded the video of this part of the build.

Check it out if you'd like https://youtu.be/qcyJy8Rrv5g

[Advanced Design]

Nice video! Clean and new parts are always fun. Looks very good.

[builtbyKane]

pictures and videos!!! I can't stay off the internet now.

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice video! Clean and new parts are always fun. Looks very good.

That they are, thanks!

Originally Posted by builtbyKane

pictures and videos!!! I can't stay off the internet now.

I know the feeling, thanks!

[Dieselwrencher]

It's really looking nice now!