Nik's 62 build

[AJCK87]

Looking awesome there Nik! I'm feeling the scourge of winter up island too man, can't shake it this year. Cold snowy winter here, Looking forward to spring

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Whoooooooo-Hooooo...Almost burnout time!!

Haha! I can't wait!

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Good work Nik. Real good. What are your career plans?

Thanks Doug, my high school offers a program called "dual credit", with this program I would finish all of my mandatory courses during the first half of my grade 12 year so that I would go to the college for the second semester. As far as what college program I'll take I'm not entirely sure yet, I'm strongly leaning towards aircraft maintenance engineering, but welding or heavy duty mechanics is a possibility as well.

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

X2 with Palf! Almost time for a big smokey!

It will be doing donuts before you know it!

Originally Posted by AJCK87

Looking awesome there Nik! I'm feeling the scourge of winter up island too man, can't shake it this year. Cold snowy winter here, Looking forward to spring

Thanks Anthony, I can't wait for spring and I can finally get out there dirtbiking and fishing! I never imagined this year it would still be snowing in March! Just ridiculous!

Got a little time today to paint up and install the master cylinder, made the cover the same colour as the engine block, looks way better than plain old bare metal and it shouldn't rust now. Also cleaned up the wiring by putting it into a braided loom and securing it to the inner fender.

[62stepside longbox]

Got some time to cut the inner fender and bend the ps low pressure line so it fits. I'll be getting new hoses as these are old and leaky but this was more of just a test to see if bending the stock ones will work

[Palf70Step]

Get out of the way, a Chevy Truck is coming horn!!!

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Air horn!

Oh yeah!!

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Get out of the way, a Chevy Truck is coming horn!!!

Everyone in town will know it's me comin! Even more so since I'll be running the other two factory horns as well, so hopefully 3 horns is enough

Today I worked on separating the grille, grille support and rad support.

[62stepside longbox]

Here's some of the rust I'll be dealing with, not at all bad compared to how the rest of the truck was.

[65sub]

Shouldn't be a problem for you Nik.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by 65sub

Shouldn't be a problem for you Nik.

Not at all! This has pretty much become the routine

Today I got a little time in the garage so I started cutting! Always seems like I find more rust once I go deeper, this was no exception. But it's nothing compared to what I've done in the past so it shouldn't at all be a problem. I'll start on making some patches tomorrow.

[62stepside longbox]

After school I spent a couple hours on doing the rust repair first I welded this patch in place and smoothed it out.

[62stepside longbox]

Here is the finished product, the area where the bolt goes through to the frame was was triple layered 18 gauge, so that took a while to form.

[62stepside longbox]

Another pic, the next order of business is to sand and clean up the entire thing and then spray it black so it will be ready to install.

[Palf70Step]

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

Excellent progress! Getting the front end back on is a real milestone.

Thank you, yes the front end is where the majority of the work is, once it's all finished it'll be a weight off my back.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Well today was quite the day! Along with the above progress I also worked into the evening and managed to remove the rear end, it just didn't want to let go! The u-bolts had to be cut off. But other than that it all went smoothly.

[65sub]

Looking good Nik. Keep at it, spring's coming

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by 65sub

Looking good Nik. Keep at it, spring's coming

Thanks dale, I'm not super tight on the plan, as long as I get it on the road before summer starts I'll be fine.


Today I made some more progress on the rear end swap, I knew I had to figure out some way to hook up an e-brake since the cables from the 71 rear end mounted to the trailing arms differently and were too short. But to my surprise when I pulled the cables from the backing plates and compared them I found out they would swap over and snap right in, no modifications at all!

[62stepside longbox]

Been struggling to get the u bolts out of the trailing arms, they are rusted right in. I've already tried heating up, soaking in penatrant oil and beating the crap out of them with a punch and sledgehammer and it didn't budge. I'm thinking I might have to take off my trailing arms and get the u bolts pressed out. Anyone have any other ideas?

[65sub]

That's the way Nik Just keep beating on it until it gives up

[62stepside longbox]

Spent a couple hours beating away at the passengers side and finally got them out, I then wire brushed the trailing arms and inside the holes and put on a little rust paint where the axle mounting pads sit. Before I install the rear end I will apply some anti seize to the ubolts. While I was under the truck I made a little discovery. I found that one of my coil springs is cracked right at the base. So it looks like I'll be in the market for new springs.

[62 Barnfind]

Originally Posted by 62stepside longbox

Spent a couple hours beating away at the passengers side and finally got them out, I then wire brushed the trailing arms and inside the holes and put on a little rust paint where the axle mounting pads sit. Before I install the rear end I will apply some anti seize to the ubolts. While I was under the truck I made a little discovery. I found that one of my coil springs is cracked right at the base. So it looks like I'll be in the market for new springs.

Make sure you get the new mounting plates and bolts. i had to cut one of my springs out and pound out the long bolt. Now you can order the the drop size you want and lower the front to match.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by AJCK87

Right on Nik! Looking forward to seeing you rig on the road. Hopefully I can get out to the Okanagan this summer, I will definetly drop you a line. Keep it up, in the home stretch now

Thanks Anthony! I'm really wanting to see it on the road as well, shouldn't be long... Looking forward to hopefully seeing you this summer!

Originally Posted by 62 Barnfind

Make sure you get the new mounting plates and bolts. i had to cut one of my springs out and pound out the long bolt. Now you can order the the drop size you want and lower the front to match.

I was actually wanting to keep it stock height as I do a lot of fishing and dirtbiking in remote areas that require some ground clearance and beefier tires (the reason I got the Dunlop rover m/t's).

Today I got my new ubolts and bolted in the rear end, it's a great relief to see that all my measuring and welding was done properly and it all went together super smoothy. I then put the wheels on and put the truck back on the ground.

[62stepside longbox]

Worked on getting some small odds and ends ready on the engine, installed a few small parts. Put in the distributor and picked up some new plug wires, I had to trim a couple of them but other than that they worked perfectly. All I need to do is clean, paint and install the oil filter system and lines and it'll be ready to fire up!

[RANDY COX]

Hey, you done a good job on that radiator support patch, let me guess it was the passenger side that was rotted.. from the battery acid...that's the same place where mine was and I just patched it like you did couldn't see getting a new one since that was the only place...keep up the good work...

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by RANDY COX

Hey, you done a good job on that radiator support patch, let me guess it was the passenger side that was rotted.. from the battery acid...that's the same place where mine was and I just patched it like you did couldn't see getting a new one since that was the only place...keep up the good work...

Thanks randy, and yes the drivers side had no rust at all which had me scratching my head for a bit. But that makes complete sense about the battery acid leaking down, on vehicles of this age most of them seem to have rusted out battery trays for that exact reason.

[AJCK87]

Right on Nik! Looking forward to seeing you rig on the road. Hopefully I can get out to the Okanagan this summer, I will definetly drop you a line. Keep it up, in the home stretch now

[Classic v6 GMC's]

Parts look nice!!