1974 C20 Soon to become a project...

[slotard]

I don't know, hopefully someone else can help with that. I've never done a flip either. I just know that 1 1/8" (or less with the overloads pulled) uptravel doesn't sound like enough to me.

[Super_Dave]

Today, I finally solved the temp gauge issue with BABA YAGA!'s new heart. I went to my brothers shop where the old heart was and snagged the TU5 temp sending unit from the cylinder head. Back home, I pulled the OEM sender from the new heart and installed the old TU5 sender and viola! No more maxed out Hot as Hades reading. Now, if I have a real temp issue with BABA YAGA! I will know.

[Super_Dave]

Yesterday, I came out to another deader-than-a-door-nail battery. Checked the cells and they were dry as a bone.

The PO had a 6 year old battery in there. Common sense told me to install a new battery, but I wasn't listening. It's amazing how may small issues mysteriously cleared up with a new pacemaker in BABA YAGA!

[Super_Dave]

Yesterday, I did a handshake deal with a specialty trans shop to build and install a 700r4 trans with a no-lock up converter. Called today and the core is on its way. Should be ready for the install around Wednesday next week. If all goes as planned, BABA YAGA! should have an AOD trans and new shoes and soles by Friday next week!

Right after that, a trip to the body and paint doctor to make a game plan and start the face lift... then a new set of threads!

[Super_Dave]

I am looking at some 18x9 eight lug wheels for my BABA YAGA! project. These are the new shoes I am looking to put on BABA YAGA! soon...

I am looking to run 245/45/18's in the front (9.6" tread width) and 285/45/18's in the back (11.2" tread width).

Am I going to have trouble running the 285/45's on a 9" rim in the back? I know the 245/45's in the front will be fine.

[midnight rambler]

Your gonna like the 700r4 had mine done last year

[Super_Dave]

Originally Posted by midnight rambler

Your gonna like the 700r4 had mine done last year

What did you do for the column indicator?

[midnight rambler]

Had a 4 speed so a put the lokar tall shifter on the floor

[Super_Dave]

Originally Posted by midnight rambler

Had a 4 speed so a put the lokar tall shifter on the floor

... cheater....

I need to find a video or tutorial on what's involved in swapping out the 3 speed indicator for a 4 speed in a non-tilt column.

[midnight rambler]

check this out Dave
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/transmi...-shifters-kit/

[Super_Dave]

Ordered the wheels today. Will be in on Tuesday. We are going to try 255/50/20's on the front and 305/50/20's on the rear.

Mocked up some 295/45/20's today and they looked great, but we think we can pull off some 305/50's... for a full 12" out back.

The fronts look like a 3" drop spindle will work just right. The rear flip should get the job done... and if a c-notch is needed, the body work will take care of it. If the 305's need a fraction of clearance, we will try rolling the lip of the fender, otherwise it's the 295/45's.

Looking forward to next week, as a lot of things should be happening in quick succession.

I posted a question on the Electrical forum about how long it takes a shop to install a full harness from American Autowire. One shop says two weeks! I'm thinking a lot less, given they do it everyday and the kit is basically plug-n-play. It seems some shops think because you are dumping a lot of hard earned money into a truck, they need to get in line to milk the cow.

[Super_Dave]

BABA YAGA! got some new shoes and socks today!

I pulled the trigger on the wheels and tires. We put 255/50/20's on the front and squeezed 305/50/20's on the rear. The stance is really level and is growing on me slowly. However, If I want to drop the front 2.5-3" with spindles, I will have to roll the inner lip on the rear wheel well to drop the back. Just couldn't bring myself to back off to 295/50/20's... wanted the full 12"! Go big or go home! Didn't want any regrets later on.

I will be waiting for a while to make the final decision. Right now I am enjoying the smoother ride improved look.

[Super_Dave]

BABA YAGA! has a new trans in his future. The 700r4 was in tear-down yesterday.

Today it was tanked and new parts were being installed in the afternoon. Might even be looking at an install by Thursday or Friday.

More photos of the process to come later... I forgot my camera today :/

[midnight rambler]

Moving along looks good

[Super_Dave]

Ordering the AAW 73-87 classic truck harness today, along with the New Vintage USA gauge cluster. My racing buddy's shop will do the install in a couple of weeks.

Down the road, I will be hydro-dipping the gauge bezel in a CF pattern to match the background of the gauges. Should look real nice together.

[Super_Dave]

Just bought this 700r4 Indicator for the column. Should be a direct fit.

[Super_Dave]

The 700r4 is buttoned up (have some in-progress photos from the shop on a phone and have not gotten them downloaded yet...).

It's going in this afternoon. If the shake-down doesn't find anything, I should be have it back by end of the day.

Rebuilding the core was spread out over a two day period while working on other cars and waiting for parts. Install will spread over a two day period at the most, in the same manner... saving $1500-$1800 over what the other 'specialty' shop was going to charge and in half the time.

[Super_Dave]

Since I am not going to be ready for the local show in June, I have decided to take a different approach to the body and paint.

I am going to pull and replace all the parts that will be less costly than having a shop do the body work...

1. core support,
2. passenger inner fender (drivers too since I am getting free shipping),
3. both front fenders (could be easily fixed but with free shipping offsetting the bodyshop costs, I might as well make it easy and less costly),
4. battery tray / support,
5. possibly one bed side that has a couple of dents on the belt line and a small one under the taillight.

I am also going to replace the tailgate again, for a smooth one with the latch handle on the inside.

That will leave only the inner rockers and a small area under the kick panels. The rest of their work will be welding the trim holes nd smoothing out the body and bed.

I have all the trim removed. Some is still really nice, some is good, some is fair and some... well, what comes after that No trim will not be going back on the truck. Instead, I will be using a two toned paint scheme and pin stripes to dress it up.

I have decided not to use any trim. Dirt, water, etc. gets trapped and the paint and body goes sideways, especially when you don't have room in the garage for an extended period of time.

[Super_Dave]

Well, good news and bad news.

The good news is I got the 700r4 installed. The bad news is we almost burned the truck to the ground.

After the trans was installed, we started the truck to cycle the trans fluid through the valve body and get the fluid running through the cooler and look for leaks.

However, the engine would stumble, misfire and eventually choke itself out. We put new gas in the tank and same story. We put the truck back on the lift and looked for kinked lines and leaks, as the truck was clearly having fuel deliver issues. Nothing.

So, we pulled one of the two filters and sure enough, flakes and debris from the gas tank, which almost guarantees that the new Edelbrock is full of crap from the float bowl to the idle mixture seats... so, it's off and tear it apart time... again.

Needless to say, one of the things I ordered from the big Brothers Truck sale, was a new 25 gallon Blazer/Suburban gas tank to replace the spare tire carrier.

One benefit of the gas related issues, was that, while the hood was up, I noticed smoke coming from two locations in the wiring harness along the firewall. Sam, from Tualatin Transmissions, opened the wire loom and the wires were hotter than hell and smoking! He checked the ignition and the key was in the on position and when we turned to the off position, the wiring calmed down. Had the truck run as good as it did two days ago, I might have been on the side of the road watching it burn to the ground. It's a God thing, right? Needless to say, I have a new AAW harness on it's way and hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I will have the new gauge cluster, shift indicator, wiring harness and gas tank in the truck, so I can go back to Tualation Transmissions and have Sam dial in the transmission and speedometer.

So, I decided to have it towed to my racing buddy's shop, where he was getting his car ready for this weekend. I told the tow truck driver to follow me, as he was having difficulty understanding that the race shop was actually two blocks from his company's yard. On the way there, I was stopped at a light and I noticed something in the rear view mirror. All I saw was a RAM grill emblem as it rammed into the rear of my Buick Regal... the tow truck carrying my truck had rear ended me.

I will be going to several body shops Monday to get prices on what needs to be repaired. The only redeeming factor was getting my truck delivered for "free" so to speak.

Tomorrow is another day!

[LT7A]

You've come a long way in a short time. Like the truck a lot. So much, that if you asked me, it's hard to improve on the original paint scheme, but that wasn't one of the voting options, ha! Good luck man.

[UKNOWME]

Originally Posted by Super_Dave

Since I am not going to be ready for the local show in June, I have decided to take a different approach to the body and paint.

I am going to pull and replace all the parts that will be less costly than having a shop do the body work...

1. core support,
2. passenger inner fender (drivers too since I am getting free shipping),
3. both front fenders (could be easily fixed but with free shipping offsetting the bodyshop costs, I might as well make it easy and less costly),
4. battery tray / support,
5. possibly one bed side that has a couple of dents on the belt line and a small one under the taillight.

I am also going to replace the tailgate again, for a smooth one with the latch handle on the inside.

That will leave only the inner rockers and a small area under the kick panels. The rest of their work will be welding the trim holes nd smoothing out the body and bed.

I have all the trim removed. Some is still really nice, some is good, some is fair and some... well, what comes after that No trim will not be going back on the truck. Instead, I will be using a two toned paint scheme and pin stripes to dress it up.

I have decided not to use any trim. Dirt, water, etc. gets trapped and the paint and body goes sideways, especially when you don't have room in the garage for an extended period of time.

Careful with some of the aftermarket sheet metal. I had a very difficult time fitting my fenders.

[Super_Dave]

Originally Posted by LT7A

You've come a long way in a short time. Like the truck a lot. So much, that if you asked me, it's hard to improve on the original paint scheme, but that wasn't one of the voting options, ha! Good luck man.

Thanks.

I have not settled on the final paint scheme yet. I do know I am about 99% sure that new moldings are not in the plan. It has to be in keeping with the BABA YAGA! concept from John Wick...

I am drawing up the plans to mill BABA YAGA! from billet to replace the side emblems and dash emblem... and most likely one for the smooth tailgate that's replacing the blue one. We will be making them in our shop.

I am also leaning very strongly toward sidelining the Edelbrock 650 in favor of an Howell EFI setup for overall better reliability, cold starts, performance and increase in fuel efficiency... to go along with the 700r4.

[Super_Dave]

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

Careful with some of the aftermarket sheet metal. I had a very difficult time fitting my fenders.

Yeah, I know... it's a crap shoot any more, unless you want to spend $500-$600 for an OEM fender or $1,000 for an OEM bed side, and the vendor stills says scratches and dents are normal in shipping. You would think for $1,000, dents and scratches would not be "normal" shipping issues. Good used parts in the NW is rare, as I have been looking for almost two years and don't want to wait any longer.

I took advantage of the Brothers Truck sale and ordered a LOT of parts and saved around $750. One was a Goodmark core support. I have heard a lot of good and some bad about Goodmark sheetmetal. Guess I will know once it arrives.

I wish there was some central way for members to comment on specific areas of Vendor Purchases (not the overall vendor experience that was good or bad...), like sheetmetal only, wiring harness only, interior products only... and leave ratings or comments about quality so we don't have to wade through so much, non-relevant information trying to find a nugget here and there. Besides, a single good comment you stumble upon, is not the same a a solid "trend."

Anyway, I am betting on the come that I didn't get burned. I also have some Goodmark in the Shopping Cart at Summit that will get ordered this week.

[Super_Dave]

I am looking at this Round Headlight Bezel that also incorporates the running light below. I like it better than the separate running light, however, I need to know what other trim parts I need to get (if any) to tie the grill trim together.

The BROTHERS listing says "WILL FIT 73-76 BUT IS NOT CORRECT" - not being period correct doesn't bother me. All I want to know is can I use the rest of my grill trim or do I need to replace some of the lower trim? Can anyone clue me in?

[chrapladm]

Looking god so far. Any chance for a side picture of the truck in the afternoon sun?

Just curious to see how these wheels and tires look. Was thinking 20 22 F/R or possibly 22/24.