Ian's Tennessee Honey '64 Short Box Step-side - England

[ibrown50]

Got the control arm back from MD Shot blasting today, blasted and primed, it's in really good shape.



I've managed to strip out the old bushes and shafts (you can't beat a 3ft power bar) and put a coat of high build etch primer on today, but before doing that I prepped the arm (I'd done the other three a while back).



I'm probably stating the obvious but it really is worth spending 20 minutes "de-burring" the edges if you want to avoid rust. The majority of edge burrs are caused during manufacture, some are from the blanking dies, however, some are also caused by the material flow which is a by-product of this type of stamping process.




I've worked for a number of car manufacturers over the years and done a fair bit on suspension. In-order to give anti-corrosion warrantees the OE's perform a CCT test (compound corrosion test) where parts are literally sprayed with a near boiling (like 180 - 200 degrees) caustic solution. Parts are checked for corrosion every 100 hours or so and the point at which they start to rust becomes the rating. (like 200 hours CCT, 300 hours CCT etc.) every failure I ever saw was caused by edge burrs.

Ofcourse I should have done the prep before blasting!!
Two coats of primer on the edges also keeps the rust away!

[Ta2Don]

Great Work!

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Hi Ian. Some nice work going on here. Interesting thread... everything from pinstripes to pandas. I especially like the pinstriping on the steering wheel. I look forward to seeing more.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Great Work!

Thanks Don

Originally Posted by Johnny_Lamebridge

Hi Ian. Some nice work going on here. Interesting thread... everything from pinstripes to pandas. I especially like the pinstriping on the steering wheel. I look forward to seeing more.

Johnny, thank you for your kind words

[ibrown50]

A quick up-date, I managed to finish painting the control arms yesterday, as usual I coated up the edges first,



Then hung them up so I could get right round them, they got 2 coats of an isocyanate based 2 pack each, it dries really hard and wears well. (plus it's very shiney )



Yesterday was really sunny so once they'd dried a little, I hung them in my green house to "bake" (DIY paint oven), to be honest I've been so busy with other stuff this year this is probably the first time I've been in there.



I'm really pleased with the way they turned out, next job will be to fit the ball joints and start rebuilding the suspension

[ibrown50]

Well my eldest daughter has just bought her first house (it's a bit of a fixer -upper) so this weekend I have been DIY dad.

I still managed a bit of progress though. Saturday I assembled the upper control arms, very straight forward once I'd figured out the ball joint (thanks to chevy_mike).




The upper control arm shafts are the perfect shape to clamp in a vice while tightening the bushes. I used a 36mm socket on an 18" power bar and they went together very easily.

[ibrown50]

Sunday I did the lower control arms, these were a little more of a challenge. I have a ball joint press but it was designed for English cars and just isn't man enough when it comes to Chevy trucks .

So I improvised, with a piece of a 9" axle case, a 42mm socket and a 10" G clamp, this is what my dad would call a ship yard fix, but it worked a treat.



The shafts and bushes were much the same as the uppers, once again clamped in the vice and tightened. This time a 42mm socket and 24" power bar



I was especially chuffed because I got them all built up without damaging the paint



All assembled ready to fit.........as soon as I can find the next couple of spare hours

[mjh1965]

Looking good Ian if you weren't so far away I would drop mine off because you have done such a good job . It's great that you are ahead of me in your build . That way I get the heads up on how to assemble everything before I do it on mine .

A wise man learns from his mistakes a wiser man learns from the mistakes made by others

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Looking good Ian if you weren't so far away I would drop mine off because you have done such a good job . It's great that you are ahead of me in your build . That way I get the heads up on how to assemble everything before I do it on mine .

A wise man learns from his mistakes a wiser man learns from the mistakes made by others

Now why did I not think of that first......?

But to agree there with Martin, your progress is awesome Ian, and things continue to look great on your build.

I am currently getting the itch to start back on my truck as some of the recent distractions are winding down.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Looking good Ian if you weren't so far away I would drop mine off because you have done such a good job . It's great that you are ahead of me in your build . That way I get the heads up on how to assemble everything before I do it on mine .

A wise man learns from his mistakes a wiser man learns from the mistakes made by others

Martins thank you, love the quote, I'm sure to use that myself, sorry I can't help with the control arms but the pin striping will be fine

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Now why did I not think of that first......?

But to agree there with Martin, your progress is awesome Ian, and things continue to look great on your build.

I am currently getting the itch to start back on my truck as some of the recent distractions are winding down.

Rian, thank you for the kind words, I must admit seeing the progress of others on this site motivates me to keep going

[ibrown50]

Today I had taken the morning off work for my sons "school sports day. This ended up being cancelled due to the cold wet weather. It looks like summer may be over........... this year it was on June the 26th, between mid day and 3 in the afternoon

However every cloud has a silver lining, MD blast cleaning had collected my hood on Saturday to blast and prime it for me. About 10:00 they rang to ask if they could drop it off,
Oh yeah



It looks even better now it's been blasted and primed, with only a couple of tiny holes revealed by the blasting. To be honest they are so small I'm not sure what to do with them I'm so used to bigger rust repairs!




I also managed to get the control arms bolted up on both sides, so not a bad day after all.

[ibrown50]

Nothing to do with my build but very nice
Today was a funny day. I work in Newcastle city centre on the Quayside, home of the largest Court in the Area and surrounded by Law firms and the cafes, bars and resturants that seem to go with them. You will also see every model Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes you could ever wish to see.

Today the monotony was broken by a really cool Captian America bike, complete with reproduction Pan Head and matching helmet



And an even cooler (68 I think) short box C10, certainly brightened up my day

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Looks like a rear bumper on the front of that C10.

I've always preferred Dennis Hopper's "Billy bike" over Fonda's.

[Ta2Don]

Awesome work...

[Grizz1963]

Ian, you really are busy building a serious keeper here.

Looking great, thanks for the update.

[mjh1965]

Looking good , glad it went together well ,it's defiantly worth buying a complete kit . Keep up the good work it won't be long and you'll be driving it again

[Ta2Don]

Sweet Battery Box mod...

[mjh1965]

As you said on the phone the other day those renderings look awesome

[Ta2Don]

Nice job on the shock mounts...

Love that Orange '69

[ibrown50]

Got the shock mounts and shocks fitted at the weekend,





A little bit of masking tape on the frame make accurate marking of the holes so much easier





I used 3 1/4" bolts to get the 1 7/8" shank I needed to clear the brackets and then trimmed the length once they were fitted. I was going to weld the brackets in place but I'm not sure I need to? Anyway I now have more stroke on the shocks than travel on the suspension

Today is my Birthday so I've taken the day off, the problem is the next job on the list is the brake pipes I hate doing brake pipes, so I may spend my birthday doing something else

The good thing about birthdays (at my age) is that I find people are more supportive of my bad habbits

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Got the shock mounts and shocks fitted at the weekend,

Attachment 1436875

Attachment 1436876

A little bit of masking tape on the frame make accurate marking of the holes so much easier

Attachment 1436877

Attachment 1436878

I used 3 1/4" bolts to get the 1 7/8" shank I needed to clear the brackets and then trimmed the length once they were fitted. I was going to weld the brackets in place but I'm not sure I need to? Anyway I now have more stroke on the shocks than travel on the suspension

Today is my Birthday so I've taken the day off, the problem is the next job on the list is the brake pipes I hate doing brake pipes, so I may spend my birthday doing something else

The good thing about birthdays (at my age) is that I find people are more supportive of my bad habbits

Attachment 1436879

Shock mounts came out great! …and it's hard to beat a box of cubans...
Happy Belated Mate!...

[mjh1965]

Happy birthday mate . Like you I usually take the day off . Hope you had a good day . Thanks again for the gas monkey bottle openers . I will drop Rian's to him tommorow . Don't forget to post lots of pictures of the brake pipe install as I need to do mine .

[Grizz1963]

Good instal Ian.

Thanks for the Prezzie !!

In fact, you are the one who should be receiving presents.

Happy Birthday.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Shock mounts came out great! …and it's hard to beat a box of cubans...
Happy Belated Mate!...

Thanks Don, apparently those Quintero's are better if you age them for about 18 months........ somehow I can't see them lasting that long

Originally Posted by mjh1965

Happy birthday mate . Like you I usually take the day off . Hope you had a good day . Thanks again for the gas monkey bottle openers . I will drop Rian's to him tommorow . Don't forget to post lots of pictures of the brake pipe install as I need to do mine .

Thanks Martin and yes I'll do the photos

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Good instal Ian.

Thanks for the Prezzie !!

In fact, you are the one who should be receiving presents.

Happy Birthday.

Thanks Rian

[Grizz1963]

Life certainly is good.

First I get to copy your relocated battery tray, then I get a cool Gas Monkey Garage bottle opener/key ring in the post.

Thanks Ian !! That's very generous of you, as experienced before.