66 4x4 my sons new project

[gmjim4x4]

That looks like a 465 tranny and NP 205 combo. The lockout hubs look good on your new Dana 44...that corporate 14 is also a nice upgrade. Are you going to move all the brackets from the donor to your 66 frame? I will be watching. Keep up the good work!

[C/10 King]

Jason, I think these pic's were from 4 years ago? The night before we drove down to the "Brothers Show"........ ***Memories of the Blazer you should have kept!!!!! Make sure you and your dad "don't bet on the races!!!"

[argonaut]

Arrrgggghhhhhhh!!! The one that got away!

Now I'm sad.

[argonaut]

Another picture of the one that got away....



Alas, onto bigger and better things!

[argonaut]

Spent most of the Independence Day celebrating by working on two, great American made pickups!

I got both frame rails painted. So now its on to the cross-members and brackets. They should go pretty quickly. I need to pick up some more paint.

I did layout the new holes for the power steering gearbox, and welded up the three for the old box. I also noticed that the three stock gearbox holes are mirrored on the right side frame rail. Weird, as I don't think I've ever seen a right hand drive pickup... I had already painted the right rail so I didn't bother welding up those holes. Its kind of bugging me now though so I might have to weld them up and touch up the paint.

I made a template for the new gearbox and matched the new steering centerline with the old one. Then I slide the template along the centerline until I was at the one spot where I could keep all bolts in the frame. The placement will be fine with the stock 4x4 gearbox and I'm hoping there won't be any issues using a 2wd gearbox later when I go to crossover steering. I didn't have any 2wd gearboxes lying around to check with.





In between spraying coats of paint I started tearing useless junk off the donor 73 K20 pickup so that I can get the body off soon.I removed a lot of crazy wiring from the diesel swap, the dual battery upgrade, etc. Apparently this previous owner didn't share my penchant for clean design. I need to get the body off asap so that I can get at the 73 frame, remove the leaf spring hangers, and get them laid out on the 66 frame. I really want to get the 66 chassis rolling around again by the end of the month!

[DBear]

Dang....that K5 is bad ass looking. What tires were you running on it in the last picture?

[argonaut]

Don't remind me Those were 33x10.5 TSL Swampers on 15x8 rims I had on the blazer.

[1969C10shortbed]

Man, we had to sell the '65 I had, but it's great to see you're still working on yours. Good luck, I'm still tuned in =)

[argonaut]

Got just a few things done on the truck today. Picked up some metal at the local shop to make mounts for my power steering box, hydrobooster, and clutch master cylinder. I've seen many designs by others for each of these but decided to try out a couple different ideas.

The only thing I really had to to do today was to weld on the power steering mount bosses that I made from some 1/2" plate.







One lesson I learned today was not to weld (especially with flux core) without a your long sleeve welding shirt on.

[msgross]

I like that idea, I picked up an adapter plate for my 68, basically does the same thing but isn't as HD looking as yours.

[argonaut]

Been making some slow progress the past few weeks, but I had a few days off and I'm excited that I'm able to start actually putting things back together...

I modified and fitted the rear spring hangers from the 73 to my 66 frame. This will allow me to use standard 1-1/2" OD x 9/16" ID rubber (or poly) bushings rather than a solid bronze bushing. I actually kinda like the idea of the solid bronze bushing but I think the rubber will wear better and last longer. This also lowers the spring mounting position compared to the stock 60-66 and should allow me to get rid of the huge 6" factory block.

I also painted the five main crossmembers, built some wooden frame stands and bolted the main frame back together. Its starting to feel like an actual pickup again!



(excuse my neighbor's trash heap next door)



I contemplated doing a 52" spring swap up front. But the stock rear spring rates seem to be considerably lower than standard front spring rates, and I read that the truck may be a little too bendy and flexy for street driving and towing. So I'm sticking with the Rancho lift springs I have up front. I'm in the process of building a new front hanger to use a 9/16" bolted rubber bushing, and I'm modifying the rear shackle hanger to get rid of the really weird screw-in bushings that were on it and go to a standard 1-1/2" rubber bushing, same as on the rears. This leaves only the rear of front leaf bushing which for some reason has a weird 1.13" eye. I'll need to source a rubber bushing from somewhere in that size. (anybody have any good sources for bushings?)

That's about it for now. I'm anxious to get the springs and axles under it. Maybe next weekend. I'm still contemplating pickup up a Dana 60 for the front, mainly just for the bigger front brakes and the bling factor.

[Raider Rudy]

I taught you good

[C/10 King]

Originally Posted by Raider Rudy

I taught you good

Hey gorilla, I heard your younger brother used to save you from drowning in your cereal. ...Looking good Jason!!!!! See you in October!

[gmjim4x4]

Nice work. What are you using for leaf springs in the back? Also, you said you got front leafs from Rancho that lift the front using the stock hanger locations? What do you want to end up for lift when you put it back together? sorry about the questions, but you are doing something similier to what I may go with on my 64 short box 4x4. thanks

[argonaut]

gmjim,

The rear leafs are stock GM springs off of the 73 K20 donor: 6 leafs + 1 overload, 52" long, 2-1/2" wide.
The front leafs had already been swapped onto my 66 when we picked it up. They are Rancho 41054S: 5 leafs, 44" long, 2-1/2" wide. I think this is an obsolete spring because I've had a tough time finding any info on it. A quick google search gave me some info that these may be a 4" lift spring for a 72 pickup, with a spring rate of 720 lb/in.

The fronts hangers will retain that stock locations, being that stock springs were 44" long too.

I'm not really sure what the end result lift will be when I'm done. For starters, I have no reference for a 66 with stock springs. But also I've now got this mix of leaf springs and hangers. What I can tell you is I laid out the rear spring hanger locations to maintain geometry similar to stock, they just hang the spring lower. I know the front will sit about the same as in the photos on page 3 of this thread. Maybe slightly lower once the all steel big block goes in, but with this super stiff front springs it won't be much. The rear is a wait and see game. If it doesn't sit level I'll have to look into getting some 2" or 4" lift springs for the rear. Unfortunately I won't have these answers for a couple months until I get the powertrain and body back on it.

Keep the questions coming. Hopefully at least one other person can benefit from the tings I've had to figure out for my build.

[argonaut]

Received my big box of polyurethane bushings today! After much deliberation earlier this week I decided to go ahead and diverge from my usual preference and give the Poly a shot. That means body mounts bushings, motor mounts, transmission mounts, transfer case mounts, and leaf spring bushings. They're not too high a durometer and more pliable than I expected, which is a good thing.

Right now I'm focused on the getting the chassis reassembled and rolling again. So I had the rubber bushings pressed out of my springs and pulled them apart to prep them for some clean-up and paint. I picked up a slew of plastic pads for the leaf tips a while back, but I'm not sure how it is going to go drilling holes in the leafs... we'll see. I'm also not sure about restoring the leaf packs. It seems like any coating I put on will just get rubbed off pretty quickly; Or maybe it won't if I can get the low friction pads mounted in the leaf tips.

Anyway, I also picked up some various 3/16" plate and made plans to fab new spring and shackle hangers for the front springs. I'm going to all this trouble because the 66 and earlier trucks use a different combination of bushing dimensions and materials than the typical later model trucks. And I plan on using these bushings that are easier and cheaper to come by.

[quadzero]

Looking forward to your fabrication skills with the hangers. Excellent job you did on the frame for the steering gear. Frame looks like it did while still on the assembly line, actually better I think with the new bolts in it. Great work you are doing here.

[argonaut]

Thanks for the kind words, Quadzero.

Its been so dang hot here in the southland that I haven't had a lot of motivation to be outside or in my hot garage cutting, grinding and welding. I did get a few plates cut over the weekend. And I started drilling my springs for the tip inserts.

Today when I got home form work I burned a few plates together. It came out pretty well. Now I just need to cut out the side plates/gussets and weld them on and the fronts will be done.

[argonaut]

I finished welding up the front spring and shackle hangers last night. And I got my poly bushings machined over the weekend so that they all fit 2-1/2" wide leaves and 3" wide hangers. That means the fronts use the same bushings as the rears, except for the rear of front spring eye, which is only 1-1/8" OD instead of 1-1/2" OD.

I'm a beginner fabricator, so the welds could look better. But I made a few section cuts and the penetration is good. I used 3/16" material instead of 1/4" like most aftermarket stuff. I felt the 3/16" was strong enough, especially with so much gusseting and boxing. Time will tell.





Last weekend I tried to drill my leafs for little slider butttons at the ends, but it turns out drilling a 1/2 hole in spring steel is a pretty tough on bits. I even chipped the carbide bit that my machinist gave to me. I hate to be a quitter, but I think I might be stuck unless I find a local spring shop that can punch the holes. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

Now I'm just waiting for some greaseable bushing bolts and caliper bracket for the 14 bolt to come in from diy4x so I can get the chassis back on the axles and rolling around again.

[argonaut]

Spent the day getting the front spring and shackle hangers on, in addition to some poly bushings and grease-able bolts.







I also switched my 14B rear to a disk brake setup. Used a DIY4X bracket, 3/4 ton front rotors, and some wheel studs from a SRW one ton. I put new seals in the hubs and cleaned up the spindles, but regrettably I did not clean up the hub housing. I didn't feel like making a second trip back and forth to the shop after the drums were pressed off, so the hubs will stay a little rusty. Oh well.







I also stripped and painted a few more parts today. doing a little at a time makes the tedious work more tolerable. Anyway, once the rear shackles dry I'll hang the front springs and get the axles back underneath it. Then it will officially become a K20 pickup!

[duallyjams]

Looking good.

[quadzero]

Originally Posted by argonaut

Then it will officially become a K20 pickup!

I love that part. This is really coming together incredibly well, new hangers are excellent. Will there be any provisions for a park brake cable? Where I live there are random spot checks done by the ministry and its one of the first things they look for. Keep up the great work.

[argonaut]

I wanted it to be a one ton, but with all the other things still left to do on this pickup, I'll leave the Dana60 front swap for a future project.

Yes, I'm going to use the stock K10-20 parking brake setup. The brackets and lever arm are mounted to the back of the transfer case crossmember. I "borrowed" the brackets from my dad's pickup since his wasn't hooked up, and I'll be making duplicates for mine. And I'll use the eldorado calipers out back. I want to use the standard D52 calipers, same as the front, but then I wouldn't have a parking brake.

[argonaut]

Problem #1 of the day:
The center housing on the 14bolt is too wide, and the stock rear shock locations are too narrow. I would have to mount one of the shock tabs the the center casting on the left side. I'm not sure how I want to resolve this problem. I could a) make a whole new upper crossmember to for the upper mounts, moving the shocks outward more toward the insides of the frame, or b) try to mount the shocks outboard of the frame rails where there is a 3" gap between the frame side and the leaf spring.

Problem #2 of the day:
Like a genius, my new front spring hangers are in the way of the front bumper brackets.

[argonaut]

Solution #1:
I still don't have one yet. At least not one that I love. But I have a few ideas and options. So I'll just get the rear axle cleaned and painted and mounted this weekend and come back to this later.

Solution #2:
I mounted the bumper and the discovered the solution will be an easy one. Just a few modifications to the bumper brackets and it should be fine.

Anyway, in the mean time, I've been working on the front axle. Pulled it almost completely apart. At first I couldn't get the right side axle shaft out through the knuckle. Turns out there was a previous u-joint failure and it deformed the axle shaft ears. Luckily I have another Dana 44 from which I stole the short side axle shafts.

New seals, new U-joints, rotors, hub flanges, etc are going in. And I got some new new spicer U-joints for all my axles and drive shafts in the mail yesterday!



Pressed the severly rusted U-joints out (needles bearings were spilling out like rain drops when I was getting them setup on the press), and cleaned them up.



Front drive shaft, rear drive shaft, and trans-transfer case prop shaft. With the 14B going in I think my rear drive shaft will need to be even shorter. I'm going to investigate using the double cardan front shaft from my 73 donor pickup as the rear shaft on the 66.



A mix of old U-joints. Some spicer, some cheapos, some sturdy looking ones that say made in Japan. Never the less all are puny compared to my beefy new Spicers.



I also picked up some drive flanges for the Dana 44 external hubs.



I decided to pick up a rebuild kit for the Rockwell T-221 and tear into it. This way I won't have to worry about it exploding on me later. I'll be doing the same with the SM420.

Here it is, being wheeled in and prepped for surgery this weekend.



Does anyone know, is this an original build placard, or is it a service placard?