Another OLD BLUE Build Thread - 71 Chevy

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Took it for another drive today, it was dry out and she still has problems hooking up. I can pretty well smoke them through first and on some occasions second. I do still think it needs a bit of professional tuning though, it has a slight off idle stumble if I give it too much gas at once. I know there is more power to be had.

Got some work done on the front end parts. Got the 52's mostly prepped. I was disappointed to find one of the bottom leaves cracked, so I am debating on if I should just leave it out or cut down some other leaves I have to make up for it. In the end it just depends on where the height ends up.






Got the bottom of the D60 cleaned up, I wouldn't call it a full shave just a smoothing. Got the diff cover ready for some reinforcement before I lost motivation and had to go for a drive.



It *almost* fit in the garage. It would if I took the garage door opener down, but hopefully after the new front suspension it will fit like a glove.





I don't think the 'ol girl has seen the inside of a garage for a good 10-20 years, too bad the paint is already toasted.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

I got a couple of hours to work on it today and took a leaf out of the front passenger side leaf pack. It looks like somebody added the bottom leaf anyways because it did not match the rest.

While I had the leaf pack disconnected, I took the shackle off and lowered the bottom bolt hole by 3/4" to get the spring to stop hitting the frame.



Overall it lowered the front passenger side about 1 and 1/4". It will probably even go down some more when I get the u-bolts back on and tightened down, and get the driver side bottom leaf out.




In the end the front will need to go down at least another 2-3 inches to be even with the rear. I don't feel like dropping 1g right now on D60 high steer arms, steering box, tie rod, wheel hubs, etc. right now. At least this way I will be able to beat on it a little harder without the springs hitting the frame and the front end up in the clouds.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Took the other front overload out last week.

Got A LOT done today, mostly small stuff.

Got my phenolic carb spacer and shield installed today. Maybe it is all in my head, but I think it helped. This thing just freakin roasts tires with anything more than 1/2 throttle.




Trimmed fenders



:lmao:



Turned out really good. Taking out the bottom leaf dropped the front by 1 1/4". That is as good as it is going to get until I rebuild the front with the D60 and 52's.



Tightened and adjusted a bunch of other stuff, and took 'er to the car wash to clean off the last couple months of dust so she would look purty for the cruise in. There wasn't a whole lot of people because it kinda looked like it was going to rain.



My truck
FIL's Camaro
Dad's Army truck

We have an interesting collection of vehicles going on in the family.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

SSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!!!


Taurus fan, giant oil cooler off an old chevy truck, and s10 rear bumpstops from pick and pull $29.71



Got the torque converter cover trimmed and installed. I haven't started it yet though to see if I cured its rubbing.



Gotta rebuild the engine crossmember. It had been modified for oil pan clearance but only has 1/4" of clearance. I am finally able to drive it hard enough that on turns there was a solid thump every once in a while. Turns out it is the oil pan hitting the xmember.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Made some headway on the Taurus fan.

I learned from the blazer after the very first time I got some real air that e-fans need to be securely fastened.

So here is what I came up with so far. I wanted to make it drop in from the top. I am hoping that it is beefy enough that I won't have to make any supports attach from the bottom.





I got it off, fully welded, and painted. I just gotta drill some holes, get it bolted up, and wire it up.


New sticker I got for my burfday. It is sad that my cameraphone takes better pictures than my real camera.






I did some measurements today and I am pretty sure that if I somehow change up the leaf packs in the front again to lower it another ~1" then I can bolt in the D60 with the current push pull steering setup. The only thing holding me back now is the fact that I am sandbagging on buying a ~400 dollar set of SRW hubs...

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Got the mount done. Now I just have to wire it up and find some temperature sensors. I am looking for a 195* for low speed and 210* for high speed.





I was going to put more bolts in than 3, but by the time I got these 3 mounted it already seemed pretty beefy.



This is the fitting I took out of the oil cooler I bought. Does anybody know what this is called or where I could find a fitting like this?

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Got the taurus fan all wired up. Currently I am just using two random toggle switches instead of temp sensors. I just make sure to turn low on first before turning it to high to reduce the wear on the relays.

I stole this pic from HERE. This is how I wired it though. I am probably just going to make it kick on low @ 210 then have high on a switch for whenever I need it. This motor has a 195* thermostat in it and I don't want the fan running all the time. 210* is the closest I could find to what I wanted. This fan really kicks out some air.



HERE is a list of Wells vehicle electronics coolant temperature switches. Just go to the autozone website and type in the model number to look up availability, there are a lot of them that either have weird connectors or are not available anymore.

I just ordered the SW510 from AutoZone online. Specs below:

SW510
(View Image) 1 Male Bullet Terminal 3/8 x 18 Open Makes 210f ±10 Opens 185




Got the wiring hooked up, and of course had to go out and test it.

This is an absolutely terrible quality cell phone video of me taking off from a stop sign. You can hear when I had to lift the throttle to get some traction before I took off again. Anybody want to loan me their go-pro or go for a joy ride and take a better vid for me?



I did finally spend some money today and ordered a heim joint, tube adapter, and jam nut so I can build a rear traction bar. Hopefully I get it built before I warp the rear springs too bad.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Busted some butt today, and got quite a bit done considering my only helper was Gertrude...

Borrowed some rollers from a buddy




took a lot of measurements/pictures for my baseline





Modded my garage door opener to sit in the beam instead of below the beam (this took ~2hrs in itself)




No turning back now...



This is how it sits now. All d44 stuff/leaf springs for sale. I am going to start a sale thread here soon on pirate4x4.



WINTER TO DO LIST:
New motor mounts/engine crossmember (pax-side mount is already toasted)
new raised transmission xmember
52" leafs up front
bump stops up front
limit straps all around
D60 up front
New tranny pan gasket
New oil pan gasket
Lengthen rear d-shaft
Install temp sender for e-fan
Rear Traction Bar
Modify Exhaust to fit

I thought it was pretty quick on the big tires, it is just stupid fast/kinda scary on the little tires.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

It is sooooo much easier to work on this thing when it is in the garage.

Got a couple of hours to work on it today.

All of the exhaust/headers are off.

Chopped out the middle of the engine xmember.


Unbolted and raised the t-case to get a baseline...mmmm *almost* flatbelly...


The engine will sit a lot more level. I will probably end up raising the motor a bit when I build the new motor mounts though.


This message brought to you by Surly Brewing Company, who took my two favorite things and made them one :smokin:

[OldBlue71Chevy]

I haven't been completely worthless lately.

Got my DRW hubs and rotors drilled out. My poor little drill press was hating life by the end of that task.



Brought the hubs to a guy in my in-laws neighborhood and got the hubs machined down. He said he was using a carbide bit. I don't know a whole lot about it, but it seemed to work pretty good. Took about 2 hours to get them both done.



He said the machine was from pre WW-II. Pretty neat.



There were a couple spots where I got a 'lil to deep with the torch...it'll be 'aight


And of course now I am in the process of buying a big 'ol air compressor from him. 220v 30 gal 3 cylinder. it is probably at least twice as old as I am, but he plugged it in and it runs like a champ. Soooo much quieter than my oilless POS. I will try to get pics after I pick it up this weekend.

[chris1972]

do u got any pics of the cab mounts ...and axles left ..thanks chris

[Low Elco]

What a Mess! I used a NAPA adjustable thermostatic controller. about 45 bux. has a bulb that goes in the rad, and you use your gun and set it where you want it. It'll sit there forever and idle in 100 deg heat. Cool build!

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by chris1972

do u got any pics of the cab mounts ...and axles left ..thanks chris

There are some pics sprinkled through the thread that have the cab/bed mounts in them. They are really simple. The axles that I took out are already sold and gone, and I already used half of the proceeds to buy my new toy below.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

What a Mess! I used a NAPA adjustable thermostatic controller. about 45 bux. has a bulb that goes in the rad, and you use your gun and set it where you want it. It'll sit there forever and idle in 100 deg heat. Cool build!

Thanks. I have used those temp sensors in the past and they seem to work pretty well. For some reason I feel a little better having it actually touch the coolant. I have the sensor and the adapter, but just recently found out that they have different thread pitches. So, that project is on hold for a bit. I can just manually turn the fan on with a switch for now.



Brought my new toy home today

A buddy helped me drag it into the basement. Right now I have it plugged into the dryer's 240 outlet, but I am in the process of running a separate line that way I can run the plasma and compressor at the same time.

This is the first time I have ever had a *real* air compressor. I am pretty stoked to start using it. It is probably 1/3 as loud as my pos oilless compressor.



Got the D60 mostly put back together today, still a lot to do...

Harbor freight vehicle dollies with harbor freight jack stands welded to them make great axle movers.

[gdavis]

Originally Posted by OldBlue71Chevy

Busted some butt today, and got quite a bit done considering my only helper was Gertrude...

Borrowed some rollers from a buddy




took a lot of measurements/pictures for my baseline





Modded my garage door opener to sit in the beam instead of below the beam (this took ~2hrs in itself)




No turning back now...



This is how it sits now. All d44 stuff/leaf springs for sale. I am going to start a sale thread here soon on pirate4x4.



WINTER TO DO LIST:
New motor mounts/engine crossmember (pax-side mount is already toasted)
new raised transmission xmember
52" leafs up front
bump stops up front
limit straps all around
D60 up front
New tranny pan gasket
New oil pan gasket
Lengthen rear d-shaft
Install temp sender for e-fan
Rear Traction Bar
Modify Exhaust to fit

I thought it was pretty quick on the big tires, it is just stupid fast/kinda scary on the little tires.

Not much head room for the ole Girl is there.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by gdavis

Not much head room for the ole Girl is there.

haha, nope. I'm glad it fit in though, it is so much easier to work on it when I can just drop my tools and close the garage doors, rather than clean everything up every time.

By the time I get done with this round of suspension mods, I am hoping that it will fit in the garage with the 37's on it.



Got my diff protection welded together today. ~2 hours from start to finish of cleanup and a couple pieces of steel from the scrap pile. If I hit anything hard enough to bash through this, I probably have bigger things to worry about. Total cost maybe $10 in supplies?



Photobucket thought this pic needed to be upside down for some reason. I rotated it, but the changes must not have taken effect yet.

[chris1972]

is that dana 44 for sale

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Sorry, sold it last week.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

OK, so this truck is going in more of a custom direction than I had originally intended. Therefore I am putting the wiring harness that I had bought up for sale here: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/misc-...s-10206-a.html

For some reason I am not allowed to post in the for sale section on this board.

Sadly, I don't think an a/c is anywhere in this truck's future...That's what wing windows are for.

Somebody buy it so I can buy my t-case parts!!

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Got the D60 mostly assembled and painted up. Put an old tie rod off the blazer on it temporarily. I had bent it on a rock a long time ago and didn't want to replace it so I beat a peice of 1 3/4 tubing over it and welded it on. It is kinda speshul....




I am having "fabricators block" on how to best package the transmission cross member, so I gave up for a while and rolled the axle under so I could stare at it.






I also got most of the shock and spring brackets at the rear ground off.

Front and rear bumpers will both be off and for sale if anybody is interested.

This weekend is is AWN. I hope to get'er almost back together.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

I didn't get anything done on the truck, but I should be a lot more efficient while working now.

Got the air compressor all wired up with a dedicated 220v line and hoses ran up to the garage.

Tucked neatly in the basement in the dead space between the heater and washing machine. With the basement door closed, you probably could just barely hear it over the tv. It is nice and quiet.


Ran upstairs (split level house) to the garage where I finally mounted my hose reel that I have had for a couple of years now.

(officially the first time I have ever had to weld on my house)





I also got mad that I had different air fittings on all of my air tools and nothing interconnected, so I made a trip to chinafreight and switched to all universal chucks with the automotive type fittings.

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Haven't done squat to the pickup lately, been really busy. Finally got to walk the stage for my MBA and been busy with holiday stuff.


I built a tow bar for my dad for christmas so he can drag home more army junk. It was built for his deuce and a halfs, but should be universal for just about any military vehicle.

The design is based partially off a mil-spec engineer drawing I found online and one that a guy showed me last time we were picking up my Dad's newest 2 1/2 ton. The guy that showed me his (that also hooks to the shackles) said he makes a living buying military surplus and towing the trucks across country with that bar and has never had a problem. It was heavy enough by the time that I got done that I assembled it in the truck to take to my Dad's house and took 2 people to unload it.


Had the plasma turned up as high as it would go (50A plasma). All of the plate for this project is 1/2"



The round pieces are pucks that go inside the shackles before putting the towbar over them to take up the space around the bolt. I didn't really get any good pics of these assembled.


Preheating (the washer was in there for spacing, no I did not weld it in...)








For anybody thinking about building one, I probably have ~20 hours into this one. Depending on what your time is worth, it probably makes sense to just go buy one.

Now that I got that out of the way, I hope to get some done on the pickup this week.

[Rust_phoenix]

Nice job on the towbar and the truck, both should be heck for stout! nice to see you back on here, i have followed your build here and over on pirate too, keep up the good work

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Originally Posted by Rust_phoenix

Nice job on the towbar and the truck, both should be heck for stout! nice to see you back on here, i have followed your build here and over on pirate too, keep up the good work

Thanks man.



I finally got some motivation to work on the ol girl. Made some progress on the crossmember.


Posted via Mobile Device
Posted via Mobile Device

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Spent the morning with the parents, went to the farm and tested out the tow bar.

This is how the setup attaches to the shackle. The donut in the middle is two 1/2" plates welded together that fit snugly inside the shackle. The bolt is 3/4" grade 8.


On the truck.

This was just for a test to make sure it works. After we parked the trucks we went to Orsheln's and got some new 1" pins for the shackles with big retainer pins. I wouldn't trust the little wire retainers on the factory shackle pins.




Gertrude approves :mr-t:




Short video. Mom thought it was going to roll away...


The whole setup works surprisingly well. I was surprised at how much the front tires on the rear deuce turn to follow the front truck.

Now, I am off to the garage to finish the trans X-member on the Chevy....

[OldBlue71Chevy]

Update





T-case Before


T-case After :smokin:


The t-case is just short of touching the bottom of the body. I might have to "massage" it a little if it hits.


T-case Shifter Before


T-case Shifter After


Got the engine xmember removed and a bunch of stuff unbolted. I need to do some research tonight and get a plan so I can build the motor mounts tomorrow.

Right now, I am planning on raising the engine 1-2", lowering the truck ~5" from where it is sitting now, and the axle will be ~7" from the frame.

When all is done, it should look similar to the way I set up the rear with nearly flat springs and large bumpstops. She's ganna fit my 7' garage on 37's.


Front bumper/turn signals off and for sale, let me know if you are interested.

I have a lot of stuff to cut off here. I will probably try to integrate some kind of winch mount or at least make it so I can add one later.