Project "HOT WRECK" 62 Short box DUALLY

[Elliot949]

I gotta watch this...

[HOT WRECKS]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and waiting patiently for me to fire this build up again.

so next change to the frame was small but I just couldn't leave alone. its the e-brake cable mounting tab stamped out of the frame itself. strength wise it was just fine the way it is. But being so close to where I'm going to Z'd my frame I know that the critics checking out my Z work will see that sore thumb and have to point it out. So I had to remove from line of view





2 1/2'' big ugly gaping hole. Not cool




in this picture you can see how close it is to where my Z'd is going to be
made a filler piece out of 2'' pipe.




all welded in and cleaned up

[HOT WRECKS]

Ok next up is the crossmember I'm not going to go into great detail on how I did this because I pretty much followed ChiefRocka thread on how to pancake the crossmember. This is a great thread! easy to understand and follow Thanks ChiefRocka

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=543729




before 2'' has been removed



2'' removed



all welded back together and almost complete. as you can see I still have to caps the ends just under the upper control arm mounting bracket. This is where I start to veer from ChiefRocka.

[HOT WRECKS]

before I cap the ends of the crossmember I prep the front frame rails like so.

[HOT WRECKS]

before I cap the ends of the crossmember I prep the front frame rails like so.



Sorry but for some reason this photo will only load upside down. I will try to fix
anyway this is a picture shows the four crossmember/upper control arm bracket mounting holes and the two larger ones are accsess holes for the press in upper control arm shafts. there is also a few hardware mounting holes



no more holes!! make note of where the shock mounting holes are. That will be soon to change



cross member is bolted up using the original three holes on the bottom of frame. I made this piece out of 5/16 steel and drilled two mounting holes into it



holding the end cap I made up in place and tight to the side of the frame I spot welded it to the crossmember. At the same time I marked the holes from the cap onto the frame, so that I can drill them at a later date.



I don't know what's going on but here's another picture that will only load upside down.. WTF?? LOL!
So rotate your monitor for a better understanding.
here you can see my cap in the crossmember (not welded yet) and why I could not use the original lower holes in the frame for my new end cap. look just above my holes and you can see that the original holes in the upper control arm bracket. one is one the outeside of the crossmember and the other is near the centre.
I will be mounting the crossmember to the frame using the two new lower holes plus the four original holes. How? & Why? stay tuned!!

[dieseldude4bt]

Tuned in.

[HOT WRECKS]

Now that the lower control arm is moved up 2'' via the crossmember pancaking. It's time to move the upper shock mounting holes.




here is the initial outlay of the cuts to be make to raise the shock mount.
1 3/4 '' upward movement is the max it can be raised



- first cut is made



- second cut



shock mount tacked into place 1 3/4'' higher



filler plate installed under shock mounting hole, welded front and rear then ground smooth.


This is not the final position for the upper shock mount. It will be raised another 2''

SAY WHAT? HOW? stay tuned because it is going to happen.....soon
but first up is executing the 2'' up 1'' forward Z



*

[tinydb84]

Wow.....just.......I....

Amazing work. Now I want to go undo all my mods and redo them....

[HOT WRECKS]

^^Thx^^ tinydb84

[HOT WRECKS]

the shock mounting hole on the driver side was in good shape. But the passenger side was another story. A loose shock stud has hammered the hole oblong. So while the shock mounting section was out this is how |I fixed it.




here you can see the space above and bellow the 1/2'' copper tubing.



I welded around the 1/2'' copper tubing on the front side



and on the back side



I like using copper for repairs like this. Where the shape of the piece to be repaired is so odd that you couldn't do it gracefully in a drill press.

The great thing about copper is it conducts electricity, (so it can strike an arc on it) it's melting point is 1085 degrees Celsius 1985 degrees Fahrenheit so it holds it's shape while I'm welding around it. And you can't MIG weld to it. So after the weld cools I bash the tubing out with a hammer, grind the weld flat. Then give the hole a light dressing with a stone bit in a diegrinder.

you can see the removed piece of copper tubing in the top of the picture



And there you have it! a perfect 1/2'' hole. No drilling required.

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by HOT WRECKS

the shock mounting hole on the driver side was in good shape. But the passenger side was another story. A loose shock stud has hammered the hole oblong. So while the shock mounting section was out this is how |I fixed it.


Attachment 1380053

here you can see the space above and bellow the 1/2'' copper tubing.

Attachment 1380058

I welded around the 1/2'' copper tubing on the front side

Attachment 1380059

and on the back side

Attachment 1380060

I like using copper for repairs like this. Where the shape of the piece to be repaired is so odd that you couldn't do it gracefully in a drill press.

The great thing about copper is it conducts electricity, (so it can strike an arc on it) it's melting point is 1085 degrees Celsius 1985 degrees Fahrenheit so it holds it's shape while I'm welding around it. And you can't MIG weld to it. So after the weld cools I bash the tubing out with a hammer, grind the weld flat. Then give the hole a light dressing with a stone bit in a diegrinder.

you can see the removed piece of copper tubing in the top of the picture

Attachment 1380061

And there you have it! a perfect 1/2'' hole. No drilling required.

That is great work... Nice tip on how to do this... Thanks... Dan

[pimpston65]

im sure if GM were to design a lowered truck they would sue you for patent infringement!!! you took what they had a made it work as if they would do it, very nice sir...

[joedoh]

wow this is some outstanding work! I did the same thing, welded in the firewall and floor of a late model truck to keep all the pedals and systems and also repair all the rust and channel the truck to lay flat, and it worked out great! Your attention to detail is next level, what a great looking truck already!

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by HOT WRECKS

the shock mounting hole on the driver side was in good shape. But the passenger side was another story. A loose shock stud has hammered the hole oblong. So while the shock mounting section was out this is how |I fixed it.


Attachment 1380053

here you can see the space above and bellow the 1/2'' copper tubing.

Attachment 1380058

I welded around the 1/2'' copper tubing on the front side

Attachment 1380059

and on the back side

Attachment 1380060

I like using copper for repairs like this. Where the shape of the piece to be repaired is so odd that you couldn't do it gracefully in a drill press.

The great thing about copper is it conducts electricity, (so it can strike an arc on it) it's melting point is 1085 degrees Celsius 1985 degrees Fahrenheit so it holds it's shape while I'm welding around it. And you can't MIG weld to it. So after the weld cools I bash the tubing out with a hammer, grind the weld flat. Then give the hole a light dressing with a stone bit in a diegrinder.

you can see the removed piece of copper tubing in the top of the picture

Attachment 1380061

And there you have it! a perfect 1/2'' hole. No drilling required.

I will have to remember this...Learned something new today...

Originally Posted by Elliot949

That is great work... Nice tip on how to do this... Thanks... Dan

X2

[Bomp]

Incredible skills.
I am in Awe every time I peek in.

[HOT WRECKS]

Originally Posted by pimpston65

im sure if GM were to design a lowered truck they would sue you for patent infringement!!! you took what they had a made it work as if they would do it, very nice sir...

Thx that's exactly what I shooting for.I'm a minimalist. I don't like to ad anything more than is needed. I just move what is there to where I need it.

Originally Posted by joedoh

wow this is some outstanding work! I did the same thing, welded in the firewall and floor of a late model truck to keep all the pedals and systems and also repair all the rust and channel the truck to lay flat, and it worked out great! Your attention to detail is next level, what a great looking truck already!

it was back and forth as to either sectioning the 62 body over the 80 floor or notching the top of the frame. As you can see notching the frame won. If I had a better cab it probably would have gone the other way

Originally Posted by aggie91

I will have to remember this...Learned something new today...



X2

I have learned so much from this forum!! I'm glad I can contribute back

Originally Posted by Bomp

Incredible skills.
I am in Awe every time I peek in.

I'm always happy to see your checking up on me
It would be a super lofty goal but it sure would be cool if I could my HOT WRECK street legal. Not done but quasi street legal for your Aug 22 BBQ. after all your only one country and 15 hours away.I love Portland, Hazelnuts, and seemingly impossible road trips.
David Freiburger & Mike Finnegan from "roadkill" are my heroes when it come to road trips.
Heres to hoping you'll have a 3rd annually BBQ I'll be there!

[pimpston65]

minimal my @#$%, dude when it looks like nothing happened and even when folks that has gone over these frames many time then i can count and can't tell what you did after your done its not minimal, in a word its (awesome)!!!

[HOT WRECKS]

-
-
this picture is a little bit older as you can see because the shock has not been moved up and all the suspension is still attached. But is documents my Z'd layout perfectly.



the top black horizontal line is leveled off the topside of the frame. then I measured down 2" this is the red horizontal line.This represents the amount that I will be lifting the front portion of the frame up. next is the two green vertical lines. there is not an exact location that these need to be placed. for my needs though I wanted to make sure they were far enough forward as to not disrupted the mounting position of clutch linkage. So after a couple test positions I found the location I needed. The distance between this two vertical lines is 1'' this represents the amount that the front of the frame will be moved forward. I'm going from 115'' WB to 116'' WB to help centre the front wheels in the fenders with my extreme static drop.
So there it is. The Z is inside the rectangle that the four lines make. Even though it not important it works out to be about a 50 degree angle it would be less if you move the frame forward less and more if you move the frame forward more.
So once I cut the 50 degree angle entirely through and lift the front frame section up, I will align the bottom the Z to the top of the Z and my 2'' up 1'' forward Z'd will be complete.



Here is the bottom of the Z on the front portion of the frame lined up with top of the Z on the rear portion of the frame



here a picture of the alignment from a little further back. the black line you see on the front portion of the frame is the original top line of the Z


now were on the D/S of the frame and you can see the alignment issues (same on both sides) that will need to be dealt with before welding. Luckily for me I will be splitting the frame at the top of my Z'd going forward. so for now I have cut a horizontal relief cut (see top of picture) about 4'' forward. that will make for easy work heating and tweaking the front portion of the frame to match the rear portion.


here is a good picture of the horizontal line where I will be splitting the front portion of the frame. you can see the shock mounting hole has been raised 1 3/4'' in this picture but as I said earlier it will still be moving it up another 2'' that has to do with what I will be doing next with the split frame. I will be also removing a 2'' strip out of the bottom of the 8'' frame to align the bottom portion of Z'd so that there will be no step there. Plus its just going to be to low after drop is complete
STAY TUNED!!

[HOT WRECKS]

Originally Posted by pimpston65

minimal my @#$%, dude when it looks like nothing happened and even when folks that has gone over these frames many time then i can count and can't tell what you did after your done its not minimal, in a word its (awesome)!!!

I do seem to go to extremes to make it look like I've done nothing.

Thx for appreciating my Insanity! LOL!

[89muscletruck]

Wow, this is awesome! Major inspiration for my C30 for when it goes under the knife.

[jonzcustomshop]

very nice frame work! subscribed!

[HOT WRECKS]

Time to split the front frame rails in half. Why??
since I removed 2'' out of the crossmember the upper control arm is now going to be 2'' higher than the top of the frame. And welding 2'' plate or box to the top just isn't me.So by splitting the frame and adding a 2'' strip in I will achieve.

-1- a nice flush stock looking upper control arm bracket to frame.
-2- the shock attaching point also goes up 2'' this matches the amount the lower control arm has been raised
( the 1 3/4'' that I moved the shock mounting point up the first time is to compensate for the 2'' drop springs I will be using)
-3- the steering box is also raised 2''this keeps all the steering geometry unchanged. ( will be altered very slightly do to the drop springs)
-4- better clearance between upper control arm and steering shaft




Here is the 2'' cut line that corresponds with the top of the 2'' Z'd which also corresponds with the 2'' that has been removed from the crossmember.
The 2 holes seen at bottem of the frame are for the new holes that I added to the crossmember



the cut is made, and the top section of the frame removed.




Here is the top portion of the frame.



topside view.


adding 2''

[pimpston65]

enough of the awesome frame and body mods, its time for the engine to be worked on, i wanna see a rolling chasis...

[HOT WRECKS]

^^^^LOL!!^^^^

You and me both!!!!

[HOT WRECKS]

Sorry pimpston65 more frame posts LOL!


front frame clip tack welded together



crossmember bolted in using lower holes so that the upper control arm bracket mounting holes can be transferred to frame.


holes all drilled. for control arm brackets. obviously the factory gussets will no longer work on the inside of the frame. so I will be making new ones that will also act as fish plates fastening all three sections of the frame together. Stay tuned.


backside all welded up, deep relief cut into the seam until joint line is gone. Ensures 100% penetration of weld.


2' plate added at step, just in front of crossmember