My 55 Chevy 4X4

[marc55]

The blasting was loud and took about 4 hours. The plastic caught most of the glass beed but it still went everywhere. I was very impressed and the the blaster was a good guy. No need to neutralize or decontaminate afterwards. My neighbors are tolerant. I do my best to work on weekdays when most people are at work. Now their going to get to listen to me hammer and doll.

[marc55]

The radiator was an e-bay special from super-raditor. Everything was $220. I know it's not a griffin but I will take my chances. I think it also has a lifetime warrantee. The quality was fine by me.

The sway bar is the stock setup from 70s chevy. I just added a brace to it. I am looking for a rear sway bar right now. Not sure how I want to set it up. I am thinking about putting it up high and running the links down.

[marc55]

Got the cab in epoxy primer yesterday.

[marc55]

Started to work on some of the rust. Passenger inner cab corner was rusted out so a mocked up a new one





The driver inner hinge pock also needs some attention. Started to cut out for a new one

[OrrieG]

Make sure you provide a drain hole in the bottom between the inner and outer for any moisture condensation to drip out. reason they rust out is the factory ones get blocked and moisture trapped. Also consider blocking that opening in the cab to keep out fumes and prevent stuff from falling in the crack.

[marc55]

Thanks I will. I am lucky there is not much rust in this thing.

[marc55]

Finished out the hinge pocket areas today.

[_Ogre]

your sway bay needs to have links in it, as installed it will not work. your suspension will not move at all.
both ends are locked in rubber mounts; one end should be locked in and the other end should have some kind of link to allow for differences in the pivot point of the spring ends
as installed you have a triangle locked from the 2 sway bar mounts and the spring pivot



most sway bars can be mounted 2 ways on a straight axle, secured to the axle with links to the frame or secured to the frame with links to the axle
independent suspension requires the sway bar secure to the frame with links to the individual A arms

this is a stock task force suburban front sway bar: sway bar on axle with links to frame



sway bar on frame with links to axle



most sway bar links are of 2 types; straight and dog bone
i tried to find an example of a link that would work with your set up and did not find a cure

[marc55]

The front sway bar is actually the factory setup for the frame. It is fixed at the frame and where it mounts to the axle it can rotate when the suspension moves up and down. I did add some bracing to the frame but i don't think that would cause any problems with the sway bar. I could definitely use some advice for a rear sway bar set up, because of the lift I will need to run longer links. I don't know if I should put the sway bar up high by the frame and run the links down or do the opposite. Since you will see it either way I would like it to have a custom look to it.

[_Ogre]

i did some searching around the net. that is a factory 70 sway bar setup. my bad

at first look, my instincts and education, tell me it won't flex; 3 sides of a triangle won't move at all
sway bar, spring and frame, the only thing that can give is the rubber bushings
the aftermarket figured it out too and came up with this sway bar correction kit

[marc55]

Thanks for the pictures. I found a sway bar on crags list that I might be getting tomorrow and will be trying to fit to the rear. It has the dog bone style links.

[marc55]

Got the floor in primer yesterday and today I painted the floor. The truck is going to be some form of metallic silver. I know it is just the floor but I couldn't do flat black so I went with a dark metallic color. Still deciding if I am going to use it on the firewall.

[mvitale27]

Looks real good. You got lucky with the small amount of rust repair you had to do.

[marc55]

I found a sway bar on CL for $25. It is wider than my springs but I am thinking I can mount it to the top of the spring pads and mount the dog bones to the frame.

[OrrieG]

I thought about adding them to mine, but decided I would rather have the wheel travel off road. Mine never seemed to have much body roll in corners, all the weight is down low.

[marc55]

Not planning on doing much offloading with mine. Having to do a body lift to fit the frame it id a little top heavy. I decided since it is all apart I would put one on for better road handling. I figure I would make it a bolt on so if I don't like it I can just unbolt it.

[marc55]

Not much to report this week but I have a good excuse. The best girlfriend ever took me to Maui for my birthday. I am thinking though going to work on the sway bar when I get back. Until then aloha.

[Truck Guy99]

Originally Posted by marc55

Not much to report this week but I have a good excuse. The best girlfriend ever took me to Maui for my birthday. I am thinking though going to work on the sway bar when I get back. Until then aloha.

Attachment 1318735

You poor thing..... You must be suffering

[marc55]

Vacation is over. I did upgrade the girlfriend to fiancee. It has rained for 2 weeks straight and now it is 32 degrees. I have been back for 1 1/2 week and just now getting back to the truck. I am playing with the sway bar I decided to try this and tuck it under the bed. I only have 3 inches of suspension compression before it will hit the bottom of the bed I may have to shorten the links.

[marc55]

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Doing a quick dinning room remodel the week before thanksgiving took up a lot of my time and not the best idea.


I was able to sneak out to the garage and finish my sway bar. I am happy with the way it came out. Everything clears under full suspension cycle. Sorry about the pics.

[OrrieG]

Nice install, use a clevis instead of a bolt on the upper connection and you could disconnect it for serious off roading.

[Purcell69]

Nice build you have going Marc. Since you are planning on this being a daily driver, the LS motor would probably be a better choice. You should see better mpg than a TBI 350 or 383, and the LS should make more power when properly setup. Keep up the good work!

-Joe

[marc55]

Thanks for the comments. I have done the jeep thing for a while. I would use the disconnects if I was going to off road but this is going to be a pavement princess. The only time the 4 wheel drive is going to see any action is the 2 days a year we see snow here and the sad part about that is my fiancees Subaru does 10 times better than any 4x4 I have owned.

I am defiantly going to do the LS. Cold starts, good idle, no oil leaks and and engine that can goo 200K+ all makes sense. I have started looking for an engine and hope to have something in the next 3 months. I have a 68 Firebird I want to put an LS in and this will be a good test run for me.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by marc55

the sad part about that is my fiancees Subaru does 10 times better than any 4x4 I have owned.

I understand that, my wifes 4WD CR-V is the best all weather rig we have had for around town and road trips, modern ABS with collision avoidance system is nice.

[marc55]

Not much going on. Holidays take up a lot of time. Just pulling some dents out of the cab. There is only 3 dents so not much work. Need to start on a couple small patch panels in the floor.


My friends truck was rear ended they totaled out the hitch because of a scratch. Got to love insurance companies. so he gave it to me. Just need to narrow it a little.