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

[disasterbus]

very neat installation, looks excellent.

[ibrown50]

A quick up-date on progress,

I've finished the power steering pump install, the modified bracket is on and works great and the pulley (which is not included in the kit) is fitted and lines up spot-on.



I also managed to get the drop arm, idler arm and tie rod fitted without any fuss, however the kit also doesn't include the pitman arm nut (so don't throw your old steering box away until you've removed the nut Martin)





And today my "new" control arm arrived, all the way from Albuquerque New Mexico, kindly supplied by Michael Bustamante, a top bloke air freight courtesy of Langy's rod Shop and sourced from this very forum. Oh and thanks to Don for the sound advice a week or two back


Now it's off to the blasters and then I can begin my suspension rebuild

[michael bustamante]

s`cribin

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

X2 on the "Billy Bike"

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

X2 on the "Billy Bike"

X3 For the Billy Bike

Although I've always been a bit of a "Fat Bloke" myself, below are some pictures of my last ride, mods included Cyclesmith fat bars, 5 gallon tanks and a custom candy and pearl paint job (including Betty Boop) by yours truly.

[ibrown50]

The plan for the front was a 4 - 4.5" static drop with a disc brake conversion thrown in for good measure. After "researching" many of the posts on this forum I eventually went for 2" drop spindles and 2" lower springs. Living in the UK I can't simply go to my local auto parts store and pick up a few parts if I need them, so for this reason I've always tended to buy kits and the most comprehensive ones I can find. This spindle kit came from Tom's Classics and includes McGaughy's 2" drop spindles and 12" drilled and slotted rotors.



The Spring kit is from POL and includes 2" drop springs front 4" rear and comes with matching shocks and hardware. Both kits were sourced through Langy's Rod Shop here in the UK.



The "spot the difference" picture



The springs and spindles were assembled using the "red neck" spring compressor (a trolley jack) and were a perfect fit on the new ball joints.

[ibrown50]

The rotors include new bearings, seals, nuts etc, you literally only need your own grease.



The callipers include flexi's, pads, banjo bolts, even the copper washers.



They all went together really well, I was very pleased with both kits, neither are particulary expensive but both (IMHO) are both great value

[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

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

...custom candy and pearl paint job (including Betty Boop) by yours truly.

That paint job looks great! Its too bad you have to run that huge yellow license plate.

Coincidentally, I have the same Hooker exhaust on my Softail.

Your front suspension / brakes are looking good. The drop is same as what I did. The one thing I wish I would've done was change to the newer control arms with the rubber bushings. Smoother ride and no maintenance.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Awesome work...

Thanks Don

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

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

Looking great, thanks for the update.

Yep don't think I'll be parting with this one anytime soon (but would love an early Blazer to park next to it)

Originally Posted by 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

Thanks Martin, although the "to do" list is still very long

Originally Posted by Johnny_Lamebridge

That paint job looks great! Its too bad you have to run that huge yellow license plate.

Coincidentally, I have the same Hooker exhaust on my Softail.

Your front suspension / brakes are looking good. The drop is same as what I did. The one thing I wish I would've done was change to the newer control arms with the rubber bushings. Smoother ride and no maintenance.

Thanks Johnny, I reckon dragging that licence plate around costs about 5 mpg I agree the later arms would be a better deal, the problem we have in the UK is finding parts