1972 SWB Build

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

It's really looking nice now!

Thanks!

[beaterku]

Spent a couple of hours assembling the rear suspension. I ran out of time, but am about 95% complete in the rear. I'm ready to move on to the front!

[slowcpe]

Nice work. You will like that Streetgrip kit. I drove Ridetech's blue/white truck Saturday and it was amazing. Made me seriously consider it for my driver other than I'd double the value of the truck.

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by slowcpe

Nice work. You will like that Streetgrip kit. I drove Ridetech's blue/white truck Saturday and it was amazing. Made me seriously consider it for my driver other than I'd double the value of the truck.

I'm really looking forward to it. My truck had heated coils on the front and a cobbled together rear end.

[beaterku]

I finally finished up the rear end conversion yesterday. Sitting on the ground was short lived as it's now back up on jack stands. I started tearing down the front end. All of the steering bits are out. Hopefully one night this week I can get back to the shop to remove all of the control arms etc.

[beaterku]

All of the front bits are out. Not the tedious task of cleaning all of the years of grease and grime off. This all looks to be original. I though that the coils had either been cut or heated, but when I removed them, they had no evidence of either. Once everything is cleaned and painted, I am going to install all of the Moog, Redhead, Ridetech and Wilwood hardware.

Slowly getting there...

Here is the video from this week. Not much to video since it was all disassembly. Will get a lot more interesting when I start putting the new parts on!

You Tube

[beaterku]

Well, I took a month off from the truck. Between working 80 hour weeks and trying to spend time with the family, there just wasn't enough time. It was a nice little break. The entire front end was torn down, thoroughly cleaned and painted. I went ahead and had my control arms powder coated. The price was just too good to pass up. I'd have 3/4 of the cost in it in paint and time spent wire wheeling everything. Worth every penny. At this point, I am ready to start bolting everything back together. Yippee!

I also rebuilt the stock steering intermediate shaft with an Inline Tube replacement boot. My stock boot was torn and all of the grease had leaked out. Smooth as butter now! I tried contacting Inline to make sure the part would fit my truck, and true to form, they were no help. I ended up order it from Amazon on prime so I could send it back it it was not the right part.
http://a.co/bEfmRPi

All that is left to purchase is a new booster and Wilwood master. Going to put it on the lift to run all of the new brake lines and button this project up!

Here is an update video of the progress to this point.

You Tube

[mdelosrey]

Good work!

Will be watching your videos as well. Keep it coming.

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by mdelosrey

Good work!

Will be watching your videos as well. Keep it coming.

Thank you!

[Low Elco]

Looks nice!

[mcbassin]

Very nice build! Subscribed...

[beaterku]

So the latest progress started off with the best of intentions. It fought me literally the entire time. The first little hiccup was the lower cross shafts. They holes were offset on the shaft. This was not mentioned in the instructions. I had to wait until Monday to call and ask. They are supposed to be installed with the holes offset towards the rear of the vehicle. This makes sense as that will give more caster. Bueno. Now, on to the next obstacle. How to drive in these bushing casings. Again, no mention in the instruction other than Drive the Outer Shell into the Control Arm until the Shell stops against the Control Arm. The pictures were for another style of control arm. No help there. So I came up with an idea, I cut a short section of 2" thin wall tubing, sliced it open so that it would slip around the shaft. This worked on exactly 1 of the casings. It was like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. We ended up strong arming 2 of the casings in with a brass hammer and socket. It was effective, but our arms were on fire. We ran out of time so I have 2 left, on on the pass upper control arm and 1 on the pass lower control arm. I am little bummed that it dinged up the paint on the cross shaft a little, but that's how it goes sometimes.

On a positive, the steering box and steering is installed. So that is good.

You Tube

[beaterku]

Spent some time yesterday working on the old girl. The front suspension is complete minus the driver side tie rod. My pitman arm is sitting a little low. Going to try to figure out what that is about. Need to carve out some time this week to install the rotor and brakes so I can put it back on the ground.

[beaterku]

Getting closer....

[beaterku]

Well, it's back on the ground!! It's been a long time coming. Next up is rolling it over to the lift so I can run all new brake lines, install the front sway bar and get this bad girl back on the road!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s93ntGI-qPw

[cornerstone]

Very nice. Always a good feeling to get them off the lift and see the ride height.

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Very nice. Always a good feeling to get them off the lift and see the ride height.

Yes it is! Thanks!

[beaterku]

Pushed it over to the lift this morning. Now it’s time to run those new brake lines!

[beaterku]

Spent some time the other night working on the truck. I removed all of the old brake lines and ran the new set. I can't say enough about how well the Inline Tube kit fits. Like a glove. I've got to clean up the old unions and tee to finish it up as well as figure out what I am going to do with the axle lines. I'm going to fix the broken trans mount today (doh) and install some heat shield on the lines. Getting closer!

You Tube

[beaterku]

Replaced the broken transmission mount only to find the trans is sitting too high. I ordered a new crossmember from ECE that should help. The problem I was running in to was the driveshaft was only 3/4 away from the trailing arm crossmember. Couple that with the wacked out u-joint angles I was getting, it should be an easy fix.

Don’t look too hard at that leaky trans. It’s coming out this winter.

[beaterku]

A couple more pieces of the puzzle arrived this morning. New cross member will be here Friday.

[knomadd]

Progressing nicely. You're using some nice parts too. I'll follow along for the rest of the ride.

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by knomadd

Progressing nicely. You're using some nice parts too. I'll follow along for the rest of the ride.

Thanks!

[68SWB4x4]

Getting close and great videos!

[beaterku]

Originally Posted by 68SWB4x4

Getting close and great videos!

Thanks!