Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[chad64chevy]

nice updates mcmurphy, its been awhile since I posted but you have done a lot! I really like the tow truck same yr. as my project!

[Jmorales3181]

Welcome back murph! I like the fretting pic as well. U guys were like best friends before meeting glad you guys and girls had a good time. Can't wai for some more updates and in liking the new"project"as well.
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[Jeff La]

Glad ya'll had a nice time at the show

Nice tow truck, more on the trans please

[likaroc13]

Glad you had a great time Murph! Always interesting to meet folks you've only talked with over the "net". There are some great guys here though, & I only wish I had the opportunity to meet more of them. That tow truck looks really nice! Was it hard for the owner to let it go?

[BOXER957]

Glad you had a good vacation. Love the TT!! I was checking out a truck the other day...mainly because I had never seen it done and it definitely got the wheels turning. This guy went to a city auction where they sell equipment, cars, trucks, chairs etc. you get the idea. Well he picked up a trashed bus for $400 took the diesel with the automatic double over double under drive and put it in his hauler....then scrapped the bus and got like $8-900 back in scrap. Something I never would have thought of....until now. 12 forwards is a lot of shifting....big truck...lots of gas....or just slap it in the go gear and pull whatever's behind you...hmmm

[McMurphy]

Here is just a little sumthin sumthin from the Spokane GoodGuys show, hope you enjoy !!

2013 Spokane GoodGuys - YouTube

[Ta2Don]

[QUOTE=McMurphy;6254401]Here is just a little sumthin sumthin from the Spokane GoodGuys show, hope you enjoy !!

Thanks for sharing...
Groovy Tune

[Alan's Classic]

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[da_bears_da1]

Great video! Looks like a great show and beautiful weather.

Thanks!

[BOXER957]

Almost like being there, Thanks.

[piratexpress1369a]

thanks for that just what the doctor said i needed lol

[McMurphy]

[quote=Ta2Don;6255061]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Here is just a little sumthin sumthin from the Spokane GoodGuys show, hope you enjoy !!

Thanks for sharing...
Groovy Tune

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Posted via Mobile Device

You bet, it was hot...but a fun weekend, as you can imagine!!
As for the song, when that band (Art of Noise) first came out I thought they were pretty weird. Then for some reason I heard some more of their stuff, and have been a huge fan since.
They have versions of Dragnet (From the Dan Aykroid movie) and James Bond theme that pretty much kick butt too.
Fun stuff.

Originally Posted by da_bears_da1

Great video! Looks like a great show and beautiful weather
Thanks!

Aye, that it was !!

Originally Posted by BOXER957

Almost like being there, Thanks.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

thanks for that just what the doctor said i needed lol

My pleasure guys !!

*************************************************************************************************

For the most part these past couple weeks I have been tinkering with the TowTruck and driving it almost daily.
Monday the 9th was my 50th Birthday, and I got to spend it on duty (as is the way of Military life) and got a distress call from a couple of my comrades.

Seems they were out duck hunting and first one rig got mired in the river banks, then a second got it while trying to get the first one out.

So I took the TowTruck out and we got aquainted on a working level... LoL
Hopefully I will get some photos of that day which I will post in the HRSaR thread.

About the 66 now....
After attempting to troubleshoot some of the issues it has with staying running now, I have decided to put more gas in the tank before I reallly start pulling my hair out. The length of time it spends running seems to be trending into something predictible.
More to follow on that.

Yesterday was really day 1 with trying to get stuff done on it.
Being fixated on problem solving I was trying to start the truck, then get out and around to the engine quick enough to fiddle with stuff while it was running.
I have learned this is a 2 man job....just no way around that.

So I finished the paint on the back of the cab, and bled my brakes.

Here is a note for future reference:
It is a good idea to fully remove those bleeder valves and ensure they are clean before filling the lines with fluid or attempting to bleed them.
These are just long, hollow, nuts with a 90* port near the bottom.
I learned yesterday that these will fill up with gunk, and it makes bleeding the lines more than just challenging !!

After I got all that cleaned up, I started in on my head lights...
Men I gotta tell you, this is going to be on heck of a fun mod !!

Sorry no pics yet, just going to leave it as a teaser for now.

I do gotta share the rear sway bar install still though.
Man, that was a trick job too.

(On duty again today so if I remember to, I will post some pics of that tomorrow when I am home)

Have a great day guys, and thanks for taking a look !!

[Ta2Don]

Eagerly awaiting Pics...
Sounds like you may have had a bit of fun with the newest Toy!!!

[Low Elco]

Happy birthday! Old guys (and trucks) rule! Hope you charged 'em, maybe at least one of these trucks we mess with will earn its keep!

[Jmorales3181]

Happy 50th buddy. Hope you had a good time
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[Jeff La]

Happy 50th, hope you had a good day

[jlsanborn]

Glad to hear you're putting the tow truck to work! Anxious to see some progress photos too.

[Ta2Don]

Happy Belated BDay & God Bless...

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Eagerly awaiting Pics...
Sounds like you may have had a bit of fun with the newest Toy!!!

Indeed, it is fun !! I hope I can get those photos !

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Happy birthday! Old guys (and trucks) rule! Hope you charged 'em, maybe at least one of these trucks we mess with will earn its keep!

One truck owner stashed a half rack of Alaskan Summer Ale in the truck cab the next morning, and the other truck owner has promised a shank of moose meat for the freezer !!

Originally Posted by Jmorales3181

Happy 50th buddy. Hope you had a good time
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Originally Posted by Jeff La

Happy 50th, hope you had a good day

It was a beautiful day weather-wise... that is good enough for me.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Glad to hear you're putting the tow truck to work! Anxious to see some progress photos too.

Ok here you go buddy !!

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Happy Belated BDay & God Bless...

Thank you Don !

****************************************************************************************

So there I was with a Summit Parts Catalog and looking at Camaro Rear Sway Bars, remembering that some of you all have posted using these body type specific suspension parts.
What I did not commit to memory was the year ranges you guys use.
Nonetheless, I placed my order (yes I do that sometimes, eagerness overrides common sense in me some days ~LeSigh~).

This is what I got in the mail, and what I did to adapt it to my build.

In order to mount this I had to make the C-brackets, and have some 7/16" U-bolts made. Lucky for me there is a Transmission shop in Fairbanks that does this and it was an easy in-easy out task to get them.
I also had to cannibalize the radiator mount perches from my front clip donor to bolt them to the frame behind the rear axle to give my sway bar arms something to mount on.





After I had everything for the adaption made, fabbed, and painted it was just a matter of bolting it up into place.

As you may guess, getting this sway bar to clearance the rear end access plate was the main priority and foremost in my mind.



On the happy side, it is a 7/8" bar, which matches the front sway that came off the donor Sierra. All in all my sense of OCD and balance were appeased.

I got this done just days before I went home on Leave for the month of August, and didnt have time to post it before bugging out.
Since then I have reattached the brake lines and bled them as stated the other day.

The bottom line to this is I must remember to not order parts untill I am 100% certain of all needed information. Though I must admit the closer I get to finishing this, the fewer parts orders I am making these days....

Thanks for looking guys, and if any of you spot a problem or possible hang up please point it out to me. You may have forgotten; but I am reminded daily that this is the first time I have done some of this stuff !!

[Modges'66]

Hmmmm.
Murph, I don't know how to tell you this.....But, from an observers standpoint, i don't think that this is going to work as you had planned.
I don't want to seem like a stick in the mud, but the entire idea behind the ANTI-swaybar is contingent on the force needed to twist the bar to resist body-roll in cornering.
That being said, the ANTI-swaybar needs to be mounted parallel to the ground to achieve as much twist as possible during cornering to attempt to force the inside wheel to be level with the outside wheel, thus keeping the vehicle somewhat level.
The way that it is mounted in the photos, very little twist will occur during cornering, resulting in the body roll of the vehicle easily overcoming the force needed to twist the bar, rendering the ANTI-swaybar virtually useless....My opinion from an engineering standpoint.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Hmmmm.
Murph, I don't know how to tell you this.....But, from an observers standpoint, i don't think that this is going to work as you had planned.
I don't want to seem like a stick in the mud, but the entire idea behind the ANTI-swaybar is contingent on the force needed to twist the bar to resist body-roll in cornering.
That being said, the ANTI-swaybar needs to be mounted parallel to the ground to achieve as much twist as possible during cornering to attempt to force the inside wheel to be level with the outside wheel, thus keeping the vehicle somewhat level.
The way that it is mounted in the photos, very little twist will occur during cornering, resulting in the body roll of the vehicle easily overcoming the force needed to twist the bar, rendering the ANTI-swaybar virtually useless....My opinion from an engineering standpoint.

Thanks for the input Modges...
Here are the photos I used as a reference; it seems to be a common method of mounting and I thought I got mine as close to this as possible....











These photos were shamelessly lifted (pilfered) from RockTonka's build found here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...507111&page=12
Post #285

Any suggestions on how I can fix mine?

[Modges'66]

Murph,
The drag links need to be TOTALLY vertical or perpendicular to the swaybar when the vehicle is sitting on the ground.
As you can see in the second photo that you just posted, the links are, which allow the greatest leverage to attempt to flex the bar as much as possible with the least amount of travel.
PM me and we can discuss over the phone tomorrow.

[BOXER957]

A noble effort, but yes talk to Modge over the phone and he will give you a better understanding of how they work. From the picture it looks to me like your kit will work, you just need to flip your bar around and it looks like it will work.Look at the pictures of the other guys truck, you'll notice what I'm about to tell you. Mount the sway bar on top of the rear housing, flip it around so the arms go towards the rear of the truck and the bar sits in front of the diff. with the arms travelling rear, remount your vertical links. Try to keep the links as close to a 90% angle as possible, should be easy beans. Good luck, we'll be waiting for an update on both installation and difference in ride quality.

[Low Elco]

Thanks for saying it, Modge. I didn't wanna be the one to pee on the parade. No biggie Murph, ya got the right parts, just need a bit of re-orienting.

[McMurphy]

Sorry about the lack of updates...
I was so discouraged by the previous comments that I decided I could no longer compete with Modges, Boxer, and LowElco, so I sold the truck and all my tools and have taken a vow to never turn a wrench again.


To all my faithful supporters.....well thanks.

Meh....just kidding guys.
I was staring at my front sway bar like Modges suggested and I competely understand what he was trying to tell me now about my rear one.
Sadly I have not undertaken the task of fixing it yet.

In classic Me tradition, I had already started my next phase by the time I posted those pics, so now I have to finish this before I can go back and fix that.

But for those who have been keeping score, you all know what tomorrow is.....
So big post from me tomorrow, just contemplating photos, or video?

Anyways just to let you all know I had not abandoned you, or my truck!!
Thanks for reading