Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by gdavis

But will that sway bar be in a bind that way.

Good question, George, I hope that's not the case. Guys that like to go around corners say the ends of the bar should be between -5 and +20 degrees relative to the ground with the links as close to vertical as practical. Off road guys prefer to keep the angle in positive territory, as the amount of extension on those vehicles could possibly cause the bar to overcenter. The spherical rod ends, when aligned with each other, should allow free movement throughout the range of travel. On the bottom rod end, I chamfered the spud it attaches to and added a .150" spacer between the ball and the head of the bolt. This allows the rod end to swivel to the maximum possible. If there's any potential for binding it would be at the top. I'll monitor it after I get the truck on the road and if I see any evidence the upper rod end is binding, I'll mill .250" off the ends of the bar and add spacers. This setup is used on all kinds of race cars and is preferred for its simplicity, adjustability and reliability.

[Elliot949]

WOW!!!!... Now I have to get up there and see this again... but you could come here and bend some brake and fuel lines... LOL...

[Elliot949]

Dude... You need this Air Cleaner on top of that Engine...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

WOW!!!!... Now I have to get up there and see this again... but you could come here and bend some brake and fuel lines... LOL...

Anytime you're in the area, Dan, be sure to drop by. You don't want me bending lines ...it takes me forever. It's so bad, I ordered most of my lines from Inline Tube. Even tweaking them to fit can send me around the bend.

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Dude... You need this Air Cleaner on top of that Engine...

Man, that's an oldie but a goodie! Looks like it came off a fifties fueler.

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Anytime you're in the area, Dan, be sure to drop by. You don't want me bending lines ...it takes me forever. It's so bad, I ordered most of my lines from Inline Tube. Even tweaking them to fit can send me around the bend.

Man, that's an oldie but a goodie! Looks like it came off a fifties fueler.

I would look really cool painted in the colors of your Engine...

[Xeen]

I'm on the edge of my seat, I can't wait to see how this turns out.

[swamp rat]

Vic what brand of resonators did you get? I saw the S S part i assume stainless.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Vic what brand of resonators did you get? I saw the S S part i assume stainless.

Hey Mike, they're made by Vibrant Performance and I got them from Summit. They're the stainless bottle style with a 2.5" inlet and outlet and a 4" OD. They fit in the available space and are priced reasonably.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Hey Mike, they're made by Vibrant Performance and I got them from Summit. They're the stainless bottle style with a 2.5" inlet and outlet and a 4" OD. They fit in the available space and are priced reasonably.

Once i get my corvette replacement manifolds i'm going to have the muffler shop install some Flowmaster 70's and i also want to add resonators on ether side of the hitch on the straight out the back tail pipes. I may be persuaded away from Flowmaster but i want a pretty tame exhaust note, my hearing is bad enough as it is. I have Magnaflow on my DD and i like the note, but it resonates pretty badly. Thanks!

[jlsanborn]

Awesome!!!! Your photos are always a story in their own. My only charge for "advice" is a video of a nice burnout in front of the house.

[Low Elco]

I like the tank placement- that's a rarely used space. That air cleaner would look good. Dan needs to come up for the Nationals!

[mcbassin]

Very nice progress

[sduckworth13]

Vic, thank you for all the help your providing me on getting my engine rebuilt and letting me take up your weekend. I can't say thank you enough.

[Low Elco]

Thank you also for the fittings. I appreciate all the technical assistance and time.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Awesome!!!! Your photos are always a story in their own. My only charge for "advice" is a video of a nice burnout in front of the house.

I may need to find a less conspicuous place, John. Two KCPD officers on our block, one right next door to me.

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Vic, thank you for all the help your providing me on getting my engine rebuilt and letting me take up your weekend. I can't say thank you enough.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Thank you also for the fittings. I appreciate all the technical assistance and time.

No problem guys, it's a welcome break for me.

[Vic1947]

Since I last posted up a progress report, I've been mainly working on mounting the hardware for the air springs. I built a cradle for the air tank to position it between the two front cross sills under the floor of the bed. Then further back, I built another cross member to support the back of the panel I'll use for the solenoid valve assembly and the brain box. There's way too much wiring for the sensors and etc. so I'll probably end up using the top of the tray to store the excess out of the way.

I decided the mounting tray needed a bit of bling, so I got out my el-cheapo dimple dies and went to work. The dies are not meant to punch the hole and then form the edge like the nice Mittler Bros. ones, so I had to use hole saws to lay out the pattern. But that's a small inconvenience for such a low buck tool.

[Vic1947]

With the tray in place, I started to weld in the first of the compressor mounts. I was having some minor issues with the MIG, so I stopped at about the halfway mark on the first mount. Lucky for me I did so. I'd revised the location of the mount without double checking for interference. When I set one of the compressors on it, BANG! I realized it wouldn't clear the cross sill.

So this morning I zipped the mount off the frame with a thin kerf cutting disc and went back with the mount like I'd originally planned. All is well now. Next up will be running air lines and wiring.

[Xeen]

Nice!

[jeh]

Neat and clean Vic, we wouldn't expect nothing else...

[jlsanborn]

KILLIN' IT!!!

That all looks super nice Vic! Love them little bits you're milling for the ends of the tubular supports and the sheet metal work is really cool.

[sduckworth13]

I feel lucky I get a birds eye view of Vic's work in progress as we prep parts for my engine rebuild that he is in the process of schooling me on. Great work Vic!

[Low Elco]

Great stuff, stoked to see it!

[Vic1947]

It's been a busy couple of weeks working to get the air suspension operational for the Midwest All Truck Nationals yesterday. Chip (Low Elco) graciously offered to trailer the chassis out there behind his freshly lowered BBT (which looked awesome!). We had a great time hanging with other forum members, checking out all the fine rides, grillin' and downing some cold ones. With all that behind me, I can catch up on recent efforts.

After retooling the compressor mounts, the next hurdle was to locate the position sensors at each corner. In the back, I welded tabs to one of the tubes that support the air tank as well as to the trailing arms. Up front, I attached tabs under the frame rails for the sensor mount and used blind rivet nuts in the lower control arm tubes for the lower rod end mounts. Measured carefully and cut the links to length. It all sounds so easy when you say it fast. In reality, there was lots of head scratching between steps. McMaster-Carr had some neat clips for mounting the air line, so I popped for enough to do the job. They came with screws, but I opted to use little 3/32" pop rivets. I setup the lines to run inside the frame rails and curl around the back into the solenoid valve body. I'll use the Adel style clamps that came with the kit to keep them tucked up out of the way.

[Vic1947]

Up front, the cleanest way to get the line routed from the bag to the inside of the frame rail was by using a 90 degree bulkhead fitting. There was already a small hole in the crossmember where the fitting needed to go, so it served as a pilot hole for the size drill needed for the fitting. I then used a short section of hose from the bag to the fitting and connected the long line running to the back to the other end.

Plumbing the air tank was next on the list. I picked up some pre-made high pressure hoses and used them to remotely locate the water trap(s). There was only one included in the kit, and the other one won't be here until Tuesday, so I just temporarily made a splice with a union fitting. With the air lines all done, the only thing remaining was the wiring. It's pretty simple, but the biggest issue was all the excess. I just looped it up and used cable ties to organize it. I'll shorten them up later on when wiring the rest of the truck. I did some research on the plugs hoping I'd find a source for the pins so I won't have to cut and splice, but I haven't 100% nailed it yet. Pretty sure the plugs on the ECU are from Molex and the ends on the sensors are the unshrouded Delphi GT150 type. But more research is required.

The system has an auto calibration feature and it went thru all that perfectly. When it finished, it set the ride height to the middle position. It has presets for low (10% travel), medium (50% travel), and high (90% travel). However, if you press the buttons to change it from the middle to the low or high positions, it does nothing. The manual buttons work perfectly to raise or lower the bags, either individually or in pairs. Reckon I'll call Travis at AZ Perf. this week and see if he has any insights. Meanwhile, I'll tear it all apart again to send the metal parts out for powder coating.

[Xeen]

Very nice Vic.
Now that you got the air ride done what's next on the list?