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

[ibrown50]

Truck time is really limited at the minute, however, today I made a little progress. The POL spring kit comes with shock absorbers, the kit even includes new upper mounts. They are designed to fit on the original mounts and are intended for use with lowered springs. Mine were on "back order" and arrived a little while after the rest of the kit (which may explain the following).




First up the bottom bush and crush tube were approx 3/16" too wide for the lower control arm, not the end of the world, I trimmed both bush and tube to the correct width and fitted the shock and while I was at it fitted the new bump stops.





Looks great................ but there is a problem. With the suspension at full droop (sitting on the upper bump stops) the distance between the lower bump stop and the cross member (maximum upward travel) is 4 3/8", not including any bump stop "crush".



The available travel on the shock absorber is 4 1/8" so the suspension will bottom out on the shock absorber.

[ibrown50]

Fully extended the travel on the shock is approx 4 5/8" so at about +1/4" it's less travel than I would like but it will (hopefully) be OK.



I will need to make a couple of upper mounts, Paul Y has a decent design on his build thread so more likely than not I'll "borrow" his design.

I also managed to finish the steering today, fitting the new tie rod ends and adjusters. I was worried I might not be able to tell the difference between the old parts and the new , but I managed in the end,

[Grizz1963]

Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggghhh !!!

You guys are so bloody good !!

Just read through your thread again, mainly because as I said on the phone yesterday, I wanted to relocate my battery..... That was the main motivation for the call.

Now looking at your suspension and steering rebuild...... I realise there is sooo much more to do.

By the way, your progress and fit and finish as always, looks great.


One of the things about this forum, regardless of whose threads we look at....... It is full of Inspiration.
Thanks !!

[uber cool]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggghhh !!!

You guys are so bloody good !!

Just read through your thread again, mainly because as I said on the phone yesterday, I wanted to relocate my battery..... That was the main motivation for the call.

Now looking at your suspension and steering rebuild...... I realise there is sooo much more to do.

By the way, your progress and fit and finish as always, looks great.


One of the things about this forum, regardless of whose threads we look at....... It is full of Inspiration.
Thanks !!

Yep I second that, always learning

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggghhh !!!

You guys are so bloody good !!

Just read through your thread again, mainly because as I said on the phone yesterday, I wanted to relocate my battery..... That was the main motivation for the call.

Now looking at your suspension and steering rebuild...... I realise there is sooo much more to do.

By the way, your progress and fit and finish as always, looks great.


One of the things about this forum, regardless of whose threads we look at....... It is full of Inspiration.
Thanks !!

X3!!!

[ibrown50]

Rian is looking to mount his battery under the cab as I did (it cleans up the engine bay ) and has asked for a little more detail on my re-location.

I started with a side terminal battery so that I could get the battery as close to the underside of the floor as possible. The battery is 750 CCA so even in England where it gets pretty cold, I reckon more than enough for a my small block and at 10" x 6 1/2 x 7" fairly compact so ideal for slinging under the floor.



I made a cardboard battery, the same overall size as the one I was using, so that I could try various locations under the truck and decide where it would best fit (so much lighter than a real battery) eventually deciding upon the passenger side frame rail under the cab. One advantage of this location is that it is nearer to the starter motor than the original location so you can actually shorten the battery lead.



The carrier is a simple construction of 1 1/4" angle bar and flat bar, both 0.16" thick (4 millimetres) mounted to the frame with 5/16" stainless bolts (grade 8). I used button heads so they don't interfere with the battery.

[Grizz1963]

Thanks Ian
Martin and I are just at McD's for a coffee then getting that Mazda blower then back into Operation Stack from Ashford and to his place followed by mine to pull my motor and box.

This is such a cool mod you did.

[ibrown50]

Under the cab there is a strengthening rib which if you are using the same location as me will be your limiting factor. It runs rearwards from the front cab mount then it "kicks up", at this point you have the maximum height from the ground and about 18" from the "kick up" to the rear cab mount so you could actually fit a very long battery is this space. In my case the lowest point on the carrier is approx 8 1/2" below the rib and just under 8" from the rear cab mount.





The battery hold down is a piece of 1" angle bar with neoprene strips on the underside so as not to damage the battery case.




A couple of other points, if you were to remove the section of the rib immediately above the carrier (and re-brace with something smaller) you could gain another couple of inches and probably get the carrier level with the underside of the frame rail. Mine hangs below the frame about 1 1/2" which gives me plenty of clearance ( Ill be running a 4" and 5" static drop) This would be fairly easy if, like Martin, your cab is not mounted. Also, if you slotted the bolt holes in the carrier you could load the battery at a lower position, jack it right up under the floor and then tighten up the bolts in the higher position, as Rian was saying when we spoke you really only need to remove the battery to replace it.

[Ta2Don]

Sweet Battery Box mod...

[Grizz1963]

Speaking to Ian recently, he mentioned that he liked my Pallet truck, and if Iever saw one for silly money, he would be interested.

Today before work I popped in and asked if there was possibly another for sale, or for the guys to look out for one for me.

Lucky Lucky.... One found and bought for £10.00

Next trick will be to get it from Kent, up to where Ian lives.

Now it's UP......



Now it's parked.



Really nice thing, includes a foot operated pressure release to drop it down.

[ibrown50]

Well it was a lovely sunny day in Northern England today, I would love to tell you that I took the truck out for a drive................



But that would not be true (and won't be for quite a while). What I did do today was recieve some very nice, great quality renders from Chad (Hellaflush3d), I am very pleased with them, they give a true sense of how things will look when finished, right down to changing the colour of the spokes on my wheels

[Grizz1963]

Good to chat today Ian.

Just got in myself.

Obviously looking forward to all of us meeting up on Sunday and exchanging bits.

As you said, these renderings are rather spectacular.

I suspect you will be building your truck just like that.

[mjh1965]

As you said on the phone the other day those renderings look awesome

[Grizz1963]

Amazingly, I have a 320 BMW sedan as work car, it cannot carry the pallet truck, yet, Nicola's Peugeot 107 was up to the task tonight.

Now safely down at the garage Ian.



Funny how things go.

Yesterday there were 8 of these 2 ton pallet trucks delivered as scrap to the yard, some of them work, and some needing minimal attention, one was brand new....... I never get that.

[ibrown50]

Thanks Rian, just got to get it a couple of hundred miles north now

[Grizz1963]

Well, another good weekend has come to an end.

Today it was up to this.........



Nicola and I had planned this day for some time and were not disappointed.

Met up with a few friends, including Ian Brown, Del and son Sam from Romford, Adrian from Milton Keynes, all C10 guys.

I also met up with Andy from Norfolk to buy some Dinitrol cavity wax that was left over from his International truck build, another nice guy with a good wife.

I decided to actually enjoy the show a bit myself with Nicola today, so only took a few random photos of 60-66 Chevy/GMC's in C10 format.







Del and son Sam were over I his Stepsise that he is turning into a full Patina looker.







Adrian's truck, he fitted new rubber and wheels yesterday, I really love this look.



Mick, who I did not meet's truck with lovely Extang tonneau cover.



I want one of these Tonneau covers for my truck as well.

Just need to figure out which model and size will fit it correctly.



Beauty of the day. Pretty bloody good I say.

[ibrown50]

The Supernats is a great day, it's one of the biggest gatherings of Rods, trucks, muscle cars and (a few) bikes in the UK. It's also a great chance to catch up with friends you only see face to face once or twice a year. It's a long day for me (about a 4 1/2 hour drive each way) but always worth it.

I met Rian and Martin (in person) for the first time yesterday, Rian is easy to spot (it's the "trade mark" sandals)



Rian pretty much captured all of the 60 -66 trucks, this one was definitely my favourite, the patina was perfect and as a "6 lug" driver I loved the wheels too.



The cleanest truck by far was this orange '69 it puts my engine bay to shame.

[ibrown50]

There are also a growing number of traders and builders in the UK, which is always good new, particularly when sourcing parts. This 59 Apache was for sale by Farm Fresh, I loved all of it, even down to the (faux) ostrich skin seat, but at £28,000 (a shade over $43,000) it was sadly way out of my budget.

[ibrown50]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I needed to make a pair of brackets to mount the top of my shock absorbers to create enough travel at full bump.
A visit to the shed turned up some laser cut tabs that I've had for ages (they were about £1 each from eBay) and a piece of 5/16 flat bar. Why buy when you can make?




I used a set screw and 3 nuts to set the distance between the tabs, this is a handy trick as it not only sets the distance, but also the alignment between the holes and keeps the tabs square and parallel.



Next just a simple case of cutting the flat bar to length and drilling a couple of 3/8 holes in each piece which will be used to mount the finished brackets to the frame. I will weld the brackets to the frame once I'm happy with the suspension travel.



The tab assembly was welded to the flat bar. I find leaving the bolt on place until the weld cools stops any movement or distortion.



Remove the bolt and "presto" a pair of shock mounts, total cost about £6



I'll get them painted and fitted this weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Of course with all the horse trading going on, on Sunday, this was another perspective.

Ian and Martin.

[Ta2Don]

Nice job on the shock mounts...

Love that Orange '69

[ibrown50]

Got the shock mounts and shocks fitted at the weekend,





A little bit of masking tape on the frame make accurate marking of the holes so much easier





I used 3 1/4" bolts to get the 1 7/8" shank I needed to clear the brackets and then trimmed the length once they were fitted. I was going to weld the brackets in place but I'm not sure I need to? Anyway I now have more stroke on the shocks than travel on the suspension

Today is my Birthday so I've taken the day off, the problem is the next job on the list is the brake pipes I hate doing brake pipes, so I may spend my birthday doing something else

The good thing about birthdays (at my age) is that I find people are more supportive of my bad habbits

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Got the shock mounts and shocks fitted at the weekend,

Attachment 1436875

Attachment 1436876

A little bit of masking tape on the frame make accurate marking of the holes so much easier

Attachment 1436877

Attachment 1436878

I used 3 1/4" bolts to get the 1 7/8" shank I needed to clear the brackets and then trimmed the length once they were fitted. I was going to weld the brackets in place but I'm not sure I need to? Anyway I now have more stroke on the shocks than travel on the suspension

Today is my Birthday so I've taken the day off, the problem is the next job on the list is the brake pipes I hate doing brake pipes, so I may spend my birthday doing something else

The good thing about birthdays (at my age) is that I find people are more supportive of my bad habbits

Attachment 1436879

Shock mounts came out great! …and it's hard to beat a box of cubans...
Happy Belated Mate!...

[mjh1965]

Happy birthday mate . Like you I usually take the day off . Hope you had a good day . Thanks again for the gas monkey bottle openers . I will drop Rian's to him tommorow . Don't forget to post lots of pictures of the brake pipe install as I need to do mine .

[Grizz1963]

Good instal Ian.

Thanks for the Prezzie !!

In fact, you are the one who should be receiving presents.

Happy Birthday.