Project "Second Chance" - Hot Rod 66' GMC

[siggyfreud]

Thanks Capt.

I'll take a different angle pic of the shackle. I don't think it will touch, as compression should move it further away from the web I'd think.

[zippeay]

Wow! Lots of work but it looks great!

[siggyfreud]

Thanks Zipp! Your thread is nuts. The fab skills in that one are off the chart. More than I could ever hope or attempt to accomplish haha.

Capt: I took another look at the bracket, and you're right. The leaf is really close to interferring. Enough that I was uncomfortable with it. So I flipped it around and now it has plenty of clearance.



Quick update on project:

Slid the rear under the truck, but had the wrong u bolts so I am waiting for a new set to get made. Hopefully be ready for pickup this afternoon. I also drilled the shock mount locations and mounted the new studs.

[zippeay]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

Thanks Zipp! Your thread is nuts. The fab skills in that one are off the chart. More than I could ever hope or attempt to accomplish haha.

Wow! Thank you very much but by looking at your thread you obviously have some skills as well. I don't consider myself very talented but thank you. I'm just very stubborn and I hate having to trust other peoples work so I try to do as much as I can myself.
It's not that I think I'm better than anyone I've just been burned too many times before, a good example is the motor I put in my truck. I almost had to rebuild the whole thing, I should have just done it myself... I bought It because I've never built a whole motor and I was nervous it wouldn't work out but I probably would have been better off building what I had.
That's how we learn right?
Great thread though, your truck is looking great!

[siggyfreud]

Well I appreciate the kind words! I'm excited to see your truck with a solid motor. I used to think there was some magic to all this work, but when I started seeing other people doing it I though "well . . . if they can figure it out certainly I can."

I'm also with you on the lack of trust. I'm even hesitant to have friends help. Not because they can't do it, but it just stresses me out if they're not doing it the way I would do it, even if their way is just as good. It's definitely a flaw of mine haha.

[siggyfreud]

Steering mostly finished

While waiting for a part to fix my welder so I can mount the rear end I decided to tackle the steering. I didn't pay attention to how it was configured taking it out, but thanks to the internet found enough pictures to figure it out.

[bj383ss]

Looks good man. I just finished this myself. I took a bunch of pictures of mine. How far on did you get the pitman arm. Mine would only go about 3/4 on to the splines but that sucker is not coming off that's for sure.

[siggyfreud]

The pitman arm is just barely engaged right now and has a nut loosely on it. I didn't have a correct-sized socket so I couldn't get it all the way on. I'll probably tap it on with a rubber mallet and then torque it down. I feel like that thing is supposed to take 160-180 ft.lbs.

[siggyfreud]

7/7/14 - More rear/exhaust work

Finally got my welder fixed and was able to modify the spring perches. The ones I bought were too wide for the lower shackles and ubolts I took off the D60, so instead of ordering new ones I attempted to modify the ones I had.





Cut equal material from the middle, welded it back, and smoothed it. Now the ubolts fit!



After that I was able to center and install the differential. I set the pinion angle opposite the transmission, which was 5*. But since it's not on tires and not weighted down I just snugged it up and didn't weld anything. I'll wait and tack/weld the pads once the truck is back together so I ensure I get the right angle.



With the rear in, I was able to start extending my exhaust mockups:











Next step is to figure out how to mount the rear bumper flipped, so I can finish routing the exhaust properly. Some say they can do it without modifying the brackets much, and others said they just built new inner brackets. I suppose I'll bolt it in with the outer brackets and a jack, and then see what I need to do to make the inner brackets work. Might be hard to do without the bed on, as I won't know how high to make it. Any advice is appreciated on that one.

[siggyfreud]

7/13/14 - More Exhaust

Just kept working on the exhaust today. Wanted to get one side 100% done, but ran out of welding gas.

I think I'll keep my bumper the right way up. I was going to flip it and center the exhaust under the cutout, but three things stopped me:

One, I saw a few modern pickups and saw they keep the same style, so I could see how it traces back to classic lines.

Two, I would have to fab four new brackets, and honestly didn't want to take the time to do it.

And three, I can keep my plate centered in the right spot, and not have it off-center or have to mount it elsewhere.

Just a few more exhaust pics. I ran continued past the rear-end hump, along side the gas tank, started the 90* inward, and will finish up the 90* back out to the bumper once I have gas.

[siggyfreud]

Well after many awesome suggestions from the forum I decided to rework the exhaust system. I moved the flex pipes as close to the engine as I could (with relative ease), strengthened the Xpipe welds with some plating, and hung rubber hangers, as I guess solid hangers would have vibrated the system apart . Welds are even uglier from all the cutting and re-welding going on.











So I'm pretty much back to where I was a few days ago . . . but done correctly this time. Hope to finish the exhaust this coming weekend.

[bj383ss]

Looks good man. Did you pick up the rubber hangers at the parts store? My exhaust was bolted straight to the frame but I will be adding some rubber hangers as well.

Bret

[Ta2Don]

Great Work!!! Diggin' the exhaust work...

[1963c-10]

Nice job on the exhaust system and frame. Coming along nicely.

[siggyfreud]

Thanks all for the kind words!

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Looks good man. Did you pick up the rubber hangers at the parts store? My exhaust was bolted straight to the frame but I will be adding some rubber hangers as well.

Bret

I had actually ordered these from SummitRacing when I ordered the other style. I liked the clamp of the other style, more than welding the hanger to the pipe. But ultimately I needed rubber inserts for the other style that I didn't have, and couldn't get them on Summit from the same vendor for a good price, so I just went ahead with the Summit-brand rubber style. I do think autozone carriers hangers, but not sure of the quality or style.

[siggyfreud]

7/20/14

Friday evening I was able to nearly complete one whole side of the exhaust. All that is left to do is to weld up fully areas I have tacked, and create a small crossmember for one last mount to steady the tailpipes so they don't rattle.

Here is the tailpipe section I fabbed up:





And here it is mounted (minus the last hanger):



So Saturday morning I was fired up to finish the exhaust completely, however I ran out of welding gas about 10 minutes in. To top it off, I couldn't find a place in a 50 mile radius that was open on a weekend to swap tanks . . . so that sucked.

Instead of exhaust, I knocked out a few lingering things such as adding bolts to the flywheel/torque converter, replacing temp bolts with permanent ones, etc.

Sunday I finally bit the bullet and ordered some wheels. Should be here mid-week. I also ordered some brake gear so I could start running lines.

Here are the wheels I ordered:



I know they're common'ish, but everything else I may have wanted either didn't come in the size I wanted (the Novas go from 17 to 19") or were $400+ a rim.

I'll be going with these tires I think in a 255/55/R18 all the way around. That way I can rotate. Seemed like a good setup for some performance, but something that would do well in the wet Pacific NW. I wanted to go wider in the rear, but had time location a set of tires all in the same family in the sizes I wanted. 255 should be plenty wide for a DD/cruiser.:




Cheers all!

[pdxhall]

Great work, man. You can't go wrong with a set of American Racing 5 spokes. Classic Hot Rod!!

[Cape Codder]

I like the wheel choice also. Exaust is looking good

[siggyfreud]

Thanks guys!

[siggyfreud]

8/10/14 - New parts and work

Been awhile since the last update. Been busy at work, but have managed to get more things done on the truck.

First up, I have been accumulating parts to do the brake lines. I picked up some OE brake lines for the 85 front, however they didn't fit with the drop spindles. The hard part of the line at the end that connects to the caliper was too tall and wouldn't bolt to the caliper.

So instead I'll go with aftermarket summit banjo fittings and use their braided brake lines. Will do the same on the rear section as well.

I finally ordered my wheels and tires (separately). I ended going with American Racing Torq Thrust II in a 8x18 on all 4 corners. Used a 4.5" backspacing. Looks like it will fit great, however won't know for sure until the body is back on.

For tires I went with 255/55R18 all the way around too. After a lot of back and forth I ended up getting some Nitto 420S. They reviewed as an all around good performance SUV tire, that is meant to work well in the wet. Being in the Pacific NW that's important! Also, they needed to be good under 40*F, as our winters like to hover in the 33-42* range quite a bit.

Here they are mounted. Excuse the garage mess!:





Next I worked to finish the exhaust. Had to order more pipe as I used 3 out of the 4 45* bends on one side.







As you can see in the second to last photo I had to patch the exhaust. Some angles I need are difficult to cut with a 4.5" grinder, so I end up with gaps that are tough or impossible to weld. So I take small pieces of exhaust, cut them in half, and use them as curved patches. Only had to do that twice though!

Just need to finish clamping a few joints and cut a few brackets down to size. Then I'll wrap the exhaust where it's close to the fuel tank, as it's only .5" away in some areas. Won't hit it, but just want to insulate it from the heat a bit.

I'll keep some pipes connected via clamps, as I want to be able to remove the exhaust. Not feasible to have it 100% welded.

Next up is finishing some steering loose ends, and ordering more small parts to run the brake lines. After that, it's time to clear/clean the fuel lines and start wiring the computer in for engine start-up! Since I'm using a somewhat unique setup I imagine that will come with some headaches and time to get going.

Cheers all!

[Captainfab]

Looks good

[Average Joe]

Cool build!

[pdxhall]

Great work, siggy. The chassis is really coming together.

[bj383ss]

Siggy,

You haven't posted in almost 3 months. Any updates? Hope all is well.

[siggyfreud]

Hey there!

Yeah it's been awhile. I have, unfortunately, been pretty busy. I also bought a new car a bit ago and have been trying to not spend money, either on it or the truck.



Wife got a new job a few months back after about 6 months of being on the market, so that will help free up some monies for the truck, however I am helping her save for a new car for April/May of next year, so that will take some of it. I don't have a TON of truck expenses left, but the ones I do have are pretty large, like body/paint. So I'm working to save up for that, and once I have the funds I'll likely really dive into getting it ready.

Left to do are:

- Finish brake lines
- Wire in fuel injection (though I'm not sure how I want to do that prior to putting the cab on.


The rest of it pretty much requires I either have the body on, or the full (real or simulated) weight of the vehicle.

I tried starting to do the body stuff piecemeal by finding a body/paint guy on the side who I could feed fenders, doors, etc to, but one shop never returned my email and then disappeared, and another guy who to this day spams craigslist would set up appointments to come check it out and then no-call no show.

There is a hotrod shop in Hillsboro I may call after my next work trip.

I've made plans to clean the garage this coming weekend, so I'll likely get started again on the truck at that point and start with more updates .

Thanks for checking in!