1976 CCSB Duramax Project #trucknamedsue

[RADustin]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I hope I have skills like you one day...

it's easy- mess up alot and over think everything

Originally Posted by Feel the 'Pane

Incredible build!! ������

Ever have any thoughts on going solo & building aftermarket parts for John Q. Public?

thanks. Every day. Literally. Everyday I dream about how I can do what I love and carve out a good honest living. The problem is John Q. Public is lots of one off single order parts typically. Hard to make money. John Q. Company is much more lucrative. When I feel like I can secure a few commercial/industrial fabrication contracts to supplement any automotive(Public) orders, then I think I will try.

At the price point many people are willing to pay, a shop is barely paying for labor and materials. There is essentially nothing left over for a $500k laser or $200k brake or $100k shear or $60k VMC- all tools required to really compete with the big boys. Sure you can outsource but there's no money for that either. I've done the cost analysis for the parts I've made in this thread. Although I feel someone will pay for them, most will not.

[Devilman]

I'll pay for em for sure!!

[MTCK]

Originally Posted by RADustin

Thanks guys! It's yalls support that keeps me moving.


yes I am keeping all the GMT900 BCM, EBCM and the pitch/yaw sensor. So the truck will have ABS, stabilitrak, integrated trailer brakes with trailer sway control and anything else a 2014 has. I will be keeping onstar as well and using the newer style rearview mirror with backup camera in the glass.

One of the reasons I chose the LML duramax was the body electronics side of things. I could have much easier and cheaper used the LBZ but the older ABS was crap compared to the GMT900 LML.

This truck I'm building will have all the safety features a new truck has minus airbags and restraints control. The goal is to stuff all this new technology under the cover of the '76. I want the dash to remain as stock appearing as I can. This is why I worked to hide the wheel angle sensor, and the brake position sensor. If the average person doesn't notice anything out of place, that would be perfect.

If later I feel like drilling the bumpers for the sonar systems I can custom flash the BCM and do adaptive cruise like the tahoes have. That would be pretty cool as well.

Holy cow. Nice work. Great fabrication, system integration and attention to detail.

[Jkwood_80]

Originally Posted by RADustin

Thanks man. I checked out your work, looking nice!



kicking around the idea. that was the plan with making everything bolt on, is eventually offering it as a kit. It's a TON of work to make what I've done so far. I feel like I could do an entire frame quicker. I'm not sure what the future holds, I just want to get this first kit done and on the road for some testing. We'll see after that.

Not all GM AAMs are the same. I'm using the LML variant, 2011+. It's a little wider than the earlier 2010- AAMs. Not sure what AAM you have?

Bolt pattern has been a major topic lately with the end decision to keep the 8x170 everywhere. So I will be machining the rear hubs for it, and drilling the rotors. Also going to be swapped to the 60tooth ABS tone rings in the rear to match the front. Basically my front D60 will be bone stock and the rear will have all the modifications to work. I'd rather have drilled rear hubs(non wear item) than drilled front unit bearings(wear item). It sucks the rotors will be 'custom' but it's not the end of the world.

The difference in width between the axles is 0.394" per side, with the front axle being wider. (71.496" vs 70.709") I attached a pic as well to show.

Exceptional work! Im undergoing a nearly identical project axles and everything. Any way you sell me you CAD drawings of the suspension brackets?

[RADustin]

No I’m retaining all source files. Parts will be made available though.

[RADustin]

Update Time.

finished out turn signal- I think it came out nice.


worked on finishing up the metal work on the core support for now. To get it ready for blast and prime.

Had to make some tabs to attach the rear of the hood latch header panel since I cut off this area earlier on.









filled a bunch of holes. cut out these tiny fillers, numbered to their respective hole.







flipped the frame and mounted the trailer hitches I made earlier-






I then started the process of taking the frame apart and finishing out all the pieces. Not a ton of pics from this process as from a birds eye few nothing changed. Just alot of detail work, final welding, grinding, etc.

pallet of parts-




welded out all the 4 links. 7 passes on each end. took a while.







vid on the positioner- (not sure if it'll work?)



using the trailer hitches and some scrap pieces I made a little rotisserie to flip the frame. I was able to finish filling holes and gouges very quickly, and used this system to paint the frame.




metal finished everything and sanded the remaining primer to get ready for more primer to seal in the metal. primed up frame-




sanded the frame back out and got it ready for paint. Satin Black. My Dad sprayed it for me, I'm very thankful for his help. I stress out far too much to paint large items.












got the finish pretty close to the powdercoat test card-


cleaned and painted the real axle. This AAM is massive. What I started with- already cleaned and primed the axle tubes-




cleaned, wire wheeled, sanded, and metal prepped-




primed-






painted semi gloss black-






sent the parts out to powdercoat. This run was a total of 59 individual parts.


took a little over a week to get them back.


started reassembly- front crossmember first-




engine mounts-




transmission and front 4 link-




front crossmember and sway bar mounts-


rear link mounts and crossmember-


rear section-


front coilover bucket-


the whole thing, excuse the messy work area-


spent a little time designing on the fuel tank/fuel system. The passenger tank will jockey into the drivers tank via an ecm controlled transfer pump. So I will use a standard 2 line sending unit in the passenger tank, a feed and vent.

The drivers tank will need several inputs/outputs. I'll use a 3 line sending unit, with the factory feed made into the engine return by removing the filter sock. The vent will be the vent and the factory return will be the fill from the transfer pump. I will add two bungs to the top of the tank for the feed and return for the lift pump. The feed will draw down into a sump on the bottom of the tank, that also has a small drain. While I'm at it, I'll probably weld a drain in the passenger tank as well, they are just nice to have.

I crudely modeled the tank and sender. Stock setup-


modified-






Let me know what you guys think. I'm real happy with the way things are turning out so far.

[83GMCK2500]

This is, hands down, my favorite thread to see updates in. Loving all of the 21st centruy tools you're using to accomplish this build. Turn signal lever is one of my favorite small items, but I recently bought a 3D printer, so...

[RADustin]

Originally Posted by 83GMCK2500

This is, hands down, my favorite thread to see updates in. Loving all of the 21st centruy tools you're using to accomplish this build. Turn signal lever is one of my favorite small items, but I recently bought a 3D printer, so...

which printer? I need to get one.

[daddyjeep]

It certainly is exciting to see things after paint starting to come together for the last time. It is almost a shame to see them all the same color blending together into an unassuming mass. Of course it would be hideous to paint the pieces different colors to give them the attention they deserve.

[Low Elco]

Great to see it coming together!

[83GMCK2500]

Originally Posted by RADustin

which printer? I need to get one.

Flashforge Creator Pro. The short story is a friend of mine and I each bought one from someone we know who has a dozen or so printers setup in his garage for his small business. These two were matched and work well, they were one of multiple different pairs he was trying out to see which model he was going to go with. My introduction to 3D Printing came in college at the end of the Solidworks class, this was several years ago and the school had a uprint and a uprint plus. I wish these had larger build volume, at least on one axis, the idea I've got brewing could be done in one piece if one axis was 12".

[RADustin]

Originally Posted by 83GMCK2500

Flashforge Creator Pro. The short story is a friend of mine and I each bought one from someone we know who has a dozen or so printers setup in his garage for his small business. These two were matched and work well, they were one of multiple different pairs he was trying out to see which model he was going to go with. My introduction to 3D Printing came in college at the end of the Solidworks class, this was several years ago and the school had a uprint and a uprint plus. I wish these had larger build volume, at least on one axis, the idea I've got brewing could be done in one piece if one axis was 12".

that printer looks like it has a heated bed and build table which is awesome.

12" on an axis is a fairly big printer. If you don't need one piece parts I've seen about using TIG rod as alignment pins to stick smaller blocks together or dove tailing.

I dont think it'll be long before I get one. Biggest thing holding me back is this project, only have so much cash to spread around.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Great to see it coming together!

it is!

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

It certainly is exciting to see things after paint starting to come together for the last time. It is almost a shame to see them all the same color blending together into an unassuming mass. Of course it would be hideous to paint the pieces different colors to give them the attention they deserve.

it's almost fun to make things disappear. I think it adds levels and depth of details. Makes it more fun to look at as you discover details first overlooked.

[JonMatrix]

First of all, you do amazing work. Impressive to say the least. I was excited to find this post. I am also in the process of building a custom 78 K30 Crew from frame up. My pics of the build are very similar to yours (quite similar in fact - from the forklift holding the axles to the fitting of the motor and trans to the fame...) You are doing some incredible suspension fabrication (which we are not doing- we are staying with the stock frame, but an 8" Skyjacker, but we have boxed the frame to accept a Cummins 5.9L. Most of the work we are doing, beside the engine swap, is the interior swap to a 2011. Were in the process of fabricating the new cab base to accept the 2011 interior (dash, steering column and AC included...)

Anyway...Could you share where you found the dxf of this crew cab LB? and the 3D of the frame? Ive been searching and have not found much (there's tons of 3D, but not much that is for Solidworks or Inventor, which I work with mostly).

Besides the awesome welding and fabrication work you are doing, youve obviously put a ton of time into the cad work. Not asking for you to share all that, just need that frame and body dxf. Let me know where I can find these.

Thanks!

[RADustin]

Originally Posted by JonMatrix

First of all, you do amazing work. Impressive to say the least. I was excited to find this post. I am also in the process of building a custom 78 K30 Crew from frame up. My pics of the build are very similar to yours (quite similar in fact - from the forklift holding the axles to the fitting of the motor and trans to the fame...) You are doing some incredible suspension fabrication (which we are not doing- we are staying with the stock frame, but an 8" Skyjacker, but we have boxed the frame to accept a Cummins 5.9L. Most of the work we are doing, beside the engine swap, is the interior swap to a 2011. Were in the process of fabricating the new cab base to accept the 2011 interior (dash, steering column and AC included...)

Anyway...Could you share where you found the dxf of this crew cab LB? and the 3D of the frame? Ive been searching and have not found much (there's tons of 3D, but not much that is for Solidworks or Inventor, which I work with mostly).

Besides the awesome welding and fabrication work you are doing, youve obviously put a ton of time into the cad work. Not asking for you to share all that, just need that frame and body dxf. Let me know where I can find these.

Thanks!

Thanks sir!

I drew everything that's not late model OEM CAD. If you're familiar with the programs, the 2D drawings of the frame and a tape measure on a physical frame will get you real far.

The 2D DXF body is an image I digitized and modified. It was a single cab long bed that I made into a crewcab shortbed once in CAD. It's not perfect but it's close enough.

[SBTork]

Absolutely amazing man, it's coming along exceptionally well, you should be proud!

[RADustin]

Originally Posted by SBTork

Absolutely amazing man, it's coming along exceptionally well, you should be proud!

thanks! I am

but I want more. Ready to be driving

[LT7A]

I agree with you and daddyjeep on the intricacy of your parts and the related benefits of exposure and layering. Just glad I got to see it go together and view the detail up-close. Great progress!

[GT0B0Y]

This build is truly impressive! I am dying to see this all put together.

[cable666guy]

Amazing build !! Certainly on par with any of the big tv/ magazine builders !!

[Devilman]

Its update time sir!!!

[Jkwood_80]

Originally Posted by RADustin

No I’m retaining all source files. Parts will be made available though.

Even better! Say when, I'm ready to buy them

[RADustin]

Originally Posted by Devilman

Its update time sir!!!

I'll work on getting something put together.

[83GMCK2500]

Originally Posted by RADustin

I'll work on getting something put together.

I don't remember where you asked, but regarding the holes in the doors that someone hacked into yours...I would be bothered knowing they were there. You separated the fender skin and straightened them out...I can't imagine that knowing those holes were there wouldn't bother you.

[RADustin]

It bothers me really bad. But I don’t have a patch for it. Wanna mail me one? Lol

[83GMCK2500]

Originally Posted by RADustin

It bothers me really bad. But I don’t have a patch for it. Wanna mail me one? Lol

Any idea what the year range is on early doors? If there's an early crew/suburban in a yard near me I'd cut out the tops of the inner door skin for you.