Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[sduckworth13]

Sounds good. It's raining so I might not work tomorrow.

[Elliot949]

Vic your truck is really coming together... I have a question for you... The slot in the interior roof where the mirror would mount, why do you have that cut open there...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Vic your truck is really coming together... I have a question for you... The slot in the interior roof where the mirror would mount, why do you have that cut open there...

It's for a map light, Dan. Everybody's got to have map lights and cupholders, right? You can see it at post #398 (and a few previous) on this thread.

[Low Elco]

Progress lookin' good!

[jlsanborn]

Like what you did in the door jambs up top! Anxious to see the drip rails, gotta re-do mine.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Progress lookin' good!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Like what you did in the door jambs up top! Anxious to see the drip rails, gotta re-do mine.

Thanks guys! Scott D. came over this evening and helped me set the cab down on the frame. Had a ton of clearance around the transmission, but the tall valve covers with the centerbolt adapters and the chrome ring on top of the HEI were just touching the firewall. Pulled the cab back off and dimpled those areas for some additional clearance. Not wanting to go overboard, I kept the hammering to a minimum and the second fitment was much better; we could now slip a piece of paper between the valve covers and f/w. That won't be enough, however, so we pulled the cab back off. Scott offered to stay later, but I sent him on home and will engineer a solution tomorrow. Standard height valve covers and a non HEI distributor would fit with plenty of room but I'm not willing to go that route. The one bright spot is the wood beam we used to pick up the cab worked like a charm.

[sduckworth13]

Vic, I'm still amazed at how the cab lift works so well. It sure makes it a lot easier on a back.

[swamp rat]

I had the same problem with my K20, i bought an HEI and Edelbrock tall valve covers and couldn't use them, come to find out the K20 uses the rear bolt holes for the engine mounts, the C10's and probably the C20's use the front bolt holes.. Go figure. Thats why i ended up with the Mallory unilite.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I had the same problem with my K20, i bought an HEI and Edelbrock tall valve covers and couldn't use them, come to find out the K20 uses the rear bolt holes for the engine mounts, the C10's and probably the C20's use the front bolt holes.. Go figure. Thats why i ended up with the Mallory unilite.

From what I've been able to determine, Mike, rear mounts were used for all six cylinders and small blocks with manual transmissions (on C10s at least). Front mounts were used for all big blocks regardless of transmission type and small blocks with automatics. Not sure if this is 100% accurate, but a good rule of thumb.

I made the decision to use the rear mounting holes because I like the look of the engine set back and the improved handling. I modified the firewall / floor to accommodate my automatic transmission. I did the same to my silver '68 and had no issues with the HEI or the valve covers, so I assumed a repeat performance would be okay. I neglected to take into account the added height of the finned covers, plus the added thickness of the adapters that convert the center bolt Vortec heads to a perimeter bolt pattern. Then I added a chrome spark plug wire cover to the top of the HEI which I didn't have on the '68.

So effectively, I could fix the problems by removing the spark plug cover and going to a lower profile set of center bolt valve covers ...or just beat the crap out of the firewall. Well, maybe not that, exactly. But I can put some smooth pockets into the affected areas that will provide the clearance I need without looking too out of place. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

[Low Elco]

One step forward- two steps back. I'd like to see your process on the dimples. Torch and move the existing metal? Muffin pans? English wheel? I'll be heating up the bacon grease for the popcorn.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

One step forward- two steps back. I'd like to see your process on the dimples. Torch and move the existing metal? Muffin pans? English wheel? I'll be heating up the bacon grease for the popcorn.

Well, I started by making a couple of candidates to graft in where needed, but didn't like either one. So I switched to brute force. I have a modified tool I use in my air hammer. It can move metal with much more precision than a body hammer. I'd already used it to create the initial small dimples so it was just a matter of expanding and deepening the areas. You can see the results below. The deepest one on the left was moving pretty easily towards the last which indicated the metal was borderline overstretched. Or as engineers like to say, "The material was about to exceed its modulus of elasticity and suffer permanent deformation."

[Vic1947]

Smoothed out the dimpled areas on the firewall and dropped the cab back on the frame. This time I had an adequate amount of room around the valve covers and HEI, so I left the cab on for now. Need to shim one corner very slightly and then torque the body mounts down before assembling the front clip. With the cab now in place, I could see the stance was not where I wanted it, but that's easily fixed with the air suspension. I let some air out of the back and got the rockers sitting closer to level. No use programming anything in right now until all the weight is on and I can get the truck on level ground. My workshop floor is sloped to a drain in the center, so there's precious few level spots. If you squint real hard, it almost looks like I'm making progress.

[mooseknuckles]

looks good.

[swamp rat]

And this is why i wish i was an experianced gear head! I love the valve covers too!

[Elliot949]

Looks really good with the cab on it...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

looks good.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

And this is why i wish i was an experianced gear head! I love the valve covers too!

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Looks really good with the cab on it...

Thanks, guys. Still a long ways to go, but it's getting there.

[65Gregg]

Mmmmm, bacon flavored popcorn.
Outstanding work as usual, you make it all look so easy while I struggle to do anything on mine.

[texasld]

Vic! YOu have done it agian. Glad to see the lift worked out for you. Your's looks better than mine, though!

Glad to see the cab on the frame. I may steal your idea about painting the drive shaft. I'll be painting mine red, but you get the point.

Cab looks great setting there. Almost like it was made to fit on that frame... Oh yea.

Wish I was closer so I could lend a hand more often.

[Low Elco]

Looks suspiciously like a truck! Good show! Wonder how well an assortment of crowns on that air hammer setup would work in a shot bag? Hmmm.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by 65Gregg

Mmmmm, bacon flavored popcorn.
Outstanding work as usual, you make it all look so easy while I struggle to do anything on mine.

Believe me, there's plenty of struggling going on behind the scenes.

Originally Posted by texasld

Vic! YOu have done it agian. Glad to see the lift worked out for you. Your's looks better than mine, though! Glad to see the cab on the frame. I may steal your idea about painting the drive shaft. I'll be painting mine red, but you get the point. Cab looks great setting there. Almost like it was made to fit on that frame... Oh yea. Wish I was closer so I could lend a hand more often.

Thx, Mike, appreciate your sharing ideas. And, fortunately, I have several forum members close by that are always ready to lend a hand.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Looks suspiciously like a truck! Good show! Wonder how well an assortment of crowns on that air hammer setup would work in a shot bag? Hmmm.

I bet they would work great. I had a HF planishing hammer setup that had several tools with different radii crowns. Never used it so I peddled it at a swap meet awhile back. I reckon you could find just the hammer heads somewhere online. Air hammer really gets after it, though, Have to be careful to not overdo it.

[jlsanborn]

Looks fantastic! How'd you figger the cab needs a little shimming? Where are you pulling those dimensions?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Looks fantastic! How'd you figger the cab needs a little shimming? Where are you pulling those dimensions?

Hey John, when I set the cab in place the left rear bushing had about a 1/16" gap between the support and the bushing. That's the one that was rotted out and I replaced, so it's possible it's off. I'd prefer to have all four bushings contacting the supports evenly before tightening. Won't really know what it needs until I get the bed and front clip on. I've got the front clip assembled and it's ready to set in place. But Thanksgiving dinner has interrupted the progress.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I know I have much to be thankful for.

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Hey John, when I set the cab in place the left rear bushing had about a 1/16" gap between the support and the bushing. That's the one that was rotted out and I replaced, so it's possible it's off. I'd prefer to have all four bushings contacting the supports evenly before tightening. Won't really know what it needs until I get the bed and front clip on. I've got the front clip assembled and it's ready to set in place. But Thanksgiving dinner has interrupted the progress.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I know I have much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to you also Vic. I have a lot to be thankful for too and your really the first one my list to be thankful for.

[swamp rat]

Happy Thanksgiving Vic! I count my blessings every day.

[Vic1947]

With another turkey day in the books, I continued with the front clip assembly. Scott got off work a little early today and came by to help me lift it onto the frame. Slipped right into place, and after bolting it up, the fit looks fantastic for the first go around. I have an excessive gap between the inner fenderwell and the Z support on the firewall. I think (hope) the fastener will draw it up, but don't want to get it into a huge bind since the gaps at the cowl and rockers look so good. If I have to, I'll shim it, but my immediate focus is on getting the leading edge on both front fenders looking better. The repro dies did their usual subpar job and those areas will require a lot of massaging.

Scott and I had some fun putting the air suspension thru its paces. We decided it would look even better by modifying the rubber stops on the rear to give the suspension about another 1.25" of travel. Useless for driving around but will look good parked at a cruise in.