C10CJ: A Pro-touring '71 Stepside on a No Limit Pro-C10 Chassis

[1971_c10]

Got the fuel filter plumbed up last night, but not mounted. Bent the existing 3/8" fuel lines and cut up the front section a little to fit the filter in. I left the double flare union so I have a short length of line I can remove in order to get the filter out without having to loosen the whole fuel system up. My trouble now is I need a compact drill to get into the chassis between the rail and center bridge to drill and tap the holes for the filter mount, but all I have are giant old school 18v DeWalt drills! They are almost as long as that area is wide! Doh!

And I may wind up needing to make a heat shield since this filter is so big and I'm guessing will be about 1-1.5" from the exhaust pipe. TBD on that, but some thin 26 ga steel will do wonders to keep the heat at bay.

Here is a before and after shot showing the whole area I modified. For reference the before shot is linked in from post #104.



A little closer up on the front section. After cutting the front, I made 4 bends to get the tube to hit the filter. I used -6 hardline fittings (with a 37 deg flare, not the compression ones) to hook up to the filter.


A little closer on the back. I only put 2 bends in the tube otherwise didn't do anything else. Just flipped on the one clamp you see there. The other side of the union (filter side) is just the portion of the forward section I cut off, not mod's here. I got lucky that it lined up so I left it all alone.

[hotrod1]

Nice job Chris. I sure like your attention to detail.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

Nice job Chris. I sure like your attention to detail.

Thanks man!

And I went and picked up an air drill to finish off the mounting. So that's all done now ...



Just showing why I left in the union to remove a small section of tube, let's me slide the filter out of the housing.

[1971_c10]

Hey all - Driveline Angles - Interested in a simple and cheap way to measure the angles and then calculate u-joint angles? Then checkout a video I made on this very topic over on the C10CJ YouTube channel.

Driveline Angles - YouTube

[hotrod1]

Thanks for the great informative video.

Questions:
What size driveshaft is that?

Completely unrelated questions.

How do u like the Quincy compressor? Been eyeing one like that for several years.

Is it possible to get a pic of both sides of one frame rail where the rear brake line fitting pierces through the chassis?

Thanks

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

Thanks for the great informative video.

Questions:
What size driveshaft is that?

Completely unrelated questions.

How do u like the Quincy compressor? Been eyeing one like that for several years.

Is it possible to get a pic of both sides of one frame rail where the rear brake line fitting pierces through the chassis?

Thanks

Thanks for the feedback on the video! I enjoy making those and am finally getting some great use out of my GoPro I bought many years back.

On the driveshaft, it's a 3.5" diameter 6061 driveshaft.

I love the Quincy compressor. The one I have is pricey, but it is Made in the USA (of which I try to buy many things made in the US despite them costing more). It's their 60 gallon 2 stage compressor. It flows about 15 cfm @ 90 psi and has no problem with the air tools I use (drill, die grinder, cut off, mini reciprocating saw, HVLP spray gun).

And no problem on the picture requests ... I'm happy to accommodate any reasonable request

For what it's worth, they look like these things from Speedway Motors:
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Stainl...nch,36844.html

Wheel side - just a -3 AN fitting on this side


Inside frame rail side - looks like a 1/8" NPT on the bulkhead, then a 90 deg with a 3/16" inverted flare

[hotrod1]

Thanks for the pics. Very nice.

[jschaecher]

Great to see another step side! I'm in the middle of the same process you are doing. Couple of questions if you don't mind... I as well would like to run wider wheels and tires in the back and see you cut the bed side what is your plan in filling that in? I thought about cutting down a factory fleet side inner fender for mine. Also did you go with the higher rear rails that required the bed floor raised? never seen this done on a step side so just wondering how it looks and if i really need the truck that low. Very nice thread you have already helped me a ton!

Thanks,
Jordan
67 C-10 step side

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by jschaecher

Great to see another step side! I'm in the middle of the same process you are doing. Couple of questions if you don't mind... I as well would like to run wider wheels and tires in the back and see you cut the bed side what is your plan in filling that in? I thought about cutting down a factory fleet side inner fender for mine. Also did you go with the higher rear rails that required the bed floor raised? never seen this done on a step side so just wondering how it looks and if i really need the truck that low. Very nice thread you have already helped me a ton!

Thanks,
Jordan
67 C-10 step side

Hey Jordan ... Thanks on the feedback!

Right now all I have planned on the rear is a mini-tub. I have a design in mind, but I don't have the tools to make it, so I may be running a temporary tub until I can get some time with a friend who has a pullmax and the skills. The temporary tubs will probably be the same dimensions as my design, but not have the shape, they'd just be a simple "square" tub very similar to the ones found on the truck "The Preacher" (check it out here). I don't plan to tub much, probably about 3" just so I can clear a slightly wider tire than I have now and stay within the "outside" piece of bed wood and not get into the bed strip. I do plan to blind bolt the mini tub (like the primary fender) versus weld it to the bedside and that's not just because I might be changing it, but because the bedsides already have enough trouble staying straight and I don't need to put a bunch of heat in them by welding on a tub. Plus it will give a sharp corner right at the bedside since that interface is highly visible.

And yes, I've got the raised rear rails, so my bedfloor will be raised by at least 4". The bedfloor is the last thing on my mind right now so I haven't decided on how much I'll raise it. With a stepside floor, it is very easy to raise.

So on the ride height, I wanted the rear tire to just barely tuck, and to keep the shock in it's sweet spot. That meant I needed a raised rear rail. If you don't want to tuck the wheel, then you could get away with the standard rail set. But you'll be a couple inches higher in the rear then were I was when I mocked up the ride height (post 31). I mainly wanted to level the truck out, with a very slight rake versus the large rake I previously had.

[1971_c10]

One more thing off the cab to-do list ... got the rear notch for driveshaft clearance 99% done. Still a little more sanding to do, but glad this part is done.

A little background on the notch ... not all the No Limit chassis need to notch the cab. But if you go with the raised rear rails, you're going to need to do a little notching. You don't want your driveshaft to hit anything under any circumstance, so you need to make sure you clear the rear of the cab at full bump for the rear axle. What I did it run the axle all the way up until it just about touched the frame rails. I then had some body bushings sitting on the rear cab mounts. I put a 48" level across the body mounts, and then once the driveshaft pushed the level up and I was at full bump, I rocked the level to one side and measured the gap on the other. That gap divided by 2 is roughly how much the driveshaft will go up into the rear of the cab. So in my current case I needed about 1/4" of a notch. But I went ahead and planned ahead since I do desire to toy around with shockwaves in the future. Just not in the budget now. Plus, I could wind up with a larger driveshaft if I change the trans (I'd go with a carbon driveshaft next time which is a 3.75" dia vs my current 3.5") so I wanted to have a little room. I notched the back of the cab by ~1.25" and the cross piece at the cab mounts by about 1".

First, I did the layout. KOZ = Keep Out Zone


Then hacked up a painted surface. Always nervous doing that.


Then on to the cross brace. This is a redundant brace to the stamping in the floor so I don't feel too bad taking some material out. I cut out just the sides, then one cut in the middle on the bottom.


I then "folded" the bottom pieces up and welded in place. You can also see the hammer marks from where I rolled the edge of the cut, which is why there are 2 cut lines on the layout. I purposely cut a smaller notch and then rolled the edge by hand hammering. Hence part of the remaining cleanup work to smooth the hammer marks and a little body work.


A little welder selfie crammed under my cab which is on my dolly. It's a chore getting in there as the opening is only ~11" tall. Oh, and since I was in a somewhat confined spot, I do have a respirator on under the hood. It's a 3M 7000 series mask that the exhaust vents down so it doesn't fog up lenses.

[gringoloco]

Great work on the notch! So, you didn't get into the floor at all, just the rear wall and support?

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Great work on the notch! So, you didn't get into the floor at all, just the rear wall and support?

Thanks Chris!

So not needing to gut the floor is another advantage of No Limit. The way Rob designed the chassis he set it up so the engine mounts very similar to the stock height on the standard rail front. On some other aftermarket setups, they raise the engine up to 1.5" higher, which means the trans tailshaft needs to go up the same amount. Then those setups are designed to lay frame so the driveshaft winds up going up towards the rear axle. The No Limit frames aren't really designed to lay frame, so that's the other part of the equation. So yeah, I didn't need to cut into the floor at all. Rob tries to minimize the amount of body fab a guy needs to do in order to get the truck up and going again. In reality, I only needed to notch the cab and inner fenders and raise the bed floor since I have the raised rear rail. All the other fab work I did is because I changed a bunch of stuff.

[NewType72]

Killer attention to detail with the notch on the back of the cab, makes it look factory with how you spliced it. Great stuff

[noteron]

Your build is coming along beautifully. I feel you about being a bit OCD with the details. Its always the little details that catch my eye when i look at a hot rod. Im really diggin your level of detail.Thank you for sharing your build with us. It is truely inspiring.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by NewType72

Killer attention to detail with the notch on the back of the cab, makes it look factory with how you spliced it. Great stuff

Thanks Dylan! I really appreciate the feedback - keeps me motivated.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by noteron

Your build is coming along beautifully. I feel you about being a bit OCD with the details. Its always the little details that catch my eye when i look at a hot rod. Im really diggin your level of detail.Thank you for sharing your build with us. It is truely inspiring.

Thanks man! Oh my OCD was in full swing last week with wiring ...

The existing "universal" wiring harness. My OCD did not like where the trunks were for various wires and sensors.


So I blew the harness apart. Not to fear, those 80+ wires don't scare me!


Ah, much better. Ready for a customized routing and integration.

[1971_c10]

Wow, doesn't feel like 2 weeks since I posted any updates. Time flies ...

Been working on a bunch of odds and ends.

Did some brake rotor safety wire work. In my line of work we like to follow the "belt and suspenders" philosophy. So I did the same here. Safety wire is "not required" as the bolts are torqued and loaded with loctite. But, loctite and heat don't get along and rotors get hot. So safety wire is a simple precaution to ensure that the rotors do not come off the hats.

This is one of the rear rotors. It was a small PIA since the drum for the parking/emergency brake makes it so the bolt heads for the rotor are in a channel.


The front rotors went much faster.


I also started on some other plumbing after finishing up the fuel lines. I swapped out the flow control valve in my power steering pump for a unit setup for Ford racks, then installed the power steering lines. Also started on the trans cooler lines. I mocked in the A/C lines from the dryer and found that where I had my 2nd trans cooler (air cooler) was going to clash with the A/C lines, so that needs to move. I'm also contemplating a larger cooler as on hot days with a 3200 rpm stall the trans temps get a little warm, even with the fluid running through the cooler in the radiator and then through an air cooler with an insane 8" Spal fan.

But, all that work was distracting me from getting the cab done. So the chassis got moved into my "attached detached single garage" so I could focus on the cab. And yes that is a SBC in the far back corner.

[1971_c10]

Since the only part of the truck in my shop was the cab, I got to work. I needed to do something with a large hole I had cut when I was young and dumb and didn't have the proper tools. I had swapped in the 700R4 with my SBC. With the SBC in the 6 cylinder mounts, the added depth of the bellhousing on the 700R4 was hitting the pinch weld between the firewall and floor. Instead of trying to notch the pinch weld I cut out a chunk of the floor. It was hideous. I used a hole saw and a hack saw and never trimmed out the hole. So the hole was rough. I then riveted on some aluminum. That worked but I wanted to repair that area. I had tossed around going to a high hump, but I actually like the low hump and will keep it until some future mod requires it to go.

Here's what the hole looked like after I trimmed it up a bit. I did some more trimming after this shot for fit on the patch panels, but the hole size didn't really change. And for the purists, the doors and radio were already cut when I got the truck. The holes are ugly, and I'll probably clean those up some when I get to the interior.


I then went about the patch in 2 steps. First I patched the floor. It's tacked in place here. Then I went about the firewall section. The flat plate is where I started.


Then me and the hand hammers went to town. No english wheel, no shrinker, no pullmax. All hand hammered.


Section 2 welded in place. I had already started sanding the welds down, but still have some work left to do.


Shot from under the cab. Again, started sanding down the welds (full penetration confirmed!) and I'll use a little filler to smooth things out.


I also patched up the remaining holes I planned to fill, making the cab fab work I had planned DONE! On to bodywork!

I've been since working on some bodywork on the back of the cab. Then I'll move to body work on the front.

[NewType72]

When in doubt make it yourself!! Haha great work my friend

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by 1971_c10

So one advantage of being behind on the build thread is those things that take months can happen over night. So one thing to remember when digging this far into your truck, whether going with a full chassis, sub frames, whatever, is that there can be substantial lead time. In the case of full chassis, you can expect around 12 weeks or more. It just takes time to build these things and these guys are busy, so remember to plan that in and be patient.

One thing that can be challenging is the shipping. I don't have a commercial shop with a dock, so getting the chassis from No Limit out east to my house in CO was interesting. But No Limit does this all the time. The have the crating down pat and figured out how to ship these things via UPS! ok. UPS Freight, but still ...

I arranged to pick the chassis up from the shipping depot. That was an interesting experience to say the least. The chassis ships on its side, and then we had to lay it down flat onto the trailer. I also had some interesting conversation with the guys at the UPS depot (which is also a regional distribution/transfer center). To paraphrase a couple guys "we've seen a lot of chassis come through here ... but none seem to be built as well as this one."

And yep, chassis came fully assembled. Of course, me being me I've take some of it back apart for various reasons.

I just ran across your build and you are doing it right !!

Rob should take some lessons from my builder on shipping chasses, mine used a lot less wood, and they rolled it out on my driveway !

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by NewType72

When in doubt make it yourself!! Haha great work my friend

You know it! and Thanks man!

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

I just ran across your build and you are doing it right !!

Rob should take some lessons from my builder on shipping chasses, mine used a lot less wood, and they rolled it out on my driveway !

Thanks solidaxel!

Haha! Nice looking setup! Rob is willing to use the wooden wheels like that if you pick it up yourself. But mine came UPS and it actually shipped on it's side to save on cost! Otherwise NC to CO would have been a ton more than it already was ...

[1971_c10]

As mentioned a few posts above, been working on bodywork. My old autobody repair teacher always said "it's 95% prep and 5% paint". So here's a couple progress shots. Currently on round 4 of the filler. This one may be the last then a layer of glaze to fill any pin holes and other minor defects. Did I mention bodywork is one of my least favorite things to do on a car? Mainly because of the mess it makes.

Starting Point


A couple rounds in


Round 4 so far. A little sanding to do then see if this is the last round.

[gringoloco]

What a pain, but worth it in the end

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by 1971_c10

Thanks solidaxel!

Haha! Nice looking setup! Rob is willing to use the wooden wheels like that if you pick it up yourself. But mine came UPS and it actually shipped on it's side to save on cost! Otherwise NC to CO would have been a ton more than it already was ...

Well Chicago to So Arizona was by the mile and not weight and size!!