How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10

[gringoloco]

...and while the fenders are off and the backsides accessible, I remembered to drill out the (bondoed over by the PO) holes for these guys:

[rustytruck50]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

3 steps forward, 2 steps back is still progress, right?

I do believe you are correct, Sir!
You have learned much young grasshopper

[sprint_9]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

3 steps forward, 2 steps back is still progress, right?

At least you took steps forward, I just spin in circles as of late.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Looks good to me!

It just wants to be like your Blazer when it grows up

Originally Posted by rustytruck50

I do believe you are correct, Sir!
You have learned much young grasshopper

Just keep swimming...

Originally Posted by sprint_9

At least you took steps forward, I just spin in circles as of late.

I feel this way, too. In my mind I have it all figured out, but when I start working it all falls apart

[smbrouss70]

Looks good to me!

[mcbassin]

Very nice upgrade to the brakes! I can smell it now just thinking about that gear oil....

[smbrouss70]

Does the drum of the rotor cover the brake shoe? On my setup the flange of the axle is just barely outside of the metal of the shoe. The flange actually fits inside the shoe to get the c-clips on in the diff.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Does the drum of the rotor cover the brake shoe? On my setup the flange of the axle is just barely outside of the metal of the shoe. The flange actually fits inside the shoe to get the c-clips on in the diff.

Yup, it’s as deep in there as it will go without contacting anything. I actually moved the backing plate out another 1/16th after taking this picture with no interference. It is as close as I’m comfortable with at the back of the studs/lever mechanism area. The contact surface of the shoe is fully within the drum, but just barely. Thankfully, it’s just a parking brake and (knock on wood) will never see any real braking action, else I’d like to see the shoe better centered in the drum.

When I put it together for the last time, I will have to slide the axles in, install the c-clips, then final assemble the parking brake setup to the axle housing. Using car pattern axles is definitely the way to go to make this easy. Maybe when I get ready to buy wheels I’ll swap to 5x4.75. For some reason, I feel like a set of 315/35-20s would fill out the rear nicely

[gringoloco]

Welp, I got the brakes all final assembled and working, but it turns out my 40-something year old axles’ flanges are bent. Allowable runout is around .003 when running discs and mine are visibly wobbling, which causes the rotors to knock the pads back in the calipers, resulting in soft pedal. No thanks. Add to that the very slight rub of the parking shoes inside the drums once per revolution, and the subsequent noise that would drive me crazy and I ended up buying new axles...

While I wait for Summit to deliver, I thought I’d take care of some things that have been bothering me for a while. Since I have the interior torn down, now is a good time to go about fixing my cut for DIN dash. I used some measurements I found here in the forum (sure hope they were right). I had it all bodyworked and primed, then my spot putty had a reaction with the primer, so I’m starting over on it tomorrow. Color and clear, soon.

[gringoloco]

Since I had some paint mixed up, hoping to shoot the dash, I went ahead and primed and base-coated the A/C vents, ashtray, and radio delete plate (might run it ‘til I find a radio). Much better than the chrome look, I think. They still need cleared, but look pretty good and the color is a good match to the dash

[smbrouss70]

Looks nice, Chris!

Find an original AM radio and send it in to get converted. Nothing else looks "right" in these dashes to me. Here's a video of one of my friend's radio before the guy shipped it back to him. I'm hoping to be sending mine in to be done somewhat soon.

1968 Chevrolet C10 original AM radio - YouTube

[gringoloco]

Looks really nice, have you priced one? For now, I grabbed a Retrosound Laguna to stick in the hole (and verify my measurements). If I hate it, delete plate gets installed...

[smbrouss70]

Yeah, for the full conversion with BT, USB, etc. they are about $650, but it doesn't seem out of line for what you get.

I have a single DIN radio and the same universal mounting kit that you used on the Highlander Blazer, but I don't think I want to have to open the console everytime I want to fiddle with the radio. I'm not in a rush to do it... I haven't had a radio in the Blazer in the 4.5 years that I've had it.

[gringoloco]

This one will almost fool you, about $300:

Edit: upon further review, it appears they are junk. Too bad, looks nearly like an AM/FM

[smbrouss70]

I looked at that one before, the reviews are a resounding "meh..."

Bart seems to be real happy with his conversion, when I get around to needing a radio, I'll probably get mine re-done.

Sorry for cluttering up your thread.

[mcbassin]

Nice work on the radio repair Chris!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Sorry for cluttering up your thread.

Haha, seems like it’s mostly just you and me anymore these days...

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice work on the radio repair Chris!

Thanks Mike! It is proving to be somewhat of a pain, like most things. I did receive the Retrosound faceplate so I can tweak the hole. I was pretty close on the first shot, just needs minor work with a file to provide enough clearance once painted.

More to come, soon. Spending some time getting a heater setup in my workspace, as winter is pretty much here in UT already

[gringoloco]

I pulled into the garage after work yesterday to find this:

I don’t know if it’s a seasonal thing or if it’s some comment on how long this project is taking

[nlped]

^^^

I have to say, That's FUNNY!!!!

[babyblueoval]

Originally Posted by nlped

^^^

I have to say, That's FUNNY!!!!

I completely agree!

[smbrouss70]

If it's still there come Christmas time, I think you may have found your answer.

[aggie91]

Very funny. I'm guessing you wife is trying to tell you something???

[Bennett68C10]

Hahaha nice job on the dash repair for the radio opening.

[rustytruck50]

I like her sense of humor!!!!
I did this a couple of years ago with my '48 Farm Truck ....think mine is a distant, dusty cousin of yours(skeleton, that is)

[gringoloco]

Thanks dudes, it was a fun surprise.

@rustytruck: I like what you did there. I always thought it would be fun to use the truck for a hayride, or maybe stuff a dead dummy underneath as though the suspension a had collapsed on it. Maybe next year...