Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Ain't that the truth! Although this time I may have walked away a little more than I originally planned. However, I'm working to get back on track. I've got the cab and bed completely emptied of parts, boxes and junk so it won't be long before I'm back to the rolling chassis. In the middle of everything, I placed an order with CPP for their 12" four wheel disc conversion kit. I kinda wanted the 13" kit, but it only comes with a modular 2" drop spindle. I needed to keep the stock height spindle to work with the front airbag setup already in place. I also ordered their show stopper hydra-stop booster, tubular upper a-arms and 5 lug axles. And I get a free t-shirt out of the deal.

I sourced an Eaton posi-trac unit off eBay to replace the gov-lock I'd previously installed. I'll switch out the gear to a 3.73 while I'm at it which will work better with the other major purchase I made this morning... I bit the bullet and bought the LS3 Connect and Cruise package from Radley Chevrolet in Fredericksburg, VA. They had it on sale and with free shipping, no sales tax and a $500 rebate I figured the time was right.

So all that talk early on of building a rat truck is officially over and done with, if you hadn't figured that out by now.

Great choice!

[AKC]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

So all that talk early on of building a rat truck is officially over and done with, if you hadn't figured that out by now.

Therrre's a surprise.

Good luck with the build up, looking forward to more super-sano Vic-work...

[Possmguts]

Man-Oh-Man... This guy...

I think the posi unit I put in mine might be the thing I'm most excited about. Besides the new engine, new trans, new suspension, New wheels and tires, custom hood and all that body and frame work you have done Im willing to bet it will be yours too....

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Possmguts

Man-Oh-Man... This guy...

I think the posi unit I put in mine might be the thing I'm most excited about. Besides the new engine, new trans, new suspension, New wheels and tires, custom hood and all that body and frame work you have done Im willing to bet it will be yours too....

The gov-lock I previously installed was at best a compromise so I'm sure this new one will remove any worries about shelling the center section. I love watching RoadKill, but I don't want to BE roadkill.

Scott came over yesterday and helped me lift the body back off of the frame. After he left I got the exhaust and the drivetrain out of the chassis. Doesn't take long to fill up the workshop. I have a couple of guys that have expressed an interest in the engine/trans, so I need to follow up with them. If they take a pass, it's going on Craigslist. The tracking info for the LS package is a bit confusing. It shows it departing the same terminal twice, on the 16th and the 18th. it's estimated to arrive at the destination terminal on Tuesday so that's what I'm planning for.

On another note, the more I look at the cab, the bed and the frame the less I believe the problem is with the frame. I just can't see an obvious place where the frame could be bent. Looking at the bed and the cab with a fresh set of eyes, however, I see some places that when added together, may be contributing to the problem with the gap. To eliminate the frame as the cause, I'll still need to have it checked, but I'm thinking it may be a time/money waster. It's supposed to rain for the next few days, so it will be awhile before I have any answers.

[jeh]

Vic, I'm excited to see this Ls transplant. With your skill and craftsmanship it will be sweet!!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Vic, I'm excited to see this Ls transplant. With your skill and craftsmanship it will be sweet!!!!

Thanks, Jason, but before dropping in the LS, I have to get the body/frame issue settled. I may have stumbled across the root cause this afternoon. Chip, (LowElco) called and offered to loan me his bed dolly and while we were talking, he suggested some checks I could run to get an idea of whether the frame was out of whack. It suddenly dawned on me that I had a Strait Line Laser I'd gotten years ago for Christmas. Thinking it might be useful, I dug it out and put a fresh set of batteries in it. After setting it up at the rearmost bed holes and sighting thru the front ones, I had a 'holy crap" moment. You may be able to see from the photos that the intersection points at the front are off by quite a bit. And if I'm visualizing correctly, tweaking the frame to get it straight should go a long way toward fixing the bed/cab gap problem. If this turns out to be the problem, I'm really surprised the frame shop I went to originally didn't catch it.

[Elliot949]

Wholly crap... I don't see how they missed that

[jeh]

Is there any way you can pull some diagonal measurements to see if it's square or not?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Is there any way you can pull some diagonal measurements to see if it's square or not?

Many moons ago, B-I-L Rick and I noticed the frame didn't look right and the tape confirmed it wasn't square so we took it to the frame shop to have the diamond pulled out. We checked the diagonal measurements when it returned from the frame shop originally and they looked good. Just really surprises me they missed this. I have so much time invested in the mods for the bags, etc. I really hate to start over. Might be for the best though, if the truck's this far out, no telling how structurally sound it would be after the pulls needed to get it all back to spec.

[Xeen]

The frame shop that did the work will have to stand by their work if they are worth their salt, if you tell the manager how disappointed you are with the work they did and that you expect that it be made right they can only tell you two things, yes we will or no we won't.
If they won't stand by their work then IMO you should scrap that frame and get a different one because that thing is borked man and it's entirely possible that it may never be right again no matter how much work someone puts into it.
I'm pulling for you Vic and I know you will work it out.

[Low Elco]

AH-HA! Glad you found something. As long as they don't heat it bad, I'd think it'd be ok, I might put a bead on the crossmembers to set them solid when I got it back.

[jlsanborn]

More cool tools I spy... Interesting dilemma. I recall seeing some old frame drawings with some dims on them outta the factory assembly manuals. When I did my SWB conversion I was looking for 67-72 but could only find 60-66. Wonder if someone out there has those drawings and if they might provide some reference?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

More cool tools I spy... Interesting dilemma. I recall seeing some old frame drawings with some dims on them outta the factory assembly manuals. When I did my SWB conversion I was looking for 67-72 but could only find 60-66. Wonder if someone out there has those drawings and if they might provide some reference?

Thanks for the suggestion, John. My factory assembly manual is borderline useless. Thick as War & Peace, has no index and precious few page numbers. It's always painful to search.

The Chassis Service Manual on the other hand, has a whole section on the frame and shows the reference points and measurements. Might be a good idea to make copies of those pages and take them with me to the frame shop.

[AKC]

I knew that you, if anyone, would straighten it out. (badoom-boom!)

I am gonna miss the cream engine...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by AKC

I knew that you, if anyone, would straighten it out. (badoom-boom!)

I am gonna miss the cream engine...

Me too. Lotsa hours in that puppy. I may have to sit on it awhile as most of the buyers on the KC Craigslist are looking for bargain basement deals.

Picked up the new LS3 C&C today. It's resting comfortably in the workshop...

[jlsanborn]

The box in the driveway reminds me of a kid on Christmas morning. Nice buy there Vic, congrats! We know you won't settle on plug-n-play. Can't wait to see what twists you put on this and all the gizmos that go with. Ahhh, the wiring to come.

[sduckworth13]

Nice Vic!

[jeh]

SWEET!!!! You received it pretty quick too

[Gus350]

I'm interested to see how you like the CCP show stopper hydra boost. You have leaning toward this setup over just running the manual disc I really have no knowledge of either one just going off what everone says about the stopping ability of the hydro setup

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Gus350

I'm interested to see how you like the CCP show stopper hydra boost. You have leaning toward this setup over just running the manual disc I really have no knowledge of either one just going off what everone says about the stopping ability of the hydro setup

I had one on my '57 Ford, but it came from another company. Once I got the right bolt pattern and a couple of other issues sorted out, it worked great. So much so, that I sold the vacuum booster I'd prepped for CRLS and bought the CPP hydra-stop unit. I'm not sure how the various companies source the booster unit. I've heard they're no longer in production and what you get is a unit rebuilt to factory specs. But I could be wrong about that. Nonetheless, the one I had on the Ford was like night and day. Before the hydra-boost, I had to stand on the brakes and leave extra room between me and the vehicle ahead. Afterwards, the braking was powerful and smooth. One thing to look out for, though... the before and after line pressure goes from maybe 600-800psi to as much as 1800 psi. It will find every single potential leak in the system, believe me.

[mcbassin]

Love the new motor Vic!
bummer about the frame though

[Xeen]

Fun in a crate!

[Vic1947]

Not much going on while waiting for the frame shop to call. I decided to seek assistance from my go-to guys at Precision Collision. They have the laser guided, heat seeking, double throw down frame rack... and they're close to the house. I figured there was no point asking for warranty work on a three year old job anyway, so I'll start over with a more thorough set of specs. Meanwhile, I've been doing some research and ordering a few parts to make all this work in CRLS. A couple of things came up WRT the fuel system and I'm not 100% sure I know the right answers.

One question relates to the fuel pump. Boyd's in tank pump is an Aeromotive 340 Stealth unit, PN: 1114_. Aeromotive also sells a 340 Stealth in tank pump that looks identical but has a PN of 1154_. I'd like to buy just the pump kit and fabricate my own installation, but can't decide which to get. The 1114_ pumps are about $50 more than the 1154_ series. One thing the research has turned up is that some pumps are not meant for multi port applications. I can't determine if this is the case with the two Aeromotive versions. Some are also rated for E85 but I don't think that's a factor for me either way. Looks to me like any 340lph, 90psi in-tank pump would suffice. Am I missing something?

The other dealio is the LS filter/regulator. Some guys mount it in back near the tank to keep the return line short. However, I'm wondering about the pressure drop by the time the fuel gets to the injectors. The regulator isn't electronically controlled and is preset to 60psi. Don't know what psi the injectors need to see from the fuel rails to do their job (even under hard acceleration) but I'm guessing it's a lot less than 60. Seems like if it mattered where the regulator is mounted, someone would have shouted it out.

Anyway, I went ahead and ordered the CTS-V pan and install kit since it seemed the most cost effective solution for a lowered truck. No way the Camaro pan that's on the engine can be made to work unless I hack it to pieces. I think the Camaro exhaust manifolds will fit. I plan to reengineer the exhaust system to fit it up higher in the chassis like John did. The manifolds should help out with that. CPP sheet metal mounts and sliders are on the way. So as soon as I get the frame straight, I should be able to start mocking up some parts. Still no word on when the brakes and 5-lug setup will ship.

[Elliot949]

When a re you suppose to get the truck back from the frame shop... may have to talk to you about you other engine for my grandsons truck

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

When a re you suppose to get the truck back from the frame shop... may have to talk to you about you other engine for my grandsons truck

Hey, Dan. The guys at Precision said they hoped to get it on the rack the first part of this week coming up. I reckon it shouldn't be more than a day or two, but I'd rather them take their time and check each of the reference points listed in the chassis service manual and get them into spec. PM me on the engine if you decide to go that route.