New project! The "Red Herring"

[JJorgensen52]

Taking a break for dinnner, new cowl is in!

[Advanced Design]

Nice, you fit the new piece in really well. Never be able to tell it was replaced.

[oldman3]

Looks good...Jim

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice, you fit the new piece in really well. Never be able to tell it was replaced.

Originally Posted by oldman3

Looks good...Jim

Thanks fellas! There's a lot of backstory to that photo. I bought the patch one ebay. When I started cleaning it up and trimming to fit my cab, of course I found a couple pin holes I want to address ... and it went downhill from there . I also found a pocket of rust in the bottom of the passenger's door right under the hinge. I figured it was about time my old friend Murphy poked his head in to demand to know what I thought I was doing!

Here's the cowl after the final fit, a whole lot of wire brushing, and a good coat of etching primer:


While I had the cowl out I cleaned and primed the section of the firewall you can't reach when the cowl drain is in there:


Patch clamped up:


And final product



Also got the inner cowl voids cleaned up




And fitted up both cowls for hopefully the last time. The driver's door is a little wonky on the front edge but I think the gaps are okay. Three of my four hinges have damaged mounting plates ... almost like they were forced too far closed ... anyway, debating if I should replace those.

[JJorgensen52]

Today I was at work a lot later than expected, and I took an hour or so to get my road bike out and dusted off for the season, but I did get into the garage a bit:

First off, the Olds met with a rather unfortunate accident:


The stub is excited to get installed!


Also, got the passenger's cowl about 90% welded in (all of the spot welds, I still need to do a few seam welds at the bottom and make a filler where it meets the firewall)

[Advanced Design]

A good evening of progress. Cowl looks good!

[oldman3]

Everything is looking super, nice work...Jim

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

A good evening of progress. Cowl looks good!

Originally Posted by oldman3

Everything is looking super, nice work...Jim

Appreciate the kind words, as always!

Worked on the driver's cowl tonight. I had to section the inner cowl AGAIN to get the body line to fit at the bottom of the door:

Oh well, better to measure once and cut five times, right??

But the good news is, it's burned in:


Shifting gears a bit, my cowl vent hinges were seized, so I ground off / popped out the rivets and replaced them with these stainless shoulder bolts and nylon washers (the holes are actually conveniently #10 and 1/4" sized, thanks GM!) - fits snugly, no slop, and since the metal parts aren't touching anymore, no more rust!

One of the reasons I was so intent to keep the cowl vent is that some of my earliest car memories are riding around in my uncle's '60 Corvette, and thinking that cowl vent and the dash mounted rearview mirror were the coolest things since sliced bread!

I couldn't resist

The ZR2 tires happen to be exactly the right height to hold the fenders up, so that was convenient.

Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll rehang the doors again (they've been on and off at least a dozen times this week) and make the little door-pillar to inner cab corner braces, and then probably work on the dash, steering column and brake booster bracket installs.

[FarmerSid]

I had the same problems with my inner to outer cowls. Worst fitting piece ever.

[JJorgensen52]

Cleaned up both cowls, did the seam welds down near the rockers, and trimmed the ends and edges to contour. I also traced out the filler plates for the front, just haven't cut them out yet.


Also did the cab corner braces and set my door gaps for the last time. I was amazed how much better the doors shut just by adding this brace!



A little hard to tell here, but the rear gap on passenger's side is sitting a little fat, I'll need to weld about an 1/8" to the rear edge of the door to make it even with the others


And driver's side, surprisingly, is 99% perfect as is. I was shocked!


Around the windows at the top of the door... well that' another story

Shifting gears, I picked up the correct air box for my LS motor today - in 2009, they changed from a separate MAF mounted in the air intake to this type, integral to the filter box. Unfortunately they also changed the programming and resistance values, so I'm going to try and use it as-is. I'm thinking I'll build a replica of the lower half of the box directly into the inner fender (running a 4" tube along the inside above the wheel up to the grill area) and then mount the upper section of the box directly to it. Thoughts?


And last, just another little piece of shop junk I picked up at the boneyard the other day - 1981 Buick LeSabre clock. I picked up a 12v power supply to run it off of for cheaps, so it's going to get mounted back in the fake wood dash panel and go up on the wall

[Advanced Design]

JJ, nice work. I like the idea of the MAF and box placement. And I have seen sensitivity by the PCM to airflow over the MAF. For example, I remember a vehicle with a non GM airfilter setting MAF codes with a light. Install a GM filter and the light, codes went away. Not saying it would do that with this arrangement, just something to be aware of. Will you be using the programming for that MAF?

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

JJ, nice work. I like the idea of the MAF and box placement. And I have seen sensitivity by the PCM to airflow over the MAF. For example, I remember a vehicle with a non GM airfilter setting MAF codes with a light. Install a GM filter and the light, codes went away. Not saying it would do that with this arrangement, just something to be aware of. Will you be using the programming for that MAF?

Yes, I'm currently programmed for the factory MAF which matches this box. I myself have run into problems with ECM codes and aftermarket filters, so I'd much rather try and use the parts that GM spent a whole lot of time and money designing for this!

As far as the placement, this seemed like the best location, but I won't know for sure until I have the stub and motor in the truck, hopefully I have enough width to use it this way; I might have to cant it a bit.

[oldman3]

Nice panel work, good ideal with the brace...Jim

[JJorgensen52]

Tonight, I did a lot of sitting in the truck staring at the dash and scratching my head about what to do to fix it

Made the cowl end fillers



So the problem with the dash was that the steering column - firewall brace was broken, so the dash was cracked all around the gauges and the holes were torn. Since my new column doesn't fit in the recess anyway .. away it went!

You can see here that I also cut out the raised section of the underdash reinforcement and fitted up a new straight piece.

Here's where I'm at right now. The dash looks better in the photo than in person, I think . From sitting in the truck I think my pedals are too far apart, so I may make a bracket to move the gas pedal to the left and towards the driver about 1.5" and 1/2", respectively. It's a C5 Corvette pedal, fits a LOT better than the truck one of the same vintage.


Also, I discovered that my Pontiac column and the S10 brake bracket don't play nice - the column has the external "bowden cable" turn signal switch, which is mounted in the 10 o'clock position and is exactly where the pedal wants to be. It looks like if I make a new exit hole on the other side of the column for the cable, I can clock the switch around to 2 o'clock and solve the problem, but I've never been inside an early GM tilt column so this could get interesting

[Chevy-49]

Like to read your posts, most of your posts tells me how to do mine. We have the same problem area's.
Can't wait to read future posts.
The posted pictures and explanation are great, thanks from Holland, best regards Richard

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Chevy-49

Like to read your posts, most of your posts tells me how to do mine. We have the same problem area's.
Can't wait to read future posts.
The posted pictures and explanation are great, thanks from Holland, best regards Richard

Welcome, Richard! I always get a kick out of seeing what Detroit Iron shows up across the pond. Hopefully my posts continue to be of use to you

I told myself I wasn't quitting tonight until I had the pedal assembly mounted in the truck in a way I was happy with. As you can see, that took a bit.

Trimmed down S10 bracket


I didn't want to mount the bracket under the dash, so I decided to mount it above instead. To compensate for the lip on the inner edge of the dash, I laid a piece of 1/4"x1-1/4" bar in there (more on this in a minute)


Once that was done, drilled the firewall and cut down the ribs so the booster would sit flat


16ga reinforcement plate added


And my junk test booster mounted up


Here's the modified S10 bracket. I welded the 1/4" bar stock to the ears, and then plated over the center to make it rigid again.



And here it is fully mounted in the truck


The two 3/8" bolts under the gauges will also carry my column drop and tie it into that 1/4" bar under the dash; this way, I could have the hardware symmetric ... I'm a little kooky like that

There is an additional 5/16" bolt on the left of the gauges, which ties the end of the bar down. I will probably swap this for a cap head or carriage bolt to make it less conspicuous.

I'm still not happy with how far the pedal is off the floor, so I'm probably going to extend the pedal arm down about 2" and likely shift it towards the center of the cab and inch or two as well. I have the pedal assembly out of my parts Olds to use as a donor for more metal that's the right size.

I also need to make a new dash - cowl brace, because my original was broken and it probably wouldn't fit with this arrangement anyway. Most likely I'll just use some angle and tie it into the brake bracket somewhere behind the gauges.

Stay tuned for more fun modifications - some of you may have noticed I removed the brake lamp switch bracket. Another thing I didn't want hanging out under the dash so I have a plan to make it hidden away ... but not yet

[Advanced Design]

Nice mod's! You are fast. That would have taken me a week end at least.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice mod's! You are fast. That would have taken me a week end at least.

Thanks! Sometimes, I get dug into something and I just don't want to quit until it's finished, which doesn't bode well for my getting to bed or getting up at any kind of reasonable time

[JJorgensen52]

I spent a LOT of time today sitting, staring, fitting, fiddling, and so on. I must have had the column and the seats in and out of the truck two dozen times.

The good news is I've decided exactly where I'm hanging the column, I laid out all the pieces to make my dash-firewall brace, how high the seats need to be, where the gas pedal is going, and that I DO NOT need to modify the turn signal switch assembly (thank goodness! I started digging into the column a little and I would prefer to not have to do that.)

Now a little on the brake light switch. This made for not many photos but a LOT of fitting and fiddling:

Original S10 switch bracket (which I cut off and cut down a bunch) welded in the new location


Sitting in the seat or just getting in and out of the truck you can't see it. I may make a dress cover for the underside of the dash anyway, but it's tucked up nicely now.

This is the new switch actuator arm. It mounts on the pedal (there is a bolt hole above the booster rod, and the lower part of the arm catches the end of the booster rod pin to keep the arm from spinning) and goes out through the hole you can see in the side of the bracket (directly below the pivot bolt in the previous picture) to hit the switch. The switch is at about the same distance below the pivot here as it was in the G-body setup.


Since I have to be up for church in the AM, I quit in the middle of fitting up the pedal - I've moved the pad (at this point) 1-1/2" down and 2" to the right. I'm happy with the position left to right, but I'm still about 7-3/8" above the floor at the base of the pad. I checked my '71, it's about 5-5/8" ... not sure if I want to move it down more? Figured I would sleep on it.



More pictures tomorrow when I get all these pieces finished up and get the column and the gas pedal mounted in the truck.

[oldman3]

Nice update on how you are doing this, will be helpful to a lot of people...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Nice update on how you are doing this, will be helpful to a lot of people...Jim

Yep, me for one. Thanks JJ! Nice work.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Nice update on how you are doing this, will be helpful to a lot of people...Jim

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Yep, me for one. Thanks JJ! Nice work.

This is what I love about this forum so much, all of the sharing and camaraderie! Thanks fellas.

Okay, so this one is a little picture heavy (and I have more, if something isn't clear):

Finalized the position of my brake pedal - I measured my HHR this morning and it was 6-3/8", so I settled at 6-1/2" with the truck which felt decent. The second measure is distance from the kick panel.



Clearance to my turn signal switch - this is with the switch at the bottom of its range and adjusted all the way down, I have about 1/2" at the closest point, and it will never be this far down.


Column drop bracket made


Column drop and base plate tacked in place (I made the base plate to fit the contour of the original firewall so I can seal around the opening). I set the end of the column shroud (so the base of the wheel) at about 5-1/2" from the dash between the gauges, which puts the rim of the wheel relatively close to where the original sat.


These shots show the brake switch arm and bracket all assembled.



My "Rev.1" accelerator pedal bracket. My brake can't bend 1/8" plate, so I did this using the hammer and vice method - I may clean it up and use it, or I may make another nicer version. Either way, it needs to have a gusset added at the top, it's a little more flexy than I would like this way.


Column all welded up. This took FOREVER to not put too much heat on and damage the seals or anything.


Column bolted in, from outside and inside. I used 5/16" flange head body bolts to mount my base plate.


Pardon the mess, I haven't cleaned up any of the welds at all yet

Final pedal placement.


And the money shot! Driver's entry perspective. I didn't have my near-NOS GMC horn button in the garage otherwise I would have put it on for the photo


Note that from this position, you can't see the brake switch or any of the wiring for it (which is installed here). The turn signal switch I am going to loom so it's less conspicuous, but otherwise this is about how it's going to look. And with that big wheel, it still looks like a proper truck!

[Advanced Design]

Awesome! Nice work, great detail. The placement of the pedals looks spot on.

[oldman3]

Like this set up...Jim

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Awesome! Nice work, great detail. The placement of the pedals looks spot on.

Originally Posted by oldman3

Like this set up...Jim

Thanks as always! I'm just hoping my new pedals don't look too goofy with the original park-brake pad ... I supposed making a new pedal for that is peanuts after the rest of this nonsense

Tonight was more about rework than anything - if I'd been a little more careful when I did the rocker and floor fit-up on this side, I would've been two hours less work tonight. But anyways.

Park brake brace (which I finally succeeded in buying after four months of backorder) bolted to the floor and the rocker

If the rocker were about 5/8" further forward I could have made it fit without modification.

Here's the after shot, with the pedal and bellcrank mounted.


And the pedal position appears to be pretty much spot on inside the cab.


Now on to new work. I made the dash-firewall brace tonight.

Pardon the ugly welds, I tacked it up inside the dash and I wasn't too worried about making it super pretty

The bolts are recessed into the firewall, so thusly they are bumped OUT on the inside. I made this piece from two pieces of 1-1/4"x1/8" plate and welded the studs into it.


And here's a couple shots showing the geometry. The electric wiper conversions don't mount to this brace anyway, so I'm free of that constraint here (though it could be made to work easily enough).



I tied it directly to the column drop. You may notice that I don't have any threads protruding through the column drop nuts ... I'm not terribly happy with that, so I'm probably going to pick up some longer graded flange bolts for the final assembly.

Just for fun, I put it all back together with the original nuts and washers


Going to pick up my donor truck frame tomorrow, as long as all goes according to plan. Then the real fun begins!