"Midnight Rider" 1970 C10 SWB Fleetside

[omodified]

I loosely installed a few pieces tonight. I did it to make floor space more than anything. Will torque the engine stands later once I'm sure they don't need an adjustment. I will torque the trailing arms once I install the rear end.

[omodified]

I installed a few more pieces I had lying around. This time it was the idler arm mount and the rear upper shock mounts. I powder coated all of these during my first build thread, years ago. They were still in great shape so I decided to reuse them for this build. Using nickel anti-sieze with the nickel hardware, I settled on 30lb/ft for torqueing them all.







Idler arm mount...

[lunatic1968]

Looking good, doin her right!! Can you give me an idea on how much nickel plating is? Is it per piece or pound ? interested.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by lunatic1968

Looking good, doin her right!! Can you give me an idea on how much nickel plating is? Is it per piece or pound ? interested.

I will let you know next week when I get the current batch back from the plater. I do know it’s by the pound, just not sure how much $ per.

[omodified]

I received my parts back from the nickel plater. This will let me get a little further with assembly now. I did ask the plater how I was being charged. I thought it was by the pound, but he actually said it was by his time. That answer is a little obscure, but I did separate some things in baggies. He made sure to keep that stuff together which will make organizing it a little easier. I took a few different pics of what got plated which will give you a better idea of what I got for $200. It's a bit pricey, but worth not ever having to worry about rust or wear.

[lunatic1968]

Ha funny pricing.... but that's alot of parts so I don't think it was too much. Well worth it.

[omodified]

I organized the nickel hardware today. I also went ahead and installed a some of it too.

A few weeks ago, I loosely installed the engine crossmember because I didn't have the right bolts ready to go. My original bolts were 7/16" which weren't going to work with the new pancake crossmember. I went with 1/2" which is what you find on 3/4 ton trucks. This hardware was in the new nickel batch, so I was able to install them permanently at 70 lb/ft. I also had the oil pan drain plug nickel plated, so I installed it too.

[omodified]

I decided to go the cheaper route with LS engine mounts. I went with ICT billet adapter plates which will allow me to reuse my small block engine stands and factory style engine mounts. I nickel plated the hardware that came with it. Last night, I installed the plates at 37lb/ft dry.

[omodified]

Welcome back to the slowest build on earth! Well, not really, but it feels like it sometimes. I have been doing some things, but I haven't had much of a chance to post about any of it. Let's get caught up.

Shortly after I bolted up the LS adapter plates to the engine block, I reached out to board member MDPOTTER. I found that he did a build similar to mine with these same ICT plates. I was hoping he could tell me which holes I should install the new motor mounts in, to get the motor as far back as possible without getting into the firewall. I am really hoping to just get it right the first time. After a few measurements on both our ends, he was able to give his recommendation along with pics. Thanks MDPOTTER.

Now for the motor mount. After researching which was better to use, polyurethane or rubber, I decided on poly. This was due to the amount of torque this engine will have. So, I decided to go with Energy Suspension 3.1156G. I had the mounts and the hardware nickel plated and installed it all using nickel anti-seize. The motor mounts did not come with torque specs. I found that Detroit Speed makes an identical adapter plate and they offer torque specs for the motor mounts. So, I went with these. 25lb/ft for the two top bolts and 35lb/ft for the bottom bolts.

[omodified]

I installed these loose many months ago but I didn't tighten them down because I needed to touch up the frame in that area. These are the front upper shock mounts. I used CPP CPPUSH-K. I nickel plated everything in the kit. I ended up using stainless AN washers against the frame and a locking nut for a cleaner look. The through hole in the frame had some rough spots that had been painted over. I smoothed out the hole and touched up the paint. Then, I installed the shock stud with nickel anti-seize at CPP's recommended 154lb/ft.

[omodified]

I need to work towards mocking up the front end suspension, especially the steering. Once I have all that worked out, I can get everything painted. For now, I will be assembling the upper control arms. Decided to go with the CPP upper control arms to match the lowers.

[omodified]

Next for mock up are the spindles. Since I am staying with the factory 6-lug, I decided to go with the CPP OEM style 2.5" drop spindle. I loosely installed the upper control arm since I have no idea what I'll need for camber shims at this point. This will still allow me to mount the spindles so I can see where the steering lines up. I snugged up the ball joint castle nuts enough to seat the ball joint stems but not so much that I can't easily get them apart for paint.

[omodified]

I used all of my old steering components to mock up the steering. My biggest worry is where things line up with the modified engine crossmember. As I feared, there are some clearance issues with the tie rods. I consulted with Piedmont Traction and he is going to work on adapting some NASCAR parts to work with my setup. Can't wait to see how that works out but it sounds like we are going to heim joints.

[omodified]

I sent a few parts to Piedmont Traction so the rear end housing can be finished up. This is obviously in addition to the parts I already sent and have already been installed. I can't wait to get this thing back!

[omodified]

***Special Delivery***

Piedmont Traction dropped off the completed rear end housing. I couldn't be happier with how this turned out. When this thing left my shop, it was so dirty, I couldn't even tell where numbers were casted or stamped. If you've been following my build, you may notice that I changed the finish of the diff cover. I think this will look much better in the long run.

[MDPotter]

Beautiful as always! You have more patience than I do.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Beautiful as always! You have more patience than I do.

Thanks MD! Patience is indeed a struggle.

[omodified]

Trying to get the rear end housing installed and I have run into a problem right off the bat. I never gave any thought to the 3/4 ton trailing arms that I'm using being different enough that it would affect the trac bar mount fitment. The trac bar setup I am using is a CPP CP32021B. As I mentioned before, the 3/4 ton trailing arms have reinforcement plates on top and bottom. The trac bar mount that comes with this kit does not account for the extra thickness at the trailing arm. Also, the 3/4 trailing arm has these fancy tabs on the sides where the mount needs to go. Looks like some modifications will be needed.






1/2 ton trailing arm, no tabs




3/4 ton trailing arm, with tabs

[omodified]

Working on this trac bar mount. Here is what I went with...

Decided to work on the bottom side since it will be seen less. Cut the bottom off right at the bend.



Found a piece of angled steel that is the same thickness as the original mount. I traced the piece I cut off onto the new angled piece. This gives me a roughly close piece to start with. I drilled out the holes for the U-bolt with a step bit. Then, I cut the side length down so when I combine it with the original piece, I get close to the clearance I need for the 3/4 trailing arm. Here is the original mount with aluminum spacers the exact length I need for clearance.



Here is the new piece, ready to be welded in place.




This is after a pass on both sides. Now I need to check the fit and see what clearance I need on the trailing arm tabs now!

[omodified]

The fit of the modified bracket works well. I needed to grind quite a bit of these tabs away to get the holes to all line up. Here is the trailing arm after grinding and touching up the paint. Now, I just need to clean up the bracket and get it painted.

[omodified]

I got the bracket cleaned up and looking pretty good. I did some shaping and it's looking much more like the original bracket. The welds for the tabs need touched up as well as two low spots. I went a little further on test fitting, but I had to stop again. I decided to use a 2" lowering block that is angled at 4°. This will help with the pinion angle. However, they came in a raw finish. I actually hand polished them first, but once I married everything they just stood out like a sore thumb. So, I will paint these black along with the trac bar mount.

[omodified]

To try and make a trip to the body shop worth while, I decided to make my modification for steering to the spindles so they can be painted too. Piedmont Traction is still working out the concept, but it will require drilling out steering arm hole and tapping to 5/8-18 for use with a heim joint. I hoped to use the end mill to get it done, but I quickly realized the the steering arm is on it's own plane. This made it extremely difficult to do. So, I decided to use the tapping block technique that I learned with the Helicoil on my engine block. With an extra set of eyes, this worked out great! Now I can send these to paint with the other items.

[omodified]

After touching up the welds on the trac bar mounting bracket, I media blasted everything and dropped off at the painter. After only a few days, I got the parts back. Everything turned out great! Now I just need to install it all. Hopefully smooth sailing from here.

[omodified]

Used Evapo-rust and media blasting to clean up some take-off parts. Getting ready to take another load of various large and small parts to have nickel plated.

[tutone]

I took the time to go back and read your build thread in it's entirety. Very good work on your truck. I will be watching your continued progress.