1972 Chevy 4wd Longhorn Project: Never Ending Changes

[6BT 56]

Ya i hear ya on the d max . Trouble is I can buy a whole cummins donor truck for the cost of a set of d max injectors . I really like the red 89 that the guy on here just did . I think one of those maby converted to a CCSB would be a good wife / family truckster . trouble is around here the salt we use on the roads killed of all the square trucks long ago . Your neck of the woods is similiar isnt it? I didnt realise the 24V was resionable to wire up . Those are plentyfull in these parts .

It sucks when working slows the progress of getting your stuff done . When I get my money tree to take root I'll send you a few seeds .

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

I have plans to relocate the batteries to behind the cab or under it, remove the stack and run exhaust out the back, I need to get my new rear bumper mounted and decide what color to powder coat it. I can't make my mind up on that. It's a toss up between white, an aluminum silver, or black. After a couple other projects are finished, I'll get back on this.

one of them fancy bumpers eh? haha, heavy damn thing. i like that idea of relocating the batteries and getting rid of the stack. you must have good friends to help convince you of such good ideas...

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

Ya i hear ya on the d max . Trouble is I can buy a whole cummins donor truck for the cost of a set of d max injectors . I really like the red 89 that the guy on here just did . I think one of those maby converted to a CCSB would be a good wife / family truckster . trouble is around here the salt we use on the roads killed of all the square trucks long ago . Your neck of the woods is similiar isnt it? I didnt realise the 24V was resionable to wire up . Those are plentyfull in these parts .

It sucks when working slows the progress of getting your stuff done . When I get my money tree to take root I'll send you a few seeds .

I hear ya on the Dmax price costs. That's pretty much why I don't have any. Yes, a heck of a lot of the older vehicles around here are gone due to the rust from the winters here. Yeah the 24v engines are not bad to wire up. Just looks horrible.

Originally Posted by ryanroo

one of them fancy bumpers eh? haha, heavy damn thing. i like that idea of relocating the batteries and getting rid of the stack. you must have good friends to help convince you of such good ideas...

I guess you can call them friends.

[Dieselwrencher]

Here are some pics of the parts and pieces I've been collecting for this truck lately.

Billet grill. It was cheap. I don't know if I'll put it on the truck or not. Probably not. I'll probably put it in another surround and hang it on the wall.



Some new knobs and misc. Kind of matches the vintage with a newer bling factor.



Trans dipstick, throttle pressure cable, lower rear bed mouldings, and a trans cooler.



The trans cooler had some damaged fins from shipping. I repaired them the best I could.




And finally my new tires. I'm currently stuck trying to decide to go back to steel wheels and hub caps, the current aluminum wheels on it, or a set of aluminum wheels that just have holes like a M/T classic. I'm looking at a set of the M/T's this weekend. I like the steels but the hub caps are always a bear to get off and put on without scratching the wheel or damaging the cap. I'm probably going to stay with aluminum. We shall see.

[watahyahknow]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

i like that idea of relocating the batteries and getting rid of the stack. you must have good friends to help convince you of such good ideas...

if there no tanks under the cab there plenty of space for it you might even be able to put both of them on one side so you can have the tank on the other

i drive a hum.... cough smart fortwo cough (darn thing would fit in the bed of youre truck with room to spare) and it has a pan in the footwhell that holds the batterie
you might be able to make sumtin simulair under the bendseat and not have them sticking out from under the truck too far

[6BT 56]

Thats a good stash of parts . I vote for the steel wheels . What hub caps do you have to use ?

[Dieselwrencher]

Right now I have to figure out where I hid all of mine. I think I might buy a set of polished ones from a board member on here if I go steel.

[mosesburb]

Removal can be a pain, but I "softened" up the retaining nubs on the wheels. I also made a simple removal tool out of a flat blade screwdriver and now they come off very easily (when compared to before), but not so easily they come off on their own. I have put over 50K on mine without ever losing one and my boy could remove them if I gave him the tool for it.

[mcbassin]

Looks like a bunch of really nice parts!

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Removal can be a pain, but I "softened" up the retaining nubs on the wheels. I also made a simple removal tool out of a flat blade screwdriver and now they come off very easily (when compared to before), but not so easily they come off on their own. I have put over 50K on mine without ever losing one and my boy could remove them if I gave him the tool for it.

I have to see if I can get a pair of mine opened up to fit my D80 before I get excited about putting them on.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Looks like a bunch of really nice parts!

Thanks Mike.

Today I re-registered the old truck. It hasn't been re-registered since I first plated it in June of '12. That hurt a little. Luckily they had no problem giving me new plates as I lost the originals in the parts mess some where.

[mx289]

Any recent pics ?

(I say a set of steelies with caps and a aluminum rim set )
We all need an extra set of wheels.!

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by mx289

Any recent pics ?

(I say a set of steelies with caps and a aluminum rim set )
We all need an extra set of wheels.!

X2 on the steelies. I like the stainless cap with the blue bowtie....

[Dieselwrencher]

If I go steelies, they'll definitely have those caps. I'm waiting on a pair of 16.5's from a member here, so we shall see.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

If I go steelies, they'll definitely have those caps. I'm waiting on a pair of 16.5's from a member here, so we shall see.

What the hell is a 16.5?? Did I wake up in 1984 or something??

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

What the hell is a 16.5?? Did I wake up in 1984 or something??

It's almost 17" but not quite.

[coggonobrien]

Goto 100dollars.com for cheap 16.5 tires

[Dieselwrencher]

I'll keep that in mind. I've already got a new set of 33 12.5 16.5 BFG AT KO's I'll run for now.

[ryanroo]

shouldn't take long to shred those suckers! i know we talked about this, but what are your plans with the engine. you had planned the full tilt rebuild until the wifes baby hauler pooped its pants. are you going to do that now or wait for a bit?

[Dieselwrencher]

For now I'm going to leave it as is and drive it. If something happens to it I'll determine what to do then. I did want to build a new engine with cr pistons and a better cam. But the pesoso for that are gone.

[Dieselwrencher]

I may have ran into a problem with my steel wheels. I have 2 wheels I thought were 9.75 wide, but are really only 8.25 wide. So I'm either going to have to find 2 more or have the 8.25's widened or reshelled. We will have to see if I can find 2 more. After the rear end is put back together on the Excursion, i plan to start working on this truck again. Poor thing. Here are some pictures of the American Auto Wire Harness Update kit. It is a very nice harness to say the least. Thanks to TKorinek for this piece. If any of you need one of these look for Tom on the parts section. He has a great price and he is great to work with!

[Dieselwrencher]

Until I can get the steel wheels worked out, I may just clean these wheels up and run them for now, or leave the current wheels on it. I got these wheels from member Brothers69c10. They have been painted but are M/T classics and were just polished before. I'm going to remove the paint and try to repolish them and see how nice they turn out.

[ryanroo]

I like those wheels, but im not sure i could be convinced the put that much effort into making them shiny again! i do have to admit that polished sure does pop on that truck though.

good score on the AAW kit. i replaced some of the OEM harness in ol yeller with AAW stuff and couldnt be more impressed with the quality and fit.

[6BT 56]

I second that . My 56 has a AAW kit in it . Did the whole truck tail light to headlight in a wknd . Very high quality .

At some point you and the other Ryan ran me through the do's and dont's of adjusting and measuring caster on a D60 . I cant seem to find it now . Need to know where to place the angle indicator to figure out what I need for shims to get 4or 6 ish deg.

Lol... Or was it camber ??? Which ever is the angle of the king pins to make this thing steer more gooder .

[6lcummins]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

I like those wheels, but im not sure i could be convinced the put that much effort into making them shiny again! i do have to admit that polished sure does pop on that truck though.

good score on the AAW kit. i replaced some of the OEM harness in ol yeller with AAW stuff and couldnt be more impressed with the quality and fit.

It's nice to have a polishing kit

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

I second that . My 56 has a AAW kit in it . Did the whole truck tail light to headlight in a wknd . Very high quality .

At some point you and the other Ryan ran me through the do's and dont's of adjusting and measuring caster on a D60 . I cant seem to find it now . Need to know where to place the angle indicator to figure out what I need for shims to get 4or 6 ish deg.

Lol... Or was it camber ??? Which ever is the angle of the king pins to make this thing steer more gooder .

Camber is a factory set angle and cant be adjusted, at least not reasonably. it is the tires tipping in or out at the top viewed from the front.

caster is the angle of the kingpins in relation to the ground if you drew an imaginary line through the top and bottom pivot center. 4-6 degrees positive, or tipped back at the top is usually the love zone on a kingpin 60. and 6 is at the edge of to much IMO. the easiest way to measure it is to get the truck on some even level ground and put and angle finder on the kingpin cap. i usually try to sit the angle finder on the flattest part i can on the top of the knuckle. depending on the caps, i like to use the tops of the bolts if they are matching. you can also use the bottom bearing cover.