66 4x4 my sons new project

[Chevymaniac]

Sweet ride you got there. A nice paint job will really make that a head turner.

[argonaut]

All moved and settled into my new house now. The garage is about half the size, and its more of a clean, quiet neighborhood than my last house, but it'll work.



Got my radiator hoses hooked up last night. Then tonight I swapped out the stock 3/4 ton rear D52 calipers for these nice Wilwood small bore calipers. Yummy. I want another pair for the front (too bad I'm broke).



I also cut new openings in my *new* transmission cover to fit over the new transfer case shifter location. I think i'm going to use two of the same '73 transmission shifter boots for both the trans and the transfer case. I just need to find another oval shaped retainer ring.





I also made a start at installing my American Autowire wiring kit. And by make a start I mean that I opened the box, pulled out the new fuse box and held it up to the firewall. I can already see that the cowl vent handle is going to hit the new fuse box so I'm going to have to modify the mounting plate.

[1985-GMC]

Awesome, everything looks sweet!

[duallyjams]

Time to update your avatar with that cool looking truck.

[RANDY COX]

Lookin more and more like a truck,what color are you going paint it...

[argonaut]

Thanks guys!

I'm not sure about the color yet. Before I started building it I had a pale green color in my head. But now I think that it is a toss up between the sea foam green color of the cab and the baby blue of the bed. Interior will stay stock fawn with brown seat, visor, arm rest and other accents. But paint is a loooooooooong way off!

Got my front axle shims and rear zero rates in the mail a few days ago. Got them painted over the weekend and got a chance to put the front shims in real quick today after work. I like putting a second shim on top to keep the ubolts and nuts square to the surface of the plates.





These are 6 degree shims, which according to my math should have left me with about 4 degrees of caster while greatly improving the front pinion angle.



However once I installed them it seems that I only have about 2 degrees of caster :/ I guess I'll leave these in for now since they are already painted and installed, but I don't have high hopes. I'll probably order a set of 4 degree shims to swap in later.

While I was digging into the spring packs I pulled out the small fourth spring from the pack which made the front much more flexible than before. I think it will ride nicely now.

Still have to swap out the overload leaf with the zero rate out back.

[chevyboy73]

Love this truck, some day when i'm a mega millionaire i'll build one (yeah right LOL) whens the big window going into this cab?

[argonaut]

Dude, I am definitely NOT a mega millionaire... but I am pretty broke after spending all my money on this silly old truck.





Been getting some odds and ends tied up on the pickup. Put in new taillight housings and lenses and picked up some repop backup light assmeblies. Wow, the backup lights are pretty dang nice! All metal pieces, no plastic and real glass lenses. Just need to get the appropriate hole saw next weekend and those will be mounted too.

Put some new spark plugs in the motor but discovered that a) my old spark plugs looks really good, and b) napa gave me the wrong plugs. So I need to get a new set.

Made 1/4 shim to get my cab and bed leveled and straight on the driver's side. I also got my new transfer case rear output flange painted and installed. Later on I need to decide how I'm going to do the parking brake. I'm thinking I can find a motorcycle rotor that will fit the flange bolt pattern, then I'll use a mechanical spot caliper from Wilwood and just need to make a simple bracket for the caliper.

I'm also having a bit of frustration over tires selection, or lack thereof, for my pickup. Ideally I'd like to run a 35x10.5R16 radial tire. These would fit with the skinny, knobby look of these old 4x4s, would fit perfectly on my stock 6.5" wide steelies, also be decent to drive on the highway. The bad news is that there is only one tire available in this country in that size, and it is an Interco SSR. The thing is they are very expensive ($350 per), they don't have very good reviews around the interweb, and I don't think that they will wear or balance, etc very well. The next closest ting would be a Q78-16 TSL bias ply, which I would love to have, but they don't wear well on the highway. And my truck will be doing a fair bit of highway driving.

After much deliberation I think I've come to grips with the fact that I'll just have to run a 315/75R16 tire like all the other kids in town. I want the BFG KM2s but they are pretty darn expensive too. So I may settle for the old faithful BFG All Terrains. Either way I'm not going to be able to run the black powdercoated stock steelies like i was planning on And my Alcoas are really only 7" wide too. I'd prefer an 8" wide wheel. So the best thing I could find is this:

Black Rock Series 908 Yuma Matte Black



or this:

American Racing ATX Series AX3981 PTFE (teflon) Coated Black Mojave



or this:
Wheel Vintiques 82 Series




The aluminum wheels are an attractive option because they are easily 10-15 lbs lighter. And they'll show off my blingy red wilwood calipers.

What do you guys think?

[MTCK]

I like the black aluminum wheels. I think desert rat sells a knock off of the teflon mojave that are a little cheaper. Also if I recall correctly you can get a tall skinny(er) in a 285/75R17. Again, not cheap.
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[argonaut]

Oh, i forgot to mention I got my door checks installed. they're from a mid 90s Jeep Cherokee. I put the nicer looking one on the driver's door and I really like it! Two detents and it opens up wide enough. But I put the second one, which was pretty scuzzy looking, into the passenger door and it doesn't open up as far as the driver's side. Weird!

I thought that all the Cherokee door checks were the same but apparently not. I didn't even think to compare the linkages on the two of them before I installed them. Grrr. Now I've got to pull them back out and see what is going on here.

[RANDY COX]

Jason you've been quiet,any new progress or updates.I finally ordered my rockers and the other flooring stuff..

[argonaut]

Yeah, my revenue stream has greatly decreased since the move (rent in LA/OC is ridiculous) so I don't have the funds to work as quickly. Also I'v just been working on a lot of little things.

I did however finally get my front axle and steering sorted out. I replaced the 6* axle shims with 4* axle shims because a) my high steer tie rod was nearly hitting the leafs and b) the caster was only about 3*. So now with the 4* axle shims I've got 1/2" clearance between the leafs and the tie rod and my caster is better at about 5*.







The whole reason I started even messing with the axle shims was to improve my pinion angle and at least ensure i didn't have any binding at full droop. It seems like I've got a good compromise now for everything.





I also spent some time, and money, to get the crossover steering sorted out. There really isn't good documented information and dimensions out there on the different pitman arms, steering arms, tie rods, etc. I hate trial and error, but sometimes it just has to be done. I collected this info from my parts collection:

Pitman Arms:
GM 4wd Arm - 5-1/2" long (center to center), no effective drop
Jeep TJ Arm - 5-1/2" long, ~2" drop
Jeep SJ Arm - 6-1/2" long, ~1" drop

Steering Arms:
GM Stock Arm - 5-1/2"
GM 4-6" Lift Arm - 6-1/4"
PartsMike Crossover Arm - 7-1/2"

In the beginning I didn't know the effective lever arm lengths for the crossover steering arms nor for the Jeep pitman arms. So I took a gamble and ordered from the nice guys up at PartsMike.com in norcal and they suggested an SJ arm, reamed to a GM taper. When I got the SJ arm I thought it looked a little twinky and also it didn't have much drop to it. Luckily, because of the way I had mounted my steering box (differently from 99% of others doing this conversion) the castle nut on the tie rod just barely cleared the frame. I also found out that the SJ arm is pretty thick, and I had to mill a bit off the surface where the tie rod is inserted in order to keep the head of the tierod from hitting the pitman arm as it pivoted through its full range of motion.



So then I went ahead and ordered a TJ arm when I was getting some other parts shipped to me. It "looks" beefier, and has another inch of drop to it, and I figured being an inch shorter it would give the steering box a little more mechanical advantage over the tires. I installed it and it seemed to fit nice. But then I did a lock-to-lock steering test to get the steering centered and discovered that the short length of this arm wasn't giving me enough side to side swing to turn the spindles all the way to their hard stops.



So, the SJ arm ended up having the advantage that it doesn't limit my turning radius, it length ratio with the crossover steering arms is closer to the stock 1:1, and being flatter is actually better because it means less non-axial torque on the steering box. And it turns out that while the TJ arm "looks" stronger, the SJ arm is actually thicker. I think there are some other wagoneer or IH arms that could work too, but I'll be happy running this until/unless it fails unexpectedly.


I also pulled out the rear overload leafs and installed a 1" zero rates in their places.





Put in some new taillight lenses and finally got the Big Ugly beast registered.... after forking over $1,000+ to my friendly neighborhood CA DMV! It would have been more but I fought a good fight. Needless to say I'm still not real thrilled with the outcome.

[RANDY COX]

Jason I feel your pain,I can't even imagine what it cost's to live in La(oc).I have a family of 4 and I'm the only one that works.my son daughter are 16,and my wife is not able to work.My daughter just got a job at Taco-Bell after school.So money has to be stretched so far that sometimes there's not enough...anywho I do what I can when I can.I was able to get rid of the 3/4 ton Diff's,so I was able to order my floor panels Rockers Yada Yada Yada...So that's my next step once that's done then I can concentrate on the body.To bad you live waaaaay over there or to bad I live waaaaay over here.

['63GENIII]

Hey Jason, Back when I was lifting a CC dually that I had, I too was looking for a tall skinny 16"x36" tire that would balance well and have good manners on the road. What I came up with was Denman Coyotes. I just did a search for them and found that the company folded years ago but it sounded like someone had bought the molds with the intention of producing them again. I do remember they were much cheaper than the TSL's that I had put on the truck originally (and then replaced BC I couldn't stand them), they rode real nice and balanced like a car tire. I don't know how agressive of a tire you are looking for (as these were not) but it may warrant a little looking? My other thought was some ofthe surplus Humvee tires that I see on C.L. sometimes. Not sure if they would have the size that you are looking for but everytime I see them, the price looks right. From what I hear, they ride real well and are of a little more agressive design. Just a thought. The truck looks great by the way! You've got way more motivation than I EVER had

[argonaut]

Did a little work on the pickup this weekend. Bent up a 3/8" ss line from the pump to the carburetor. That checks the fuel system off the list; complete.

I decided to stick with the Deluxe heater rather than the recirculating heater. It should push a lot more air, being fed form the cowl, and it also keeps fluids from having to pass into the cab.
I'm going to run a cable actuated control valve on the heater inlet hose. Since the deluxe heater controls have two positions on each lever (one push, one pull) I can attach a second cable to the "heat" control lever. The first cable moves the flap to direct air coming from the cowl into the heater core, and the second cable will open and close the valve. This way the one lever will modulate incoming air and incoming glycol to the heater core. We'll see how well it works out.

I got a new battery box put in too. To old one was toast. I'm thinking of cutting out a thin rubber mat to the floor of the pan. I'd like to pick up an AGM battery so I don't have to deal with acid corrosion on top of the battery all the time. AZone sells their "platinum" for around $145, and I almost bought one today, but figured I should do a little more research first.

I also stole and idea from member 64ShortBox and used a 90's Ford coolant overflow + washer fluid reservoir box and mounted it on the driver's side of the radiator. Since it is a big rectangular box it kind of mirrors the battery. I'll probably paint over the yellow lettering with white so it doesn't look so out of place. I the fact that it has a washer fluid pump built in, so that way i don't have to run wash fluid into the cab on the wiper motor mounted pump. i will have to relocate my horn to the front of the core support. I can't lie, I'm not in love with the way it looks; doesn't exactly match a 60's Chevy pickup, but I like the fit and functionality of it, so I'll keep it.







I painted my radiator mounts, cut some rubber cushions to fit and bolt everything in place.

The other mini-project that i'll work on later down the road is ob board air. Luckily I'm a pack rat and I save the factory AC mounting brackets and the Frigidaire A6 compressor. My dad scrounged up some hoses for me too. Eventually I'll convert it into an air compressor. So far it looks like the pulley clutch is working and the pump seems to be pumping. I'll probably just clean everything up and replace the oil.







At this point I just need to get the valve installed in the heater hose, get the dash harness hooked up and fill up all the fluids. Then I can start her up!
Then once I re-gasket the TC I can drive it! Woohoo!

[argonaut]

Chris,
Thanks for the input. I would run the army surplus Michelins in a heartbeat, given that they are so cheap, but I really don't want to go to 37" tires. They'd fit okay up front, but they'd stuff right into the little wheel well openings in the back when off road.
I've already accepted the fact that I have to run a 315/75R16 radial, unless I choose to splurge on a set of 35x10.5R16 Interco SSRs.
We'll see. The wheel and tires are the last thing I'm going to do once I get everything else up and running.

[1985-GMC]

Very nice, the A6 looks good in there! Do you have the "Dealer" under dash AC unit?

[argonaut]

No AC unit inside. Although my C10 is a factory AC truck.
This pickup won't be getting AC.
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[1985-GMC]

Oh I missed the part about the onboard air, that's something I'd like to do to too. Ive looked into it and I could fit another A6 in there but I'd have to figure out something for another pulley. Do you know if you can block off the oil so it won't get into your air like you can with a York?
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[RANDY COX]

Hey Jason just checkin in to see how it's going.I haven't got to work on mine too much,for the weather rain,rain,rain.Iv'e got the driver side rocker and kick panel front door jamb all cut out,just have to put the new stuff in....

[71cheynne402]

Where did u get your 402 air breather sticker
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[argonaut]

Originally Posted by 71cheynne402

Where did u get your 402 air breather sticker
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The sticker came from Truck Shop in Orange, CA. Look at the back or the catalog. They've got several different options for decals, some replicas some not. I don't think this decal was ever made from the factory but it fit on my air cleaner and looks pretty good, I think.
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[argonaut]

Hey guys. I have been working steadily on the truck when I have a few free hours here and there. The main focus has been the wiring lately. I had bits and pieces of stock wiring harnesses but decided on going with all new and bought the classic update kit from AAW. Overall I like the kit and some of their reworked wire routing but I still managed to find a few things I didn't love. So I cut and moved things around, reused some factory connectors and got it mostly how I want it.



Can't upload pics right now but its come together pretty well. At this point all I need to do is wire up the rear lights. Also need to install the backup switch into the sm465 and cut the holes in the bed for the backup lights. I decided I didn't like the factory rear license plate holder so I just bolted the plate to the rear bed panel and used some LED bolts.

Also found the every spare horn I could find between my stash and my dad's stash were dead. I searched and found a pair of Hella horns for around $30 so bought those and mounted them in front of the core support just behind the upper part of the front panel. One is 400Mhz and the other 500Mhz and the dual tone is pretty good. But holy crap are they loud! Its probably amplified by all the in insulated or damped sheet metal of the truck but dang ill tell you it will scare the pee out of anyone withing sight!



Once the dash and engine harnesses went in I couldn't resist. I topped up the coolant and the oil, tightened all clamps and fuel line fittings, threw in a new AGM battery from Azone and cranked her. Once the fuel got flowing Big Ugly fired right up! Although it was pretty dang loud with open manifolds so I didn't run it long.



I also discovered that my heater core had split a leak right where the inlet tube is soldered to the end cap. Well my attempts to clean and resolder failed. But I figured what the heck and drove to Truck Shop to pick up a new one. Got it home and found out that the inlet tube wasn't tall enough to fit the little brace that clamps to the tubes on top of the deluxe heater box. Since I'm horribly picky (anal retentive) I just couldn't handle it. I pressure tested my recirculating air heater core then installed it. Reconnected the hoses and fires the motor up again. No leaks so I'll run this heater until I can find an appropriate deluxe heater core.




I bought a battery tray, without the sides, from Classic Industries for a 67-72 pickup. Those years use a wedge clamp at the base rather than the top clamp on 60-66. I drilled the spot welds and tacked the new tray into my battery box. Looks a lot cleaner now with my AGM battery clamped at the base and using side post terminals. I'll post up some pics in a day or two when I get back to my laptop.



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[argonaut]

Oh, I did a little minor, unimpressive interior work too. Cut holes in the door panels and mounted some arm rests. I hated it when passengers would yank on the door latch handle to pull the door closed! Grrr



I also did some research and found that a 63 Impala ignition switch has the same pin configuration as our trucks, but is a five position switch, including a true "accessory only" position: ACC-LOCK-UNLOCK-RUN-START. Pretty sweet; I always hated not having an ACC position. Funny though now that I think about it as I don't currently have plans to put a radio in the truck




I also cut up an old cigarette lighter housing in an attempt to illuminate the ignition switch similarly to the impalas. Alas it doesn't illuminate inside the lock cylinder very well, and it casts a lot of light off beneath the dash. I'll try reworking it a little more and see what happens. I'll probably have to cover the bulb better and widen the slot in the ignition switch housing if possible.

I'm pretty happy with my gauge cluster too!




You can see just an itty bitty bit of light in the ignition.

[Zane M]

Things are coming along nicely!