Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Vic1947]

I also did a bit of work on the frame. The 67 frame has no dimple for the power steering box. Rather than space the box away for clearance, I windowed the area then welded a patch on the backside. This gave the box plenty of room to bolt up in the correct location.

Preview of things to come ...picked up a set of seats out of an '11 Yukon on eBay. Both have full power and seat heaters. Found a wiring diagram on the forum with info on the seats, but nothing showing the pinouts from the main bus to the BCM and door switches. Ordered a manual from Haynes and when it arrived, it had schematics for practically every system except the seats. Wouldn't you know it!

Got word my powdercoating is finished. My friend in Sedalia will be bringing it to me on Saturday when he picks up some sprint car parts I machined for him. Included in the delivery are the wheels. Can't wait to see how they turned out. They looked very nice direct from being glass beaded. Sounds like the clear powdercoating darkened them slightly, but gave them a nice gloss. Will post pics when I have them. Still have to machine the centers but have all the material cut and ready, just need to make some chips.

[Low Elco]

Not for nuthin- have you considered POR patch? Put down a coat of POR, let it tack up, then chop up loose roving in a tub with more POR and apply to pinholes. Tamp in with a brush like regular 'glass. Works great for me.
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[Low Elco]

Nice seats! Contact Eric Wise, LS171nova on the boards. He's a late model wiring genius. Very nice man, lives in Indep.
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Not for nuthin- have you considered POR patch? Put down a coat of POR, let it tack up, then chop up loose roving in a tub with more POR and apply to pinholes. Tamp in with a brush like regular 'glass. Works great for me.
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Tried it once a long, long time ago, but never with chopped filler. I have a pretty large area to cover, not sure how many $20, 4 oz. tubes it would take. I have the f/g on hand, so I may just stick with it.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Nice seats! Contact Eric Wise, LS171nova on the boards. He's a late model wiring genius. Very nice man, lives in Indep.
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Many thanks, Chip! I'll contact him. See you Saturday morning at the cruise.

[Low Elco]

Ach, it was LS1NOVA71. I never can remember. See ya Sat!

[Xeen]

Those seats look very nice, I seem to remember something about a reasonable budget build <cough> no but seriously I'm with you on this one, I wouldn't have been able to pass those up either.
Real nice work on the power steering unit dimple, pro man pro.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Those seats look very nice, I seem to remember something about a reasonable budget build <cough> no but seriously I'm with you on this one, I wouldn't have been able to pass those up either.
Real nice work on the power steering unit dimple, pro man pro.

Thx Brian. As you've observed, the build is moving further away from the original goal of just make it safe and drive it. Current objective is to clean it up, add some creature comforts and end up with a usable hauler. If that starts to go out the window too, I hope someone puts me in a sleeper hold until I come to my senses.

[Vic1947]

Got the wheels back from Sure Coat and I think they turned out very nice. They were glass beaded entirely which left them almost white to start with. Handled with care to keep any fingerprints off the blasted surface and then had Jonathon coat the entire wheel with clear. They turned a darker grey with the rims, the centers and the steel round head bolts all slightly different shades. Gave new life to an ancient set of wheels. They are Enkei, I believe. Rears are 9.5 x 15, fronts are 8 x 15. BFG 60 series rubber will be installed on Monday. Still have to machine caps for them. I'm on the fence between art deco baby moons or hex knock offs.

[Low Elco]

Sure cleaned 'em up!

[RatRod68]

This thing is going to be amazing.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by RatRod68

This thing is going to be amazing.

Thanks, Josh. Nasty is coming along nicely as well. See you grafted the cupholder in.

[Vic1947]

When I got ready to press the lower ball joints into the tubular a-arms that came with the truck, I found they must have used a smaller diameter joint. Had to throw the arms up on the mill and bore the hole out .030" on the diameter to fit the replacements. All ended up well, with a nice press fit.

[sduckworth13]

Nice job Vic, you are a true craftsman. You seemed to do it all and it's never done just ok, I can tell you take your time to make it better than ok.
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[bguild]

Vic I finally got back in town today. I have been following your progress and it looks like you have made alot. I need to come over and say hello and see it in person. It's looking great!!!
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Nice job Vic, you are a true craftsman. You seemed to do it all and it's never done just ok, I can tell you take your time to make it better than ok.
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Originally Posted by bguild

Vic I finally got back in town today. I have been following your progress and it looks like you have made alot. I need to come over and say hello and see it in person. It's looking great!!!
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Thanks, guys! Visitors are always welcome, although I will only be here part of the day tomorrow and Saturday. Have to go pick up my dad for a doctor's visit at NKC Hospital.

I've also been busy trying to make the Boyd fuel tank coexist with the trailer hitch, rear crossmember and bumper brackets. I think I have it figured out, although it may take a bit of finesse to get all the hardware in place. Since the trailer hitch mounts on the underside of the frame, I had to move the tank to the top of the lower ledge. This also forced me to move the crossmember back about an inch. I've had it all in place, but I probably need to write down the order that it all goes together.

[Xeen]

Vic is this going to be a hidden reciever behind the license plate?

[Low Elco]

Yeller is similarly crowded. It was a picnic taking it apart! Them Boyd tanks are niiiice. Work looks great!
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Vic is this going to be a hidden reciever behind the license plate?

Yes, in fact, it was already configured that way when I bought the truck. The license box that bolts into the rear bumper is already window'd for the hitch and I picked up a spring loaded license bracket for access. I still need to mock up the bumper to make sure it all lines up, but since I'm retaining the original location of the hitch parts, I'm assuming it will be pretty close.

[Vic1947]

Finally got around to pulling the cover off the rearend. Turns out the gear is a 3.73, which confirms the gut feeling I had when driving the truck home. Seemed to be turning a fair amount of rpm's going down the highway. Already knew it was an open diff, but was surprised to see the scoring on the case. Apparently a pinion gear came loose at some point in the past and got into it. Bet that made an interesting noise ...ever so briefly.

Had no plans to retain the single tracker anyway, so it's more of an oddity than an inconvenience. There's a big swap meet down in Springfield, MO on the weekend of the 17th. If the weather cooperates, I plan to attend with a buddy of mine from St. James and maybe I can find a truck posi to replace it with. Not much other progress. Still cleaning up hardware to send out for plating. Crossmembers, trailer hitch and etc. are at the powder coaters.

[bguild]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Finally got around to pulling the cover off the rearend. Turns out the gear is a 3.73, which confirms the gut feeling I had when driving the truck home. Seemed to be turning a fair amount of rpm's going down the highway. Already knew it was an open diff, but was surprised to see the scoring on the case. Apparently a pinion gear came loose at some point in the past and got into it. Bet that made an interesting noise ...ever so briefly.

Had no plans to retain the single tracker anyway, so it's more of an oddity than an inconvenience. There's a big swap meet down in Springfield, MO on the weekend of the 17th. If the weather cooperates, I plan to attend with a buddy of mine from St. James and maybe I can find a truck posi to replace it with. Not much other progress. Still cleaning up hardware to send out for plating. Crossmembers, trailer hitch and etc. are at the powder coaters.

Vic if you want my 12bolt housing you can have it. I don't think mine has any scoring.
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by bguild

Vic if you want my 12bolt housing you can have it. I don't think mine has any scoring.
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Thanks for the offer, Brian, but I still have the gov lock carrier that came out of Silver along with the 3.08 gear. What I'm looking for is a clutch style limited slip that will accept the 41/11 ring and pinion that's in it now.

[sduckworth13]

Vic could you make a 1991 chevy truck 3.08 Posi rear end work for what your doing? There is a guy on craigslist selling his for 225.00 ( it's a 5 lug)
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Vic could you make a 1991 chevy truck 3.08 Posi rear end work for what your doing? There is a guy on craigslist selling his for 225.00 ( it's a 5 lug)
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Thanks, Scott, however I already have a gov lock with a 3.08 stashed in the corner I could use. Was hoping to find a clutch style posi. Searched a number of keywords but couldn't find the craigslist ad. I'm assuming the '91 would be gov lock because I bought one new back then and that was what was in it.

[sduckworth13]

His ad just says 3.08 posi rear end, no other info other than that. I text the guy earlier this week to get the info.
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[Vic1947]

Well the swap meet yesterday was uneventful. Only saw one 4 series posi and it was missing all the internals. By the time you bought what you needed, you'd have more in it than a new Eaton. Took a pass on that but did come home with some center caps for the wheels. Probably won't be what I end up with, but will work till I have time to design and machine some custom ones.

Picked up the engine on Friday. Block is a first gen 4 bolt main, .030 over 350. Heads are 062 casting Vortecs with a 3 angle valve job, new seals and springs but otherwise stock. They're setup to handle up to a .540 lift cam. Pistons are flat top Hypereutectics with coated skirts. Bob threw away my rods and scrounged up a better set which he reconditioned. Crank was ground and polished and rotating assembly balanced. Rings, bearings, gaskets, Melling oil pump were also in the box. CR came out between 9.7 and 9.8:1 according to the calculator. Probably closer to 9.8 as Bob also decked the block. I already have a Comp Cams kit and an Air Gap manifold for the Vortec heads. Just need to set aside some time to clean and paint the block, heads, water pump and etc. Then check and assemble it all.

Also have been busy getting the frame to look a little better. Ran a skim coat of filler on top of the rails in the area next to the inner fenderwells. Tooling marks and repairs left it looking pretty rough. Much better now that it's smoothed out and painted chassis black. Should be able to start assembling the suspension next week when the hardware gets back from the plating company.