70 chevy no name

[id_unavailable]

I purchased a 1970 chevy last year. Its relatively rust free for a truck that resides in Georgia.

It came with a spooled rear and a 3000 stall, fun to drive on weekends but not exactly a daily driver.

the original plan was to replace the stall, find a new rear end, change the cam and swap the drums on the front to disk.........seemed simple enough......never works out as planned and I can't seem to leave well enough alone. So every waking hour when I am not working seems to be spent on this truck (except for today its way to cold for my AZ blood).

plans have changed.

[id_unavailable]

i removed the motor to reseal it and to change the cam and torque converter. Well I found some rust and was trying to convince myself to leave it alone after arguing in my head for about 15 minutes out came the grinder.

I removed the rusty spots and made a patch panel. Don't laugh its the first body work I have done. I still need to recreate most of the drip rail. I decided to ditch the external box and blower for an aftermarket in cab unit. I shaved the blower hole but have a lot of work ahead of me. This stuff is very time consuming with my skill level.

[id_unavailable]

I was going to recreate the drip rail and did not have any ideas on how to make it look factory so I ended up shaving it all. Now I have to figure out what I am going to do with the part that is spot welded to the drip rail. Any Ideas?

[id_unavailable]

the firewall is getting closer
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[id_unavailable]

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I removed the cancer and sand blaster the frame. I need to work on the floors next. the rust should be a lot easier to repair. I think I can buy all the panels without fabricating them.
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[id_unavailable]

well I tried to talk myself out of this one. I wish I could justify a porterbuilt dropmember but this is a low buck build. I sectioned the cross member 1 5/8", I am going to run heim joints on the outer tie rods and flip the connection point on the spindle to the bottom. Hopefully I can reduce the bump steer and get a little clearance on the inner tie rod joint. bags and a arms are next.

[id_unavailable]

smoked a harbor freight drill master grinder. The orange ones last the new ones are craptastic. At least I had the orange one to finish up, Good think I was wearing a respirator because it stunk.

[id_unavailable]

Finished the crossmember and placed it in the truck. I fabbed up u joints for the steering and thought all would be great until i installed my tube lower control arms. I knew I would have to shave part of the crossmember and U bolt for clearance but the pitman arm was hitting the lca in a bad way before it was completely up. F""""""" .......so here is plan b.

[tattoed71]

ur getting a hell of good start im digging it

[mud.man.rj]

Well you really dig into it don't you, one thing sure can lead to another. Good start on the truck.

[id_unavailable]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Hopefully I will have a running truck before I turn 40 in april.

The rack and frame notches are done. It looks like the rack might be in the correct spot all the way down from the initial tests. As soon as I get it aligned i will check bumpsteer and ackerman angle. I can adjust the rack up if needed. The pivot angles on the lca, uca and rack inner pivot are close now, but the angle of the tie rod is a bit off. Its a PITA taking measurements with comon tools / string /angle iron and whatever might be laying around.

More than once I have said buy a dropmember (I may in the future and have set it up so it can be done later). I still want to retire before I am 60 so it will have to wait.

[id_unavailable]

Progress has been a little slow. I need to drive to atlanta to get some junkyard u joints and dropped spindles. In the meantime I started repairing rust on the fenders with homemade patch panels. I am also trying to get the panels straight as possible by "beating" and shrinking them straight. Its amazing how straight something looks in faded paint just to find out there are low and high spots all over.

[fakerwade]

Looking good id!

[67c10rustbuket]

Looking good, I'm curious to see how the sectioned crossmember works out, I have been considering it but it looks like a pain dealing with the steering issues and clearance of it all.

Originally Posted by id_unavailable

and flip the connection point on the spindle to the bottom.

Aren't the ball joints tapered ? how would you flip the connection point to the bottom? weld up the hole and redrill and taper it from the bottom. I dont quite understand I guess. Please explain more.

[fakerwade]

Perhaps a tapered reamer ???http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tapere...gree,2918.html ..

[id_unavailable]

Looking good, I'm curious to see how the sectioned crossmember works out, I have been considering it but it looks like a pain dealing with the steering issues and clearance of it all.

It has become a major pain so I had to go with a rack or move the steering box up. I went with a rack because the old parts were loose and the rack was only 70 bucks. I had to cut up the crossmember in front to sit the rack back enough to make the ackerman angle as correct as possible. factory steering might have worked out with factory arms but it would have been way to close in my opinion.

Aren't the ball joints tapered ? how would you flip the connection point to the bottom? weld up the hole and redrill and taper it from the bottom. I dont quite understand I guess. Please explain more.

They are but I plan on running heims and drilling the spindles out to 5/8 or 3/4. I may run the heins in the same position as the baljoints as it looks like bump steer will be ok. I have aluminum on the way to make 9/16 adapters. I wish I had a lathe but i will tap it on a drill press (major pita keeping things square but way cheaper than a machine shop)

I made bag plates (cause I am cheap) and bought cpp spindles. It now lays crossmember. Not sure if it will lay the frame untill i notch the back.

[67c10rustbuket]

OK gotcha, I heard of people flipping ball joints in toyota mini trucks a long time ago. Always wondered how to reverse the taper. you do some nice welding and fab work man. keep it up. I want the dropmember too but my budget is a little tight so well see when I get there..

[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by fakerwade

Perhaps a tapered reamer ???http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tapere...gree,2918.html ..

that's one wicked looking bit ! I heard of using those for using an S10 spindle on classic cars to achieve the proper taper to accept the older balljoint ? saw it on TV, just left me scratching my head flipping the taper. Learn something new all the time!