Building a clone of grandpa's service truck

Vin

Yes and no ~

By Federal Law , all newer vehicles are required to have a frame stamped VIN .

Many Law Enforcement Personnel do not have sufficient experience with older vehicles to understand that tag is all there is and all that's necessary .

It's your call , I'd certainly fix it whilst the frame was bare .

 

Thanks, Nate. I think I'll see what the local officials say before I start banging on my freshly painted frame. I can't imagine them making too big of a stink about it, but ya never know til you ask.

Here are a couple of shots from today's work:





The rear axle is mocked up on the leaf springs. I had to flip the spring pack bolts so the axle cradles would fit properly. I'm also probably going to remove the S-10 shock mounts from the axle, and use the mounting points on the axle conversion kit.

There is 4 1/4" of space between the outside edge of the leaf spring packs and the backing plate for the brakes on each side. I won't bother measuring for the drive line angle until the engine, transmission, etc. are installed. Progress is slow, but it's still progress!!

I'm also going to order four new axle bump stops, as well as a new set of front axle U-bolts. May as well order new shock mounts for the frame while I'm at it... the factory mounts were pretty well ruined, so I removed them before I had the frame sand blasted.

Any more thoughts on the front-end shim issue?

Thanks again, everyone.

Damon

 

Disc brake kit.

Damon

This must be the kit that you mentioned ? What do you think of the quality ? Is it easy to innstall ?

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Deluxe-Disc-Brake-Kit-1947-1959-Chevy-Half-Ton-Pickup,4622.html

 

Speedway Motors

Looks like good stuff there , too bad no 6 lug disc brake kits for my '69 C/10 .

 

Like this???
http://www.ebay.com/itm/chevrolet-g...Parts_Accessories&hash=item35b4f8ee75&vxp=mtr

 

Yes But ;

Not $500 ! .

 

Martinius,

Yes, that is the kit I purchased from Speedway. The quality of the parts seems to be good. I will post pictures of the kit components, and of the installation in the weeks to follow (hopefully it's just a couple weeks). I ordered some parts from our host today so that I could finish the installation of my front axle. I wanted the front axle on before I installed the brake kit. I will do as detailed of a write up as I can, and try to remember to take photos of each step of the installation as well.

Jim and I were also able to get the truck cab on the rotisserie he constructed. Here is a photo of that installation.



Note that there are hydraulic jacks mounted on each end of the dolly. Having those jacks in place enables us to raise the cab (or bed, or frame, etc.) up high enough to rotate it 360 degrees... hence the awkward inverted cab photo. Sorry, couldn't resist! I took that with my phone, so it's not the best photo... but I'm sure there will be more photos taken when the cab sheet metal work continues.

Damon

 

That is looking really good, Damon! The frame setting on buckets looks a bit frightening, but I guess they are holding up?
What kind of rear end did you put in?
Thanks for the great photos! We L-O-V-E photos!!!

 

Nate,

Check Speedway for an equivalent kit to the one I bought, I bet they have one much cheaper than the eBay deal.

Zig,

Thanks! The buckets are fine so far, but as I add more to the frame, I will change the set-up. The rear axle is mocked-up in place, so I can now support the truck with stands under that axle. When the front axle is installed, I will do the same at that end.

You're welcome for the photos. As long as you folks are willing to follow along and lend me your thoughts and advice, I'll keep posting photos.

I'm looking forward to later in the week/weekend when I can install the front axle and disc brake kit. That should make for a pretty good series of photos.

While I'm at it... does anyone have a link to a good 235 build? My short block is assembled, and all of the machine work has been done to the head, but that's it. Everything else is up to me. I'm also looking for advice on which dual carb set-up to use. I've seen the Offy and Fenton dual-carb intakes... what are your preferences and why? I've already decided to go with Fenton split exhaust. Carbs and intakes though... I'm open for suggestion. I've seen some really cool set-ups here and on the HAMB, and I've read some folks' opinions... I'd just like to know what you guys think, too!

Thanks again, everyone.

Damon

 

Greetings folks!

I ordered my parts from our host Monday just before closing time. They arrived Wednesday afternoon! This morning, I went to Jim's shop and cleaned the front bump stop castings in the blasting cabinet. Here's a photo showing the process:



I also took a better photo of the rotisserie Jim built while I was there, here it is:



After chatting with Jim over some coffee, I headed home to get back to work on the truck. I wanted to get the parts painted before I installed them, so that was the next job. Here's a shot of everything (except for the tie rod) on a makeshift drying rack:



I hopped on the garden tractor and mowed the grass while the paint dried. After that task was finished, I headed back to the garage to check the parts... the paint was dry! I took Zig's advice and took the rear end of the frame off the buckets. It's now firmly planted on jack stands. After I installed new grease zerks in the front spindles and the leaf spring pivot bolts, I moved up front to begin aligning everything to install the front axle. It went surprisingly well, with little trouble. The biggest problem I had was tweaking the new u-bolts to fit the bump stop mounts, springs, and axle holes. Before I painted the bolts (minus the threads), I made sure the bolts would fit the axle holes. Well, it took some tweaking to get them to fit EVERYTHING after they were painted. But the paint held up, so that's good. Here's a shot of the front axle:



The front end of the frame is now supported by jack stands under the axle as well, so it's now very stable. You'll notice that the u-bolts aren't tightened down yet. If you look in the second photo, you'll see why:



The new rubber bump stops aren't exactly cooperating. I tried to install them into the cast iron mounts before assembling everything, but I didn't have much luck. I thought I'd try using the u-bolts to draw the rubber evenly up through the mounts. It's not exactly going as planned. What I will probably do is loosen one side of the u-bolts at a time and remove the cast and rubber pieces, then try to install them again off of the frame.

I can't seem to find the nuts for the leaf spring pivot bolts. If I don't end up finding them, would anyone on here have an extra set they'd be willing to sell?

Hoping to get the front axle finished up this weekend, and maybe even get the front disc brake kit on as well. Wish me luck!

Damon

 

That looks beautiful! I can't wait to see the disc brakes on that. I'm sure you can't either!
Great photo updates! Thanks!

 

Zig,

Thanks for the comment! Sorry, I forgot to answer your earlier question about the rear end. I'm not sure of the year, but it's out of a 4X4 S-10 truck. The width is just shy of the stock axle's dimension, so I'll have to utilize wheel spacers to keep the 'stock look' to the truck.

And you're right... I can't wait to see the disc brake kit on this thing!! Hopefully that will happen this weekend. Cross your fingers!

Damon

 

Nice !

This thread is " Old Guy Truck Porn " at it's best...... .

Keep up the hard work and reports please !.

 

Looking very good, Damon ! You´re making huge progress with your build.

That rotisserie is a great thing to have and very handy.

I welded most of my cab floor from underneath and had to crawl in and out
of the truck a few times

Can´t wait to see your finished project, keep the pictures coming

 

The bump stops are assembled (thanks, Jim) and the front axle is now installed on the frame. I started to work on the front disc brake kit, but decided I needed to come in and do some "web-surfing research." Here is a photocopy of the instruction sheet:



To say they're vague is an understatement. I'm guessing that my unanswered self-questions have to do with the fact that the kit is designed for use on pick-ups that spanned two different body styles. For instance: Why does the kit include two different lengths of 1/2" bolts? Only one bolt is required for the installation of the bracket on the bottom of the spindle. Second question: Why are there two large spacers included with the kit... that don't seem to fit anything? Also: Step 5 states that the "bracket should clear the king pin lock nut." In my first test run, the bracket doesn't even clear the steering stop under the king pin lock nut. So... that begs the questions: Do I have the incorrect spacers? Incorrect brackets? I see in the photo that the brackets pictured are of a slightly different design than the ones I received with my kit. Could this be the issue? By the way, I'm not looking for answers to all of these questions from anyone, I'm just trying to explain to everyone here what I'm asking myself as I work to figure out the installation.

The instructions do state that the bottom rear spindle hole may have to be drilled out to 1/2" diameter. That was the case with my install. I went to the local Farm & Home supply and bought a cobalt bit designed to drill into hardened steel. The bit I was using was only causing me to yell and curse. The new bit drilled through the spindle with ease.

The instructions also state that the grease zerk fitting (it doesn't specify top or bottom) may have to be moved to a new location to allow the caliper bracket to fit. I haven't have to move either grease zerk... yet. But as I said earlier... this is only a trial fitting. I won't finish the install until I figure out the answers to my questions.

The final issue I've found (so far) is: the kit comes with two sets of tapered roller bearings (inners and outers). Easy enough, right? Well... get this: there is an inner race installed in the rotor (hub assembly) upon delivery. There are also two inner races (separate parts) included with the kit. The instructions state, "Remove stock outer race from the rotor and replace it with the race supplied in the A2 bearing set. Grease all bearings and install them as well as the seals. NOTE: IF ROTOR WAS PURCHASED FROM CPP, THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE." Ok, that's fine that the outers have been taken care of... but why would they install a race for the inner bearings, then includes separate bearing races as well?

So... I'm going to do some info digging. I may even call Speedway's tech line tomorrow and see if they can give me any answers. At any rate, I will let everyone here know how it goes. I will also post photos of the install (when it happens).

Oh, almost forgot. I was gonna gripe a little that the kit didn't include new washers, castle nuts, cotter pins, and dust caps. And there's a little clip included with the brake pads... I've yet to figure out its proper function, so I dunno where it goes.

More to follow!

Damon

 

Damon, the progress pictures look great! Keep 'em coming! I just got back from a week at my mother's house and was going through old pictures and came up with these! Hope you enjoy!







Ken

 

Ken,

Those pictures are outstanding!! Is that your dad when he was moonlighting at the service station? Too cool... I really dig it! Thank you so much for sharing.

Damon

 

Which one is you in picture three?

 

Disc brakes.

My experience with CPP is that it is a compagny with a lot of crap.They sell parts and dont care if they fit or not , just they got your money there done. Talking to there sellers to get some tech support is hopeless. They should start selling cookees and bread in stead F.... them.
Damon i know that there are good pictures and install instructions on this forum of others guys that have done the same brake disk install .
The compagny that sold you these parts is a good compagny and i suggest you could ask them if your stucked!
Some people use spacers to give the rims anaugh free space and others have to cut away some obstacles so the spindle can move freely up and down depending on what kinda front axle they have ?

Martinius.

 

Just called Speedway's tech support... I believe my questions are answered.

1. As long as I don't have to take off too much material (which I don't believe I will have to), I will grind a little off the brackets to allow them to clear the steering bump stops on the axle.

2. I kinda answered my own question about the inner bearing cups when I downloaded Speedway's instruction sheet, it's different than the Classic Performance Parts instructions that came with the kit. The PDF file instructions from Speedway clearly state that the inner bearing cups have to be removed and replaced with the separate ones from the kit. Easy enough.

3. The kit did not include bearing retainers, washers, spindle nuts, and cotter pins... you're supposed to reuse your original parts. Mine were in bad shape, so I'll replace them with new parts. The dust caps were supposed to be in the kit, but weren't. Speedway customer service is sending new dust caps to me. Problem solved.

I'm going to clear some brush tomorrow (as long as the tractor will start again...). After that's taken care of, I plan on doctoring up the brackets to get them to clear the steering stops and kingpin lock nuts. If all that goes well, the brackets will get a coat of paint and be permanently installed. Then I hope to get the inner bearing cups swapped out, and install the rest of the kit. I will take photos along the way.

Damon