Lakeroadsters' Build Thread: '65 SWB Step

[LostMy65]

I painted it blue for you. - no charge...

 

[ccharr]

This site sure needs a like button.

 

[Lakeroadster]

This site sure needs a like button.

X2

I painted it blue for you. - no charge...

I thought.." Man, that is bad a$$, then I realized what you had done, then I thought, man THAT IS BAD A$$ . The Ole Crate was blue from the factory. I was never a fan of blue, but you convinced me of the error of my ways.

I owe ya one!

Blue By-You

_____
John

 

[LostMy65]

Very Nice!

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

I think we're going to have to take up an offering to buy John another old Chevy truck.
I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms from the loss of this build thread.

 

[Lakeroadster]

Maybe a '55-59

I was pondering the feasibility of building a 2 door phantom 1st gen Camaro combined with the rear roof / glass tailgate assembly from a 66-67 Chevelle wagon over the weekend...

Then an internet search found these and it let the wind out of my sails...

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Looks like a waste of good vintage Camaro sheet metal, to me.
You could add some ladder racks on the top, spill a little paint on the back, and go with the "hippie house painter" look. Probably fit right in out there, in Colorado.

 

[Lakeroadster]

Could always start with a Dynacorn body... "No Camaro's were harmed in the making of this longroof...

_____
John

 

[Mpics]

Shock Absorber Dimensional Data, Feb 2011

On the rear suspension I installed 5" lowering springs and replaced the stock bump stop with custom bump stops the stock 31000 Monroe shocks will bottom out before the rear axle tube contacts the bump stop. That is not good.

Same kind of story for the front shocks, stock Monroe 33033's will bottom out.

Monroe pdf with shock dim's can be found here: Monroe Shock Mounting Length Sheets

Monroe-Matic (Rear) P/N 31000 Collapsed Length = 12.000"
Monroe-Matic (Front) P/N 33033 Collapsed Length = 10.125"

Here are shock measurements (shock mounts are all stock and have not been altered. Stock snubbers have been removed and replaced with custom snubbers) :

Note: Modified upper shock mount (see next post below). Dimensions shown in red below are shock dim's. with the modified upper mounts.Rear: I have 5?€? CPP lowering springs on the rear. All shock dim?€™s are from eye to eye:

Rear Axle Hanging Free, Tires off the ground: Shock Length = 17-1/2" ---- 16-1/2"
Ride Height, Shock Length = 15-1/2" --- 14-1/4"
Rear axle Bottomed Out on Custom Snubber: Shock Length = 12" --- 11-3/4"
Rear axle Tube Bottomed Out against Frame: Shock Length = 11-1/4" --- 10-1/2"
2-1/2" Suspension Travel Before Contacting Custom Snubber
3-3/4" Suspension Travel Before Axle Tube Contacts Frame (No Snubber)

Shocks: Monro-Matic Plus P/N 32207: 17.875" Extended, 11.250" Collapsed
Monroe Part No. 32207 - Monro-Matic Plus Shock Absorbers​

Front: Previous Owner heated the stock coil springs. All dim?€™s are from eye to eye:

Front Suspension Hanging Free, Tires off the ground: Shock Length = 14"
Ride Height, Shock Length = 11-1/4"
Lower Control Arm Bottomed Out on Custom Snubber: Shock Length = 9"
Lower Control Arm Bottomed Out, No Snubber = 7"
2?€? Suspension Travel Before Contacting Snubber
4?€? Suspension Travel with no Snubber

Shocks: Monroe Gas Magnum RV P/N 555002: 12.750" Extended, 8.625" Collapsed​

Here is a reply I received from a Monroe Web Inquiry in regards to my choices above:

John,

The shock you selected for the rear, 32207, would appear to be close as far as the dampening goes. It is used on old 1/2 ton trucks from Ford and Dodge, so it seems the dampening would be similar. The RV shock you have discovered is a retrofit shock for trailers. The dampening characteristics are similar to the original shock. These will probably work out okay, but I can't really give a solid guarantee on these based on all the modifications.

Thank you for your interest in our products.

Monroe Team Member,

Andy

Also: here is another reply from a Monroe Web Inquiry in regards to Monro-Matic shock installation angles, in the stock positions, mine are 40 degrees off vertical:

Thank you for contacting Tenneco Automotive.

The shocks would not function properly if they were mounted more than 30 degrees off from 90. With them being 40 degrees off, they may tend to have lapses in dampening.

Thank you for your interest in our products.

Monroe Team Member,

Andy
​

Front Shock Mounts, A Future Update

New studs are only $6.95 each from Classic Parts, P/N 74-629A Shock Absorber-Front Mounting Stud Kit-Classic Chevy Truck Parts

and.... since cantilevered shock mount designs suck (IMO), these are well worth the money and effort too:

Classic Parts P/N 74-681 Shock Brackets-Front-pr.-Classic Chevy Truck Parts

​

Rear Upper Shock Mounts, Feb. 2011

Because the rear of the truck has been lowered 5" the rear shocks need to be repositioned so they are more vertical. I designed some new upper shock brackets to accomplish this. The new brackets replace the stock upper mounts and bolt to the frame using the rivet holes from the original stock upper mount.

The stock shocks were bottoming out when I bought the truck. I did some research on Monroe Shock Absorbers website 404 - PAGE NOT FOUND :: MONROE® SHOCKS & STRUTS . They have a pdf entitled ?€œMounting and Length Sheets?€? that lists all their shocks and includes mounting configurations and lengths. Using this data and the dimensions of my new set-up I selected Monroe shocks 32207. These have an Extended length of 17-7/8", and a collapsed length of 11-1/4". These shocks were originally used on ½ ton Ford trucks and therefore the valving will be correct. With my rear spring and custom snubber set-up the shock length = 11-3/4?€? with the rear axle against the snubbers. Therefore the shocks won?€™t bottom out before the snubbers engage. Ride height shock length = 14-1/4".

For additional dimensional data of the stock and of the modified shock mounts see the following post: need help with shocks???? - Page 2 - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

Stock Upper Mount

To remove the stock rivets I drilled a 3/8" hole in the center of each rivet.

Then used a chisel to shear the head off the rivet

Here is the new bracket I designed and fabricated above the stock bracket

New bracket moves the top of the shock back about 4 inches

And up a little over an inch

Thanks for publishing this information. I am trying to adapt it to the later chassis a 69 c10 stepside I had made the bracket to your drawing but now that I have stripped the truck down the rivets holes on this chassis are 6 inches apart, other than that it all looks identical, I am leaning towards using the brackets I made and drilling a new hole in the cross member because I think the load will have more support if the bracket is closer to the chassis rails while the shock mount point will only move slightly. The lower shock mount only engages the shock on one side like the aftermarket ones so the 65 has a superior lower mount. The clearance looks like it may be a little tight on the axle tube but as I am installing lowering blocks I can’t say for sure how that will work out.

 

[Mpics]

I re thought changing the angle of the upper bracket and re drilled the rear most hole to re-use the original Rivit holes still, I had to countersink the new hole and used a 12.0mm unbrako countersink bolt (grade 12.9) to give clearance to the top of the shock absorber.

 

[Lakeroadster]

I re thought changing the angle of the upper bracket and re drilled the rear most hole to re-use the original Rivit holes still, I had to countersink the new hole and used a 12.0mm unbrako countersink bolt (grade 12.9) to give clearance to the top of the shock absorber.

I'm glad that worked for you. Feel free to post some photo's or even better, start a build thread for your '69 stepside in the 1967-1972 section of the forum.

I'm sure other folks here could benefit from all your efforts.

 

[Lakeroadster]

Pretty amazing how few posts there are on the 60-66 Forum here. Seems like there used to be a lot going on here.

Kind of makes you wonder if its a sign of the times?

_____
John

 

[vwnate1]

Agreed .

In a few years maybe our oldies will be just more clutter like button shoes and horse tack.....

 

[Silverfox55]

Nice shade of blue!