Lakeroadsters' Build Thread: '65 SWB Step

Media Blasting Tail Gate and Bed Steps Nov. 2010

Media blasted my tail gate and bed steps. Used Nickel Slag as the media.

Blasting... what a nasty job.... but it sure makes crusty parts look so much better!

Tailgate needs some rust repair. Sure, I could have just bought a new one but this one has a ton of character... and it will fit in with my planned patina paint job.

The wife surprised me by taking an in process picture, didn't know it 'till I downloaded the finished pictures. (She's a motorhead too... We will have been married 30 years as of next March. I am a lucky dude!)





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Wired Gauge Clusters, Nov. 2010

Primary Gauge Cluster









Secondary Gauge Cluster







Tachometer



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Radio Delete Plate, 11-17-2010

Instead of putting a radio in the Camaro dash I decided to go the "Radio Delete" route. In place of the radio will be Safety Toggle Switches. I got this idea from a picture of Markeb01's dash. The light, it is the headlight "Bright" indicator.

The plate is designed to locate the switches in the existing dash radio openings so if I decide to install a radio later I can always go that route.

The two outermost switches retain the sub-assembly through the stock radio knob openings.





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Rear Suspension Assembly Nov. 2010

Decided to draw the rear suspension on Autodesk Inventor to see the articulation of the rear axle as constrained by the track bar and trailing arms.

Image below is a rendered aerial view with frame at ride height:
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Image below is the frame is at ride height (rear cross members removed to allow viewing of track bar)


Image below is the rear axle is hanging, being suspended by the coil springs. (Note: This moves the axle to the right a negligible amount < 1/8")





Image below is fully bottomed out; frame is on the top of the rear axle tubes. (NOTE: This moves the axle to the left approx. 11/16" from the std. ride height position)



Image below is fully articulated, hanging on left side, bottomed out on right side. (Note: This moves the axle to the right a negligible amount < 1/16")



Image below is fully articulated, hanging on right side, bottomed out on left side. (Note: This moves the axle to the left approx. 1/2" from the std. ride height position)
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Interior Repaint Post #1, Dec 2010

Since it is winter here I am planning on getting the interior painted, the Camaro dash body filler and paint completed, wire the gauges to the motor and then reassemble everything.

One of the PO's painted the interior lime green, then another PO painted it flat black, looking forward to getting it back to the quasi-original color to lighten it up. Should be pretty cool in the stock "fawn" (champagne) color with the Camaro dash!

In preparation for painting the interior I have been looking for some paint that is similar in color to the factory "fawn" color.

My searches lead me to some Krylon paint that is real close. Color is Champagne Nouveau and it is their "Brushed Metallic Satin". Less than $3 per can at Wally world. http://krylon.com/products/brushed_metallic/

It is not an exact match, but since I am doing an entire repaint I think this will work!

I didn't do the doors yet since they need fuzzies and glass channel weather-stripping.



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Interior Repaint Post #1, Dec 2010

Starting to do some finishing work, which is always a good time, seeing the "plan" start to come together.

New Chrome Dome Light in the freshly painted cab.



Installed New Defroster Hoses: Got these from Classic Parts, excellent quality! These are certified and approved by Sponge Bob .
(You can see how close the new paint color is (above photo) compared to the stock paint under the dash near the defroster hoses, photo below New paint is a bit more "gold" in color)



Started body filler on Camaro Dash... doing body work is new territory for me.
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Kick Panel Air Vents and Cab Sound Deadener, Dec. 2010

Removed air vents for new seals. I unbolted the vent sub-assemblies and then once I had them out of the cab removed the doors from the housing. They are spring loaded. The gaskets were brittle and I pulled them out of the door, piece by piece, with some needle nose pliers. New gaskets were installed by slightly prying the door sides apart. Then once new gaskets were in place pliers were used to crimp the (2) halves back down onto the gaskets. Cleaned the sub-assemblies with soap and water, shot a little WD-40 on the hinges, and reinstalled the vents back into the kick panels.

Also installed sound deadener in the cab on the floor. Purchased the sound deadener from “The Truck Shop”. It is the heavy tar paper type that GM used.





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Reinstallation of Carpeting, Jan. 2010

My original plan was to go with a rubber floor mat. However I couldn't find one that was for a low hump truck and I have read that the aftermarket mats aren't very good quality. I therefore decided to simply reinstall the carpeting that was in the truck when I purchased it. I think it is from a late 90's GM pickup. Fits good enough for my Shop Truck purposes.



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Camaro Dash Install….. The Final Time (or at least that is the plan) Jan-2011

Finished the body work on the dash and painted it to match the cab interior. Installed glove box liner and door. Reinstalled the dash into the truck.











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Third Brake Light, Jan. 2011

Installed a '94-'09 GM Suburban 3rd Brake Light today. I would like to thank Big Fenders from the 67-72 website for inspiration for this modification.

In the event you are interested in doing this installation here is the data that was on the box:

15755976 Third Brake Lamp

GM 94-09
Escalade, S-Series, Blazer, Jimmy, Bravada, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Yukon XL, Hummer


Installation was just as Big Fenders described. Here is a list of tasks:

• (2) holes drilled for light mounting screws,
• (1) hole drilled for routing the electrical wires,
• Accessed wires from inside the cab via the dome light opening,
• Fished wires from dome light opening toward drivers side, down cab and along channel that runs along bottom of door opening,
• Yellow wire on the 3rd brake light was attached to the white wire from the brake light switch that is mounted under the steering column above the brake pedal,
• Black wire on 3rd brake light was grounded to the cab.
• Note: The light is supplied with double face tape stuck across entire surface that contacts cab. I did not remove the tape facing since I want to be able to remove the light when the cab is painted.

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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
http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/monroe-monro-matic-plus-32207/​

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

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Front Shock Mounts, A Future Update

New studs are only $6.95 each from Classic Parts, P/N 74-629A http://www.classicparts.com/1963-91-Shock-Absorber-Front/productinfo/74-629A/#.Ux-xGLnnbrc

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

Classic Parts P/N 74-681 http://www.classicparts.com/1963-87-Shock-Brackets-Front-pr/productinfo/74-681/#.Ux-ww7nnbrc

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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 http://www.monroe.com/catalog/miscApplications.asp . 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: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=440592&highlight=monroe&page=2

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
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Rear Upper Shock Mounts, Post #2

New bracket bolted into crossmember with (2) 7/16" ARP bolts, nuts and lockwashers. (Used a step-bit to open up the original rivet holes in the crossmember about 1/16".)



As viewed from above


And plenty of clearance between shock tube and axle tube


Shocks are now 18.5 degrees off vertical at ride height. (90 - 71.5 = 18.5)


Here is a drawing I made of the upper bracket. It is made from 2" square tubing, 3/16" wall thickness


And here are the Finite Element Analysis's to determine stresses, assuming 200 lbs loading from each shock:

Here is the new relocated upper bracket:


Compared to the stock upper bracket:
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The stock bracket has lower stresses because it loads the crossmember in the center. However the new relocated bracket still has stress levels well within an acceptable range.

Air Shocks

Since I had the FEA model loaded I looked at th impact of using air shocks. Here's the data:

1965 Model 1404 Short Stepside C10

• Total Curb Weight = 3300 lbs
• GVW Rating = 5000 lbs
• Therefore max load = 1700 lbs.

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Lets assume the stock springs support the vehicle, so all the air shocks will support is cargo weight.

Max Load = 1700 lbs, therefore lets assume 850 lbs at the upper shock, both sides and assume the stock shock mount configuration:
Max. Principal Stress = 14,617 psi.

However that is a static load. Once you head down the road the vehicle's suspension no longer experiences static loading. Most evaluations use a 2G or 3G loading, which means you multiply the load times 2 or times 3. Here's the data based on 2G & 3G loading:

• Max. Principal Stress @ 2G (1700 lbs each shock) = 29,234 PSI
• Max. Principal Stress @ 3G (2550 lbs each shock) = 43,851 PSI
  (Note: Mild Steel starts to yield (bend) at around 30,000 PSI)

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Conclusion:

Don't use air shocks to support loads in a C10 pickup.​

 

Hidden Stereo, Feb. 2011

Back in 1990 I bought a NOS Chevy Beretta stereo from a friend.

I bench tested the radio today.... it sounds pretty good, well good enough for a shop truck.

I decided to mount the stereo in the console. To support the stereo I fabricated some 16 gauge steel brackets designed to angle the stereo back up under the cup holders.

My kind of modification, I have all of about 30 bucks in the entire deal, including the radio.
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Front Shocks, Pending

In order to find some front shocks that are affordable, yet work based on actual geometry I did some measuring:

Note: 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

Currently the truck is running Monroe-Matic P/N 33033 Collapsed Length = 10.125". This means the shocks are bottoming out before the snubbers hit..... not good!

I reviewed the online data on Monroe?€™s website and found these Shocks:

Monroe Gas Magnum RV P/N 555002: 12.750" Extended, 8.625" Collapsed. These are about $25 each.

I emailed Monroe. They stated these shocks were originally designed for use on RV's & trailers, but that the shock internal valving should work fine with our pickups.​

 

Hidden Stereo Post #2, Feb 2011

I painted the console semi-gloss black and assembled the radio onto its brackets and then into the upper half of the console. This allows wiring connections to be made, then console upper half bolts into place.

Still need to run wires, purchase an antennae, an antennae cable extension and to mount the speakers.

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Hidden Stereo Post #3, Feb 2011

I already had some Sony SS-B1000 performance bookshelf speakers but wasn't using them. I cut them down to fit under the bucket seats. Installed the antenna and the antenna extension cable. Only thing left to do is get an antenna adapter for the radio. It seems GM changed the antenna connection on 1988 and up radios.



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Hidden Stereo Post #4, March 2011

Purchased an antenna adapter and finished up the hidden stereo. Finished assembly of console and then installed passenger seat. Pretty happy with the final results… sounds good too!



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CB Antenna, March 2011

In sticking with my "old school late '60's" theme I wanted to install a CB radio in the truck. I came up with the idea of installing the antenna in the stock gas filler neck opening. This kills two birds with one stone since I needed to fill the hole anyway.

I used an Astatic 605 Ball style mount. The stock filler neck grommet was used as an isolation bushing by sanding off the upper portion and installing it upside down. A backing plate was made out of a header collector flange I had and it was drilled and tapped to accept the (3) 10-32 stainless screws.

Antenna is a 3 foot double quarter wave fiberglass unit, and also used a chrome heavy duty spring, which mimics the custom cab sail panel in appearance.

It looks big and hokey, just like they did back in the day. Worked out pretty well.











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I just finished reading your entire build thread, great job so far!!!!

 

Nice work indeed and great photo-documentation...now teach me how to post photos, like you have done. Great job!