Hi guys, sorry for the slow replay, i haven´t been on here for quit some time. My dad is 78 now and we have to shut down/clear out his old workshop with stuff collected for more than 40 years, if you know what i mean... Hard to separate from things, but it has to be done. Many things will be found in my shop now, but some things go to the scrapyard. I did finish the steering setup in autumn, but to be honest, it did not, as expected. The wandering at higher speeds got even worse, just steering in and out of a parking lot was great. I´m not sure, what it caused, but the big white wall tires and the backspace of the wheels could be one issue. Since the riding comfort was also something, my wife and i did not like too much, plans got in another direction... MII was just to expensive on shipping and all, i read about the Jaguar IFS, which is readily available here in Europe. People kept on telling, that this setup has been used many many times in all sorts of rods and customs. I got one complete from disk to disk, steering gear and everything in good working order for around 250$, which seemed reasonable for me. Now i´m in the middle of attaching this axle in the truck. I have it mocked up yet and start figuring out the new steering... If anyone is interested in the old bracket, i would be giving it away for postage... I will post some pics, later in the day. I also used the opportunity, to box the front section of the frame, while everything is apart again
Sorry, forgot to answer. The spacers are needed, because the steering box i got from the G20 Van has some kind of radius on the bottom, so it does not have a complete flat surface, to connect it. Evan, first of all, i´d be honored, to work in your shop. Unfortunately we do not have shops like that here in Germany. I´d love to come to the US, and work in a Rod Shop with old junk;-) and fabricating all sorts of stuff. The bearing was just some kind of bearing i had lying around the shop. I welded on a sleeve on the column, to fit the outside diameter and turned it down with the lathe to the correct measurement. classic parts sells a bearing including a sleeve, but for me it is not worth waiting two or three weeks for small parts like that and paying 40$ on postage... I hope i answered your question. My writing is not as good, as understanding your language....
Nice as usual . I wonder if the wandering was a caster issue ? . Too late now but the devil is so often in some tiny detail that got over looked .
Hello Nate, thank you;-) Before i took it all apart, i made some new and thicker wedges for the front axle, is that, what you meant? Meanwhile, i tried to figure out, how to post some pics... I took them yesterday with my iPhone, but they seem to be to big to post. Guest what, i had to learn, how to reduce their size. Here we go....
Thanx for the pix ! I don't understand how to crop photos so no more old truck pix from me I guess . Anyway , yes , caster is the trailing angle of the wheel center in relation to the axle . GM's used to have a fair goodly bit of caster so they'd self center easily and go straight on roads with high center crowns .
Great looking brackets are you going to install a front bumper? Do you have any pics of the rear mounting bracket from the side view? I'm collecting the parts to install a jag front suspension as well What about engine v8 or six I need some ideas on how to run belt for power steering on a 235 engine Thanks Robert
While you are answering questions... What reference points did you use so the castor isn't too far off? Thx, Dave.
Thanks Robert, yes i´m going to install the bumper again. I try to explain: First i took of the original inner front mounts of the leaf springs, i then flipped the right one to the left and vise versa and both on the outside of the frame. The nuts you might be able to see between outside frame and leaf spring brackets are the thickness of the original bumper brackets. For final assembly, i take out those nuts and slide the bumper brackets in between. The bumper is just off, to have more room in the workshop. I hope, you get my idea. The engine is still the GMC 228, but considering a V8 swap for future, since motor and tranny are leaking and lack of power... View attachment 21666 View attachment 21666
Dave, once it´s all assembled and on the wheels, i´m going to a tire shop and have her aligned. I basically tried to set the ride height, the way i wanted and eyeballed the crossmember to be kind of parallel to the ground. Right now, the brackets are tacked and can be easily changed, if further adjustments are needed. I hope i could answer the questions to your satisfaction....
That is just the answer I needed . A jag guy told me to set the cross member parallel to the ground but I wanted an opinion from someone who is doing the swap. I am going to approach it with your attitude that it can be fixed if needed. You have been very helpful and the pics are great. Thanks again, Dave.
Yes , really good ideas and helpful information here . Don't be in too much of a hurry to scrap that 228 ! once tuned it should run very strongly and hopefully get you interested in a light overhaul so it'll be stronger yet along with oil tight and best of all : DIFFERENT ! everyone else insists on (yawn) stuffing in some modern powerplant instead of learning how easy it is to run and enjoy a classic InLine engine .
I hear you, Nate. It´s not, that i got to have a V8 in it, but don´t forget, we do not have any spare parts here in good old Europe, parts for these engines ain´t cheap and shipping, tax, and custom duties nearly double the price, you all pay in US$ and finding an engine builder, who understands old engines is also a challenge. No one here can afford, to have old motors rebuilt, labor is also very expensive at 150$ an hour... I was looking through eBay.com every now and then, for a good running 248/270/302 GMC motor, very rare also, as it seems for reasonable prices. Finding a running V8 here in Germany is relative easy and quit cheap also, that´s why i am considering this swap. But not in a hurry anyway, as long, as the 228 keeps running, i leave it for the time being. For now, i concentrate on getting her driving straight and brake strong;-)
Right now, there is a kind of era correct V8 engine on eBay from a 57 Bel Air... If someone could say anything about these motors, i´d be happy as i do not have much experience on these... eBay# 182025474335
Do you happen to have any pictures of your final ride height I was told by an ol hot rodder The front bumper would be 8 inches off the ground installing jaguar front end at stock ride height
Robert, i still have it on the hoist, if i can, i will lower it down on its wheels this evening and see, how it looks. i will post some pictures later on;-)
