Yep a lunchbox would be okay on the street, plenty Jeep bros run them in rear axles as well. They lock when torque is applied so you'll just need to coast when making turns, you may hear the locker ratchet when the wheels are turning at different speeds.

Oh boyeeee.....

https://instagr.am/p/BXeMstzj4gY

After committing to buying some premium front end components, waiting for them to be built, then having to stare at them all through harvest.... we finally installed our upper & lower control arms this week. Everything went on fine, got the drop spindles installed, wheels mocked up, and then we were staring this in the face...



Okay, that's a little more negative camber than I expected. So we shim it out all the way and there's still a lot of negative camber... like ricer camber. I called Porterbuilt to ask about it and of course they talk about bent frames and '50 year old trucks' - and the whole time I'm thinking 'no, this is too much neg camber for a truck that was super straight to start with'. They were very nice though and asked for pictures, which I obliged.

Keep in mind that they offer arms one of 4 ways: standard, 1" forward, 1" narrow, 1" forward & 1" narrow. Mine were to be 1" forward, standard width; that way the wheel is centered in the opening. On a whim I measured the factory arms, upper and lower, and realized that our uppers were exactly 1" narrower than factory - the bottoms are identical length. I called Porterbuilt back and by that time they had seen the pictures and suspected the same thing, so they emailed me engineering drawings to compare. Sure enough, we were sent mismatched arms - standard lowers, narrowed uppers. They have since put the proper uppers for our truck in the que to be built. I don't know how long that will be but it's not really holding us up; I'm just glad the fix was that easy and the mistake wasn't on our end!

The front crossmember is sitting on the ground in this picture. I want to get the cab on soon and see how high that relates to with the body on. We didn't go air ride because we were trying to lay frame or rocker (and we are far from it) - we just wanted some adjustability and to try something new. With that in mind, we didn't hack the frame for a C notch so our rear end doesn't drop as low as the front. We'll know more with body on - but it won't surprise me if we end up going with the factory spindles after all.



I think we will start bending some brake lines and plumbing fuel lines next week. That should get us putting the cab on by the time school starts.

Then.... wiring harness.

Oh you don't know how bad I wanted to cry. You know as well as anyone, getting it back on it's wheels was a benchmark - something we've anticipated, to be celebrated, photographed, and toasted because it's the gateway to the next phase.

This totally killed that vibe. I just stared at it, KNOWING something was bad wrong- but having to wait a day to talk to PB; then another day to exchange emails... and the worst part is that it looks much worse in person - the pictures don't do it justice. I was so relieved when PB finally confirmed (and in their defense, were very apologetic) that the arms were mixed up - because when he was talking about '50 year old pickup frames aren't what they once were', I was bout to POP.

So what is the lead time on the replacements?

Hopefully not too long. I'm going to go ahead and budget three weeks to a month. I'm not knocking these guys-they do a world of high-end business & my little job is just a blip, yet they were very helpful.

I should send them a bill-I had to buy a bunch of engine parts to cheer myself up.

Centerpole90 said:

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Hopefully not too long. I'm going to go ahead and budget three weeks to a month. I'm not knocking these guys-they do a world of high-end business & my little job is just a blip, yet they were very helpful.

I should send them a bill-I had to buy a bunch of engine parts to cheer myself up.

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We will need details of said engine parts.

Cam? Headers? Fully CNC ported Aluminum heads? Twin Turbos?????

Yes, deets pls.

Cam, cam related stuff: springs, gear, push rods, plus a flashed ECU, blah, blah, blah. Probably going to cause me to go to longtube header... I'm blowing it - first the budget, then this junkyard LS. I'm not smart.

I've been chatting with Eric (IG @protouringtexas , we knew someone in common) and when I confided I knew I was going to regret not doing it now he said "yep, you are." So F it. I asked him send me what would sound cool, spin the hell outta tires, and not require me to redo the bottom end the first month I ran it.

I'm trying to hammer out payroll now - I may have everyone report to the shop @ 7:30 this evening and use the last :30 for a cab sitting party before the weekend.

That would make me feel better about the ricer camber and blown truck budget.

Cam specs pls

Buy the longtubes in my garage

Who wants to play 'Help Centerpole90 Pick A Ride Height". We set the cab on Friday afternoon and it went even better than expected; I wound up doing to with a forklift and some nylon straps - much easier than trying to fit 10 guys around and coordinating a lift.

CPjr and I played with the air a little Friday afternoon and today while we were eclipsing we posed it a few different ways because we suspect some changes are in order. First the pictures.

This is completely laid out; as low as it is going to go without the torch. The rear bump stops are removed and the frame is sitting on the axle (no C notch); the front crossmember is on the ground. Keep in mind the truck has 2" or 2.5" drop spindles (I'll have to check).


Here the rear is unchanged (also undriveable) and air has been added to the front bags until the upper A arms are horizontal. I consider that a good starting spot to guesstimate ending ride height.


Now it's a little more on the nose because the we added air to the rear bags and raised the frame to about where it would set on the factory bump stops. I speculate this is pretty close to where I had my '69; because I cut the stops in 1/2 with a 5" drop and this this is about where it ended up.


Finally, this is the rear where it was in previous picture, but we aired the front bags up to max travel. So this is the front end aired fully, locked against the top.


So, what did we learn in this mockup? First, we need to change something. We didn't use air to drag asphalt and it's not going to happen anyway without a lot more time or $ - but we do want to be A.) lower than stock and B.) able to change the stance or rake of the truck to suit our 'mood'. As it stands right now it is going to be very hard to set the truck dead level or have a hint of Cali lean without setting the frame steel on steel w/ the axle. Any position that gets the truck even close to level will mean having very little suspension in the rear or the front end aired up beyond ideal angles. Lowering blocks in the rear would help run the axle closer to the frame with more air in the bags - but they also get the scrub line PRETTY low between the rear tires; and with the fuel tank now right behind the axle - I don't think a wall of sparks is what I want to worry about.


I believe that when the new upper control arms come in we might re-install the factory spindles and evaluate. It's either the original spindles or C notch. I'm just now sure which route to go.

thoughts?

silverado_lover said:

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Definitely notch. Otherwise there will undoubtedly come a time when you think "I wish I could drop it lower."

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From the time I posted that until just now when I found your response - I had a friend convince me of that very same conclusion. His point was - you've come this far down this road - just follow it....

I can't imagine a situation where we couldn't get enough air in it to make it 'high' enough to suit us.

I am using the cab beltline as a gauge and comparing it to IG images of trucks that I've bookmarked - I don't think that last picture is MUCH off from stock ride height.

And by this point, a c notch is going to be easy work.

So far the 2nd pic looks like the best ride height, I would reckon that it'll be driveable with notch.

I definitely agree with the "never easier than now" philosophy. Can you notch the frame without having to modify bed?
I like the 2nd pic also. Something low but not dragging the rockers low.



You won't regret putting a new cam in, especially if it has some chop. It will perform way better and sound great. I would investigate a new oil pump when you get the timing cover off. Cheap insurance for a used motor.

2nd option.

agwrangler2001 said:

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I definitely agree with the "never easier than now" philosophy. Can you notch the frame without having to modify bed?
I like the 2nd pic also. Something low but not dragging the rockers low.



You won't regret putting a new cam in, especially if it has some chop. It will perform way better and sound great. I would investigate a new oil pump when you get the timing cover off. Cheap insurance for a used motor.

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If you do a new oil pump, I recommend this one:
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8652

Good company with good service

Thanks for the input guys - ya'll are a good sounding board.

Yes, silvy - whacking a little out of the frame won't be a big deal now. I think I can stare at the rear end real hard and it will probably remove itself from the frame without me touching it. It's been in and out that many times.

AW - notching the frame does not change the bed, nor would I be willing to do it if it did. Putting a big step in the frame requires modification to the bed that can range from large ugly cutouts with no wheel tubs to raising the bed floor, like so:

That is what is necessary to lay frame. The notch we will use only 'notches' the frame a couple inches - but those couple inches make the difference between pictures 2 & 4 above. I am probably going to go with the Dead End Garage notch kit because it includes an integral bag mount. That means I can do away with the mounting cup that sits on our bags now. Doing so would give the bags another 2" of inflation at 'ride height' which should help with ride quality.


As far as the oil pump - it was on the order. I don't recall the brand - if he even read it to me- but I know the order included an oil pump.

I'm embarrassed that I can't remember the grind of the cam; but I don't. I called Eric and we talked a while and I told him what we wanted out of the truck - he said "I've got a cam in mind.... (a bunch of numbers). That'll make for a lot of fun and white smoke." So I said


I thought that would be an appropriate TA response.

Because Harvey passed off to the north of us we were able to host some friends and family form the Corpus area in our home yesterday and today. Surprisingly the lights are back on in their neighborhoods of Corpus & Callalen so they took off this afternoon leaving CPjr and I an hour or two to tinker in the shop.

We've been sitting (pun intended) on these since June and finally uncrated them today. The 67-68 C-10s were available with 'Buddy Buckets' option. The bucket seat option went away in '69 and came back in '71 with a dedicated center console. This center seat flips up to make a bench and the bottom of the center seat flips up to reveal a nice sized console. These are actually '67's because the seats backs fold forward; all 68's had rigid backs.



CPjr and I think right behind that center setback is premium real estate for a big ol' sub. Now that the tank is banished to the frame there's a lot of room to play with.

The plan is red on red on red on red...

Oh. I. Am.

I also plan to get my seat over & door panels from those guys.

I'm going to leave this here because I stay up at night searching CL for 'parts' trucks that might have one - but I know they are out there in the weeds/junkyards around Texas.

One of the Chevrolet approved dealer installed items back in the day were Smash-Hit grill guards made by the Perry Company of Waco. This is what they looked like on 67-72






They were built out of spring steel stock, not tubing so they're deceivingly heavy. Whether we install it or not is undecided, but when I was growing up Dad always had one on his truck - so I'd like the option for CPjr & I to run one if we'd like. They look natural on the trucks to me because it's what I grew up with.

I found a truck on CL this evening with a Safe-Guard brand grill guard. It doesn't strike me as the type of listing where they're going to sell the grill guard off the truck and even though they are extremely similar - I'd really prefer a Smash-Hit.



So. If you know where a 67-72 Chevy Smash-Hit is hiding in the weeds, holla; and in case you thought Ranch Hand invented the grill guard for Texans -

silverado_lover said:

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Yes, deets pls.

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That there is a cam

silverado_lover said:

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That there is a cam

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It's looks like the Brian Tooley Stage II LS1/LS2 cam. I got the same one for my build.

Good. That sounds better than 'why bother'. Methinks I may need to get that round thing that bolts to the front of the transmission or sitting in line @ whataburger might suck.

https://instagr.am/p/BYZgaydDUYm

Winner winner chicken dinner.

Yes, one of those round things between 3400-4000 lol

We're expecting some parts to be come in this week to get us back in the shop. However, ordering our C notch, wiring harness, and a couple other things have taught me there isn't necessarily a 'just in time' inventory model for the industry. The wiring harness, for instance, is a month away after order. So I asked around about other things that take time and one that I was cautioned about was upholstery - so I've been on the computer looking at seat covers, door panels, & carpet.

I really liked these guys to do our buddy bucket covers, neat work if not my favorite color combination.. Like I said, I plan to get the cupholders...


To hold my beer...


and in the console I can store..... WTF.....

Ag for Life said:

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silverado_lover said:

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That there is a cam

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It's looks like the Brian Tooley Stage II LS1/LS2 cam. I got the same one for my build.

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Nice chop in this video. Should sound great!

agwrangler2001 said:

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Ag for Life said:

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silverado_lover said:

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That there is a cam

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It's looks like the Brian Tooley Stage II LS1/LS2 cam. I got the same one for my build.

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Nice chop in this video. Should sound great!

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Man, I can't wait to get mine up and running!

X2!