Projects Building a 57 Chevy Shop Truck

I got sidetracked from other projects with the allure of 5 lug rotors and thoughts that I could bolt my vintage mag wheels onto the ol 57.
So a reading of the instructions commenced and it didn't seem bad, so up on Jack stands and off with the wheel



Off with the drum/hub



Not to bad with a quick cleaning



And better yet with a fresh coat of paint

 

This is the Speedway kit which is really a reboxed CPP kit, Speedway instructions said the adapter that slides over the spindle is a thermal fit requiring a 15 minute boil. The CPP instructions mention none of that so I dry fit it and the adapter slides right over the spindle.
My thoughts are that the bearings in the rotor rotate around this adapter but this adapter rotates on the spindle, which would cancel out the rotor bearing and not be so good.
Has anyone got any insight on installing this kit

 

I installed an ECI kit on my 39 chevy a long time ago...it required heating the adapter.

But since the inner bearing race is a slip fit on the adapter anyways, I think one more slip fit (adapter to spindle) will probably work ok. There is going to be a lot more friction between those two parts, than between the rollers and the races, when there's a load on it.

In other words, just put it together and run it. Check wheel bearing adjustment after driving a while.

 

This is the adapter



And slid on



And the Speedway instructions



And the CPP instructions that were in the parts bag

 

Swade try locktite 680 retaining compound, suitable for slip fit surfaces. but work fast it goes off quick!

 

If it's going to keep you awake at night, Loctite stud and bearing retainer will fix it. I would prefer that the adapter did not rotate, especially the seal also rides on it. I have only done three inner bearing and seal adapter conversions and they all required the adapter to be heated to install. Perhaps you spindle is slightly worn?

 

I just watched this video and the guy said he "glued it on with Loctite", maybe he was onto something.

 

Loctite 609 (thinner high strength) or 641 (thicker medium strength).

 

I inquired on a Task Force specific group about the brake kit and several said that they slipped it on and went with it for several years of trouble free driving so far, one guy said he used the loctite and also has been trouble free.
Seems like that's just the way it fits but I plan on using the loctite 680 that was suggested by lumpy.

 

Glad you’re back at it! Nice to see an update.

I don’t know which is better but I used lockite 660 on my roller bearing adaptors and between spindle bores and bushings to take up slop. It is supposed to work up to 20 thou in slop:


I found this suggestion on the stove bolt from long time back. Others said to dimple the spindle with a punch but I wouldn’t take that risk.

 

Few more notes:

I had to clearance one of the top pass side caliper bracket mount holes (on the bracket). I even mocked the bracket on driver side spindle before I powder coated and had same issue. The bracket would have been cocked and one bolts wouldn’t go in.

There was a little milling leftover on the inside of my spacer. I had to remove it for the spacer to sit square on the hubs. I had to make the spacer to disc mount holes bigger on the spacer.

My kit was delivered two years ago so they may have address the manufacturing process.

 

This kit is about 3-4 yrs old, nobody local carried the loctite so I ordered it off Amazon, should be here tomorrow.
In the meantime I cleaned up the passenger side and mocked up the driver side caliper bracket and caliper, not sure if I'll need the caliper bracket spacers until I fit the rotor and see where the caliper lands. So far so good on everything fittings without having to clearance anything.

 

I didn’t use spacers but my brackets were not flat.

 

We have different kits I believe, this kit doesn't use the stock hub or aluminum hub, the roller bearings are inside the rotor and the lug studs are in the rotor as well, it's not a "hat" style rotor.

 

That’s right, didn’t notice till now

 

I woke up with a horrible sciatica nerve issue today and the loctite didn't arrive till late so didn't get much done, except some mockup.
I hate the locking nuts supplied with the kit, no way you can run those down snug and back off with ease, so fished around the garage for some temporary nuts, new bolts don't take a cutter pin and castle nut, I will most likely use a lock washer and regular nut.
Anyhow with everything snugged up it all clears just fine, no need to grind and clearance, bracket to spindle



And the calipers clear the king pin lock nut and zerk fitting



I also decided to do something that I regretted not doing when I had the axle out the first time DRILL IT !
I figure it'll never be stripped down to bare spindles again so this will be the lightest and most manageable it'll get, so why not pull it and drill it. I really like my E Pluribus Unum mockup here, 7 holes for the model year, the luck of the number and mostly because I think it has a great look to it.


A slight detour to coolsville but I'll get these brakes on here after I Ieave the drill press station headed towards the hamlet of whoa Nelly.

 

Checking the fitment and it looks off centered with and without the provided spacers, custom spacers looks to be in order
Without spacers



With spacers, you can see I had to back out the caliper bolts about a 1/4 inch to get it to center

 

I'd look at it loaded with inner pad all the way in vs empty.

 

The cup/piston thing the pad rides on is all the way in, pads are the same thickness so it has to work for centering the caliper.

 

Pulled the axle yesterday



Today I spent a bit of time making a jig that didn't work, abandoned that and just laid out the tape, found center, made an index card to mark the top and bottom of lip at the appropriate spacing.



Took a plastic book marker, lined it up on the marks, pushed it down in the middle to be able to mark the axle where I aim to drill it.



Layed out my quarters again to double check everything was on the up and up, all was good.



Got out the serious measuring device this time, measured deep enough down to simulate where I would be marking the horizontal centerline on the tape.



Measured from bottom up and top down to make sure it was definitely the center, all marks were made measuring up from bottom since it was more consistently straight.



Marked the centers, center punched them, wrestled the axle over to the drill press which proved to be quite the ordeal. The axle was top heavy and wanted to roll, my drill press vise wouldn't line up correctly to bolt it down, so between holding onto the axle to stop the roll and it also had to be supported on the end that was hanging off so it wouldn't flip off the table.
I had put the drill press on 380 rpms, it's slowest setting, this drill press is a few decades old by the way, an old Craftsman floor model, chucked in a new 1/8 inch bit and drilled my pilot holes.



Then chucked in my one inch hole saw and used plenty of cutting oil, first hole done, this is going to take awhile.

 

I forgot to mention that I lined the vice with poly slide leaf spring liner so the axle could slide along that pretty effortlessly.
Finished drilling all the holes, I reak of cutting oil, which is everywhere all around the drill press by the way, but it turned out nice for old school ingenuity and equipment. Tomorrow I'll chamfer the edge of the holes with a half round file probably, paint the holes and get it back under the truck.

 

Cudo's Swade ....even on a Bridgeport with better cutters it's not much fun.

 

Thanks, I needed a couple more arms today for sure, 80 degrees inside the shop plus the pacemaker thing by the electric motor for that length of time, all together it's not a job I'd want to do on a daily basis...but it was worth it, even if you do have to crawl under the truck to see them...lol

 

Looks like all the effort was worth it in the end product!

 

Thanks, I like it alot.

I ended up putting a big uni-bit in my hand drill on reverse and used that to debur the holes, then used the half round file to chamfer the edges and added a fresh coat of paint.
I'm thinking of painting the inside of the hole white, I thought I had some but only had silver, which I may try too.

 

Silver looked like crapola, or my painting skills did, so repainted it back in black.
Last night I tossed my back out shaving, after my echocardiogram today I did extremely struggle to get the axle back under the springs. It seam like every time I touched something up with the black it would try and roll off the milk crates and mess the paint up, so I just wanted it back under the springs where it was secure.
I got it snugged up but I just couldn't stand the pain anymore so I quit, still need to get the spring button into the axle hole at some point but at least it's under there. Tomorrow is another day !

 

One hell of a shave if it wrecks your back Rest up a bit and then try again.

 

Will power beat brain power today, put in 50's rock n roll in the 5 disc cd changer and the ol 57 must of got in the groove, didn't fight much thankfully and got it done.
Man, I love those holes !

 

Cool!

 

Brakes on and done



Next step on this one will be mounting the engine and transmission, I also need to get that 59 Impala steering wheel painted, until then....sleep tight