You are the man, man!!! I should be ordering it pretty soon as well. Yep, thanks! Yea, your missing a bunch. Essentially got taken for a ride because I was/am a newb. Was told the truck was running and driving except for needing coil springs/shocks and minor repairs and turns out its a hunk. Not a problem if I got it for a good price, but I paid a ton for it because I'm an idiot. The end.
Don't slap him around, steal his tools. Then you can show the judge the pictures and claim it was in the name of public safety.
You aint kidding, I did miss a bunch. Now I understand! Sorry about that. yes it sure sucks, but like you said you are learning and once you are done you will know that truck inside and out and it will be yours! keeping pressin on dude!
I'm going to watch this thread. I'm going through something like you with my 54. The previous owner loved taking shortcuts. Having to do everything over makes you learn a lot though. -I learned that bondo is the cure-all for autos. everything from cab corners, dents, holes and anything else. - I learned that you don't need to wire your cars with a harness, you can just electrical tape everything. - I also learned that it's cool to use a wood 2x4 for a cab support. (that one pissed me off) I am sure that is just the start, as everything isn't apart yet. Good luck with your build, keep plugging away at it. At least you're taking the time to do it right. just keep your eye on the prize and think of how bad ass it will be when you are cruzin it.
Thanks guys... So half ass find #55, the trans crossmember is apparently too far back for the engine/trans combo, or they welded too much of the front clip on, and instead of moving the crossmember or fabing one the welded a plate to the back of the trans mount, drilled 4 holes in it and bolted it up. I didnt notice it at first, but when I took the bolts out this big plate fell out, and when I got it to the shop today I saw the broken weld on the back of the mount......sheesh....
Great thread so far. I just love P.O.'s. People that work on cars with out a clue. It's a good thing you bought this truck. Some kid could have bought it and tried to drive it!. No rear brakes at all!! Are you kidding me???
I have a 53 pickup and the cab mounts are metal (with a little pad), and the bed sits on these ~2"x2"x2" blocks of wood sandwiched in metal caps, then on a pad.
I took my frame to an industrial sandblaster, the guy's "walk-in blasting cabinet" is a pole barn. He quoted $400 for blast/prime/epoxy, and when I picked it up he only charged me $260... money well spent. Sandblasting small stuff is one thing, sandblasting a frame is a big, dirty job. I stripped it completely bare before taking it to the blaster, less work for him = less money he charged me.
Well. Pulled the rear diff cover and man was it nasty. First of all, full of water. Second, open diff. Again, all fixable but for crying out loud!!! Phone is dead so no pics, but there is surface rust on stuff and stinks bad, grrr. Ok, so rear locking diff, rebuild kit, rear shoes and wheel cylinders, resurface drums, clean/blast and repair housing and figure out if the spring saddles on there right now will work with the new leafs I am ordering. Agreed, one of my techs says he will let me use his blaster, so I will strip it down and do the little stuff with that and get the frame done by the pro's.
...when you get your frame back; here's how I build the front core support mounts on these trucks with clips...email me if you need more info/pics acme1@essex1.com
...and most likely you'll have to notch the radiator core for steering box clearance like this, you can weld a strap back in curved around the steer. box to retain the strength. This notch sits below the radiator , if it's in the stock location on the core support, so no problem there. I get good radiators (4-core desert coolers) from Classic Truck Parts in Missouri, ( formerly Chevy Duty)...hope this helps. they are bolt-in and look factory.
Wow, thanks for the info. I will definitely make use of it. I have quite a ways to go before I get to that point I fear. Thanks again....
So first stop is redoin the rear end. I should mention that I am trying to get this thing up a running ASAP, so as much as I would like to throw every high dollar goodie on here Im just gonna do what I can for now, then later on go back and redo it down the road. I should also mention that one of my techs is doing the internal repairs to the diff and trans, I just dont have tools or skills to do this kind of stuff. Plus I can make a lot of progress on it that way sice we are doing it during work hours when there is nothing else to do. Anyway, the rear axle. 10 bolt 8.5 out of a 74 GTO according to the numbers stamped. Open diff and a 3.08 ratio, and gross. Tore it down and time to clean it up. then back together with new shoes, cylinders and hardware. All seals and bearings. New brake lines....just need to mount up the new saddles... Anyway, on to the transmission. The trans that was in it had a broken case, one bolt hole... No good, so I picked up another for $150, good ol' craigslist..... Got both torn down and all is well inside, just going to use the best hard parts from both to make one good one, then do a basic rebuild. Torque converter will be swapped for a stall converter. Stripped all the nasty orange paint off and will be wire wheeling the case and painting it as well. Should have that done sometime next week, then its on to the engine.... I took off the valve covers and it is spotless inside, looks like it was recently freshend up but we will see. There is a lot of crusty crap in the water pump outlet. Need to bead blast the intake and polish up the valve covers, then will probably go with a set of long tube headers and new cap/rotor/wires/plugs, maybe a new carb if it cant be cleaned up, because the edelbrock looks kinda rough. Then finish it up with a new acc. drive system with new w/p. Anyway, thats it for now. I have the rear suspension on order from Posies (if I can get the guy to work with me through email) so when that comes in things should move along pretty well. See ya....
Got the transmission cleaned up and ready for paint and here it is after a few primer coats then several high heat paint coats in "Cast Iron" color. I think it looks kick ass. Going to order and new pan, probably a finned aluminum one since the og pan is beat up and just plain ugly. Also need the inspection sheild. As soon as I get those in this week it'll be ready to go. Next stop is the engine. On the other front, I finally got the bed off. Every friggin nut and bolt fought me till the very end, ended up just cutting them all off with the grinder, I'll just get new ones later. As usual, lots of issues with rot and bondo on the fenders and front and side bed panels. Tailgate needs replacement. Was thinking about one of the complete bed kits on ebay, minus fenders. Something like 1000 bucks, has anyone gone that route? Cab is FULL of rust and bondo everywhere I look, I guess that is to be expected with a 61 yr old truck that no one has takin the time do redo right.....ever. Finally thought to do the magnet check and I was amazed, have a long road ahead of me as far as body work goes. The truck was about 10 different colors over its lifetime so far. The frame was painted seveal colors as well. I bought a 4" knotted cup for my grinder and that thing kicks some serious ass. So my next obstacle is taking off the running boards, but the sons of bitches have SQUARE nuts on the bottom, how the hell am I going to get those off....
Got my rear suspension ordered today!! Posies 3" lowered springs and all mounting hardware with Bilstein shocks!!! Got all my trans rebuild parts minus the kevlar bad I ordered, pan and shield which should be here thursday. Started tearing the front end apart for cleaning and replacement of bj's, bushings, etc. Next step for me is to try and get the running boards and cab off so I can get the frame to someone for blasting. I had started another thread about a frame I came across but decided I might as well just put the money towards making this one right. Anyway, I have no idea how to proceed with removing the cab, going to have to figure something out. How much do you think it weighs emty, no glass/seats/doors?
If I remember correctly, take a 3/8 drive extension and use the ratchet end on the nut and use a cresent wrench on the socket end. Use PB Blaster or the like. Most likely they will snap off.
Thanks, didnt think of that, those bolts are up in the brackets so you cant really get anything around then, even to cut them off as they are rusted to hell. UPDATE: 1/2" drive extentions fits perfect and did the job, thanks for the idea!!!
Two guys your size (by the looks of your and your friend you should be ok) can remove a stripped cab from the frame. It's heavy, but possible.
Damn bro....just read this, I drove all the way to Dallas for mine and was hoping I wasnt going to be dissapointed...but I really trusted the ol' groover who was selling it, plus it was in the HAMB classifieds. I have lucked out and over all the truck was worth every penny! Either way you are making great progress, nothing to do now but push forward man! keep up the steady work!
500 pounds from what I recall for the cab/doors. That may be front clip, too, don't remember. Lots of guys have built cherry picker adapters to just lift them straight up. Go here: http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/index.htm And pick your year. Lots of details with weights and stuff. 590 pounds! http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/5054.htm
WOW! hard to believe someone can __ck up a vehicle as the p.o. has on this one. alot of us can relate to these shenanigans w/these old trucks. mine had 1/2" angle iron for a tranny cross-member for gosh sakes,and black electrical tape holding the wire harness together.unbelievable. the sub is definitely from a gm x body suspension (70-81 camaro and 75-79 nova platforms) going pretty good w/ the tear down/rebuild though as i see it. you'll find these subs are very wide to accomodate much lowering as you'll read in many postings. i know this may sound kinda funny,but the fun to me,is this part;the building.after you get it done,its pretty much done. and the only thing you can do to it is drive it. when you get done you WILL be an authority on these old AD trucks and thats pretty cool.
Can relate to a lot of the issues you have found. I'm 65 and have done several cars and trucks. Some people are just hacks and throw things together. Nice thing about this site and others, are the knowledgeable people on here that can help guide you through all the bad stuff. Just keep at it, and don't let it get you down. Have subscribed, so I'll keep up with your work.
HA! Seriously though, I ran the block casting # (3970014) and it came back as the following Chevelle, Camaro, Nova, Monte Carlo - 2 or 4 bolt main - 350 69-79 Truck - 2 or 4 bolt main - 350 -72 Corvette - late '72, 200 HP, 255 HP 4 bolt main Now, it has the ramshorn manifolds, so maybe? But after running the other numbers found out it is out of a 74 camaro, so I assume that was the donor car for the clip,engine and rear axle. I havent pulled the oil pan yet so I dont know if its a 2 or 4 bolt main, but that is next on my list here at work. I'll be working on the frame/suspension at home. But to answer your question....."YES, it is a Corvette 350 small block"
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