Projects My Apache...

Sorry...I get the confusion. Since my pedal is 1.5" shorter, the lever travels 1.5" less than stock. It is coincidentally ALSO 1.5" away from hitting the frame (if the frame weren't offset).

The confusing part is that you are wondering if the lever "needs" ALL of that travel. When I pushed in the clutch (before tearing the truck apart) it didn't need to go completely to the floor to fully engage. I had about 1.5" excess travel at the bottom in addition to the .5" at the top. Now I have 1" at the top and I will only know how much at the bottom once it's running. I will readjust back to .5" at the top and probably end up with .5" at the bottom...I hope. Otherwise I'll need to find one of my other stock pedals and ditch the shortened pedal idea.

 

thanks for all the help dude. i checked out the vette dual masters. so you just bolted the aftermarket bracket onto the stock brake bracket if i understand right ? id imagine you had to modify the pedal arm some to get it in the original floorboard hole unless you just modified the floors. it seems like i can make something like that work pretty easily. and its very simple which i love. whenever you get a chance on those pics id greatly appreciate it

 

Actually I didn't have to modify any of that...the pedal ends up in the same place. I reused the solid bar of steel (the stock plate that has two threaded holes) that is on the backside of the MC bracket and bolted the new bracket right up. The new MC then bolts to the new bracket, a shouldered bolt goes through the bottom of the pedal (the shouldered end extended toward the passenger side. A hiem joint goes over the shouldered end, then a nylon bushing to take up the space, and then the through the lower hole on your brake arm. Your pushrod threads into the female end of the hiem (stating the obvious I guess). I double nutted mine up against the hiem to make sure it didn't come loose. I made mine out of a LONG stainless steel shoulder bolt....left the threads on the one end and cut the hex head off and rounded it so it would make nice contact with the cupped end of the cylinder piston (inside the MC). THIS shoulder bolt is a standard hex head bolt. The shouldered bolt for the brake-arm-to-heim assembly is not. See description below.

Here are a couple pics:

 

The "shouldered" bolt isn't just a plain bolt, it's one of those that is hardened and the shoulder is a machined stainless finish. I can take a pic of one if you need me to, but I'm pretty sure you've seen them before. You can also see in the second photo that you still use the OE pedal center / pivot shaft (from the old MC assembly) and the key that presses up against the notch to hold it in place.

 

LOL damn...did I really just spell HEIM wrong about 20 times?!

 

Also, there is one small idiosyncrasy with this entire set-up. The front bail that holds the MC cover on won't open or close due to the placement of the front-most mounting bolt that attaches the new bracket to the old. You really can't change the location of the bolt unless you want to scrap the solid steel threaded bar originally used. I didn't anticipate this issue so my solution was to make a new front bail. Use the old bail as your template and the new bail, instead of shooting straight down to the front-most left side bail hole, needs to have a hoop / loop that curves rearward of the bolt head (you can see this in the 2nd photo). I used a 5 gallon bucket handle which is the perfect size wire and already has one tight 90 degree bend in it. After making it the correct size and shape and making it tight, I took it off and heated it until it just barely changed color and then quenched it in really cold water. This process creates spring steel...which is what this needs to be to maintain it's shape and tension on the MC cover.

 

lmao its all good, ive seen some far worse grammar from some of the people crawlin around on here, myself included youve been incredibly helpful man really thanks a ton. whoever put the truck together before me left all of the stock brake hardware in place and un used so i guess thats working to my benefit now. im sure ill have a few more questions once i actually start setting this up..... at least i have a direction now.

so the welder is here, i need to get gas though. the crossmember notches for the driveshaft are pretty much the last frame modification. after that i need to get the brake and clutch assembly mocked up and ready to go. then itll be a final teardown on the frame for paint. and then redo the front clip components. i priced it up from rock auto and the whole front clip is gonna cost me a couple hundred for EVERYTHING. rotors, calipers, tie rods, idler, bushings etc etc etc so thats not too bad. im trying to keep a good mix of staying on budget but doing everything RIGHT the first time around. i dont wanna half ass this thing, id like to be driving it 20 years down the road. after that ill be taking my first adventure into bodywork and paint

 

Up until now I hadn't painted for a good 15 years, and that was with one of those siphon feed old school guns. The HVLP I have, even though it's the cheapie CP brand, has got me completely hooked on painting. When the weather gets better I'm going to be a painting fool...may even start airbrushing and doing flames. I've been a graphic artist for 25 years now and I can't remember having this much fun....just wish the sun would come out more...damned winter.

 

sweet man, it seems intimidating at times but i think as long as i take my time ill be good. and im not spraying any crazy metallics or candys so it shouldnt be to difficult technique wise. or at least im hoping. we will see. im starting to get into lettering. i have some pictures of drawings n shit in my profile. no lettering pics yet tho

 

Hey buzznut are you running a proportioning valve?

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It's all about keeping the gun parallel to the surface and having the right amount of overlap. if you can control those 2 things, and your paint is mixed properly, anyone can paint like a pro.
The HVLP makes a HUGE difference in pulling off a great paint job as well. If you have the technology you might as well use it to your advantage.


"When the weather gets better I'm going to be a painting fool...may even start airbrushing and doing flames."

I picked up an airbrush in 2004 and it became so addictive that I haven't put it down since

 

Yeah, it really seems pretty straight forward. And everywhere i read, the overlap and gun position in relation to the paint surface are always huge keys. Plus the guns and other equipment available now at reasonable prices make it easier for a dude like me to lay down a decent paint job. I cant wait !!!!!!!!

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I'll tell you what, the only "real" painting I have done is the firewall and inner fenders on my truck. But I had gotten pretty good with a rattle can. One thing I learned is prep is the most important step. With the "skill" I developed with rattlecanning I didnt do half bad with the gun, and used so much less paint it was crazy. I still dont really want to do a large scale paint job because I am so damn picky it would take so much damn work to make it look good.

 

Yeah ive gotten pretty good with a rattle can myself, mainly because that was all i had untill recently when i got a compressor

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Heres the welder. Finally got everything un packed today. and the first job i will be attempting......... About 40 holes to fill. Im gonna get some practice in and then go at the firewall this weekend hopefully. Still need gas

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Also, its a long ways away but heres the interior plans. Im going with something very similar to josh mills 35 ford. Very clean but the seat color should hide a lot of dirt. It will be used as a truck after all. And heres a 64 impala wheel i got in the classifieds for dirt cheap a while ago. Im gonna go with an ezboy seat cover i think but still not sure

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Just asking so you don't create any issues, but you did make a note of all the holes you need you need to keep, right? I almost welded 3 that would have created more work for me later.

 

Yeah. Only ones i need to figure out before i start welding are the heater lines. Everything else is good to go

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Use a big brass rod to back up your welds if you can, it will save you in shielding gas and welding wire.

 

thanks for the reminder, i need to get a piece or brass asap !

 

Stock heater uses the bottom two holes. For mounting I'm doing something a little different. If you look at the firewall there are 4 holes with square nuts welded to the backside (inside the cab) right where the battery box is (used to be on mine)...this of course doesn't include the mounting holes for the hinges. I installed socket head bolts that are 1.5 inches long into these holes from the firewall side. I then ground the head off and welded the bolts to the firewall so they couldn't spin / turn out. On the inside I am going to make a mounting system that uses 1" steel strap that spans from the topmost hole to the bottom-most hole and then another from the leftmost to the right...drill the holes in the steel straps and then secure them with a nut. Where these cross I will weld them together. I will then cut the studs on the backside of the heater box and the blower and secure straps to these parts using the same method. Now all that needs to be done is hold the heater and blower in the correct location, mark where these two strap systems meet and drill holes to secure them together. I know it sounds a little complex, but my intent is to make this strapping hidden and to keep the firewall clean.

These are the holes I kept, along with the throttle pedal hole and mounting screw holes for the throttle linkage and the lower large oblong grommet hole where I now run my wires to keep them hidden. the holes at the top under the overhang are for a light-bar that I plan on mounting just under the lip and the wires needed to power the light I'm mounting under the hood.



Also, I mounted my battery under the cab...I don't know why, but I really dig a clean firewall. The battery tray I used was pretty inexpensive and fit perfectly, and to be safe, I used an Optima Red top sealed battery so i wouldn't have to worry about battery maintenance.

 

Good choice on the wheel! That's what I'm running in my 58!

 

Looks damn nice buzznut! Very clean.

 

dude i sware we are like twins seperated at birth ! hahah everything your planning is very close to what im trying to acheive as well. i like the heater mounting idea. as far as the holes thats just the standard heater and not the deluxe model correct ? and i totally agree on the clean firewall, ive always loved when you pop a hood and its just all engine. and i like how you kept the recesses in the firewall. the smoothed over mini truck style firewalls look just takes away from the character of the vehicle imho

 

thanks matt, you have the olds dash in your truck as well right ?

and as far as the battery, i was gonna mount it on the framerail at the front of the bed. my dad is an awesome woodworker and he is going to help me build my own wood floor, i was gonna make some type of hidden door in the wooden floorboard to get easy battery access. i sware by optimas now, so much cleaner and they crank like a mofo no matter what. ive had em in my last 3 vehicles. are you using a cable throttle or hard linkage ?

 

Yep , 55 olds. There's gonna be a build thread soon..... Starting a teardown this coming January. How u see it is how bought it , need to make it mine now. Stay tuned!

 

I used the original hard linkage. I considered cable but like the mechanical look of the OE parts. I like the idea of the battery under the bed wood, I really didn't give that idea any thought. heck, this is the 'ole girls 3rd makeover...maybe next time.

I have a few planks of 1" African iron wood that I was thinking about using for the bed, but it seems like no woodworkers I know want to touch it. I was originally going to do an all blacked out truck and wanted blackish wood, but now that I have a cream firewall and am planning on using cream tuck-n-roll in the interior I may just pick a nice blonde hard wood to go with it.

To be honest I'm confused on the heaters. The one I restored uses the bottom two holes, it has a temp sensor that you actuate with the deluxe slide controls, along with open and close and the fan switch that controls the secondary heater box (fan box) that takes air in through the upper passenger kick panel vent. I originally thought the holes would be the one bottom one closest to the passenger door and the one above it at a slight diagonal. I even have a box that would use those holes, but what I discovered is that it is actually a '56 passenger heater box. The passenger box has a slight rise that looks like it would match the arch of the center of the firewall, but it didn't. Also, the deluxe heater controls didn't seem to match that box. I wonder if the passenger heater assembly was an option and that is why they included that hole? when I get a chance I'll take some shots and show you the heater box I'm using...but I really don't think it's the standard one. Funny thing is, heater assemblies aren't even covered in the Assembly Manual.

 

Thanks Matthew

 

i have ZERO idea what the stock throttle linkage looks like. i was just going to build my own. i already made an aluminum bellcrank although it may need modifying, and then just the actual hard linkage to the 3x2 should be pretty straight forward

theres a company that assembles pallets near me and you can buy oak blanks from them with no holes. im gonna go that route most likely. it should be nice and tough and last a long time. ill just throw a decent semi dark finish on it and let it be. its gonna get beat a little when i haul stuff so i cant justify spending high dollar on wood. the new wood kits are outrageously priced in my eyes.

as far as the heater goes i need to figure something out, i like the deluxe controls, but the bezel for the gmc dash is a mother to find. how hard was the heater resto ? they seem pretty straight forward from what ive seen

 

oh shit, that truck is already badass ! cant wait to see whats up your sleeve. wanna trade beds ? hhaha