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Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Nice work! Nice Chevelle too!
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I will be starting back up as I know I've been slacking. Definitely more to come we've just been taking a rest on the pocketbook haha |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Finally time to come off the rack, we busted our knuckles all weekend and had her finally setting on her own weight. Course the rush for this came as we were getting kicked out of the building. Back to back sick weekends had delayed the project long enough that the building owner didn't want it taking up space anymore.. Who needs his building anyway. We lowered the donor bed down onto the frame and made her trailer worthy and hotfooted outta there to the new digs.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...26B39CA001.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...E114F5E7B7.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...C867731B71.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Glad I found this, I've been seeing it on IG and was wondering if it was here! Great work!
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Nope, Chip_Chandler_ on IG
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Cool truck. Man when I saw those baby moons on this truck it brought back memories of another '73-'74. Carolina Blue and white owned by an older gentleman. He drove the truck daily. He didn't like his new truck all that much. I've got to follow on this one for sure.
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Alright!! Too long of a hiatus that's for sure, but fear not! Lots has been happening behind the scenes while I've been away. So let's dive right into all of that I have tons to catch you all up on for great grandpas legacy build.
So here we are in the new digs gratefully presented by a very dear friend of the family to finish the revamp stages of the 73. I wanted to showcase a bit of the fantastic welding we had finished by our hired on man for the odds and ends to make our fab work look pretty so here these are. http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...A566C282AC.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...CE86011F1D.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D2A21C07F9.jpg Followed up is our completion of the upper shock bar with eared mounts for the new KYB's to go in place to help us ride as smooth as possible down these horrendous California roadways. http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...CD37909207.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D433AF0477.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...BFB9AC92FD.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...0780C6A284.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...FDF28E9C33.jpg And finally pops wanted a shot of the truck at its new shortness next to 6ft me :lol: http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...B5CABAAA43.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Feeling satisfied with most of the work in the back we decide to dive full steam ahead into getting the functionality portions corrected such as the driveshaft. Needing a SWB length and only having a th400 applicable driveline in stock we decided to simply chop up the old LWB driveline and stick to fit (obviously just for fitment R&D purposes of course :) unless we felt like twisting up those tacs one day :haha: ) we'll be looking into having a smaller diameter tube made up as well since there isn't much room side to side through the new trailing arm crossmember. We think this worked out fairly well vs. having one made and being unsure of fitment.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...70AEBDDEC4.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...A490419411.jpg [URL=http://s1111.photobucket.com/user/DylanWhite72/media/Great%20Grandpas%20Legacy%20Build/1E26B0F5-3011-417D-A328-6A78E43E3759.jpg.html]http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...78E43E3759.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Well I'm sure as some of you may have noticed that the pictures on the thread are currently missing soon to be fixed by our wonderful admin Liz (thank you!) I made a boo boo and deleted the folder containing all of the build photos for the Great Grandpas Legacy DOH! Folder is fixed now and they should be in their respective places soon enough so I'm gonna go ahead into the next story of the build we had earlier this year.
We found a very cheap, drive home, complete SWB pickup on Craigslist to which my father will probably argue as one of his sons greatest negotiations of "getting bottom dollar and making the poor guy tuck his tail" all I say is we wanted the truck and had cash in hand so we got it :haha: anyway truck had to make three or four pit stops driving home with water spewing from the radiator on multiple occasions, she just couldn't hold a cold temp at all the port thing. But finally with much perseverance we got her home a 79 Heavy Half true swb find. Our big plan from the beginning was to find a frame and knock all of the old gear from above and below and build our air ride from the collected parts BUT! As well all know nothing seems to go as planned in the hot rod business and we found some very well hidden permanent issues with the front clip on this poor truck. She was just too far gone from what we felt was worth our trouble. We could make it right but why bother if we have the capabilities to make a true straight LWB frame a SWB and be that much more confident with it? No brainer for sure but we did at least manage to get a bed in the process so she's not a complete loss. Here's some progress photos of this whole ordeal. If anyone's lookin for a cab/front clip, and rolling frame she needs to go! Turbo 400 may need to go as well for the right price :) http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F70137F48F.png http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...91E4498F98.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...2BA348ADBA.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D937D410D1.png http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F0A1EBA2D2.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F53DD248A3.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...9C0ABE3D03.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...77016181F7.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...B61EA5C4E0.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...3C6A282D81.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...8D92CBAE7A.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...B2405567D3.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...174DCA41B4.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...28F5B1F815.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
So here comes probably the most infuriating task of this entire build. Constructing the entire rear trailing arms was a damn breeze compared to making this Porterbuilt crap fit together properly. Before everyone rags in on how great they are trust us we tried civilly for months fighting fitment issues and location problems with their entire drop member kit for the front. We didn't go extreme we didn't have anything fancy to make it all not fit we just simply purchased their mild drop member with arms and rack and pinion setup and have had the most aggravating time making it all work for us. We were extremely disappointed with the entire ordeal but thankfully we aren't quitters and we damn sure are capable of fabrication. So let's get this party started. Here's a breakdown and showing of all the new parts powdercoated and ready to install.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...9A9F324562.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...20AE5E64DD.jpg So up she goes on the rack to remove the entire front crossmember and get ready for new tech in this old war pig. As you can see the factory parts were well past used up on the Legacy. (Can't see them here but the upper ball joints were still riveted from the assembly line. We pushed through and pulled the whole crossmember except for the motor mount clamshells as those and a couple ratchet straps held the motor from falling through the middle of the rack for about three weeks. (Very impressed with the strength of the thread on those woven straps I must say.. http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...637C63674C.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...7168857A8E.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...5ED502FA22.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...C308F04E64.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...0F625F25BD.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...730019CF99.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D153348C42.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...E906150A07.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Continuing on with the install of the new mild porterbuilt dropmember we install the main unit itself as well as the upper and lower control arms with the new Mcgaughys 2 1/2" drop spindles. This process goes fairly smooth but once we start moving in all the inner units and motor mount pieces we begin finding major issues. With holes actually lining up for the motor mounts to the inner braces as well as the mounts being over an inch ahead of where the engine sits from factory. We read over the instructions endlessly looking to where we may have had user install errors but found none and seeked Nates help via email and phone call to which we were put up **** creek with no paddle. Moving on from that it was time to fabricate and make everything work, having to oblong holes, machine surfaces, fabricate new motor mount brackets, and drill new holes to get the engine to finally after weekends upon weekends sit flat and proper on our new stands and revised porterbuilt crap... We're not bitter we swear.. Anyway here are some of the shots from all that action.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...4D417B0B8A.png http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D0AE19A3E6.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...9F96082BDB.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...9D2880D5EF.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...8E07A2AE80.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...3FE958AC4E.png Dad ended up having his own upper bag mounts made for this since our upper were for coilover style. Few modifications and a fresh coat of powder made these turn out pretty darn well. http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F9096FA329.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F934B32D17.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...1D4E1C9998.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...9BAB762C4D.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Bummer that you had difficulties with the PB stuff. Everything looks great though.
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Wow. Dig this truck!
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How's this coming along? It's inspiring my next one!
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Sorry for the huge delay everyone! I'll be working on the next update tonight to bring everyone up to speed hopefully
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With the new front end all bolted together it was time to upgrade the steering as well with a full Rack and Pinion and multi angled steering shaft that fought us nearly all of the way and had our exhaust in pieces trying to persuade it through the tight mess that it now had is in. Here's some early shots and final adjustments that went into the whole process. Would like to announce that she steers wonderfully now with no binding however I'm still use to the old power steering boxes with that 1/4 turn of play so she reacts a bit more than I'm familiar with haha.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...CC773C364E.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...97CD8FFCD9.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F98FDEB6_1.png http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...00605E52B0.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...2E9D0E2EDD.jpg |
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After taking care of the steering shaft and lowest ride height we could finally focus on nailing the rest of the exhaust down through the the frame. Pops wanted to utilize some older Doug Thorleys so those needed some heavy modifications especially being in the driver side where we had to cut the entire first pipe out to adjust its trajectory around the steering heim. What a nightmare truthfully but we feel strong that we have it all settled correctly now. Shortening up the collectors to keep them off the ground when aired out was the next challenge but went by much easier. Moving on he rounded up a couple braided flex pipe sections to allow some movement with driving and from there on out we hand built and directed the piping all the way out the the dual dynamax circular mufflers to save a little space with the trailing arms being tucked in through that section. We hand dabbed some solid brackets to mount the mufflers and utilized quick clamps to modernize and make the system disassemble easier if we need access
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...75C097BDEA.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...E4F789AAE4.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...0433096E50.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D25654A5B8.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...20E4FBA017.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...3850372E6D.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...28254EA6EE.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...7EFE8F89ED.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...A1AB2CFBCF.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...E23FAB2290.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...319614CE30.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...060DDD0FEA.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...7C74C1E15C.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...6B8F1B81C4.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...8C23BB4DB0.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...2F0B7B0CD2.png http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...6ECB6C0630.png |
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Nice work on the exhaust. Everything came out really clean. It still looks awful tight around the steering.
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Most definitely tight but what doesn't clear will be slightly hammered around after a few hundred driving miles am I right? :haha:
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Well with the exhaust build behind us we moved forward with getting the new driveline all settled in place but ran into a big problem when we sent it out to be built.. the shop unfortunately added a couple inches in their measurements and well.. that's a no go when coming back for fitment after it was already powdercoated and everything. We explained the situation to the shop and they promptly fixed this issue asap for us and we were able to get it all dialed in the next week we came out to work though and are very pleased with the product as we had to conserve space we went with the minimal size tube and feel it found a very nice home in between the mufflers. We tackled this project by taking our factory one piece long wheel base driveline and chopping a section out and simply tacking it back together to get our true measurement, I turned some muffler hanger spacers that weekend as well and the dog showed her boredom. Very stoked to see this all coming together
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...98B636367A.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...063D4E19D3.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...45E3C81222.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...927EF140F2.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...17D4A8FA1C.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...B6737264BD.jpg |
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Fuel!! Time to wrangle up some ideas and well we weren't ready to go to the back of the frame per typical swaps and felt that the passenger side saddle longbed tank may possible work so we took a morning and drilled a couple holes (two in the shorter rear section of the frame actually lined up with the bracket miraculously) and mocked up where the factory placement would be and after a few safety cuts to eliminate possible incidents we found that we really like the use of the larger single tank over dual small tanks that most early shortbed trucks utilized. We are awaiting the union of the bed to finalize house direction but are pretty confident with our new/used tank location for the time being on this build.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...416FDFE30D.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...2B004C18F0.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...07E37F8A75.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...0B0164F5BB.jpg |
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We plan to use the passenger fill door as factory intended and the driver fill door as an access for the air ride manual valves for the time being until money can be rounded up for the tank and manifold system
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Here begins the beautifying process as we're fairly done with fitment and new parts so we went ahead and tore apart the entire rear suspension lines and all and jumped in to sandblasting the frame so that we could shoot it black and give it some longevity. Many of the other main parts were sent out for powdercoating. We took care of regasketing the rear and as well and coating the inspection cover and fresh fluid.
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...DD58209D2B.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...6DCD7ABB5D.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...F420BD2A7F.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...FEA557C047.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...17C715662E.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...469D9B7B6B.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...E7C4E1BA0F.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Honestly surprised we haven't had any response to the gas tank being so close to the right rear but hey maybe that means we're doing something right eh??
Pops gave me the what for on leaving his thread alone for over a week but with show season getting hot and heavy here in the valley for us we're both fairly stacked on our builds and getting everything lined out the way we need them to complete some shake down runs before jumping into trying to do a parade through downtown in 105 degree typica weather. Let me just say I'm very happy that both our truck have nice solid four core radiators with strong clutch fans keeping us nice and cool in that traffic jam. With all the new goodies coming back it was time to dress the frame with a new little black dress of sorts and starting piecing al the puzzle pieces together. We tied the trailing arms with the control arms in that lovely textured black finish and we're very pleased with the multitude of black from wrinkle to semi and finally gloss but they all seem to coexist nicely and we're pretty stoked with the results. Install was a breeze as I've probably fitted all these parts backwards and with a blindfold on about 100 times now as pops would say. It's been a long build but the satisfaction is finally showing it's pretty little head as we round the corners to the final stretch on this installment. Stay tuned we'll be going quick from here on! Pops laid down a mean couple layers of POR-15 on the fresh frame while I was back home that week and had the mid portion of the exhaust finally touched up on the welds all the way through and boy does it look amazing! http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D4F8BF9E52.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...3DB9C28454.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...75794473F0.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...B41FBB8C43.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...E2039D5F2B.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...FF2E8146F7.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...3AB19D7D7C.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...2F0B7B0CD2.png |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
Pops started bodywork on that hideous brown donor bed that we used for fitment and boy did it need some work! Obviously these old trucks weren't meant to stay pretty but hey doesn't the ad show a construction worker waling on the inner bed wall with a sledge??? False advertisement GM, shame on you. :haha:
While he was busting his time I took forth the task of our bulkhead mount for the main portion of the airride lines. This will provide a solid area for the future installment of onboard compressor and tank. But for now we're going manual! I haven't truly done welding in probably five years and I've gotta say I'm a bit bad in some area but overall I'm very happy with the result. At least I can state I was a welder not a grinder am I right??? Went ahead and got all the lines ran and buttoned up and she holds air for well over a few weeks at this point so I'd say that's a win. Take a look let us know what you think! http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...895E50BF83.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...52EC672680.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...EA8383F036.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...4658B36738.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...16D931D4C8.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...5791C8B0D9.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...B05BF987C5.jpg |
Re: Great Grandpa's Legacy reborn
This is an awesome build and thread! I saw quite a few custom mods on this build that I haven't quite seen before. Excellent work all around. I especially love the extra long c-notch to also incorporate space for the rear bags, the custom made trailing arms, and the custom headers/exhaust that tucks up in the frame. I am in for sure to see this thing progress.
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Test drive time!! Finally was able to do a nut and bolt check throughout the chassis and determined there was no more progress until we got to drive right?!?
So obvious excitement was abundant as we prepped the shop to get the truck out as it's been pretty much buried on the rack for a full year but it gave us the chance to clean up our mess all the same so we aired her up and got to cranking those 14 point turns out to negotiate the other projects in the shop. All was looking well so off I went leaving pop back at the shop for the time being to see how the truck would handle down the road. The first trek out seemed swell so I grabbed a few glamour shots and was even pumped to find out that she's a full roller when completely aired out.. well at least with a long sweeping driveway anyway :haha: So off I went to test some further travel, was able to get out and into a nice residential where I found some shade and started checking the engine bay for any nuances that may rear their ugly head in the madden voyage. Closing the hood and heading to the back to check the rear suspension I began hearing a slow leak that grew with the passing seconds and suddenly I was completely laid out in the front and dead in the water as far as movement goes to get back home. Called pop up with a few tools but found that the culprit had been slight slack in the passenger front airline causing the heat of the header to burn open a hole in the line as it ran next to the frame so an obvious failure on my end and unfortunately no jack to properly fix the problem. I'll let the pictures describe the ride back and disappointment of the oversight and the damage it caused.. Used a simple union to join the lines after I cut the bad section out. Legacy is back in the air and on the rack ready for the bed at this point. http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...1796DC65AF.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...D36A01A8BA.jpg http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/...1C6DB3AC8E.jpg |
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It's awesome that you got it out for a shake down run. Too bad you scratched up the new paint on the cross member though.
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New powder too. Ripped the greasezerts right outta the sway bar but hey it happens. Live an learn
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Man I sure have dropped the ball on where this build went haven’t I?
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It’s an awesome build! Great work!
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ill try and set a reminder to update this puppy as its in a big time need of that |
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Glad to see it drove!
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Awsome build!!
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Awesome to see it rollin'!
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