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Love it!! I'm soooo jealous. Keep up the good work

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I had hoped to get a bunch done over the Thanksgiving break, but I did something to my back, so Saturday and Sunday were wasted. Beyond the last post, I stripped the paint off the Flowmaster stainless steel mufflers and sanded most of the exhaust smooth. I don’t believe I’m going to ceramic coat it. The stainless should hold up well enough.

Today, the rear end came back from the assembler. It’s got 3.73 Richmond gears, an Eaton Truetrac differential and Moser axels. The yoke was upgraded to a Yukon Gear part that allows 1350 U- joints to be used.

Re: Lss3
 

Subscribed. Looking good. That exhaust work is perfection. I'm going to do an LS swap and want a crossover pipe but it gets pretty crowded.

Especially an X-pipe which I may have to skip because I want my exhaust to run through the crossmember like yours.

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Did you say what drop you are going for.?

I'm planning on a 5.5/8 static drop for mine.

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I'm only going to use 3" in the front and 4" in the back. If you go much further, the frame would need to be notched and the exhaust would not fit over the axels without raising the bed floor.

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Glad you've thought it out. That's what I love about this forum. I figured I'd do a c-notch and, with that, plan to forget about having a trailer hitch. But I hadn't thought about the exhaust over the rear axle. And I do want the exhaust to exit out back. I can see now that will tight.

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The rear end is done and ready for installation. I shimmed the calipers to center them on the rotor, adjusted the packing brake shoes so they just clear the internal drums and put on the cover. The cover is a Kentrol 304GM12TR stainless steel unit. It is a very nice part that is almost an 1/8” thick.

Yesterday I ordered a VaporWorx fuel pressure controller. It pulse width modulates the power to the pump based on a fuel pressure sensor. It should keep the pressure at a constant 58PSI. At low engine output, the pump will be working at a low duty cycle. This should greatly increase the pump’s life.

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Nice work on the rear differential. This chassis is a work of art man:metal:

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Over the last week I’ve been working on painting the transmission. It’s been much harder than it should be. The pant didn’t cure the first time. I used Dupli-color Grease and Wax Remover to clean it. It seems to have left a slightly oily residue. I ended up cleaning all the bad paint of with straight acetone. It took a ton of scrubbing with a tooth brush and lots of fresh acetone. Both times the trans was heated to around 80 degrees before painting. The paint is Dupli-color Cast Coat Grey. It cured fine the second time around.

Since the trans was being bolted in for the hopefully last time, I tried to install the cover for the front of the bell housing. They didn’t fit. They must be for a different setup. Oh well.

The VaporWorx fuel pressure controller arrived. The pressure sensor is mounted to the fuel filter.

I had hoped to get the rear suspension on the truck this weekend, but things kept getting in the way. First, the exhaust needed to go on, but to do that required the rear bumper brackets to hang it from. To get at some of the bolts, the fuel tank had to come out. The inner brackets could be installed because of a couple of the hidden hitch’s mounting bolts. After trimming some bolts, nuts and washers, it all fits. Maybe the suspension will be in next weekend.

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Woops! It doesn't look like the pictures were uploaded. Here they are.

In the last post, I said that the covers for the front of the bell housing didn't fit. I discovered that I was orienting them wrong. I thought they would bolt to the block or the bell housing. No, The bolt to the oil pan. The driver's side fits perfectly while the passenger side will need a little trimming. I'll try to get some picture, but it won't be easy.

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I assume you are gonna throw some bucket seats in the cab to work with that shifter location? Great info on this thread!!

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Thanks. Back on page two of the thread I showed some pictures of the home made shifter and my bench seat. The stick is comfortable for me with the seat all the way back and also works for my wife with it all the way forward. However, since then I have found a shorter throw shifter. The current one moves about 5" going from first to second. It will drop to under 3" if I use the Core shifter, but it will mean building another stick.

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I discovered a small problem re-fitting the exhaust. The H-pipe section warped a little when it was finish welded. It fits the engine mounts fine, but where the tail pipes attach, it is about a quarter of an inch too close together. I wedged it apart to make it fit, but it will take more to keep it in position. Maybe a hydraulic jack and a little heat will do the trick.

Some trimming made the passenger side bell housing cover fit.

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Some heat and a jack worked great to spread the exhaust. Tin foil made sure the powder coat didn’t get damaged by the torch.

The rear suspension is installed and the frame is finally off jack stands and is sitting on the springs. It will be great to when I get the tires and wheels so it will be a rolling chassis.

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Looks great man.

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Beautiful build. I can tell you that 3.73 is the way to go. Awesome acceleration and great highway cruising combo. I have 13k on my 6.0/T-56 build from last year to now. Enjoy!

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I bolted on some of the engine accessories and started laying out the wiring harness. It will take a lot of work to neaten it up. Many of the sensor pigtails seem way too long. I’ll need to take off most of the split loom so the wires can be neatly dressed.

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coming along great man. how did you end up running the parking brake cable for the internal drum of the rear disc brakes. could never get mine to sync up very well. also did have the body completely removed either.

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Looking really good. Are you using a Chevrolet Performance wiring harness?

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The parking brake is tricky. My exhaust interferes with the stock type of cabling. I do have a rough plan, but it will be a while before it is all done. I'll include lots of pictures when I get around to it.

The wiring harness is the GM Performance one. It will take a lot of work to make it look nice, but what doesn't on this project.

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Its looking great!!!1 what trailor hitch do you have? I seen it mounts from the side

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The hitch is a Hidden Hitch from CPP (6772HTH-K).

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awesome build. following!

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The pulley needed to come off to install the high pressure fittings. Unfortunately, the pulley was damaged in the process.

The adapter fitting came with the CPP hydro boost system. The fitting on the right came with the pump. The one on the left adapts to AN-6. The hose end interfered with the back of the pulley. 0.100” was removed on a lathe to get clearance.

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Looks great man. I can vouch for the core shifter . I just got one for my builds and it feels great and the throw is short .