my build thread

[FRENCHBLUE72]

We soooooooooooooooooooo should have figured out a way to get that front clip home...

[sams60gmc]

I really want to go pick it up, however i don't want to fight the rusty bolts to break it down for it to fit in the Yukon.

[creep]

Looking good! The shaved driprail came out great.

[sams60gmc]

Thanks man. Needs a little more work to be completely done.
Will get a front clip on it tomorrow.
Then its time to get it ready for Haloween.
Its gonna be put on the side walk with a skeleton holding the steering wheel and a strobe light going off inside.
Laid out of course.

[sams60gmc]

Update......

[creep]

That there is slicker than snot!

[sams60gmc]

Thanks man. Still gotta figure out the bed mounts, finish the body mounts, and figure out how to build a hood hinge set up, but she's coming along.

[creep]

I just installed Porterbuilt's hood hinges last weekend. The weren't terribly difficult for me so they should be a sinch for you. Not badly priced either.

[sams60gmc]

Yeah but being a machinest I have such a hard time buying things that I know I can make haha.
Might just take a stack of cardboard and a half rack to come up with something.

[creep]

Yeah, not to mention the pride you get from solving a problem for yourself. For me that means busting out the debit card!

[sams60gmc]

Hey man there is nothing wrong with that tho! I guess I've always been kind of a tight wad tho!

[creep]

My friends and I like to make stuff ourselves when we can but it's mostly little things like my tank bracket, fan shroud and battery box, but the major parts that require lots of engineering or calculations we leave to the pros. The fact that you've got the skills to build your own parts makes your truck that much cooler.

[sams60gmc]

Originally Posted by creep

My friends and I like to make stuff ourselves when we can but it's mostly little things like my tank bracket, fan shroud and battery box, but the major parts that require lots of engineering or calculations we leave to the pros. The fact that you've got the skills to build your own parts makes your truck that much cooler.

Hey man thanks. I really appreciate that!

[troy54gmc]

Hey Sams, just curious im building a 54 gmc and i grafted a 75 nova sub on the front and i am in the process of doing the same thing you did to your rear. 2x4 box building it due to rear end damage to the frame. My question is did you just butt weld you tubing together in the rear and the whole z thing in the front that doesnt throw the alignment off or give you steering and handeling nightmares? Also how come you built your rear support for the four link so tall in the back, just to clear the axle? The reason i ask all these dumb questions is because this is my first time building sub frames and i dont want all the headaches down the road. Any technical info you can give would be greatly appreciated. By the way your building skills are great..Thanks Troy.

[sams60gmc]

Originally Posted by troy54gmc

Hey Sams, just curious im building a 54 gmc and i grafted a 75 nova sub on the front and i am in the process of doing the same thing you did to your rear. 2x4 box building it due to rear end damage to the frame. My question is did you just butt weld you tubing together in the rear and the whole z thing in the front that doesnt throw the alignment off or give you steering and handeling nightmares? Also how come you built your rear support for the four link so tall in the back, just to clear the axle? The reason i ask all these dumb questions is because this is my first time building sub frames and i dont want all the headaches down the road. Any technical info you can give would be greatly appreciated. By the way your building skills are great..Thanks Troy.

The rear end of the frame was grafted into the stock frame and then fish plated on the side, I think you can see it in a previous picture. I don't know the reason I built my front truss so tall, I think it was to clear the drive shaft. This is my first time building anything like this so I was kind of shooting in the dark with the rear end.
I hope the front end doesn't give me any alignment nightmares, I measured about a million times when doing it. The steering would be a big problem if I stayed with a steering box but I decided to go rack and pinion and tuck it up into the frame. Should only have to buy 2 Flaming river universal joints to hook it up.
Thanks for the comments! Hope I gave you a little insight

[Alan's Classic]

It's been a while since I checked in. It's looking awesome. Keep up the great progress!!

[sams60gmc]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

It's been a while since I checked in. It's looking awesome. Keep up the great progress!!

Thanks Alan!
Posted via Mobile Device

[sams60gmc]

It looks like I might be able to get them in a flat rate big box. Pm me your Address and I'll get them off to you.
Posted via Mobile Device

[sams60gmc]

Getting my motor tomorrow after work, if the crank mic's out okay I'll start assembley next next week.
Can't wait to build the motor mounts. I've got a couple trick ideas stewing in my head.
I'm also contemplating on changing around my rear end set up a little. Ripping out that front cross member and building something a little more visually appealing, haven't really been too thrilled with that part since I did it.

[sams60gmc]

Sold the old 305 the other day to a guy thats wanted it for a while. Glad to see it go to someone who will enjoy it.
Got some cash to either finish up my motor or put towards a TIG welder... Haven't decided yet.

[sams60gmc]

Well I got my new motor. The crank sucked but it had some 1.94 heads on it so that was a good score all for 13 dollars.
Also been working on the firewall filling every single hole in it. Probably around 20+
Made plans today to change around my rear end. Instead of the Y link up top I'm going to build a new crossmember and run 2 seperate top links that bend inwards then outwards to the tabs, I will try to hug the drive shaft as close as possible, I think that will look the best, then I can get rid of that ugly front crossmember. Doing this will un-triangulate the rear end so I will need to run a watts link, so I did some machining on one today. Still need to do the outer profile and build the links but I think it will look pretty sweet.


and in unrelated truck talk I pinstripped a bunch of Christmas tree balls and handed them out to friends and family. Merry Christmas everyone.

[sams60gmc]

We'll I got tired of waiting on my buddy to deliver my 18g sheet for filler pieces so I came up with another solution that worked out great. All of the holes I needed to fill were round, I measured them and today at work I took shaft and turned it to the sizes I needed, then with a part off tool I cut them off about .062-.05 thick. They worked out amazing. Almost done with all the welding then its on to some grinding and mud work.

[66Z71]

I luv it. Make your own sheetmetal plugs. Only in Grants Pass (my home town BTW).

[sams60gmc]

Originally Posted by 66Z71

I luv it. Make your own sheetmetal plugs. Only in Grants Pass (my home town BTW).

Dude you would be surprised at how well those plugs worked out, machined fit can't get any better.

[sams60gmc]

Well guys some slow progress but progress is progress I guess.
I made my brake adapter plate and finished my firewall shave.


I also needed to change out my tail gate trunnions, I made a set of these for a guy at work so I made my self a set. They are UHMW so they wont rust and they will wear great.



Also non truck related but figured I would share a good idea I had.
So my weekend project was refinishing the wheels on my car. I had some deep scratches from the previous owner. I had always wondered about machining the scratches out.
So I went for it. I clamped them down to the vertical mill and machined .015'' out of the lip of my wheel. It worked out great and I would recommend it to anyone with deep gouges in your wheels.
I then DA'd them with 180 then wet sanded them with 320-400-800-1000-1500-2000 to give me a great finish. I picked up some mothers polish but don't know if I'm going to use it yet. I taped off the lip and here is the finished product.
I know its not a truck but, hey this advice may help to save your nice pickup wheels






Also very non truck related, the machine shop I used to work for went out of business so my work had a killer oppurtunity to buy a bunch of thier stuff for a killer deal. Hell I would have bought it all my self if I had a place to put it.
So I got a shop addition super stoked on it, I got 2 new lathes 2 New CNC milling machines, programming software, tooling... A ton of stuff, that ol Yukon had a heavy load on it. Anyways heres the shop extension I'll get some pics up of my machines when I get all organized.
Expect alot of cool machined goodies going on this truck soon!
Where I'm standing is in my current shop that is bigger than that area.
Cheers guys.