66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap

[Duncan K]

Well I got the motor and trans in their final position. Had the motor in and out several times to change the position of the mounts and the perches to get everything to clear. Haven't had a chance to put the cab back on to check firewall clearance. Judging by the measurements I took its gonna be close.

Got to work building the trans mount. I quiet often draw everything out on my welding table and use that to lay out the parts.



Tig welded the parts up



Centred and squared it up, then drilled it for a couple 1/2" bolts



Right now the transmission is set at 5 degrees but will be easy to shim if needed. I jacked the frame up level and checked the angle of the differential. It is sitting at 10 degrees up. I'm hoping that will decrease a bit when I put the lowering springs in. Then I guess I'll have to shim it the rest of the way to match the transmission.

I'll be getting to work stripping the suspension off and get everything sandblasted. Getting closer to paint and shiny new parts!!!

[Rusty63]

very nice,and nice welds,i tried tig 30 yrs ago stuck with stick and mig LOL,nice job on crossmember!

[tinydb84]

Id make the center of the lower section of your trans crossmember thicker. Strength is gained by the height of steel not the thickness.

[Notch1988]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Id make the center of the lower section of your trans crossmember thicker. Strength is gained by the height of steel not the thickness.

I would bet that crossmember could handle the weight of the entire truck with little to no deflection.

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Id make the center of the lower section of your trans crossmember thicker. Strength is gained by the height of steel not the thickness.

I thought about beefing up the bottom a bit more but decided the 3/8 flat bar was enough. After getting it welded up it is pretty stout, the frame rail its mounted to will bend before it does.

Got my Boyd's tank from UPS today. Man is this thing pretty!! Welds are a thing of beauty, it will be a real shame to hide this thing under the bed. I really like that it came complete with in tank pump and sending unit.



Started working on getting the front suspension off. Couple hours with a torch, big hammer, pickle fork and a lot of swearing got the job done.



Found both springs were broken when I pulled them out.

[Duncan K]

Finished removing the rest of the suspension. Old ball joints are out, trailing arms off. Ready to get everything sandblasted.



Hoping to get everything painted, reassembled and back as a full roller in the next few weeks.

[Nanook]

Nice build thread.
Currently working in the Calgary area so maybe will get to see the build when completed!

[Duncan K]

First round of blasting got done this afternoon. Took the suspension parts down to try out a DIY sandblasting place. Best money I have spent in a while!! Endless high pressure air supply, no waiting, no clean up. Feels so good to have a few parts without rust and 50 years of grime on them. Hoping to head back there with the frame and the rear end in the morning. Supposed to snow for the next 4 days starting mid morning so I have to get this done quick.

[Notch1988]

Do they charge by the hour? How much is it?

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by Notch1988

Do they charge by the hour? How much is it?

$150/hr, took me 40 min to do the suspension parts

[Captainfab]

Wow! My blaster charges $60 hr and he does the work.

Originally Posted by Duncan K

$150/hr, took me 40 min to do the suspension parts

[SkinnyG]

Canada. Ain't nothing cheap up here

[mongocanfly]

diy blasting...new one on me to...and that does sound high at 150/hr....like you said..Canada $$...what can you do...

[Duncan K]

Caught a break in the weather today. Frame and rear end are blasted.

[Notch1988]

Everything looks great. What's the plan for paint?

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by Notch1988

Everything looks great. What's the plan for paint?

Semi gloss black on the frame and suspension parts. Got a start on it yesterday.

[Notch1988]

Brush on POR15?

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by Notch1988

Brush on POR15?

Used Tremclad. I might bag this truck in the future which would require mods to the frame and arms. I've read that once you put Por15 on the metal doesn't weld very well even after grinding it off. I also like the idea of easy spray can touch ups.

My kids came out to help me paint the frame today. The extra hands made short work of it. Hope to get it flipped over and the other side painted tomorrow.

[northern 85]

Looks fantastic! Its great to see kids smiling while working!!

[Jferrante]

Good stuff

[SkinnyG]

Make sure you follow the re-coat "window" on the can - Tremclad wrinkles nasty if you re-coat at the wrong time.

(I painted my '77 with Tremclad and a roller - tee hee)

[aggie91]

Nice work so far. Joining in to see it to the end...

[Duncan K]

Got the frame flipped over, kids helped me paint the frame again while the dog supervised.



Pressed out the old trailing arm bushings and installed some new polyurethane ones. Got the rear end painted and started putting the rear suspension back together. Using 5" drop springs and 2" drop blocks. So nice to be working with clean, freshly painted parts and brand new hardware. No more rust and grime!!



Painted the spindles and callipers and put the front suspension together. 2.5" drop spindle and 3" drop springs.



Good buy old drum brakes, hello shiny new disks.



Up until this point everything had been great with this Grand Slam kit from CPP. Bolted up the front wheels and found that the rotor hub doesn't fit the centre hole on the wheel. From all the stories I've read about CPP's customer service I'm not looking forward to getting this sorted out.




Does anyone know what rotors I can use on the CPP spindles that will fit the stock wheel opening? I'm thinking it might just be easier to buy a proper set than deal with CPP and have to ship the old ones back.

Bolted both front wheels up so at least its a roller now. I've got some major positive camber in the front. I'm doubtful that even removing all the shims will correct it. Anyone experience this with a 5.5" drop?



Still have to sort out the rear shock relocation and hook up the steering linkage but I think I'll leave that for later. Plan to tear down the LS and get the block off to the machine shop.

[Pinchecharlie]

Hmm..mine is the same drop and had to have a very large shim pack added to get back to normal? In fact I added longer bolts on the upper control arm and my alignment guy said I barley had enough bolt? So it would be nice if yours will balance out with just a small set? Otherwise I Dunno? Is it the caliper that won't fit in the wheel opening or the rim opening isn't centered on the disc bolt pattern? That would mean the disc bolt pattern was askew right? Always something! Let us know what you find out! Otherwise a lot done!!!! Cool that the kids are game for some work!

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by Pinchecharlie

Hmm..mine is the same drop and had to have a very large shim pack added to get back to normal? In fact I added longer bolts on the upper control arm and my alignment guy said I barley had enough bolt? So it would be nice if yours will balance out with just a small set? Otherwise I Dunno? Is it the caliper that won't fit in the wheel opening or the rim opening isn't centered on the disc bolt pattern? That would mean the disc bolt pattern was askew right? Always something! Let us know what you find out! Otherwise a lot done!!!! Cool that the kids are game for some work!

Rotor hub is to small for the wheel opening. Not sure if it will be easier to switch rotor or wheels.