Re: Rat repair.
 

It's looking real nice! I would be a little concerned with those front brake lines. It looks like they're really close to their max. I have this problem on mine and I had new lines made, but still didn't make them long enough. They are 24" long, and if that's longer than the ones you have, let me know, and they're yours.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Yea i figured i probably better get some longer ones being as i cant get the rear springs out yet, I have to spend the day running errands before work so i will swing in to 4 wheel parts while i'm in Tacoma (not where i bought my lift) and see if they have any in stock. The problem i'm finding with most web sites is they say good for a 4" lift ect but don't give measurements.. Thanks for the compliments!

Re: Rat repair.
 

If you want to measure yours from end to end and see if they are < 24", and you think 24" will work for you, just pay for shipping and I'll send these brand new ones to you. On my frame, my brake lines actually needed to go to a hole in the frame in front of the bump stop, instead of behind it like the newer models.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Just went back and read your post about the brake lines, your post brought up a real good point..... :lol: I'll go measure them after i finish my coffee and let you know.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=358

Re: Rat repair.
 

It looks to me like 24" would work out great! Measuring from the flange that nests into the frame to the center of the eye bolt, the ones i have measure 19.5" I'll send a PM.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Hi Swamp Rat
I checked out your build thread. I have similar rear disk break conversation that you are installing. It came with the 14 bolt axel I bought. I changed out the brake calipers with one off a Cadillac Eldorado as they have parking break lever on the caliper. I have not completed the installation yet as I'm still working on the rotted sheet metal. Will you be using a line lock for parking break?

Re: Rat repair.
 

My initial plan was to add a drive line brake system but haven't ruled out adding a line lock. Still researching that one, i hear one is available from TCI and another from Mr Gasket but haven't started searching yet.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Back to where i left off at post 80:

Woke up the day after i posted about not being able to cut thru the bolts, i put so much force into trying to make the cuts i musta pulled some muscles because i hurt pretty bad for a couple days.. :)

So Sunday it was apparent i could not buy a functioning torch to save my life so i called it quits for the day.

Monday i headed Harbor Freight to look at and bought a new floor jack, the jack i have would lift fine but the release screw would stick bad so every time i tried to let it down easy it took too so much force to turn the handle more often than not it would drop hard, just too dangerous when setting jack stands ect. Bought the 4T model from Pittsburgh, it seems like its a nice jack but i haven't used it just yet...

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-h...8056-8050.html

Then i went to a local welding place with the intent of buying a Victor torch set, the set i wanted including the one time purchase of full bottles took me to over $600, and there was a also little voice in my head that kept repeating the words Plasma....Plasma...Plasma.... I have used them before so i started asking about Plasma cutters that would also fit my needs, drawbacks, requirements ect. the only thing it won't do for me is braze welding and heating rusted bolts, but it cuts much nicer than a torch.. So for a little less than double the cost of the torch set i came home with one of these, made in America and they also make the Miller plasma cutters as well (per the sales guy) so consumables shouldn't be a problem. I've needed a cutter for years so figured now would be a good time

http://www.hypertherm.com/en/Product...powermax30.jsp

Moisture on the other hand would be a problem so i bought another filter water separators for my compressor on the way home and i promptly grabbed the wrong thread and have to exchange it tomorrow. :waah:

I also gave in and ordered longer front brake lines as well, it was a frekin expensive day! I'll be paying for this for quite a while.... :smoke: But i'll be back at it pretty soon.. everyone needs a break now and then..

Re: Rat repair.
 

Sorry to hear you spent so much. My brother bought a plasma cutter from Harbor Freight and it was returned by previous person and it was on sale. The sales manager just wanted to get rid of it. he walked out the door for $367.00 + air dryer. I installed new cord and plug to use at my house. It works great. To bad we live so fare away. I have a spare torch set i would be willing to sell.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Plasma cutter was the best investment I've ever made I love it!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Yea i could have gotten the Harbor freight one, but i don't trust harbor freight stuff for long life, if its something like this i'd rather go American made. its all good.

Re: Rat repair.
 

So i got my compressor set up now with an extra 25' of line coming off the compressor and then built a small manifold system with a couple drain valves on the bottom, I also added a filter/water separator on both the front and back of the manifold, then attached my air hose, I now have some dry air! The extra 25' of hose allows the air to cool before it hits the filter/water separator.

Had some fun today cutting the springs, shackles and bolts off the truck, that rubber is some pretty nasty stuff, but i got it done and got one side installed, the other side has just the front bolt installed then had to quit cause it was late and dark.

I found one possible problem, the small stock bracket that sits on the top of the springs looks like its too thin, at least for these U-bolts, the inner corner of the U-bolts hit the springs before they get tight against the bracket. I would like to replace them with something a bit more thick or sturdy, or at a minimum maybe cut a piece of strap to place under it?

I had to cut a few threads off the upper shackle bolt to gain some clearance.

The passenger side mounts seem to be squeezed a little tighter cause i'm having more trouble getting the springs and shackle slipped into place, wish i had a Port-a-Power to open them up a little..

My new jack seems to be great so far too.

Re: Rat repair.
 

looking great! The disc brakes really modernize it too. I am basically doing the same thing. On the eaton, I see you fought the mounting plate a little and they moved the holes, I hope I don't have that issue as well but we'll see. How do you like the length of the new studs on the eaton rear? Have you bolted on the wheels yet to see how they look? They just look long, but that may in fact be a good thing.

Also, curious what was wrong with your front hubs that they needed replacing? As for the spindles, were they worn from the oil seals? Frustrating to hear the stuff is different between 72's and 71's. The rear drum brakes are different on the eatons as well between those two years.

keep up the good work, curious to see what you do for a parking brake.

Re: Rat repair.
 

I believe the fix for your rear u bolts is another trip to Off Road Design

Re: Rat repair.
 

The rear lugs work great with my aluminum wheels, i had the wheels back on when i was doing some of the final assembly to the front.

The wheel bearings were way out of adjustment enough that the bearing races wore on the spindle enough that it was undersized,, the big lock nut was backed off and i guess the inner nut backed off as well, i didn't want to risk trying to use them and have to rework it allover again.

I have pretty much decided that i'll install a driveline brake but that will be sometime next year hopefully. Thanks for stopping by.. :)

Re: Rat repair.
 

Got the last spring installed today sans all the U bolts being as i need to find and order new top plates.. gives me time to prep and paint the lower bracket (saddle???) I'll have something ordered by Monday hopefully.. But for now i gotta go to work..

Re: Rat repair.
 

Thanks, i'll check into it Monday!

Re: Rat repair.
 

I forgot to add unlike the driver side where i was able to slide the spring and bushings or shackle into the stock frame hangers fairly easy. The passenger side was so tight it took me forever to get the front spring bolt thru the sleeve and thru the back side of the mount, I finally got the bolt thru after fighting it for about an hour with an alignment drift, jack, dead blow hammer ect, then tried to get the ORD shackle installed in the rear mount but it was also fighting me, plus it was past dark so i wrapped it up for the night.

I was thinking to myself i could sure use a Porta Power to get in there and open the mount up a little but i'm sure not gonna go buy one. Then i had an idea, simple but as it ended up pretty effective, i found a bolt, nut and 2 washers for each side, then greased up the threads and greased the washers and slipped into into place and started backing the nut into the outer part of the mount, i estimate i under pressure moved the outer part of the flange about 1/4" then cranked the nut in and released it, the mount of course looked like it came right back to the original spot but i took the bolt assy out and was able to work the ORD shackle into place with just a little effort. Worked like a champ!

Zoomed in a little too close, the threads are sticking out of the outer hole of the mount, Bolt head is against the back hole.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Thast a good idea to us the bolt and nuts to spread the hanger. I think I will have to steel your idea when I get aroung to working on mine.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Just smear that grease around so it moves freely, threads included, also i used a grade 8 bolt and nut, fine thread. The wrenches did not have that much resistance so i never felt like i was getting into a hairy situation but i was concerned that if i went too far maybe the mount would stress crack or something cause i don't know if they are hardened steel.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Lookie what i found today! :)

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=1#post6314975

Re: Rat repair.
 

How does the song go... "If it weren't for bad luck i'd have no luck at all...Gloom DISREPARE and agony on me" :)

When i installed the front Fox shocks i kinda felt that the shock bodys were a little long, sitting on the ground i have about 4" of compression travel but about 6.5" of travel to the bump stops, but decided to wait till i could get to the rear shocks today, installed one shock and jacked up the rear end, there is only about 2.75" of compression travel left, obviously something isn't right so i called my local 4X4 place and they called BDS, they asked me to verify that the numbers on the shock body are correct, yep they are the correct number but i still have a problem, so another call to BDS and the tech guy is hashing it out with the engineers to try and figure out the problem, more delays..

On a good note, I got the longer front brake hoses installed today, man they are a pita!

Re: Rat repair.
 

They are awful to replace with engine in. I tried that on a 71 GMC K2500 last year and eventually a buddy and I got them in. On my Ochre 71 chevy, I had the engine out and it was a piece of cake:metal:

Good luck on the shocks, that should be 101 stuff for those guys, surprised they need to "contact the engineers".

Re: Rat repair.
 

They are contacting because all the numbers they say are for my truck match what i have but when you look at the pic's its obvious there is a problem. If i feel up to it tomorrow i'll remove the rear shocks and keep pushing forward


Yea the front brake hoses are even worse with Headers installed too!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Went out and took off the rear shocks today and got out my floor jack and stands and went thru the lifting of the truck routine once again to take actual shock mount measurements both in the free state and while sitting on the wheels got roughly 6" too long on the rear and 2" too long on the front then sent the measurements to the local offroad shop, then put the wheels back on again.

While the front end was up I double checked my new longer front brake lines in the free hanging state and also turning the wheels side to side, 25" is great length for this kit.

Never got around to hooking my alternator and battery back up after welding the rubber brake hose tabs on the back so did that and put my battery charger on it for the night (2 amp)

Then while i was fiddling with the steering dampener i noticed one of the front U bolts was not hanging straight down when i torqued it so i reached over and got my 3lb hammer and gave it a love tap and it snapped right over so i had to re torque it, amazingly just from me jacking the axle and truck up and down a number of times all the rest of the U bolts all needed re torquing as well.

Tomorrow i need to work on getting my brakes bled, maybe reinstall the seat without the carpet and padding so i can get closer to a test drive. still have to set toe in and adjust the steering arm length. Its also looking like a lot of the play in my front end is coming from the rebuilt steering gear, i know how to adjust the upper screw but there is a different adjustment i recall reading about somewhere on this forum, gonna have to check into that later.

The days are getting short and we have been on a fog for about 2-3 weeks now, don't know what sunlight is any more...

Re: Rat repair.
 

Hi swamp rat
you should check the U bolts after driving a short distance. the tend to strech. Retorking them a couple of times you should be good to go. typical with new Ubolts. The days are getting shorter in Cal as well. it get worse when day light savings starts at the end of the month.

Re: Rat repair.
 

I searched your thread for "tank" but didn't get any info on here did you got the rear tank and roughly what did it cost? I'm curious about that. I see brothers has a rear blazer suburban tank kit on sale now for 170 or so and I'm tempted. Would be nice to have room behind seat and a little more weight over the rear wheels. What did you do on the cab hole for the filler?

Re: Rat repair.
 

Got it from a board member/vendor FuelCellGuy,

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/member.php?u=8871

He was running group buys here on the forum, not 100% sure if he does this now or if you have to buy his tanks thru other places, Send him a PM and ask. he had options for where the filler is installed, or if you wanted fuel injection ect. Don't remember exactly but i think i payed about 350-375? Right now i still have the stock tank in the cab.

Long story short a couple years ago i got sidelined with some health issues and couldn't finish the install, then had to remodel the kitchen once i got better. I have the line run to the fuel pump but its not terminated, i have a flip door out of an S10 and filler tube but have yet to install it or the filler in the side of the bed. I plan on finishing the talk next spring but i'm considering leaving the stock tank as well and adding a fuel selector valve so i have extended range.

This is a link to all the threads he started.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...archid=3972222

Re: Rat repair.
 

Well today was yet a couple more setbacks, Go Figure..

In June of 2011 i purchased a Phoenix Systems brake bleeder after watching Stacy Davids Gears TV program, never got around to needing it until today, so with high hopes i got it out last night and familiarized myself with the unit, then this morning i tried to perform a vacuum flush at the caliper first with the intent of doing a reverse bleed once i felt all the old fluid was drawn out, tried for about 20 minutes with no luck so i decided to try direct pressure at the master cylinder, i was able to get some fluid to flow but every time i pumped the gun it would draw in all kinds of super fine air bubbles into the gun with no bubbles in the feed hose, Long story short after checking all the hoses, fittings and one way valve i can only conclude the pump and possibly a couple fittings have an air leak and does not work properly..

The other setback, one of the calipers that i got with my disk conversion kit had a frozen bleed screw, the housing was actually bored oversize and a threaded sleeve was installed then the bleeder screw was threaded into the sleeve, never seen that before.. when i went to crack the screw open it was super tight, more pressure and the sleeve started backing out instead of the bleed screw..... So my option was to go buy another caliper locally and use the bad one as a core, or contact the conversion company tomorrow and see if they would let me ship it back to them and wait for another one to be shipped back, that is if they are cooperative with me, so i said to hell with it and bought another caliper today.. Getting a fresh coat of red tonight..

Tomorrow is another day..

Re: Rat repair.
 

Another K20 build...I'm on board. Great work!!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Set up my workbench for a rush paint job on the caliper last night and put a couple space heaters on it to cure over night, then installed the new caliper this morning, guess i need to disassemble the pump gun ether before i leave for work or after work to see if i can find a problem.. My email to Brake bleeder.com is still unanswered..

Re: Rat repair.
 

lookin good! Keep crankin away.
Chris

Re: Rat repair.
 

I didn't quite follow your brake bleeding procedure there, but i've heard of air leaking through the bleeder screw threads while trying to use a vacuum. My dad puts a dab of grease on the bleed screw threads when he uses a vacuum to bleed brakes, and the grease seals the treads. If that sounds like your problem that could be worth a shot before you tear into your pump.
Good luck.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Ya know what i need is to be able to get one of my friends to live closer and be on the same shift as me so then i would have some help doing it the old fashioned way.. :)

Isn't grease a contaminant? The owners manual does talk about using some silicone sealant of some kind but does not specify what kind when doing a vaccum bleed. Any ideas??

This tool has 4 different ways to use, 2 bleed and 2 flush if i recall correctly.

But when i got all the air bubbles i was doing a direct inject into the rear port of the master cylinder with a special nozzle tip so i was pulling fluid out of the container into the gun and injecting it into the master cylinders rear port, i could push the fluid in but when i released the lever to refill the guns cylinder that's when i would get all the air bubbles into the gun so it had nothing to do with the bleeders.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Took the gun apart while reading the manual ect, i did find that there is a felt seal behind an O-ring that the manual said needed to be wet before installation, does break fluid dry out? Nothing said to open the pump and saturate it first.. so i did that, checked the one way valves ect, I did a couple tests and found one of the siphon tubes does not seal when used with its coupler so will not use it.

Still looking for an answer on the Silicone film this manual says to use on the bleeder screw threads when performing a vacuum flush at the calipers.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Grrrr.. I frekin hate brake lines fitting leaks! Not to mention my vacuum bleeder seems to be a POS... I just went back thru and retightened everything, its all brand new hoses, copper washers, steel lines fittings ect. If i tighten stuff any more i will probably break or strip something so if it leaks after this i won't know what else to do but take it all apart and start over..

Re: Rat repair.
 

Oh I forgot to add, after i fired up the truck when i push down on the brake pedal the pedal takes its sweet time coming back up, pretty slow, what would cause this?? It seemed to act normal when the engine was off.

Any ideas?? I suppose my booster is bad??

Re: Rat repair.
 

Reevaluating my situation on my rear disk conversion and brakes, my lower flex hoses at the caliper in the disk conversion kit were female 3/16 inverted flair so i bought fittings to bring it up to the stock size 1/4 female flair, made 1/4 steel lines because the first upper hose i bought for my lift was also the stock size 1/4 female inverted flair.

When my longer upper hose arrived it had the 3/16 female inverted thread at the T only so i said to hell with it and bought 2 more adapters so i could keep my 1/4 steel lines. and in the prior post you read i was griping about leaks at the fittings...

So i gave in today and bought some 3/16 X 40" steel lines and will be bending and flaring them and getting rid of the adapter fittings..

I believe the problem with the slow pedal return is due to the proportioning valve needing to be reset, I don't know if its gonna reset by itself when i replace the steel lines at this time.

I put the key in the ign today and turned the key on, and there was no brake light on the dash, but there was also no oil light ether so that's a first, the truck would turn over so now i got to figure out whats going on there too.

it never ends... ;)

Re: Rat repair.
 

Funny you mention the rear brake lines, I was just wondering How to do them on my truck now with the rear discs. Guess I will run hard lines until 12" or so from the calipers then buy some flex hoses, maybe a set of fronts to allow the calipers to move.

On the bleeder, I'd just grab the wife or neighbor for a few minutes, and save some more frustration.

Does the booster have that problem without the lines connected? I'd just use process of elimination on that one.

Re: Rat repair.
 

I would say 12" hose would be fine, even 10, but the hoses the disk conversion place sent me are pretty short. If i had to do a disk conversion allover again i would save a lot of heartache and piece it together myself. Don't forget to add a solid mount for the hose onto the axle, just scroll back a bit and you will see where i put mine, i was hoping the rubber hose would reach to the inside of the U Bolts. Humm, i just realized i do have some hoses that were too short for the front, but i'll bet there way to long for the back. :)

I figure i'll have to plan on unbolting the master from the booster too and see if the pedal gets better and eliminate the booster, wish i had thought of trying it out before i put the master and prop valve on but this is the first time i ever messed with ether of them.

My biggest problem is i'm a shift worker, don't see the wife except on weekends and when i work weekends it makes it even worse, I may have time to get her to help this weekend, we'll see.