pdx-sanity66

[bigmoe]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

I realized today that in order to proceed I need to be able to move the truck a little easier than how it is in its current condition which is no steering control.
Well, I had the manual gear on and connected to the drag link but I had no steering wheel to get the wheels going where I needed them to go to get Sanity in and out of the garage as needed. I had all the parts needed to get going: Power steering gear all cleaned up and painted, Capt. Fab's adapter plate, new Moog idler arm, etc., etc. First I swapped out the idler arm, I drove over to O'Reilly's and borrowed one of their pitman are pullers. They're less than a mile away and I think it's great when you need that one tool that you might not need that often.
Today I used the template with Capt.'s kit and got the holed aligned and drilled in the frame. You've got a real nice kit Capt. If anyone reading this thread needs one of these for your truck I highly recommend it. I shot a little paint in the drilled holes to aid in rust prevention, and painted the adapter plate with some Eastwood's extreme chassis black, what I've used on most of the chassis parts I've painted black. Saturday, it will be ready to assemble.
I also need to start getting my Camaro tilt column mocked up and the first step is I need to get the bracket that holds the peddle assemblies and the steering column to the underside of the dash.
I had already removed the clutch peddle assembly, so I disassembled the brake peddle components, cleaned the parts with some mineral spirits and then bead blasted them. That blaster is the best toy I've got. It just saves me tones of time. They are now ready for some epoxy primer and then the bracket will be installed under the dash so I can start mocking up the column.
All the parts are in very nice condition and will be reused or modified to be used.

What power steering box did you use?

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by bigmoe

What power steering box did you use?

It's out of a '78 Chev truck.

[Bomp]

I had the honor of stopping by again to pick up some more parts and got to see the under dash parts cleaned and painted. Brett you sure do some top quality work man!!!

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by Bomp

I had the honor of stopping by again to pick up some more parts and got to see the under dash parts cleaned and painted. Brett you sure do some top quality work man!!!

It was great to see you and thanks for the compliments although I don't see it as much of an honor to visit this humble garage. The honor is all mine. Stop by any time. You're always welcome.

I made a little more progress on the steering situation and I got the radiator support prepped and painted with extreme chassis black satin.
I'm using the steering column under dash support that came with the Camaro column and with a little cutting and bending I got it to fit where it will bolt up with the peddle bracket. The original bracket got cut back and will be modified and used to still mount the emergency brake handle and stop light switch in their original location. I've still got a ways to go but here it is so far.

[ol_skool_chevy]

Gotta love a Garage sale..............anything good?

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by ol_skool_chevy

Gotta love a Garage sale..............anything good?

It was a pretty successful sale. We got rid of a lot of stuff. We're trying to whittle things down in preparation for retirement at the end of the year. We're selling the house, putting things in storage, and then we're going to travel around the country for a while.
I've got a couple of sets of wheels, 2 fleetside tailgates, a bellhousing and flywheel, and some other odds and ends I'm still trying to sell. I don't want to store them, and I really don't want to scrap them.

[pdxhall]

Well, I worked some more on the under dash mount for the steering column and I ended up rethinking the whole thing and I am basically scrapping the first setup I started. With the direction I'm trying to go now, I should be able to set the column about 2 more inches toward the dash. The great thing about this Camaro column is that the outer round piece after the tilt is made of plastic material that is much easier to trim back than the steel ones. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow when I'm sure what I'm doing is working and I get things fitted up a bit better.

[ol_skool_chevy]

I'm trying a 1976 column. I want to utilize the tilt, locking steering and column key. I will fill the stock key location with a accessory lighter for charging a phone or I might adopt a stock looking switch to run my trans fan...
I have not seen anyone here use a 73-78 colunm in our trucks...there might be a good reason for that.....LOL

[pdxhall]

I could have probably fabricated a whole new mount for the column and emergency brake in the time it has taken me to adapt the old one to make it work, but I think I've finally have something that I can live with. I am still utilizing the original mount and the Camaro mount that came with the column but they are both highly modified at this point and there's still more to do. I think it's going to work out great though and still retain a clean look. I have the column and mounts all buttoned up under the dash now in the position it needs to be and the steering wheel will be much closer to the dash leaving a lot more room for my large size. I ran out of time last weekend to do anymore but this weekend I will attach the 2 mount with a few spot welds to hold it in the position it's in now and then I'll remove the assembly for final fabrication and joining of the assembly. I'll get more pics up in a couple of days to show where this is going. I think I've had the column and mounts off and on the truck a dozen or more times cutting and fitting, measuring and cutting, etc., etc, etc.

[Modges'66]

Just sayin, you can check out my mods for a newer column back on page 20 of my thread to see how I did it, but I just went back to look at it myself, and the pics are huge!
I have no idea why they are so big, they weren't that way when I posted them originally!

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Just sayin, you can check out my mods for a newer column back on page 20 of my thread to see how I did it, but I just went back to look at it myself, and the pics are huge!
I have no idea why they are so big, they weren't that way when I posted them originally!

Those are some big pics! That is almost exactly how I started to do mine and the mount you used is the same as mine, and then I had this bright idea that I wanted to push the column back to give myself more belly room. I am still using the same mount but I am now joining the old mount to the new mount since it is much further back at about the spot that I see you cut out of the original mount.

[Modges'66]

I was just hoping that the pics could be of some help, or maybe shed a little insight.
Did you notice that I made an extension bracket to move the switches down the column to get them out of the way?
Just tryin to help out!

[pdxhall]

Modge, thanks for the pics. Yes, they were a lot of help. I didn't know if I was on the right track with this or not. It was good to see you had a very similar approach. I have been following you build for a while now and I wish I had the fabrication skills you do. I don't know how I missed the steering column work before. I did notice how you have moved the switches and I have been looking at that today to see it I will have to. I have the two brackets partially welded together and I was just digging out the switches to check.

[Modges'66]

Hey!
It makes me feel great to help out!
If you need any better views of anything, I can shoot some pics for you the next time that I am there, & post them for you!

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Hey!
It makes me feel great to help out!
If you need any better views of anything, I can shoot some pics for you the next time that I am there, & post them for you!

Thanks, man. I made some great progress today. It turned out better than I could have expected.
After much cutting and hacking and taking the column off and on more times than I could count, I got everything lined up in a workable spot (pics 1 and 2)This brings the wheel much closer to the dash, giving me much needed room (pic 3).
I then put a few quick spot welds where I could to hold the two brackets together so I could remove them and fill in the gaps (pic 4).
I then proceeded to cut and patch until I had everything sturdy and looking acceptable (pic 5).
continued......

[pdxhall]

The next 2 pics are the patch to fill in the hole left by removing the clutch bump stop and to build the support bracket joining the brackets on the left side.
Next I made a curved piece to support the right side of mounts together. This gives a little more room for the stop light switch.
One more small rectangular support for the right side.
The last pic is the completed bracket ready to clean up a little more and paint.
For something most will never see or notice, I like how it turned out.

[bj383ss]

Great job PDX. A nice custom touch!

Bret

[ol_skool_chevy]

Very nice work...........I wish i had that much patients to cut fit weld cut again fit weld...LOL..

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Great job PDX. A nice custom touch!

Bret

Thanks Bret.

Originally Posted by ol_skool_chevy

Very nice work...........I wish i had that much patients to cut fit weld cut again fit weld...LOL..

I'll tell ya, after the 10th or 20th time I installed and removed the column to make it all fit, I had pretty much used up all the patience I had.


I also got the rest of the 3/8" SS hard line from the tank to the fuel pump bent and installed and clamped in to place. All I need now is to fit the Aeroquip -6an line from the rear fuel filter to the tank, from the SS line to the pump in the front, and from the pump to the carb filter and th fuel lines will be done. I've got the material and fittings, hopefully next weekend I'll be done with it.

I also went ahead and bought the American Autowire Classic Update complete wiring set from Summit and it arrived 2 days later, as usual. The delivery service from them is fantastic.

I also bought a set of bed steps from a member in the "parts for sale" section and they arrived too. I've got an idea for them. I'd like to modify them so as to use them for the exhaust to exit the truck.
What I'd like to know is if anybody has done it or knows somebody on the board that has?

[pdxhall]

I decided it was time to finish up the fuel tank installation since I've now got the fuel line plumbed to there and I'm getting real tired of moving the tank around every time I need to do something. It seems like it's always in the way.
Part of my reason for procrastination on this is I have been looking for a suitable rubber strip to pad the tank from the frame and mounts. I'm just trying to eliminate metal on metal rubbing and possible squeaks from developing. I finally found something that I thought would have to do but it still wasn't quite as thick as I was envisioning so I procrastinated longer. I also planned to make some steel mounts with bolts welded to them for ease of assembly and disassembly if ever needed. Well, the other day I was in my favorite and best around hardware store Parkrose Hardware. These guys have the best selection of fasteners I've ever seen. I have yet to go there and not be able to find what I'm looking for. Anyway, I was in there looking for some rubber padding for a home project I was working on and I had looked all over the area with seals and weather stripping and stuff and had no luck. Parkrose Hardware is also a very dog friendly store so my dog, Spike gets to go along with me and gets a dog treat at the service desk at the back of the store.
When we got back there he spotted one of the guys that works there and always makes a fuss over him when we see him. Spike ran over to him and I happened to look down and on a shelf was all this different sized rubber mat for sale. It is exactly what I was looking for to do both projects. Sometimes you run in to what you need in the craziest ways. Spike was the hero.

So here's the end result. All the mounts made, pads cut and fitted, holes drilled, and everything test fitted one more time before tearing it all apart for paint.
I also made a mount out of a piece of aluminum for the fuel filter to make it easier to remove if I ever need to remove the whole filter housing.

[duallyjams]

That's a 16 gallon tank ? got a pic of the front with the sending unit with the panhard bar.

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

That's a 16 gallon tank ? got a pic of the front with the sending unit with the panhard bar.

Hey Jim, Yes it's a 16 gal tank. Sorry but I don't have a picture of that. I just ordered the sending unit so it hasn't been installed yet. I can't take another picture because I took the tank back off to prep for painting today. I did go out and got a rough measurement based on the mounting holes for the tank in relation to the panhard bar and there is about 10 to 12 inches of space between the panhard bar and the opening for the sending unit. I'll have more pictures when I assemble again.

[siggyfreud]

Tank looks great!

When I installed mine I went ahead and welded the retaining nuts that hold the tank in to the frame, that way I wouldn't have to do the wrench/ratchet combo to remove the tank, I could just drop it from under the truck via a ratchet. But mine also mounts to the bottom frame rail, so no sure how you'd get a ratchet inside the top frame rail if the tank is too thick. Either way I'm sure you have it all worked out!

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

Tank looks great!

When I installed mine I went ahead and welded the retaining nuts that hold the tank in to the frame, that way I wouldn't have to do the wrench/ratchet combo to remove the tank, I could just drop it from under the truck via a ratchet. But mine also mounts to the bottom frame rail, so no sure how you'd get a ratchet inside the top frame rail if the tank is too thick. Either way I'm sure you have it all worked out!

With the tank bolted to the inside of the top rail, I have the 2 brackets about 2 ft. or so long with the 4 bolts welded to each of those with the rubber cusions in between the frame and tank, and in between the tank and the brackets. I can just slide the assembly in, raise it up till the bolts come through the frame rails and then just add washers and a nuts. To take the tank out, I just take the nuts off, remove the rear brace, lower the tank and slide it out the back. It works real slick.

[Modges'66]

Wow!
The column support & the tank mounting look great!
Also, it is pretty great that you are so close to retirement...Unless something major changes, I won't even be able to think about it for another 20 years or so! Congrats!