Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Low Elco]

That's me- the salamanders are some fumey things for sure. I use the Mr heater types, only notice a thing when they've been on several hours. Love em. Good luck at your uncle's!

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
Just pulled the trigger on my rotating assembly, 383 stroker (Scat 6.0 rods) I opted for the better rods, 7/16" cap screws, more clearance especially for the lumpy Cam shaft Should be here Friday, then it's off to Clay County Engine rebuilders for Machine work! Yeah! My block is a standard bore, so .030" over, probably going to have them align hone the mains just to be sure. so, truckin' right along.....now to find a shop to primer my cab and other sheet metal and get this rolling!
Have a good one!
Ben

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by snipescastle2

Vic,
Just pulled the trigger on my rotating assembly, 383 stroker (Scat 6.0 rods) I opted for the better rods, 7/16" cap screws, more clearance especially for the lumpy Cam shaft Should be here Friday, then it's off to Clay County Engine rebuilders for Machine work! Yeah! My block is a standard bore, so .030" over, probably going to have them align hone the mains just to be sure. so, truckin' right along.....now to find a shop to primer my cab and other sheet metal and get this rolling!
Have a good one!
Ben

Sounds great, Ben, ought to be a thumper! I'd only have the machine shop align hone if it really needs it, as is the case sometimes when you sleeve a block or upgrade to four bolt mains. Generally speaking it doesn't require it and often causes the timing chain to run a little loose ...even with modern methodology. I'm sure CCER can advise you on whether it's needed or not. Good luck and post some pics after the primer is laid down.

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
I talked to them this morning, they said they would do a check, and advise first. gonna have them balance everything, as well as do the stroker clearancing. I can handle the rest. ordered my 2200-2500 Rpm stall converter today as well, now If I can only get my brother in law to finish my 700R4....... he is supposedly bringing it with him for Thanksgiving..... we'll see.
Have a good one!
Ben

[Low Elco]

Woohoo! Congrats!

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
Any updates on your CRLS ?
Ben

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by snipescastle2

Vic,
Any updates on your CRLS ?
Ben

Not much, Ben, just blocking the most recent coats of 2K primer. It's amazing the tiny little places that jump out during this process. Working filler and Slick Sand down only gets you about 50% of the way to a basecoat ready surface.

Last weekend, Mike Myers (texasld) dropped in on a visit from Dallas and showed me a photo of a slick wooden beam he built to pick up the cab with a cherry picker. After the bodywork is finished, I'm going to rig one up to drop the cab on the frame. Makes it a one or two man operation instead of a neighborhood deal.

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
That sounds very interesting, can you share the plans? glad you are making strides in the body work.
Have a good Day!
Ben

[texasld]

Vic, you are truly talented in your work my friend. I thank you for the hospitality this past weekend. (His wife made us lunch!) The truck is really awesome. The air ride setup location is super slick. This is going to be one H3!! of a truck. Thank you for the bodywork pointers too! Gave me some courage to get started in on.

I only have one picture of the cab lift piece. I got the ideas from here on the board. Here is a shot of it pulling LEON out of the Yoda! I'll try to shoot some more pictures if anyone is interested. I built mine out of some 2x10's I had laying around. 2x6's would work just fine. The entire cab isn't that heavy.

[sduckworth13]

Woo hoo! Nice work Vic! If I'm off tomorrow I can swing by and save you from having to build the cab lift.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Woo hoo! Nice work Vic! If I'm off tomorrow I can swing by and save you from having to build the cab lift.

Thanks, Scott, but the cab will need to go on and off more than once, I'm sure. Last time, it took four hefty amigos lifting and Kathy directing traffic to set it in place. I figure Mike's wood contraption will make it an easy two man job. So I'll PM you when I'm ready and we'll work with your schedule.

[sduckworth13]

Sounds good. It's raining so I might not work tomorrow.

[Elliot949]

Vic your truck is really coming together... I have a question for you... The slot in the interior roof where the mirror would mount, why do you have that cut open there...

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Vic your truck is really coming together... I have a question for you... The slot in the interior roof where the mirror would mount, why do you have that cut open there...

It's for a map light, Dan. Everybody's got to have map lights and cupholders, right? You can see it at post #398 (and a few previous) on this thread.

[Low Elco]

Progress lookin' good!

[jlsanborn]

Like what you did in the door jambs up top! Anxious to see the drip rails, gotta re-do mine.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Progress lookin' good!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Like what you did in the door jambs up top! Anxious to see the drip rails, gotta re-do mine.

Thanks guys! Scott D. came over this evening and helped me set the cab down on the frame. Had a ton of clearance around the transmission, but the tall valve covers with the centerbolt adapters and the chrome ring on top of the HEI were just touching the firewall. Pulled the cab back off and dimpled those areas for some additional clearance. Not wanting to go overboard, I kept the hammering to a minimum and the second fitment was much better; we could now slip a piece of paper between the valve covers and f/w. That won't be enough, however, so we pulled the cab back off. Scott offered to stay later, but I sent him on home and will engineer a solution tomorrow. Standard height valve covers and a non HEI distributor would fit with plenty of room but I'm not willing to go that route. The one bright spot is the wood beam we used to pick up the cab worked like a charm.

[sduckworth13]

Vic, I'm still amazed at how the cab lift works so well. It sure makes it a lot easier on a back.

[swamp rat]

I had the same problem with my K20, i bought an HEI and Edelbrock tall valve covers and couldn't use them, come to find out the K20 uses the rear bolt holes for the engine mounts, the C10's and probably the C20's use the front bolt holes.. Go figure. Thats why i ended up with the Mallory unilite.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I had the same problem with my K20, i bought an HEI and Edelbrock tall valve covers and couldn't use them, come to find out the K20 uses the rear bolt holes for the engine mounts, the C10's and probably the C20's use the front bolt holes.. Go figure. Thats why i ended up with the Mallory unilite.

From what I've been able to determine, Mike, rear mounts were used for all six cylinders and small blocks with manual transmissions (on C10s at least). Front mounts were used for all big blocks regardless of transmission type and small blocks with automatics. Not sure if this is 100% accurate, but a good rule of thumb.

I made the decision to use the rear mounting holes because I like the look of the engine set back and the improved handling. I modified the firewall / floor to accommodate my automatic transmission. I did the same to my silver '68 and had no issues with the HEI or the valve covers, so I assumed a repeat performance would be okay. I neglected to take into account the added height of the finned covers, plus the added thickness of the adapters that convert the center bolt Vortec heads to a perimeter bolt pattern. Then I added a chrome spark plug wire cover to the top of the HEI which I didn't have on the '68.

So effectively, I could fix the problems by removing the spark plug cover and going to a lower profile set of center bolt valve covers ...or just beat the crap out of the firewall. Well, maybe not that, exactly. But I can put some smooth pockets into the affected areas that will provide the clearance I need without looking too out of place. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

[Low Elco]

One step forward- two steps back. I'd like to see your process on the dimples. Torch and move the existing metal? Muffin pans? English wheel? I'll be heating up the bacon grease for the popcorn.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

One step forward- two steps back. I'd like to see your process on the dimples. Torch and move the existing metal? Muffin pans? English wheel? I'll be heating up the bacon grease for the popcorn.

Well, I started by making a couple of candidates to graft in where needed, but didn't like either one. So I switched to brute force. I have a modified tool I use in my air hammer. It can move metal with much more precision than a body hammer. I'd already used it to create the initial small dimples so it was just a matter of expanding and deepening the areas. You can see the results below. The deepest one on the left was moving pretty easily towards the last which indicated the metal was borderline overstretched. Or as engineers like to say, "The material was about to exceed its modulus of elasticity and suffer permanent deformation."

[Vic1947]

Smoothed out the dimpled areas on the firewall and dropped the cab back on the frame. This time I had an adequate amount of room around the valve covers and HEI, so I left the cab on for now. Need to shim one corner very slightly and then torque the body mounts down before assembling the front clip. With the cab now in place, I could see the stance was not where I wanted it, but that's easily fixed with the air suspension. I let some air out of the back and got the rockers sitting closer to level. No use programming anything in right now until all the weight is on and I can get the truck on level ground. My workshop floor is sloped to a drain in the center, so there's precious few level spots. If you squint real hard, it almost looks like I'm making progress.

[mooseknuckles]

looks good.

[swamp rat]

And this is why i wish i was an experianced gear head! I love the valve covers too!