Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Funny you ask, the 3/8 flanges that were on the hooker shorties that I started with were a little bit warped from the factory. I bought 1/2 flanges and just bounced around while welding to keep one are from getting too hot. I put a straightedge on them afterwards and found less than .010 warpage across the entire flange.

I think what helped on these is the weld is almost centered within the flange. Tube is inserted halfway in, then welded inside the hole. If all the weld were on the outside it would pull tight on that side. I did weld 3/4" on the topside of the tubes just for extra support.

vazfx16

Thank you for the info

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Made a little bit of progress. Searched and found a 9" ford rear axle that was the width I wanted, sent the 31 spline axles off to moser and had them cut the flange down and redrill them for my bolt pattern. Bought a disc brake conversion for it. Got it set under the truck at ride height, had to notch the frame some just for ride height. It will need a full c-notch but for now, this will allow me to build the rear suspension.




I moved the axle forward 3" from factory location. I think it will look better this way and transfer weight better. Axle was 5" behind the centerline of the bed originally. I still need to shorten the step and move the fender forward 3" as well but you get the idea. The wheels will be gloss black.






Oh yeah, and I also ordered one of these....

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Got my harness in from BP Automotive. Bill does a very nice job building these things and really makes it very easy to get it up and running. Here is a quick video on the run stand. This is just a stock 5.3 that I got off craigslist, wanted to test it and harness at the same time.

nfamus10

Badass. I need to pick your brain about my stupid front suspension sometime. Its a cobbled together 68 firebird mess of crap thats pissing me off. I am digging the vette conversions. Keep up the good work.

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Lol, well the vette stuff has it's own issues. While the geometry is pretty good, the parts are now old and things like a reman rack and pinion are hard to find. I'm still sorting mine all out. I would think the firebird front would be fine as long as it was installed with the crossmember square to the truck.

ijimmy

All the old chevy trucks had their wheels forward of center in the rear wheel well from the factory , I guess for better traction

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Finally made a little bit of progress on this thing. Got the craigslist lq4 back together finally and running. This will be the engine for the first couple years on the road then I will decide how I want to upgrade it.

LQ4, stock rod crank and pistons
Dart 205 heads
Lunati 217/223 .549/.549 cam
Truck intake
Flex fuel injectors

Test stand run

And with headers

TipsyMcStagger

iTrader: (1)

Nice test stand. Hold your phone sideways when taking video.

Tipsy

Jimbo1367

Bolt it to someing. I've seen some use a pc of channel and another to 3x3x3/8" angle to a spare head. Just AnYTHING that is robust enought to resist warping. I would also only weld a little at a time. Air cool if you have a compressor.

Jimbo1367

Also try running the engine longer. get it nice and warm/hot. btw.... it doesnt take long for a engine to get hot with NO coolant. lol

How dow you maintan the C4 suspension geometry?

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

This isn't my first rodeo, I don't run them for long like that for sure.

I used a c4 crossmember to keep everything in place, budget build. Measured ride height and angle on a c4 then set it up in my chassis to match.

Motown 454

iTrader: (15)

Great project! The motor sounds good.

DW SD

VERY Cool project....engine sounds great; look forward to updates. I did an L92 / 6L80 install on my '51 Ford pickup along with a triangulated 4 link with 9" of my own design in case you are interested. Found the 4link calculator very helpful. I'd never have gotten instant centers correct, nor been able to minimize rear axle steer if I hadn't used the tool.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/13...all-51-f1.html

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I have been jacking around with the spreadsheet just trying to figure it all out. I have not decided if I want to go with a triangulated 4-link or a 3-link with a watts-link. I think the rear will be easy compared to the front, so I look forward to that.

Sweet truck, I really like that combined lower link/coilover mount.

DW SD

Thank you. You can buy that lower link shock mount bracket from welderseries.com

Originally, I was going to buy four of those large lubricated heim joints (called Johnnyjoints) to make sure my rear end articulated properly by replacing one set of bushings on each of the links. I had them on backorder, in fact for about $250. After driving the truck following the rear end conversion, I promptly canceled the order. The ride with the triangulated four link is very compliant. AND the tunability with the two-way adjustable shocks makes it really great.

I'd highly recommend Viking's coil-over products. You can get two-way adjustable for the price of one-way from QA1. (about $600 all-around with springs, bearings, etc.)

Or if your budget is really big, you can buy their new electronically adjustable damping released at SEMA in 2013. It uses a computer, accelerometers to adjust suspension damping on the fly. I believe the shocks are all retro-fit-able, too with their control system. I think that package is about $5k.

Look forward to your build updates!
Doug

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

From what I have read, (I have no first hand experience) it will only start to bind under hard side loads like from cornering during autocross or road racing. It shoud be fine under normal driving conditions. The reason I am leaning towards the 3-link is because you can effectively eliminate the torque twisting of the rear axle with proper placement of the 3rd link. I probably won't get it right, but it will be fun to try. I may end up with a triangulated 3-link, we'll see.

Made a bit more progress this weekend, got the transmission crossmember installed. Also reinforced the firewall for the brake and clutch master cylinders and started working on the transmission tunnel. Need more supplies to continue.

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Made a little bit more progress, it's slow going at this point. Working out all the details of brake, gas and clutch pedals, firewall reinforcement for the pedals, tunel and firewall clearance, steering column mounting, rust repair etc takes up some time but I just about got it all figured out.

Trans tunnel and shifter boot mount.

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Made some more progress, nothing spectacular though. Found an s10 seat on craigslist so I worked on the floor all weekend. Almost done, just some welding and a little bit more rust repair.

Seats just resting in there for fitment. Seem to fit pretty good, it's a little snug but they didn't make cabs very big back then.




Trying to get the floor finished out, most of it is done or atleast tacked up. Just have a few small areas of rust repair to take care of.

Bowtie316

iTrader: (1)

Still making progress but it's slow for the amount of hours I'm putting in on it.

Seat mounts built.


Seatbelt mounts welded in.


Cab flipped and bottom side welded out and coated.


Frame rails boxed in to the back of the cab. Will continue to the rear when the cab is back on and bed off.




Drilled and tapped holes in boxing plate for brake line, wire harness and fuel lines.


Finished welding and grinding firewall, its ready for filler.