Rat Rod Nation - A place for motorheads
Rat Rod Nation builds => Rat Rod Builds => Topic started by: Blackwater on April 07, 2019, 08:58:31 PM
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SO!! Me and Jeff73MachI are working on a project for a friend. It's a little '56 F100 that belongs to a friend down in Atlanta. We're installing a C4 Corvette front suspension in it and adding A/C and removing the gas tank from the cab. There are a few other minor touches, such as lowering the rear of the truck that we're doing while we're at it.
Got the front cradle and swing arms and hubs temporaries in this weekend. Jeff relocated the rear shocks and brake cables today. (We'll have the spring eyes reversed a little later).
Lots of pics! The owner didn't want the truck too low, so I had to notch the frame to clear the upper control arms. I boxed a section of the frame to strengthen it where the notch passes through.
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There were several places where some part of the cradle had to be cut away or reinforced. It also required that the power steering rack had to be modified. We had to rotate the hydraulic section of the rack so that the pressure lines would clear the front of the oil pan. I'll describe that operation a little later.
Anyhow, here are some more photos of this little project.
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We're having to rework the engine mounts. The ones that the previous builder used were extremely "Rube Goldberg" and would interfere with almost everything we are doing. When finished, the new support brackets will use over the counter, "FACTORY" mounts.
The reason this project got started was that SOMEONE grafted an old early '60s GM power assist cylinder to the drag link!! When the steering was turned just slightly to the left, the left front tire would grab the cylinder and try to rip it off of the truck. It would also try to stop the left front wheel from turning. The truck was VERY unsafe!!
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Looks good! Jeff73 and you have been busy for sure!
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looking really god nice start to what you are building
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LOOKS like a lot of work. You must be feelin better.
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Been feelin' pretty good most of the time!! It's hard to do anything when you're confined to a chair or a damned knee scooter! Most of what I do involves being on two feet and I can't seem to get anyone to let me use theirs...
I'm now almost three months on both feet. It's taken me most of one month just to learn to get around safely and another to get enough stamina to do much of anything. Just walking to and from the shop, (70 ft. and a half flight of stairs each way) has me stopping to take a breath. I'm improving, but it's SLOOOOOWW!! I get frustrated easily and also get distracted by all the other projects I have lined up.
Yeah, there's some work involved, but it's more a mental exercise, joining two unrelated vehicles and making it work and look good too. I'm probably a little better at the making it work thing.
This weekend, I'm taking off and going shooting with my Cowboy Action pards. Sometimes ya' just gotta' put the tools down and step away, for mental health.
I DID get to set it on the floor for some perspective and I ran the suspension through all of its movements. I have 9 1/2" of vertical travel, it will clear everything throughout it's range of motions at both full left and full right turns, all the way down or all the way up. I have room inside the upper control arms to mount these coil-overs and I discovered that the travel distance where I have the shock located is five inches which is exactly the shock's safe length of travel!! SERENDIPITY!!!
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The main thing is you good doing it
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We set the truck on the ground for the first trial of the suspension yesterday. Know we have the wrong springs but they will let us run it through the full travel to check geometry and clearances.
I made lower coil over mounts and bought heavy blanks for the uppers. I only had to notch the uppers to fit the frame and set the height.
Still have to make engine supports, have the power steering lines made and install them, and complete the steering column/shaft to connect the steering wheel to the rack shaft.
We're almost ready to drop it all out and finish welding everything, (It's all just heavy tacked into place) and install it all with new hardware for all the fabricated pieces.
Pics.
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We're also moving the gas tank to a place behind the rear axle and adding A/C! We've moved the shock mounts to the front side of the rear end and removed a cobbled up spare tire mount from under the bed.
More pics of the front end, positioned at full squat.
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Lookin good
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I took Sunday off from the shop to perform with my band for the first time this year. Between my health issues and the hurricane that tore up my guitar plain' partner's house down in Mexico Beach, Florida last fall, we haven't booked many shows this spring.
Today I set in to figure out and fabricate engine supports. The left one has to miss the input shaft and pressure lines for the steering rack, leave room to run the exhaust pipe, and still attach to the frame, (or in this case the cradle for the suspension that will become part of the frame) and allow the engine to be removed if ever it needs it.
After throwing away one attempt that didn't make me happy, I rethought it and got the left one made. It's clean and simple and it gives plenty of room for all the needs I mentioned. I rough tacked it all into place and took a couple of pics for ya's. I started on the passenger side mount and immediately screwed it up!! I had to weld the piece I cut out back onto the material I was repurposing and recut it correctly. At that point I was angry and decided to quit for the day before I messed up something I didn't want to have to fix!!
I'll get better photos of the engine supports when I pull the assembly out to final weld and clean it. These will give you an idea of what's happening.
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Here's a couple of shots of those lower coilover shock brackets, set into place like they'll be when it's all assembled. I discovered today that the swaybar brackets will need a little modificaion to clear the coilovers. It'll require a little fabrication to re-locate the brackets.
We also got the braces that run from the bottom of the cradle to the front of the frame on the original Corvette installed on the truck. They LOOK like they were made for it!!
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Looks good. Thanx for sharing.
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I got the new 450 pound springs for the pickup and they're 1/2" larger in diameter than the setup springs. I had to chop the upper coilover mounts out and relocate 'em. I went ahead and drilled the lower control arms for the lower shock mounts and temporarily installed them. They fit nicely and locate the bottom of the spring/shock assembly as close to the bottom of the spindle as I dare place them and still have everything clear.
I also started on the engine supports in earnest. They worked out pretty well as far as locating the engine, spacing it above the steering rack with plenty of room. I'm going to add a 1/4" plate to the mounting surfaces to give a little more clearance, but they're sturdy as hell, they miss all of the steering shaft and pressure lines, they'll clear the exhaust, and I can get to everything that would need maintenance.
I set the truck on the wheels, (one of the new wheels hasn't arrived yet) and then put the new wheel I got two weeks ago on one side to get some pics.
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Looking good Love to see how she will handle. Canyon carver? Gonna do the Dragons tail? I did with the bug. It did not like trying to keep up with the Camaro and Mustang I was with.
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We're actually doing it because what was under it was dangerous! Someone had mounted one of the old GM power assist cylinder and control valve assemblies on the truck's original drag link. It would interfere with the left front tire and wheel any time you attempted to turn left more than a quarter turn of the wheel and it leaked profusely. It was really unsafe to drive. We trailered it up here from Atlanta!!
We figured that this would be safer, more modern, and offer a significant improvement in ride quality. The guy that owns it isn't much of a slalom fan. He's probably going to cruise it and maybe do the Cars and Coffee thing!
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I finished the modified engine mounts today and got the steering rack plumbed and rotated.
The pressure lines that feed the assist in the rack are all steel from the factory. In order to gain clearance where the rack passes under the oil pan, you have to rotate the assist portion of the rack. This moves the fittings to a forward facing position, but you have to modify the feed tubes to make it work. I had a local hydraulic hose maker cut the tubes in two, weld fittings onto the tubes, and make me some flexible hoses to complete the operation. There are a couple of outfits that will perform this modification, but they want $250.00 to do it. I did it myself for less than $80.00!!
The motor mounts are factory 1970 Chevy V8 pickup mounts. These were a bad design from the factory. They would pull in two easily if you got the truck in a bind and often would drag the throttle linkage wide open. GM did a campaign to correct the problem using a cable that tied the front of the engine down to the frame to prevent the dangerous situation. My dad had one of these trucks and I bet you I replaced that left engine mount five or six times before I figured out how the fix it once and for all!! I took a 7/16 standard thread stud and screwed it into the mount so that it stuck out the back of the assembly. I welded a nut to a big flat washer and screwed it onto the back of the mount, upside down, with some red loctite!! After that, the mount never broke again. My brother now has that old truck. It's had several big blocks and a high performance small block or two and it's STILL using those same mounts that I put together in 1975!!
Here are pics of both modifications.
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Great fix on the motor mounts. I've replaced a ton of them and never thought about that fix.
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It works great on those truck mounts where the bolt passes throughout the center. It was just one step short of a great design. The stud is difficult to make work on the old trucks. You have to set the mount into the frame first and then bolt it to the engine .
For my application, I put an open topped notch in the frame portion so that the mount can be installed much easier!!
I'll post a pic or two when I get the cradle back in the frame for good, maybe later today.
We got the new gas tank installed too!!
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I put new bellows on the steering rack this morning. They sent some cheap plastic zip ties to secure them to the rack body!! Cheesy garbage!! I have to order the metal ones that should be supplied!!
Anyway, I cleaned up the rack and put the bellows and the tie rod end boots on and bolted the rack to the cradle. As soon as I finish the shaft for the steering column, (had to shorten the shaft and column housing and splice in a piece of "Double D" steering shaft so it will connect to the rack) I'll be ready to mount the cradle permanently. Maybe in a day or so!!
Anyhow, I put up a couple of pics of the rack all cleaned up and mounted and those motor mount brackets that attach the engine to the cradle.
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We're finally getting down to the end of the front suspension transplant. Matter of fact, if the supplier hadn't sent us the wrong brake pads, we'd have put her on the floor tonight. I still need to make a support bracket for the bottom of the steering column and figure out how to wire the horn button. The original steering box was mounted directly to the column and the wire for the horn button ran down the hollow shaft and came out the bottom of the box!! The steering sector acted as a lower bracket for the column!!
Anyhow! After cutting the steering shaft short and splicing a piece of "double D" shaft to the bottom of it, we added a bearing and a lock collar to hold the shaft in the column securely. Then we found that we had used the wrong size 2D shaft and the U-joint was too large!! Fortunately, he salvaged a short section of the larger, (hollow!!) shaft from a junk steering column and sonde of wonders, it fit perfectly to form a bushing between our 3/4" shaft and and the 1" U-joint!! I'd rather be lucky than good!!
I spent all day, Saturday doing the final fitting and welding in the cradle. I found one small error in my measurements, but caught it before getting too far. I had to lower the cradle 1/8" across the back. AGAIN!! Fortunately I'd made enough clearance everywhere else and it all still fit correctly once the adjustment was made. I ran out of gas about 3:00 on Saturday afternoon and we shout down for the evening.
Sunday I got started around 8:00 am and finished the last of the welding. By noon we were starting to assemble the actual suspension. Taking extra care to test fit and check each step one more time, we had the upper and lower control arms on, the coil overs installed, (save for the hardened washers on the upper bolts) and the new rotors hung on the hubs. When I closed the doors last night, the paint on the brake calipers was drying and I had a list of small incidentals to pick up this morning.
We picked up this evening to finish assembling the brakes, (you know what happened there) and put the front brace bars from the cradle to the front of the frame. I'd have finished the column support bracket if we hadn't gotten sidetracked hunting brake pads that NOBODY IN TOWN had!!
SO! Here's some pics for your perusal!!
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Here's a few more photos! Even after all these years of spinning wrenches and burning metal, I find I still miss details or fail to check over my work enough!! It's cost me two days more getting this project over the hump!! I DID give myself a good cussin' a time or two and I'm sure Jeff73 is tired of me mother henning him on little stuff.
That's all right!! We STILL have to put an A/C kit on it and I'm gonna' sit back and watch!! I'll let him fuss at me when I don't hand him the right wrench or whatever!!
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Looks good
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FINALLY on the ground. Even got the brakes bled. There is still a lot to do. Except for the A/C, there are little touches like brackets for the brake lines and replacing the rear spring shackles to lower the back and level it up a little. Small things like making to horn work and finishing the fuel and power steering lines should be done by this weekend.
More photos below.
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WOW that's looking sharp.
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I am going to secretly make a recording of Blackwater in one of his moods. About 30 seconds of it should get me banned from Facebook for life.
Here are a few photos of the gas tank fill and the new tank. https://photos.app.goo.gl/qweQ6uw3i2xfWDVaA
now as to me getting frustrated or mad. . . . nah, maybe a bit of momentary peturbation, nothing more.
Now if he hands me the wrong wrench . . . I can promise this, I will piss in his yard!
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Looking good again today! 8) 8) 8) I usually kick my"help" out of my shop when things get bad. My wife has be permanently banned. :o Hahaha You know how that went over. ;D
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My wife never comes to the garage she does not want to know the money I am spending nor do I want her to no lol :)
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The wife visits often. She'll walk the dog and come and see me most afternoons. She used to spin a pretty mean wrench, herself!!
Anyhow, we got the fuel lines and fuel pump installed today.. Some of that braided hose stuff is really a pain!! Also got the power steering hoses made and plumbed. I built a bracket for the bottom of the steering column, but we ran out of time to install it today and Jeff got the locking drawer built of under the seat. It needs paint and maybe a vinyl wrap and it's ready to go in too!
There are several little brackets, a pair of rear spring shackles, and some fasteners that are in route that we need to finish up the suspension. The fuel system is now complete. The A/C is sitting in the bed of the truck, awaiting its turn in the construction order.
We MIGHT ease it around on its own power tomorrow!!
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We drove it down the street last night. It drives pretty good according to Jeff. I was a little too dirty to drive it. We replaced the original rear spring shackles with new, longer ones that don't over center when you lift the rear end off the ground! Lowered it about an inch and it probably improved the ride. Of course, ANYTHING would have improved the ride.
Brake lines are now secured and brackets for the front brake hoses have been installed. We did spot a couple of VERY small power steering fluid leaks, but they only needed the fluid lines tightened. Steering works really well, especially compared to what came on the truck.
We loaded it up this morning and took it to the muffler shop. they put together a neat. clean system that is tucked up nicely into the truck, unlike the abortion that was on it when we picked it up. We were able to re-use the mufflers and the collector flanges. The rest was replaced. The owner wanted electrically controlled exhaust cut-outs installed so that he could be LOUD when he wanted to. The new system looks and sound MUCH better and clears everything well.
I've added some new pics. When you look at where the pipe passes the starter, don't be fooled. There's a lot more room than it looks like. Some of the pics aren't my best, but if you look closely, you'll see in another photo that the pipe misses the starter pretty well. The shop will post a video of the job on their U-Tube channel first of the week. Check back in a couple of days and I'll add a link to their video!
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Looks good
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgmt7dtTnkg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgmt7dtTnkg)
Here is the link
Now to deal with the few remaining issues and get her done!
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Got the first road test on the little pickup in today. I drove it over to the alignment shop that we use. These folks have done my front end work for nearly 40 years! Everything from Lockjaw and Jeff's yellow mustang to my super gas and super comp drag cars, a couple of which have passed 200mph. These are the people that i go to. It now drives like a new, late model car. Nice and tight and good road feel without any harsh or abrupt motion.
I raised the front, (put about 3/4" in the front shocks) and went over a bunch of the little things that needed correcting. I had to remove the shocks when I realized that the inner adjusting sleeves had been installed upside down. I'd just rolled the adjustment up on the passenger side shock when the bottom lock ring popped off. The spring relaxed radically. When I found the problem, I checked the other side and sure enough the ring had NOTHING to hold it in place but HOPE!! What's an extra hour out of my day?? Pulled 'em both and put it to rights!! Gotta' watch closely for that kind of thing...
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More extensive road test yesterday. Almost completely positive. Ride is substantially improved, steering is quick and feedback is good. Handling is much improved. Brakes are plenty strong, but sensitive. A few minor leaks we expected, should be ready to wrap up the remainder of the work and start the AC install in the next few days.
Truck had no trouble cruising at 95 mph, was completely smooth and comfortable with more to go. Never ran hot, Oil pressure stayed up throughout and even the voltage gauge was holding steady at 14 for the most part. Put a good 40+ miles on it.
Overall a very good test. Blackwater has out done himself.
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AC is installed~ I have to say trying to fit everything under the dash is like a fat girl putting on yoga pants!
I haven't taken any pictures of the interior but I have a few of the engine compartment
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zr2BLuNdz4GsKcef6
now down to the fine details to get er done.
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Jeff has been working his ass off, trying to get this project finished up.
Meanwhile, the foot doctor has basically forbidden me from putting my left foot on the floor or putting any weight on it. If it weren't for the pictures, I wouldn't have a clue as to what's going on. I'll be down for at least another week and a half and when I'm back on my feet i have to get my footwear and orthotics fixed so this doesn't continue to happen.
One of the goals of this endeavor waste make this look as factory as possible. For the most part, I think we're getting it done.
I jus wanna' say here so everybody can see it, "Good job, Jeff!!"
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Good job Jeff
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Thanks. I get lucky if I keep at it.
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WELL!! We finally finished the little '56 Ford pickup and Jeff delivered it last weekend. I'll add some pics as a parting shot on this build. The truck was driven successfully from Nashville to Atlanta without incident.
We, of course, did the Corvette front suspension with new brakes, coil over shock/spring assemblies, and new wheels to correct the offset for the new suspension. Jeff installed a new fuel tank under the rear of the vehicle, removing the cab mounted original tank and freeing up space behind the seat for small storage. He also installed an in/under dash A/C system that looks and works extremely well.
We corrected several poorly installed or thought out items on the vehicle and tidied up the under-dash wiring.
All in all, one NICE little truck!!
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Very kool work! Now work to do on Lockjaw?
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Looks really good
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Already started back on Lockjaw! Pulled the engine oil pan Sunday morning and I've set out a plan to build a "BOX" style pan for it! I've collected a new block, cleaned, bored, decked, with new expansion plugs and cam bearings install, a new cylinder head, ported, polished, new, larger valves, new valve guides and springs, screw in studs, stainless roller rockers, raised intake ports, and milled to make better compression, a new, stroked and indexed crankshaft, a new roller camshaft, a set of straight cut timing gears, and a set of 6" "H" beam rods. I lack rings and pistons, which will be custom fabricated for me by my friends at Total Seal and RaceTec/AutoTec in the next couple of months. Ron at Iskenderian is putting together a new set of hydraulic roller lifters for this combination.
The entire assembly will be balanced by one of the local machine shops that specializes in high performance engines!
All of this to build a more modern, reliable engine that produces a good 250hp and will live in today's world of fuels and lubricants!
NEVER FEAR!! It'll STILL be rat!! No two major pieces came from the same engine! Some of the parts are big time salvage stuff, (the camshaft is an old McGurk unit from the '60s, welded up and reground to modern specs!). The block is from ahold Jeep mail truck. The crank is of unknown parentage, (bought it off of EvilBay!)
I've also collected some fun stuff, like an AOOGAAAAH horn and some other gadgets. AND!! I've got a set of the old C4 Corvette wheels and tires to go on it!!
I'm still in the "getting it all together" stages, but look for a new chapter in the Lockjaw saga in the near future!!
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GOOD news. Always glad you're still working hard.