'67 Stepper "Laymond"

[slowcpe]

I agree. It's just hard spending more money on the front end than I did on the whole truck

I haven't looked too much into it. I sent c10seconds a message but I don't think he's been online since. He does have Kooks long tubes on and Dave said there are guys running them but doesnt have any specific info other than the challenge is in the steering linkage. Afco/Dynatech is here in town and I've talked to their main header guy a few times. I may see about test fitting a couple of sets of theirs first. We will see, I'm 8-10 weeks away until I need to worry about that.

[slowcpe]

Well it's sunny, supposed to be in the 50s today, cleaned the garage up last night, and football is on. Heading out to the garage and hope to get some things done.

[slowcpe]

Well had a buddy stop by so I didn't accomplish much other than making some room in the beer fridge and watching football. Once he left I was able to finish up the passenger side c-notch. It went easier than i expected however I didn't know to drill pilot holes in the corners to help prevent cracking. I know that now for the other side and will correct this side when I blow it apart for sandblast and paint.

1st pic for this page.

[slowcpe]

Got a little work done on the truck today. The c-notches are finally mocked up. Not sure what I hate most, rivets or drilling 1/2" holes in the frame. Both suck. Well glad to have that done other than I found one of my upper spring brackets to be rotted out. Hopefully Todd has a set . Good thing is it did not affect the frame.

Overall I'm thoroughly impressed with Porterbuilt's quality. I had zero issues with figment and alignment with the c-notches and crossmembers. Hope my dropmember goes the same. Next up is mocking up the gas tank, air tank, and trac-bar. Hope to have most of that done tomorrow but we will see.

Pic

[Sac]

Looking great.

[slowcpe]

I couldn't stand it. I had to put it on the ground. It's sitting quite a bit lower in the back. Ready to do the front but have 7-9 weeks

[mcbassin]

Very nice progress on your truck.

[jus2qwk]

Looking good!

[Number98]

Very cool, the Stage 2 looks good on there! It is a lot easier when you can pull the bed off that's for sure, I had a time under my Burb.

I was wondering if you would tell me what size that rear tire is?

[slowcpe]

Thanks! I couldn't imagine doing this all from underneath. Wasn't really planning on pulling the cab at first but definitely going to in order to replace the TA and trans crossmembers.

I'd have to look but I think the rears are 255-50-18 on an 18x9.5". I'm thinking heavily about narrowing the rearend maybe a couple of inches and going 20x12 out back.

[slowcpe]

Didn't really do much to the truck this past weekend. Started to spend Friday evening out in the garage but decided the couch was more comfortable. I was out in the garage Sunday for a while but mainly changing the oil and some maintenance to the Tahoe. Progress will more than likely be very slow in the next month or so as work is about to get crazy busy.

I did fool with the truck to the extent of the rear end. When I set the truck back down after installing the c-notches the rear end was not centered causing one of the trailing arm u-bolts to come in contact with the frame. I fooled with it a bit yesterday and even centered, one of the u-bolts still comes into contact. It looks like if the rear end went back an inch or so it would clear but not sure a) how to do that and b) would that cause the rear wheel to not be centered in the fender. I was not planning on running bump stops on the rear and didn't think I had to.

The lean



Passenger side laying on the rear axle



Drivers side laying on the u-bolt

[michael bustamante]

did you put a super trac bar on?. after 4" drop you need to change the bar to a longer one

[slowcpe]

I've got the trac bar that comes with the Porterbuilt Stage 2 Basic kit. I haven't got around to putting that on yet (that was my Friday project before I got lazy) but I don't see how that would help clear the u-bolt.

[michael bustamante]

yup i see the dilemma. did you put in new trac bar bushings in yet? rear springs lined up good?
you got me on this one

[nlped]

Are you still running a shorty track bar? If so, that's the issue...the rearend shifts a lot more with the short one versus the longer bar.

[slowcpe]

I haven't put a trac bar on it. I'm slowly mocking everything up. I "centered" the rear end up by jacking up the frame rails and giving them a little shove . The only thing holding the rear end to the truck is the trailing arms.

I emailed Nate and he's given me some things to measure and see if we can't find the culprit. We will see. My 6:00 appt rescheduled this evening so maybe I can get out in the garage for a bit and do some measuring.

[slowcpe]

Playing around with PS a little bit I decided to bag the truck and upgrade the wheels to 20s. Really dig the stance (not sure how far I'm off) and it really sealed the deal to upgrade from the current 18s. Now I need to learn how to "paint" the truck. Not the best as I don't have a very steady hand with this mouse but you get the point. Sorry I'm bored.

Pic I used:

[GAc10boy]

Wheweeee! Looks good.

[nlped]

Very cool

[nuke1]

Nice truck with a great history for you to build off of. I know that feeling all too well. As for the frustration of your truck hating you, I know that feeling also. Mine never wants to run. ever. stupid thing after stupid thing. one day maybe.

[slowcpe]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Wheweeee! Looks good.

Thank ya

Originally Posted by nlped

Very cool

Thank ya

Originally Posted by nuke1

Nice truck with a great history for you to build off of. I know that feeling all too well. As for the frustration of your truck hating you, I know that feeling also. Mine never wants to run. ever. stupid thing after stupid thing. one day maybe.

Thanks. Yeah this truck is going to fight me to the end I'm afraid. I'm way too hard headed to ever give up

Been talking to Nate back and forth via email. Not really seeing whats causing the rear end shift, but I'm going to stand firm to my motto: when in doubt throw more money at the problem. The only stock parts on my chassis is the trailing arms. Well not much longer. Going to go ahead and complete the Stage 2 Deluxe rear. I've really been kicking myself for not ordering the Deluxe over the Basic ever since I made the order over a year ago. This was just the excuse to push me over the edge. Its only money and you can't take it with you right?

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Love the build so far!

[slowcpe]

No real progress on the truck today. Weather was nice, sunny and around 60. Took full advantage and enjoyed working in the garage with the doors open. Spent most of the day cleaning the garage and moving parts and cherry picker into my enclosed trailer. End result made feel much better.

[slowcpe]

I did finally seperate my inner and outer fenders. As I knew the inners are shot. The outers I think are salvageable except the lower rears and passenger side front cup. The passenger side does have some weird holes filled and some dents on the back side where the fender emblem is. Kind of strange.

[slowcpe]

Sorry for the multiple posts, I'm on my iPad and one pic per post stinks. Nothing informative. I thought this was a kind of a cool pic of the truck outside at sunset.