EagleChief's 1971 Build Thread

[35boulder]

Just read thru your thread, good to see you making progress. I'll keep following.

[EagleChief]

Thanks, Boulder! It's definitely a slow progress... but, progress.

Brought my rotors into work today and had them turned in our machine shop. Man, they are nice and smooth now! Upon further inspection, one is an original style with the groove in the middle of the rotor. The other one was a solid rotor, no groove. So, I'm assuming it was replaced at one point. It was still in pretty good shape, but I went ahead and had it turned down some, too.

Not sure when I'll get them put on, we've got a busy week ahead. Sunday may be my first chance, unless I can get to them tonight.

[EagleChief]

Somewhat of an update -

Re-greased the bearings this past Thursday night after I got the wife and kids to bed. So, I worked from about 11:00-11:15 until about 12:30 am to get the bearings re-greased, and installed and the rotors mounted. First time I have ever attempted doing this, so it was a slow process. Everything seemed to go ok, at least to me.

Saturday morning, I go out to install the new brake pads. Everything fought me all morning. It was an extremely tight fit trying to get the calipers back on. I had enough issues that I finally took a break, went and had breakfast with the family, then came back out and wrestled with it some more. Finally got the calipers to go on. Had my son come out and help put the tires on, which was a lot of fun.

Skip ahead to after lunch - go out for a test drive. Truck won't start. Battery is dead, even though it's been on a trickle charger. So, run to the parts store - new battery. Truck fires up. Pump the brakes a few times to get the pads to seat on the rotors, then slowly roll out of the garage.

At slow speeds (rolling at less than 10mph) I can hear the brakes rubbing. I was thinking it was just the pads forming to the rotors and getting seated. But, when I tried to stop from a higher speed, say 35-40mph, I got a major wobble in the wheels. The first time I felt it, I thought it was a warped. But, when I tried it again, it was a pretty bad wobble in the front end. I don't remember feeling it in the brake pedal when it was worse, but definitely felt it in the steering wheel and through the front of the truck.

Got it back to the house and in the garage, but didn't have time to look at it.

Any ideas?

[clay68c10]

Maybe something going on with the wheel bearings? Too loose or too tight?
Hard to diag long distance.

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

Maybe something going on with the wheel bearings? Too loose or too tight?
Hard to diag long distance.

I understand. I know it's difficult to tell without seeing/feeling what's going on. I was just fishing for something that may be common knowledge to most, but is easily overlooked by a first-timer.

The only thing I can think of, is maybe the bearings are not fully seated on the spindle shaft. I haven't had time to pull the wheels back off and look at it, yet. That'll be the first thing I check when I do... make sure the rotors/bearings are seated correctly. Other than that, I don't know.... may have to take it to a shop and have them go over it.

[EagleChief]

Well, finally got a chance to get get back to the truck. In the midst of the brake issue, I also had my new tires losing air to the point of going completely flat on the front. Took it back in to the tire shop, they didn't replace the old valve stems. They swapped those out and all is good. In the meantime, while driving it, I still have an issue with the wobble up front. I did figure out that it is on the front passenger wheel.

I'm kinda thinking now that is the suspension, ball joints, something along those lines. After my last post, I did recheck all of the brake components and made sure everything was seated and secure. Which leads me to think it could be ball joints.

So, one thing led to another... I started to order ball joints. But, ended up finding a front end rebuild kit on sale for $155. New ball joints, tie rod ends, adjusting sleeves, etc.

Well, since I'll be removing the spindle to do the ball joints, might as well upgrade it while I'm there. Since the springs will be coming loose, let's go ahead and upgrade those at the same time! So, now I'm awaiting a shipment of a 3.5" / 5" drop kit with a front end rebuild kit! HAHA!

Hoping I can get all of that done in a weekend, and replace the steering gear box at the same time. That should take care of any handling, drivability issues for a while.

[clay68c10]

Nice plan! It is easier to do it all while you are in there.
You're really going to like how it looks and drives with all those fresh parts + the drop.
If you don't have a sway bar, now is the time to add it.

[EagleChief]

Thanks! I am looking forward to it, for sure.

[EagleChief]

Got almost all of my parts in. Missing the drop spindles, which were on backorder. Supposedly (at last call), they were going to arrive to the store on the 22nd (yesterday), and then ship out from there. I'm waiting on a tracking notification and may have to call back to make sure I get one.

Other than that, the truck has just been sitting, collecting all of our recycle-able cardboard. I did pick up a few things from ECE's closeout sale. I had placed an order for new lenses (front and back), but they were out of the rears, and only had 1 of the front marker lenses. So, I'm getting new gaskets for the front/rear light housings, and flasher relays for when I upgrade the fronts to LED.

[EagleChief]

Finally got my drop spindles yesterday!! Woohoo! Now to figure out when I get some time to get it all installed.

[EagleChief]

Plan for now - work on the suspension rebuild this coming weekend. Should know by Wednesday if that's a go.

*fingers crossed*

[Steeveedee]

That's a lot of fun! I hope you have a powerful impact wrench. I did mine years ago with cheater bars and my son standing on the a-arms.

[EagleChief]

Spent this past Saturday swapping out all of the suspension parts! Man, what a chore that was! It took us almost 11 hrs to complete, and, we didn't even complete everything. But, the 3.5"/5" drop is done, for now. And, as I write this up, the truck is at the shop getting an alignment.

I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately. But, I will have some before and after shots before too long.

Everything about the truck fought us tooth and nail. It took way longer that we anticipated! First off, the driver side upper ball joint was basically welded in. It took us about 1hr 30 minutes to get that ball joint out. We ground the rivets out, used chisels, a torch, spacing wedges, screw drivers, hammers... you name it, we used it. It. Took. For.Ev.Er!! The passenger side wasn't as bad, but still took us probably 45 min to get it out.

For the back, ended up just replacing the springs. Kept the stock shocks and left them in the stock location. Don't judge - it was late, we were tired and worn out, and we needed to get out of the shop. Boss showed up to lock up as we were finishing up. I do have the relocation brackets for the rear, and new shocks. But, getting to the rivets on the upper mounts was not going to work at that point. Eventually, I'll bring it back in and we'll remove the bed to make it easier.

But, in the end, it is "done". It looks SO much better! I'm extremely happy with the results. The ball joints were original, and completely destroyed. The tie rod ends were not as bad, but were still pretty much gone. Now, with new stuff, the truck is much tighter and more smooth.

Next will be the steering box and I need to go through the rear brakes.

[EagleChief]

Alright... so while working on the suspension in the last episode, saw that the front brake lines were almost shot. I mean, almost to the point of rupture and losing brakes! So, new brakes lines were ordered. I still had the braking wobble after the last work and alignment, so went ahead and ordered new rotors from Rock Auto.

Well, I have the passenger side done. New line put on, new rotor on. Next will be the driver side, then on to the rear brakes. Flush out all of the old fluid, then finally be back on the road! Hopefully.

[EagleChief]

Alright... little update. Finished off the brakes and the truck is back on the road. Man, it's hard to find time to do anything with 2 kids under 4 yr old. But, we were able to get things done this weekend. Basically, all new front brakes - new rotors, pads, brake lines. I kept the calipers, but there's a fitment issue with those - see this thread:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=803199

Jumped on the rear brakes and rebuilt those. New springs, new shoes, new cylinders. I think I still need to do a little work on the rear brakes. I had a hard time getting any fluid to come out, hardly a drop, if any at all. I think I'll try and replace the rubber brake line back there and see if that helps. It's my first time messing with drum brakes, so that was a learning curve. But, it's not too bad once you know what's going on back there.

Took it out for a test drive and the truck stops just fine, now. No wobbles, doesn't pull to one side or the other! I'm excited to get it back on the road again!

[EagleChief]

And, the required "updated" picture.

[EagleChief]

Drove to a cruise-in this past weekend with a few friends. 6 vehicles all together that cruised down. It was about an 1.5 hr drive each way. That's the farthest I've driven the truck since I've owned it.

The event was really good - a ton of cars, trucks, bikes, and cool rides to look at. That was the good news.

The bad news... Pretty sure my rear end is going out. We pulled into a restaurant when we got to town, and I had a horrible clanging sound coming from the rear. It only does it while turning. Driving straight, it is fine.

The other part, after eating dinner, we started to cruise through the town. I didn't even make it one pass down the main street and the truck started getting hot. I pulled off on a side street and parked it (reached 230F and was climbing when I shut it off).

When we left, I added almost a gallon of water to the radiator and we limped it home. It drove fine going home. Temp stayed at 190F. Straight line driving it was fine. Pulling into my neighborhood and driveway, it sounded like the rear end was going to explode. Grrrr!!!

[clay68c10]

Easy thing first, get a pressure tester and check the cap. It may just be that simple. Also the fan clutch, belt, etc..

Pull the diff cover and look at the spider gears. That would be my first thought given the conditions that it is noisy. Those are cheap and easy to replace yourself.

Ah the joys of old stuff....

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

Easy thing first, get a pressure tester and check the cap. It may just be that simple. Also the fan clutch, belt, etc..

Pull the diff cover and look at the spider gears. That would be my first thought given the conditions that it is noisy. Those are cheap and easy to replace yourself.

Ah the joys of old stuff....

I need to pull the radiator cap now that it's set a couple of days. My guess, it's still under pressure... it usually is. Which, I don't think is normal. My overflow is full, and it won't recycle what's in there.

I know nothing about gears, so I'll probably have to take it in somewhere. I've been told $800 and up to have a rear end rebuilt.

[clay68c10]

Do some youtube and google image searching and pull the cover. It's worth a peek just so you know what's wrong before you take it in to a shop. Post pics here and we can probably figure it out.
If it's just spider gears, you may be in for less$$

I forgot you were having weird cooling problems before.

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

Do some youtube and google image searching and pull the cover. It's worth a peek just so you know what's wrong before you take it in to a shop. Post pics here and we can probably figure it out.
If it's just spider gears, you may be in for less$$

I forgot you were having weird cooling problems before.

I'll look into it and see what all it consists of. I appreciate it!

[D.PASSMORE]

Originally Posted by EagleChief

I need to pull the radiator cap now that it's set a couple of days. My guess, it's still under pressure... it usually is. Which, I don't think is normal. My overflow is full, and it won't recycle what's in there.

I know nothing about gears, so I'll probably have to take it in somewhere. I've been told $800 and up to have a rear end rebuilt.

If you have the rear end rebuilt, use made in USA gears. Chinese steel sucks. Not sure what your carrier housing size, but 3:08 is great cruising gears.

Overheating: either fan size or placement in shroud. Run a 180 degree thermostats. They seem to regulate better when at stop or slow cruise. Plus water stays cooler than anti freeze. Ensure your not going beyond 50-50 mixture.
CW3 "Chief" Passmore

[EagleChief]

Finally got the chance to pull the cover off of the rear differential. As I started loosening the bolts, I got a few drips of oil coming out. As I went around and got the rest of the bolts loosened up, I pulled the cover to break the gasket seal. One little "plop" of oil came out. Man, that stuff smelled HORRIBLE!!! Holy smokes it was bad! Almost to the point that I was about to roll out from under the truck to get away from it. Luckily, I had a fan going, and it helped push the fumes away.

Anyway, there was hardly any fluid in the housing. No wonder the gears were banging and clanging.

I rotated everything around as best as I could to look at all the gears and the teeth. Everything looked good. I didn't see any metal in the bottom of the housing, nothing came out with the fluid. No marks on the gears or the teeth, that I could see. I used a few cans of break cleaner to spray everything down and get all of the old lube out of the housing.

I cleaned up the cover, scraped off all of the old RTV gasket that was on both faces. Gave the cover a coat of Orange paint and added some new gasket maker RTV to it, let it set up for a little bit, then re-installed the cover.

Last night, I took the truck for a little test drive. NO MORE NOISES!! Everything seemed to work just fine - as far as the rear end goes!! I'm super pumped that it wasn't anything else. All I needed was a little oil back there and all is good! So far, I haven't seen any drips or leaks, so I'm hoping I'm good to go for a while.

[EagleChief]

Drove it to work on Monday (having a nice break in the August heat with temps in the low 80's). On the way home (about 6-7 miles from home), I caught a slight sniff of coolant. I thought, "hmmm... that shoul - uh oh", as I look down at my temp gauge. It shot up from 190 to about 210 in about a second. I started slowing down to pull over as I was cruising on the highway at about 70mph. As I slowed down, the temp started to drop.

"Ok, I'll drive it slow, keep an eye on the temp gauge, and see if I can limp it home." I drive about 45-50mph the rest of the way home, keeping a close eye on the temp. It would slowly start to rise, 210, 215, then drop to 205. Start up again to 210, 215, 220, drop to 210. Again, start up 215, 220, 230... "crap!" I go to pull over again, it drops back down to 220.

"Alright, I'm just going to get it home. If it blows up, it blows up!" I'm in the process of figuring out what kind of motor swap I'm going to do - more than likely, an LS swap. Convincing the wife, and coming up with the funds, is the biggest hurdle.

Anyway, I get it home. The temp never goes over 130, but would bounce up and down. I get it parked in the garage, and open the hood. I have coolant on the passenger inner fender and steam pouring out of that area. Ends up, one of the hoses that runs to the heater core had busted. GRRR!

So, now to fix that and try it again. It's always something.

[EagleChief]

So, I've bypassed the heater core for now. I think I'll go with the "ball valve" fix for the lines and do away with that funky valve that's in there.

I drove the truck again after bypassing the heater core. Two things I noticed: 1) The truck reaches operating temp much faster, it seams. 2) My temp gauge was now reaching up to 205-210 or so, and holding steady.

So, after talking things over with my wife, we've decided to make the upgrade and go with an LS swap. Over the long-run, as this will become my son's truck (according to him, it's already his - he's 4), I think that will be the best option. So, if anyone has a list of items, I'm all ears. I've started searching on here and reading some articles. Going to watch some videos to see what all it entails. But, I've started making a list and am going to start purchasing stuff to get it ready.