My grandsons 68 stepper

[Jason7121]

Cpp makes a brand new 500 series gear box specific for our truck 67-72.

[54belair]

I'm about ready to check with them. I'm getting real tired of the parts stores resources.

[Jason7121]

Red head gear box makes a good one also. I bought the cpp 500 for mine.

[54belair]

While I wait for the latest "wrong gearbox" to show up I decided to try and figure out the dragging brake pedal problem.
I squeezed in between the seat and pedals to work (ugh), I took all the underdash brake linkage apart, cleaned it, lubricated it, adjusted it and put it all back together. To do just that I had to remove the emergency brake mount, drop the steering column and take the clutch linkage loose---just to get room to get my hands in the right place to adjust the brake light switch and access the brake rod clevis.
All that squeezing and cussing----it was a good thing to do I guess as I did find a couple places that needed adjusting But, after I put it all back together---The brake pedal still drags and requires your toe to lift it in order for the brakes to completely release.
I did find some worn joints in the brake linkage but that shouldn't have caused the drag. Its going to require the removal of the booster and master cylinder and linkage to completely figure this out. But, that will have to be a winter project. In two weeks from today we have the "big reveal" for my Grandson at a local car show so I don't want to get too much torn apart before the show!!! Tomorrow we are going to attempt to install the hood and I figure that will take a while to get correct. The truck is drivable to the show so making a small matter like "brakes" perfect will have to wait.

[54belair]

while I'm playing with pics Ill include a few pics of the infamous Door weatherstripping! These are pics of the dodge Dakota strips that are still on it.
The last pic shows the drivers door shut with the Dakota seal in place (remember the 3/4" gap with the chevy door seal???)

Sorry about the misorientation of the pics

[54belair]

Ok, waited over 5 years to take this pic. Had a new friend come over today to help. He is a new friend and he closed up his restoration shop to come over and help me install the hood. (I was looking for a shop to take it to and instead I found a friend. He came to my shop and in short order we had the hood set and adjusted. It took three adjustments on the hood and one sideways adjustment on the core support. Still have to install the latch but other than that she is done and looks good (I was expecting Muuuch more work to get the spacing right.

[54belair]

I finally got around to downloading some more pics from my camera--so I thought Id take a minute and UP load them to the build.

Since the last "hood goes on" pics I actually had to take it back off. The hood hinges were actually about shot (and someone didn't check them close enough during the last 5 years of the build!!), so we took the hood off, I received new hinges and got them painted and started over again.
It looked almost impossible to get a good hood adjustment with the old hinges so I saved my frustration and time for the new hinges!! Ive spent about 8 hours so far with hood alignment and latch alignment--and it closes and looks finished----but until its in perfect alignment--it aint done!! Today I pretty much capped off the "build" by installing the signature hand painted air cleaner cover. My grandson and I refer to the build as "project Razorback" (among many other things that Ive called it over the last 5 years) So, the same graphic that's on the glove box door was also put on top of the air cleaner. The glove box door was professionally airbrushed by a local artisan while the air cleaner was done by hand by me. Ill post some more pics of the truck at its first car show next week. Between now and then, I have two cars and the truck to polish, shine and whatever else.

[54belair]

A few more of the proud future owner!!!

[Jason7121]

Wow air cleaner looks amazing. Great work

[54belair]

Thank you sir,

The whole family are Razorback fans, I ended up painting 5!!!! (My Grand daughter didn't want an air cleaner (getting picky), so I bought a large cookie sheet and painted that for her. Just a side note---- Just to show that anything is possible, I'm 70 years old, have never drawn or painted anything but cars. Just thought Id try. Never say Never!!!

[54belair]

Well, I guess its time to put this build to bed? It turned out to take much longer than planned partly due to my getting burned out on it for a year or so. Now that its finished I'm not only glad that its done but kinda proud of the accomplishment. I actually like the truck more than I thought I would-----And I'm glad I survived the frustration of this build a few times and didn't "burn the damn thing" as I frequently thought about doing!
After finishing, we took the truck to its first car show early this month. I wish I could say we nailed the show---but didn't. The judges loved the truck (they said so after the show) but it was a really tough class with many trucks and we ended up fourth (trophys only to three places) so my grandson and I initially took it on the chin but we both love the truck so we are the winners afterall.
I'm going to throw in a few pics before and during the show to end out this thread. I may update the thread later when I make some further changes to the truck (over the next year). I thank you guys for looking and commenting on this very long thread. Have fun with your truck guys!!!

[54belair]

Truns out the final pics were taken with an HD setting on the camera--and those wont upload to this site.

[54belair]

Ok, its finally spring (?) and I have started on the final punch list for My Grandsons 68 stepper! Last fall got busy so nothing was fixed/changed. I have most or all the parts required to make this truck run and drive as it should.
First on my list is the power steering gear (again). I found a business, somewhat close here in Mo. that does an excellent job on rebuilding gears and pumps (that's all they do), I gave the guy my specs, and he built me a new gear box. (Same price as Red head--but much closer). Today I took the truck to my local shop since I didn't want to do this particular job myself.
Once again murphy stuck his head in!! They got the new gear mounted and ready to attach input coupler----and it wouldn't fit!! After some calls and hair pulling--I found out that my original gear was an early casting (which it should have been)--but down thru the years, someone rebuilt the gear and installed a post 1977 input shaft.-- This meant that now I have the wrong Coupler assy since my original gear had a 3/4" input shaft instead of the 13/16" shaft it should have had. Turned out to be an easy fix, although not an inexpensive one. Had to air freight in a new coupler. Ive never seen one part that has so many variations (both factory and DIY). At least now I have the correct gear box with the correct hydraulic hoses and the correct size coupler!!! Hopefully, Ill never have to think about power steering gearboxes again.
Next on the "rebuild" this year after the truck comes home is to address the seat issue and the power brake issue.
I need to change out the Master cyl./booster assy. complete with linkage. Before I can attack the linkage under the dash--I have to remove the seat.
The large comfortable seats that I went with just don't allow sufficient leg room, especially when youre working the clutch and shifting. I decided to replace them with a set of TMI low back buckets very similar to the oem buckets in size. The tmi seats mount to the cab using the original floor mounts and should give more leg room. Ive only put about 15 miles on the truck since it was completed it last august.
Over the winter months I addressed an overheating issue on this truck but spent most of my time thru the winter on other projects. I'm really wanting to get the truck finished (???) (!!!!) once in for all---I really like driving it and am looking forward to putting some miles on it. Last summer I spent most of my time building up my 66 chevelle but after all the work on it, I still like this truck better!!!! When there is something to actually see on this retro-fit Ill post more pics especially of the interior.

[54belair]

Ok, The first thing I attacked was the power steering gear. Found a company close by who does nothing But Saginaw gear boxes and they have a good reputation as well. Their prices were comparable to Red Head---but no cross country shipping!
The next issue was to remove the previous leather seats and get ready for the new TMI seats. While I had room to work under the dash with the seats out I changed out the master cylinder and booster. The previous issue of the brake linkage hanging up is now gone. I think it was in the old booster mount/linkage. So that takes care of the two drivability issues I was having, now on to the seating issue.
My reason for changing seats was that the big comfortable seats that I installed previously were Just too big for the cab. (especially since I'm running a 4 speed), just no leg room.

I ordered the TMI seats from Summit because they were cheaper than tmi And, there was free shipping! When I ordered the seats I also ordered the "universal mounting bracket kit" thinking that it was also made by tmi for their seats---wrong! The mounting kit was spindly and a waste of time. I decided to fabricate my own something on the order of OEM brackets. I always over design, so my brackets are a little stronger than Oem. After I had them made and checked final fit I decided to paint them. First coat went on well but next day the second coat Wrinkled!! I decided to cover the steel brackets with black Naugahyde instead of paint.
After about three day constructin tie and another day to wrap them in vinyl, everything was finally ready for installation. Below are some pics of the TMI seats

[54belair]

The first picture of seats shows the old seats while the rest are of the tmi seats.

I also included one pic of the new brake master/booster assy.