Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

The frame gets some new digs! I helped a friend insulate and drywall his 40X40 shop over the summer and he has been gracious and let me bring my project up there. Its great because he has a project of his own going, so we can lend each other a hand as needed. Plus his shop is AWSOME! I did bring up a bunch of tools that he didn't have, so its really a win-win.
The biggest issue I had was getting my partially assembled frame up there. My car trailer was buried under 2 feet of snow, and I didn't really want to dig it out for a 15 minute ride. My Tundra only has a 5 1/2' bed so do the math and you have about 9 feet of frame hanging past the tail gate! I put a Ruth's doggy bag to good use though. Now we will see some progress!!

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

OH man. Shop envy going on right now. That looks warehouse big compared to mine.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Yeah- he has a really nice shop and it is great of him to share it with me. I guess he feels guilty for having me in the attic blowing in the insulation last August.
The mock up continues:
Got the Wilwood discs on the reared.
The trailing arms, bags and reared are on the frame.
The drop member and a-arms arrived.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Porterbuilt drop member going in. This particular dm was replaced with a new one- notice how the lower pass a-arm isn't installed. The first one I received didn't have the pass front lower control arm hole machined to fit the bushing. PB was quick to send out a replacement though. While I was waiting for it, I had the control arms powder coated 20% satin black. The car in the background is my buddies project- 67 GTX.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Made my compressor/ tank mounts and welded a butt load of holes in the frame. Fitting the air system has been a bit of an issue since I'm building a stepper and leaving the stock bed floor. There are not a lot of places to tuck the tanks and compressors. I was originally going to use a single 4gal tank, but it had nowhere to go (that I liked). I picked up a couple of slim 1gal tanks and am piggy backing them on with the compressor.
The brackets were a little "floppy" so I went back and added some stiffeners. Here is a little trick I used to cut the radius in the stiffeners (to clear the compressor motor). I took a large washer and traced around it with the plasma cutter inside of a smaller washer. It turned out pretty smooth, and was the correct size.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Did some more plumbing on the air system. I don't care much for the plastic lines so I am running aluminum with AN fittings. I made a bracket to mount the valve on the upper rear shock mount. It worked out pretty good and helps keep a symmetrical layout. It also gives enough room for the pressure gauge senders to clear the cross member. The inlet ports on the valve cross over so it will keep the air balanced in the two separate tanks.
Also took a little break and went with my friend to look at a motor for his project car. This was not the engine he was looking at, but it was the one the guy had originally built for the car. This is a 2500HP alcohol injected street driven car. The car is very impressive and you can find it on youtube- just search for 2500 hp valiant.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Nice tube work, I saw the Valiant run on the dyno, killer car, a handful to drive I bet.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Setting the motor and trans. This is an 08 L5Y with a 4l60 (18K miles). I have a 6l80 that I is currently 4WD, but I have the stuff to make it 2WD. Unfortunately the trans has to come completely apart to swap the output shaft and remove a couple of plugs. Im going to mock it up what the 4spd for now as it looks like the 6 is only 1 3/8 longer at the mount.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

The owner is a nice guy if not a little "chatty". He said the clutch is the worst thing- good quad workout though. The take up feels like engaging a regular clutch and then you do a leg press from there. Impressive workmanship on the car though.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

I picked up a set of wheels off of eBay. I figured these would work for rollers at a minimum and might just work out in the long run. I'm not too crazy about the fake bead lock bolts, but I have a plan to eliminate them. There are also a few more pictures of the brake and air lines. Speaking of brake lines, I gave the Nicop lines a try. They are a nickel/ copper alloy and was fairly easy to work with. It was stiff enough to stay straight, but bent and flared nicely. It also has kind of a cool- titanium color to it. I also mocked up the new fuel rails and lines. Not to be too corny, but I'm trying to "color code" the various systems (within reason). The fuel lines will be red, air is natural and oil(s) will be black. All of my AN fittings are going to be either black, silver or red.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Must say that is a nice rim, save the bead lock look, like to see your plan on elimination.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

I'm following along. I like the plan.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Keep up the good work. It looks like you are making lemonaid out of lemons. Nice attention to detail!

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Man awesome work so far! I'm hooked and will keep watching. Glad you are saving it from completely rusting away!

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Thanks for the comments guys.
I got some rubber on the wheels- definitely not the tires I will be using eventually, but I had them and they hold air. I think I will be running a little more sidewall when the time comes.
There is air in them there bags. The suspension is actually holding the frame up. First time in a long time and a real motivator. I went with a mild DM and a regular c-notch so not "laying frame", but it will "lay oil pan"- guess I need a new one of those now.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

I got started on the exhaust. These are a set of e-Bay headers that I thought I would give a try. I like the look and I was pretty sure they were going to clear. The listing had them for a camaro (no year), but it also said "not chassis specific". The seller had no idea if they would fit or not either. Obviously I like a challenge, so I ordered them up and viola' here we are.
The V-bands were kicked out a little right at the tail end so I had to perform a little surgery and grafting. I like the way they ended up flowing into the rest of the exhaust system (more pix in next post)

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Exhaust continued.....
Naturally the trans cross member was in the way, so I had to make a little modification. I should have known it was a waste of time (more on that later, but your hint is 6L80e).

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

I finally got the 6L80e back from the guy that changed it over to 2wd. When I did my measurements against the 4L60, the mounting pad was only 1 3/8" further back. No big deal, drilled my holes for the PB crossmember in the 4 spd and 6spd positions and went about using the 4l60 as a placeholder. When it came time to install the 6 spd I realized that the crossmember would need to be flipped with the pad towards the front vs towards the rear as with the 4L60. That little move put the crossmember into my mufflers, so it wouldn't work without further modification if at all.
I carved up a piece of 2X4 11 gauge tube and made my own crossmember to support the 6spd and clear the pan and exhaust. Good times!

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Cant make out in the pic's what the mufflers are?

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Those are Jones Turbines. The diesel guys swear by them- supposedly outflow a straight pipe. They have some interesting construction. I'd post a link, but I don't think I'm supposed to unless they are an advertiser. They come up at the top of Google anyway.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Great job on the rusty frame!

But now for the million dollar question.... You going to strip everything back off the frame to paint/powder coat it???

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

I have one of the AERO turbines on my Tundra and love it!

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Yup- I'm just mocking up right now. I already made a few goofs that would have required refinishing some spots. It's extra work, but I think worth it in the long run.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

That's encouraging. I really hope to avoid the dreaded drone, and they said these do a good job with the built in resonator. How is the sound on your aTundra. I had a JBA exhaust on my 07 Tundra and at cruise it was terrible for droning.

Re: 70 Chevy short stepper build
 

Here is how I got rid of the fake plastic "bead lock bolts" on my wheels. Now it kind of looks like I have 2 piece wheels instead. I picked up 64 3/8-16X 1/2" stainless socket head cap screws. The holes for the plastic inserts was pretty close to 5/16 and almost deep enough so I hit them with the drill and took them about another 1/8" deeper. I then tapped the holes with the correct tap and locktited (is that a word?) in the new bolts.
I also made my own A/C compressor mount and power steering mounts. I wanted the drive package to be as compact as possible. The only mount I purchased was for the low alternator. I'm using a 2010+ camaro water pump, so it has the truck spacing.