the pig rig?

[ericjon262]

I tore down the 3/4 ton front axle to install new ball joints I also threw some paint on it:



the axle seals are inboard for some ungodly reason...




I got the new steering gearbox in, hopefully the box brace and frame support come in tomorrow



I noticed that between my 3 front axles, I have 2 different center links, one, from the 3/4 ton, is a 2 piece unit, the other 2 are three pieces. the 3/4 ton looks a little stronger.



I pulled the axles out of the spare 1/2 ton axle, I'm going to clean them up and keep them on the shelf just in case I break one of the 3/4 ton shafts.

[ericjon262]

I was going to press in new U joints into my front axle shafts. either I did something very wrong, or that one is stuck good... thankfully I have spare shafts from the axle in the truck, and the axle I picked up a few months ago.



on the subject of U joints, I got the new steering shaft in, it's mostly installed, but will need to be compressed to fit.



New exhaust is reman parts from walker, all look pretty nice, and almost exact bolt on. the tailpipe is missing a hanger bracket though... oh well, I'll get the welder out and fix it in no time flat.






the first of the performance oriented parts arrived, this is a rear shackle flip bracket, from Off road Design. hopefully I'll have a big box on the porch when I get home Tuesday that I can play with.



I bent up some nice stainless trans cooler lines, just to find that my routing plan wouldn't work... DOH. so instead, I ran some -6 hose from the trans to the radiator. I used some russell's adapters to go from the 5/16" inverted flare, to -6 AN.



and the big news, the engine is back in the truck!



I'm almost ready for the first firing, all I have left for a test run to set timing, is to terminate the plug wires, put the exhaust on, add oil, and a battery.






Hopefully, Tuesday afternoon I can get the bulk of the work required to start the engine done, and maybe fire it up Tuesday afternoon/night.

[ericjon262]

turns out, I used the wrong fittings on the transmission cooler lines, I used straight hose ends on the transmission, but should have used 45*, with the straight ends, the hoses try and occupy the same space as the Y pipe, thankfully, I have some scrap stainless tubing, that I flared and bent to re-position the lines out of the way. My crossover steer kit came in, as well as my steering box brace. the box brace is installed, and the exhaust is almost done, I didn't get a chance to really work on it today, the weather wasn't exactly cooperating. hopefully tomorrow, I can finish the exhaust and plug wires

the brace is pretty beefy, kinda a PITA to install, I can't imagine trying to do it with the engine accessories on, and the radiator installed.





I also cleaned all the old grease out of the front wheel bearings with plans to repack them and roll, but one of the inners looked kinda meh, and the other looked like dog crap, thankfully, new timken's are only about $10 a piece. the outers looked great, so I'll just repack them and call it good. pro tip, gasoline removes wheel bearing grease like nobody's business.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Gasoline is for cleaning parts.
Alcohol is for drinking.
NITRO is for racing.

[ericjon262]

Gasoline is for cleaning parts.
Alcohol is for drinking.
NITRO is for racing.

that's a quote I haven't heard in a long time!

[ericjon262]

New exhaust is tucked way up there:







Please excuse my really crappy tig welds.



I made some new plug wires, the routing turned out pretty nice, I'll get pictures tomorrow.

and...


IT RUNS AGAIN!

https://youtu.be/aq_Z1dHt8Go

[The Dark Side of Will]

Congrats!

[ericjon262]

I pulled the 6 lug front axle out:



Hung new springs:



and got the housing in:






this is when I started to hit a few snags, the tierod is super close to the leaf springs, way too close, especially when you consider the fact that the ball joints and leaf spring U bolts aren't tight yet. the knuckles are pre-1977, which have a top down taper, instead of a bottom up taper.









I started working on the rear brakes. the shoes look great, and there really isn't that much dust, I suspect they have been under utilized, maybe a bad rear brake line not passing fluid?







The fluid in the wheel cylinder was nasty. I'm going to replace them both, they're only about $10 each, so well worth it. for good measure, I'll do the calipers too.

[ericjon262]

Congrats!

Thanks! there's nothing like a first turn start!

[ericjon262]

I talked to ORD about it, and we came up with a couple of solutions for my problem.


one was to use different tierod ends, like these for a 73 K5 blazer

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-45A0116- ... B000C9MGRE

I didn't really like that as much, because the bend looks weak compared to the strait ends.


the next option, was to shim the axle using ORD offset plates

http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/Axle%2 ... lates.html

I wasn't sure these would net enough clearance. it's hard to say without the balljoints in the knuckle tight.


another option, was to tighten things down as it, and see exactly where everything lands, which may end up not being so bad, as mentioned, the spring and axle more or less, move the same amount, so a little clearance is all that's needed anyways.


the last option, was to go with a high steer setup, and like the sucker for shiny parts that I am, I ended up ordering the high steer. it should be here this weekend, along with a few other parts/tools I've needed to get this hulk moving again.


on another note, the rear drums were able to be turned! that saves me a little over $100, which all went to getting new wheel cylinders, and caliper. hopefully, by the end of the weekend, I'll have the front wheels on it and my neighbors can quit giving me "the look" lol!

[The Dark Side of Will]

Did just snag a tapered reamer so you can run it through the tie rod bosses from the bottom and just install the tire rod ends underneath the steering arms?

[ericjon262]

Did just snag a tapered reamer so you can run it through the tie rod bosses from the bottom and just install the tire rod ends underneath the steering arms?

that's definitely an option as well, but the taper is the whole length of the arm, I'm not sure an off the shelf tierod would still fit, at least, not without some kind of sleeve to support it.

In other news, the ball joints are tight, and the new axles are home. I need to install the spindles still, but I wanted to wait until after I get the high steer kit so I can start putting the front brakes on in one go. I installed new shoes in the left rear drum, (stock drums were turned) and I think I found out another reason why the rear brakes looked so clean and unused, the adjuster was frozen solid and almost completely compressed. I pulled it apart, cleaned it, and lubed it(anti seize). I'll do the right side on Friday.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The hole through the boss on the arm would end up with an hourglass cross section. The tie rod end shank would still have taper to seat on, just not the full depth of the boss.

A sleeve could be an option, too. If shrunk in place and pinned, it won't go anywhere.

Shiny new parts are always the best choice, though.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I pulled it apart, cleaned it, and lubed it(anti seize). I'll do the right side on Friday.

Be careful with this... sticky lubricant in a dusty environment turns into drywall mud.
[tangent]
I've had problems with the Fiero clutch throw out mechanism because of this... trying to lubricate the throw out bearing where it slides on the tube attached to the input bearing. That actually causes more problems than it solves, by making the TOB hard enough to move that the slave cylinder spring can't return it to contact with the pressure plate fingers if it gets kicked back a little bit.
On closer inspection... it turns out the center sleeve of the TOB that rides on the input bearing tube is NYLON and doesn't need any lubrication at all. Some days engineers are smart.
[/tangent]

[ericjon262]

I was also concerned about the dust, I used minimal lube, and only on internal surfaces. I've done this before and hadn't had problems, but I also never had to take them back apart.

[ericjon262]

shoes and rear brakes are done, with the exception of adjusting.



I went ahead and started installing the brakes, the spindles, and backing plates went on without issue, but one of the wheel bearing seals kept not wanting to go in straight. I also picked up new lockout hubs, I was going to just keep the stock auto lockers, even though they're made of glass, but when I started cleaning them up for install, I realized one of them was already broken...



new calipers and shocks installed:



Radiator, condenser, and all accessories are installed, the belts are tight.



Trans cooler lines worked out nicely.



this is how I lubricate drum brake adjusters:



start by cleaning the adjuster with a wire brush and brake clean



Apply lube



wipe excess off after threading the body all the way on.





here's the nose and washer.



lube the wheel with a thin coat of lube.



install the washer



pack the nose with lube



twist it onto the body, and be sure to wipe the excess off afterwards.

[The Dark Side of Will]

You put the axles in first, right?

[ericjon262]

The hole through the boss on the arm would end up with an hourglass cross section. The tie rod end shank would still have taper to seat on, just not the full depth of the boss.

A sleeve could be an option, too. If shrunk in place and pinned, it won't go anywhere.

Shiny new parts are always the best choice, though.

I somehow missed this post, the hourglass shape that would result could lead to expedited wear, and a higher failure risk, if this were a lightweight, on road vehicle, I wouldn't be worried about it, but this thing weighs 5000+ pounds, I'd hate to have a rod end or steering arm fail 1000 miles from home.

You put the axles in first, right?

of coarse, with all new knuckle seals I might add. the front end on this truck is going to be so much tighter going down the road.

[ericjon262]

stock spring hanger



hanger removed. an air hammer made this much easier. for the ORD brackets, the original holes have to be drilled to 7/16". doing this with the gas tank in on a suburban, is almost impossible on the driver's side due to clearance issues with the spare tire well. I partially dropped the tank, and used a right angle drill adapter from lowes to get the holes made.



My jack didn't go high enough for me to snake the axle out with the wheels and tires still on, so I improvised and used the cheery picker.



stock Vs. flip









on four wheels!



Unfortunately, ORD forgot the rod ends(they're on the way) when they shipped my high steer kit, and there's no rear driveshaft (being shortened), so it doesn't move yet.



I was making fast progress on the list, but I had to add to it... I think the oil pressure switch on the rear chinawall by the distributor failed. it's hard to see back there to be sure though.

[ericjon262]

I was able to confirm that the oil leak was from the chinawall oil pressure port, although, it wasn't from the switch, it was from the fittings. then the original one broke, I had to put a few fittings together to make it fit, and the leak was from one of the intermediate fittings. I was able to get it back together, but I haven't had a chance to re-test it yet.

I got all the brake lines tight, but I still need to bleed them, and adjust the rear shoes, I plan to try and get that done this weekend.

The only other snafu is the parking brake cable. in current form, it's about 2" too short, I have a few plans of how to handle that, the fastest solution I think I have, it to weld up a longer parking brake cable connector to make up the difference. it shouldn't be too hard.