1971 K10 Stepside - Getting a Roller Roadworthy

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

That should make it easier. I bent all mine, and stainless is unforgiving. If you make a mistake on your last bend or forget to put the flare nut on before flaring it's back to square one!!! Ask me how I know..... 😂...

You probably ended up with better fitting lines in the end though. I debated going that route, but I've bought pre-bent lines in the past, and they fit reasonably well after a little massaging.

[pjmoreland]

Spent some time with my dad today repairing heavily worn mechanical clutch linkage parts. We both did some of the welding using his TIG welder, although his welds looked way better than mine. Filed them down smooth and then tempered the welds with an oxy-acetylene torch followed by quenching in water.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Spent some time with my dad today repairing heavily worn mechanical clutch linkage parts. We both did some of the welding using his TIG welder, although his welds looked way better than mine. Filed them down smooth and then tempered the welds with an oxy-acetylene torch followed by quenching in water.

That's some skilled welding.
We tried that on the L6 Upper Clutch Push Rod on my Stepside, back about 20 years ago, when we rebuilt the current 292. I abandoned the result, but my Machinist had the idea of threading both ends of a same-length steel rod, and screwing Heim Joints on the ends.
LMC has now 'stolen' the idea, but mine was considerably less, made up from available components.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

That's some skilled welding.
We tried that on the L6 Upper Clutch Push Rod on my Stepside, back about 20 years ago, when we rebuilt the current 292. I abandoned the result, but my Machinist had the idea of threading both ends of a same-length steel rod, and screwing Heim Joints on the ends.
LMC has now 'stolen' the idea, but mine was considerably less, made up from available components.

That sounds like an excellent application for Heim joints. How are they holding up?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

That sounds like an excellent application for Heim joints. How are they holding up?

It was January '05 when Orange Sunshine came back to life with its original engine F0627XAE rebuilt and hotrodded.
The Heim Joint Linkage has given me Zero problems.
[Although I should inspect it tomorrow, so I'm not Jinxed.]

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

It was January '05 when Orange Sunshine came back to life with its original engine F0627XAE rebuilt and hotrodded.
The Heim Joint Linkage has given me Zero problems.
[Although I should inspect it tomorrow, so I'm not Jinxed.]

Ha!

[pjmoreland]

Your clutch rod looks stout. Having the straight design for the inline six instead of the dog leg made it easier to fabricate. I like it.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Your clutch rod looks stout. Having the straight design for the inline six instead of the dog leg made it easier to fabricate. I like it.

Actually that Z-Bar has had to have its ears rewelded on. Around 350,000 miles. Broke off in traffic on a rush hour morning. Broke off with the stick in 2nd gear. Had to muscle it into neutral. Killed a day of work.

Same thing happened on the '71 GMC Jimmy's Z-Bar, but we thought that was because its ears were ''joggled'' extensively to play with headers.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Actually that Z-Bar has had to have its ears rewelded on. Around 350,000 miles. Broke off in traffic on a rush hour morning. Broke off with the stick in 2nd gear. Had to muscle it into neutral. Killed a day of work.

Same thing happened on the '71 GMC Jimmy's Z-Bar, but we thought that was because its ears were ''joggled'' extensively to play with headers.

That sounds extremely inconvenient. These clutch components live a hard life.

[pjmoreland]

Now that the holidays are over, I'm able to get back to working on my truck. This evening I wire wheeled the bottom of the cab and sprayed it with undercoating. I also found a couple of rusted spots in the front cab supports so I did some patching. I also removed the engine crossmember, tail light wiring and the front parking brake cable in preparation for cleaning and painting the frame.

[pjmoreland]

More photos

['68OrangeSunshine]

What paint you gonna use? POR 15, or spraycan Satin Black?

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

What paint you gonna use? POR 15, or spraycan Satin Black?

I'm going to paint the frame semigloss black with a spray can.

[pjmoreland]

Cleaned the frame with a wire wheel and then painted it. That was not fun. Also filled the openings at the cab corners with seam sealer. I had pulled out the big chunk of factory seam sealer that was loose in the cab corners.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

That was not fun.

Quoted for truth! That is a time consuming and dirty task, especially with the cab on the frame and while you're laying on the ground. Looks nice and clean!

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Quoted for truth! That is a time consuming and dirty task, especially with the cab on the frame and while you're laying on the ground. Looks nice and clean!

It's nowhere near show quality, but it should at least keep it protected from the elements.

[pjmoreland]

Started installing the front brakes. Didn't make it very far though because the hoses are too short. It doesn't make sense though since I've got stock suspension. Got these hoses from LMC. Went to Napa and O'Reilly and their hoses are exactly the same. They need to be about 2" longer.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Started installing the front brakes. Didn't make it very far though because the hoses are too short. It doesn't make sense though since I've got stock suspension. Got these hoses from LMC. Went to Napa and O'Reilly and their hoses are exactly the same. They need to be about 2" longer.

Was the rig lifted?

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Wa the rig lifted?

I think these are stock leaf springs, but I don't know for sure.

[pjmoreland]

Dumb mistake. I just needed to rotate the caliper end 90 degrees so that the hose faces upward.

[CUSTOM/10]

See what they look like once you get some weight on the springs, motor, Transmission & transfer case.
I'm having the same issue but with 2" lift , and 23" lines that are supposed to fit.
Just barely at full lock left & right.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

See what they look like once you get some weight on the springs, motor, Transmission & transfer case.
I'm having the same issue but with 2" lift , and 23" lines that are supposed to fit.
Just barely at full lock left & right.

Good point. The weight of the drivetrain will help. I'm a little concerned about what the hose might look like at full lock during articulation on uneven ground, but it will probably be ok.

[CUSTOM/10]

Yeah and at full droop will they pull tight. Thats my concern...

[pjmoreland]

Installed front and rear brake hoses and new stainless brake and fuel lines today. I'm missing the bracket that secures the rear driver side hard line to one of the diff cover bolts. I'll either track one down or make one.

[pjmoreland]

Also today one issue I ran into was that the banjo bolts that came with the new calipers were too short (7/8" long), and especially with the thick copper washers that came with the calipers. I couldn't find any longer banjo bolts for sale locally, so I cleaned up and used the originals (1" long) along with the thinner copper washers that came with the hoses..