Project - '69 4x4 named "Patches"

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

Awesome build, I have a 72 swb 4x4 that's just about at the same stage as yours. It's been sitting for about a yr now, been collecting parts and have just gotten started on it again.

Do you know what tranfercase cross member you used. Did it come from a truck with a 205 or a 221, I'm mentioning this because there is a 1" difference in the amount of drop. The 205 member having more drop, so if you used a 221 cross member with a 205 TC you might have a problem with the trany hitting the cab floor. Just a heads up.

221 has 11"s of drop and the 205 has 12".

Gary

Thanks Gary. I've been watching your build as well.

Thanks for bringing up the point about the crossmember differences. I actually did drop the crossmember by 1" with some blocks that I had machined at a local shop. I even took pictures after I installed them to add to my build thread, but I forgot to add this tidbit of info. Thanks again for bring it up.

[CUSTOM/10]

That will take care of it !!!

Lot's easier to do it now, keep up the good work.

It's looking like My plans my change a little, have a chance at a deal on a vortec 383 imstead of the TBI 355. It will be worse on fuel, but more fun...

Gary

[sdailey]

Slowly plugging away on the '69 still. I've been buying a few parts here and there. I recently bought a Wilwood master cylinder kit for my hydraulic clutch setup. I bought the kit from Summit for about $70.






I also bought a new 4-row radiator from Advanced Auto for $180. It's the heavy duty model for an ac/4x4 truck. It's built pretty soild for being made in Mexico.

[sdailey]

One of the plans for my truck was to add an electric fan setup. So I did some searching on the board and looked a hundreds of threads about electric fans and I found a great write up by boardmember Shifty that seemed to meet my needs. I won't go throught the details of what I did, because you can look through Shifty's thread below and see the details. I basically copied his instructions and everything worked out perfectly.

Electric fan thread

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=216128

The parts I bought for my fan setup from Wes at Classic Hearbeat and Paul at GMCPauls were all top quality parts. This was also the first time I purchased anything from either one of these board vendors and the customer service was top notch from both. I'll be sending them more business in the future.

Powdercoated shroud from GMCPauls



Flex-a-lite fans from Classic Heartbeat



Fans mounted to shroud. Real clean look so far.



Shroud mounted to radiator




Then I mounted the complete setup to the core support for a photo shoot.





I'll be adding a serpentine setup to the motor as well when the budget allows. Once I get that installed I can test fire the 350 finally. The addition of the serpentine kit along the electric fans should the give the engine compartment a clean uncluttered look. Stay tuned for future updates.

[msgross]

nice.. I have the same radiator..

I was wondering if you were suppose to cut those bands off it or not.. looks like it needs a little touch of spray paint now..

[sdailey]

Thanks Mike. It's no cab floor replacement, but it's progress.

Yes I'll have to go back and spray a little touch up paint over the banded area of the radiator.

[Rack Man]

Wow...That fan set up looks awesome...Your build is coming along nicely!

I also got that same radiator...I didn't realize that those bands come off either....Are they only for shipping?...I've seen others installed with them left on as well?

[sdailey]

Thanks Dan. Little by little and it'll get there one day. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. I can always look at your and msgross's build's to help keep me motivated though.

As far as the banding goes, I've always been told to cut them off. I don't guess it hurts anything either way though.

[Rack Man]

Curiousity got the better of me and I called the place where I bought mine and they told me that the straps really need to stay on....that they help with the expansion of the radiator....they also told me that It would void the warranty as they would consider it a "modification"....They even sell "Expansion Tank Strap Kits".....may all be BS but thats the story I got!

[sdailey]

Oh great. Thanks Dan. That's all I need to hear. You got my curiousity up as well so I called Advanced and they (manager & assistant manager) had different opinions as well. One said cut them and the other said "I think you're supposed to leave them on, but I'm not sure." I asked about the warranty and they said that it wouldn't matter. Who knows.

One step forward, 2 steps back.

[msgross]

well, it's made in mexico so maybe that bands keep it from falling apart...

as for the autozone/advanced counter guys... no friggin way am I taking advice from those guys!

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by sdailey

Oh great. Thanks Dan. That's all I need to hear. You got my curiousity up as well so I called Advanced and they (manager & assistant manager) had different opinions as well. One said cut them and the other said "I think you're supposed to leave them on, but I'm not sure." I asked about the warranty and they said that it wouldn't matter. Who knows.

One step forward, 2 steps back.

Even if you had a warranty claim, they won't even pay attention to the bands. That requires thought and if it's not in the computer they won't know to check or ask.

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

well, it's made in mexico so maybe that bands keep it from falling apart...

as for the autozone/advanced counter guys... no friggin way am I taking advice from those guys!

I guess I should go tighten down the radiator clamps a little more in case it falls part.

I agree 100% about not taking advice from their employees.

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Even if you had a warranty claim, they won't even pay attention to the bands. That requires thought and if it's not in the computer they won't know to check or ask.

Sad but so true.

[Igotachevyor2]

that is going to be a nice rig when your finished.

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by Igotachevyor2

that is going to be a nice rig when your finished.

Thank you Sir.

[Old School Kid]

lookin good sdailey... Its going to be so worth it in the end! AWESOME job..

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by Old School Kid

lookin good sdailey... Its going to be so worth it in the end! AWESOME job..

Thanks Taylor. That's what I try to keep telling myself.

[crimespree]

yep, thats about where it was the other day. i got my truck running and back to the house. now its going to be time to sand and prime that hood. thanks again for that. i will be checking back to see how its going.

[sdailey]

Well Christmas came early this year......

The UPS man delivered this 82# box today. I'm sure he said some choice words when he was walking up the steps on my porch to deliver it today.



Care to take a guess what's inside?























My new GM serpentine kit




One step closer to firing it up for the first time. I had a busy afternoon so I'll have to wait until later this week before I can install it.

On a side note, I've been shopping around for the best price for this kit for a while now and I finally found the best price at www.paceperformance.com

I don't know how everyone else is but once I know I'm buying something for my truck I'll go to the website or catalog and look at it a hundred times until the budget allows me to buy it. Then I start drooling over the next part on my list and so on. Well last week I was looking at this kit again on various sites like Summit, Jegs and Pace and to my surprise Pace had it on sale for a little over $70 cheaper than any other retailer, so I went ahead and bought it from them before the sale expired. For those interested GM's part number is 12497698.

[msgross]

I just had two boxes weighing 175# total delivered. We were on vacation and the neighbor made the UPS guy come back over to the house and put it on the back porch since it was about to rain!!!! great neighbors and UPS guy, even if he wasn't happy.. He told her "those are heavy though!"

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by sdailey

Well Christmas came early this year......

The UPS man delivered this 82# box today. I'm sure he said some choice words when he was walking up the steps on my porch to deliver it today.

Our UPS guy should be in great shape Huh. Parts lookin good.

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

I just had two boxes weighing 175# total delivered. We were on vacation and the neighbor made the UPS guy come back over to the house and put it on the back porch since it was about to rain!!!! great neighbors and UPS guy, even if he wasn't happy.. He told her "those are heavy though!"

It's nice having good neighbors, isn't it.

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Our UPS guy should be in great shape Huh. Parts lookin good.

Yeah, he should be.

[sdailey]

I got around to installing the serpentine kit this afternoon. The instructions were sketchy at best, but with the help of Alan we got it installed with only one minor hiccup (see 3rd pic below).

On a side note I was able to mount this kit on my crate motor even though the passenger side head doesn't have (3) accessory holes, but the driver's side does. The kit comes with (2) braces. One helps support the alternator/ps steering bracket on the driver's side and the other supports the main bracket that the ac compressor mounts to.








Here's the only problem for the day.....a faulty water pump pulley bolt. Many thanks to Alan for taking the torque wrench out of my hand at this point "preventing" further damage from happening.





Slowly getting there. Thanks for checking in.
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[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by sdailey

Here's the only problem for the day.....a faulty water pump pulley bolt. Many thanks to Alan for taking the torque wrench out of my hand at this point "preventing" further damage from happening.
.

Yep looked like Capt. destruto was coming out pretty quick.

[Old School Kid]

Let me know when your going to fire it up, it will be a momentuous occasion!

Looks great!!