lsxponcho

Thanks man. They were a bit expensive as far as steel wheels go at $185 ea. The custom backspace is $25 of that. Also if you order custom backspace from them, the wheels automatically come with multifit pattern, so they have 10 holes. It doesn't matter for me as im going to run the factory center caps to hide that.

lsxponcho

Definitely kickin *** tonight. There have been some slow months, so I have to pat myself on the back when I get any real progress done, lol. I sold the set of belltech hangers and shackles I had, and ordered factory replacement shackles from dorman, so its settled on 6" for the rear. Also today I picked up my 2" drop spindles, so if I leave the springs the way they are now, it will be 5" drop front. Not sure if I should toss the belltech spacers in and go proven 4/6, or chance it and see how weird 5/6 looks? Another score today was princess auto had a sale on square tubing. So I picked up some 2", and 1.5" to build notches and a back bridge for upper shock mount location. I tossed in the perches, and diff, snugged up the plates, and tossed in a tire for my viewing pleasure, and Im happy. Wild *** guess on shock length looks like 18" length at ride height, running from the lower spring plate to where it would meet up with where the bridge will run, with enough angle for the shock to clear the frame (could also pocket the frame too if need be, but the angle doesn't look bad). I also tried my junkyard rear sway bar (89 f-150) and the bar sits across the diff nice enough, but the sway link on the drives side interferes with the gas tank so I couldn't get it centered...really to early to say if it will work, but I think if need be I could rear mount it also. It was dark by the time I wrapped up, but can't go without some quality cell phone pics.





















I still have to play with pinion angle so I can weld on the perches. Everything is marked now, so I can remove the box, blow it all apart again, and start cutting to build the notches. I'm wanting to do something along the lines of the avs underbed super c-notch...aaaaand off coarse a butt load more cleaning and painting.

thunderwagen

iTrader: (3)

Looks good so far.

lsxponcho

Things are continuing to move in the right direction. I got the drop spindles installed, and removed the 3" drop springs to install the 1 " spacers. I also scored a smoothie bumper for the truck, so I decided to ditch the rear bumper and go with a roll pan. I made another milestone this weekend, and finally got the garage wired for 240v. Now that I have the capability to run my larger mig, and more amps on the plasma cutter, it blows my mind that I waited this long to do it. I was pretty excited, so I got the truck spun around, and knocked the box off, and removed the gas tank, and the rear end out again. I mentioned I picked up some tubing a little while ago, so I put it to good use, and built sort of a truss for the c-notch. They will end up looking kind of like the avs super notch, but a bit beefier. I will end up plating the inside too, then build the bridge for the relocated shocks. Here are a couple pictures of how things are starting to look.













Now that the fab stuff is happening, i'm playing with the idea of relocating to a rear mount fuel tank. I got a rear tank from the same ford pickup that I scored the rear sway bar from, and rough measuring shows it will fit the frame rails. I just have to see how it looks after the notch is done, and get the rear end mocked back up so I know how much room the shocks need. Double bonus; if it all fits, then the sway bar will work perfect also. More progress pictures coming, as i'm making steady progress.

shootermwc

Anyone need red/maroon parts...lol


PM SENT sir

shootermwc

Ok NOW the PM is send, dont know where the hell I typed the other message. Good looking project man. Can wait to see the finished piece for sure!

lsxponcho

Thanks, PM returned!

lsxponcho

Getting close to finishing up the c-notch. There are still some unknowns yet as to which fuel tank I'm going to run, and how the sway bar fits into the equation. I have to order up some shocks, and mount them yet to the rear bridge bar, so there will be a little bit of fab left before I can wrap it up. A little out of left field, but I made a sweet purchase a few days ago, and picked up a 95 ld2500 rclb with a 5.7/nv3500 combo. It will give up its 5spd, and possibly the sf 14 bolt if it isn't too much to convert to 5 bolt pattern. Technically I could yank the hole fuel system, tbi wiring since its already sbc/5spd since the harness is quite a bit thinner to begin with than my truck was, and not have to run my noisy holley blue pump haha. It also doesn't have a/c so I will steal that stuff (even though i gutted the a/c from my box already), a bunch of interior (may use the 95 dash too), and other odds and ends. Its a little late in the game since the truck has new brakes, ordered wheels and tires already, but the thought of just going 6 bolt all together has me intrigued. Anyways as usual here are some pics.

lsxponcho

Well, I got a little impatient with the plasma cutter again, and cut out the x member, and test fit the ford tank. Fit is practically perfect. I have the rear crossmember from the F150 too, and although its frame rails are a little taller than the chevy's, it looks like it will work with minimal mods. Width was perfect though. I am going to tube the rear in more to add some strength. I could possibly route the filler to the factory location, but it might look stupid, so I will most likely 90 up, and put a filler door in the bed floor.

lsxponcho

So I called to check on my wheels, since it had been a few weeks since they were supposedly started; Wouldn't you know, Wheel Vintiques didn't even have any centers for the wheels to build them. We had a discussion on how I was able to pay for wheels (not that its a bunch of money really) that they didn't have parts to build, and wait for 4 months for that update. They were good about the whole deal though, and now they are now going to build me a different set of wheels. I ended up with a set of Corvette style rally's 15x7 fronts, and 15x10 rears with the same 6" backspace, powder coated all for 600 bucks. I'm happy again, so hopefully I have the wheels in hand this time in 4-5 weeks as promised.

As far as truck updates, the donor truck is stripped now, and I also decided to cut the truck in half, and save the box to make a trailer for hauling garbage etc. Im sure the neighbors love it, as last night I rolled the box and cab halves out seperatly and stacked them sideways on the driveway haha. Should definately get a few wtf's out of that.


The scrap guy is going to pick up the cab, and a bunch of other steel I have accumulated, so the yard will be nice and clean again. I also pulled the 700r4 out last night to install the flywheel for the nv3500. I have to cut the shifter, and clutch master holes yet, then install the clutch pedal, and tranny...but Whoohoo for progress. I can't wait to bang gears!