I've been wondering where you've got off to!?!?! And BAM there you are! LOL..
Nice work on the crossmembers.
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I've been wondering where you've got off to!?!?! And BAM there you are! LOL..
Nice work on the crossmembers.
I'm not sure how I never saw this either. Awesome work, can't wait to see it finished.
Thanks guys.
The set back of installing the x member means I can no longer use the factory brake assembly. So here is my brake bracket I fabricated. As you can see I also had to notch the frame to have clearance for the Hydroboost unit.
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I already modified the panel assembly, all that is required is a push rod extension but I think I better wait until the cab is back on to mock it up so that I know the brake is in the right spot.
Looks Great, Bam!!! You're gonna have it ready for the Culver City show in May, right??:D:D
Good to see you back, and that you're making progress on the truck, BAM.;)
Oh, and don't pay too much attention to 34_40's commentWith all of the snow up in Massachusetts his wife's had him watching too many of Emeril's cooking shows on TV:LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:Quote:
Originally Posted by 34_40
looking good bam . you'll be driving it before long . still banging away at mine. it looks like a bucktooth hillbilly without the fenders on it. :LOL:
Thanks guys.
Shine, I'm not really worried about driving it soon, because the plan is to make it the first thing I've built that is exactly like I intended so its no rush. I have the car to enjoy until its done. I just don't want that if I would have I could have thing that I do after every build. So I will take my time and do it my way. Yeah its taking long and the wife is more in a rush than I am.lol But what she doesn't know is after the truck I will take the car apart and do the same thing.lol I don't plan to ever sale either so hopefully I live long enough to see both redone to my liking.
Here is the piece I fabricated for the pedal assembly. https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8695/1...380ea6c964.jpg
After a lot of measuring here it is tacked in place. I'm going to leave it tacked until the cab is back on the frame, because I may have to move it a little bit.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8734/1...29f3b4d927.jpg
Here is the pedal installed. Yes the push rod connection clears the bottom tube by about 1/2 inch. As you can see I need to make or purchase a longer push rod extension.
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Great work on the hydraboost install. The x member looks great too.
I got the frame repainted.
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Here is the push rod connection to the brake pedal I had to fab up the mount for the brake pedal.
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Hey Bam55 Thats Looking Goooood ! Glad to see some new post, I was wondering where you went ? Love the new work on the frame.
I been a very busy over the last year. I remodeled the entire house with an addition. The wife told me while we are at it to build a workshop for my tools that way only my cars where in the garage. We also added a driveway between the garage and the new workshop, a fence that sections off my part of the yard from hers.lol
I been a very busy over the last year. I remodeled the entire house with an addition. The wife told me while we are at it to build a workshop for my tools that way only my cars where in the garage. We also added a driveway between the garage and the new workshop, a fence that sections off my part of the yard from hers.lol
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I had my handy man build the structure and I did all the electrical and drywall.
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I used Gladiator rails and cabinets. I love the rail system for storing my tools and misc.
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I also could not resist buying a new toy I caught on sell, a new miller mig.
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I after doing the shed I was tired of sanding due to installing all the drywall and stuff. So I decided to focus my attention on the LS engine. It was sitting so long that I just want to rebuild it. I bored it to a 5.7 and added 5.7 flattop pistons, and TSP 228r cam, and ARP rod bolts, other than that the rotating assembly is stocked.
Bare block when it came back from the machine shop
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Machine shop check list.
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Rotating Assembly right before I installed it.
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Engine back together. Oh I also brought some used 243 heads of ebay and had them rebuilt also.
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Other things I did was paint the valve the same color as the trucks and found some aftermarket coil brackets that I like way better than the OEM ones and headers.
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Ready to fire it up for the first time. I only let it run a little while due to no radiator. My setup is a engine dolly I made, along with a front that is removable. It just slides into the legs of the dolly. For gas I used Lawn Mower gas tank that I modified for a return line, PSI wiring harness and basic tune (still have to have it tuned for the cam), external fuel pump, corvette filter regulator, and drive by wire.
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Here is a link to a short video of it running. I only let it run for a short time due to no radiator. It sounds pretty good. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bam55/...7670272808501/
Here are some pics of the trans tear down and cleaned up.
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I finished the 4L60E rebuild with upgrades such as corvette servo and added more clutches than stock. Here are the pics.
Installing the components for the case.
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Rebuilt the pump
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Assembling the drum with new steel and frictions
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Assembly of the input drum with new steel and frictions
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Components ready to go in the case
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Drum and input drum installed.
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Pump installed.
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Bell Housing installed
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Valve body and all electronics installed
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Prep for primer and paint
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Painted and done
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I air tested everything along the way. Next step install the Torque Converter and bolt her up to the engine.
Bam, nice progress! I think all of us have that delicate balance between home life and our time in the shop, good to see you kicked out of the house again! :LOL:
Good to see you posting again! And thanks for all the update pics. It's looking sweet btw,
I really like your work shop, and nice work on the engine and trans!
just read thru your whole build and am very impressed, it seems you can do most anything. Really nice metal work. I'm doing a 5.3 with a 4l60e too but I chickened out on trying to rebuild the trans myself. I've done a couple manual transmissions but after looking at some video of a 4l60 rebuild it looked kind of involved.
Here's another thread I seemed to have missed. Just finished reading first two pages, Excellent build with great photos and step by step sequences. Thanks! Steve
Thanks guys I really appreciate you guys taking time to check out the build.
I just had to learn how to do most things myself due to the fact that customer service and caring about doing customers right seem to be a thing of the past. You are lucky if you have a good shop to take your things these days. I can mess up my own stuff, I don't need any help doing that.lol
The trans is not so bad you can do, I find most things are not that hard if you have the will to learn, attention to detail, and patience for any learning curve. I had a great time rebuilding the engine and trans.
Thanks for all your comments buddy
I have a core trans that I'm using now for mock up but I have no idea where to get it rebuilt. I just don't trust that the shop is actually going to replace everything they say they are. I could be getting mostly just a shiny new coat of paint.
How much did you have to spend on special tools?
Not much at all. I made my own spring compressors, Stator Shaft and imput drum sills installer. When you look at the spring compressors you will see they are easy to make but if you purchase I seen them as low as 20 bucks. For the Stator Shaft and input drum sills that is an expensive tool, but here is what I did. The tool allows you to slip on the sills and the use another plastic piece to slide over the shaft when the sills are installed. This allows the sills to conform to the shaft. So what I did was cut some small plastic paint mixing bucket, put the sill on it slide it over the shaft and install the sills. After all the sills were install I used my fingers to conform them to the shaft the best I could. I then used that same plastic to wrap around the shaft. I use zip ties to hold it together and pulled them as tight as I could. I also use zip ties on each sill. Waited around 30 min. and the sills were conformed to the shaft.
But if your sills are in good shape you really don't need to replace them.
Got the engine, trans, and torque converter mated up, next is to get it between the frame rails.
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Man that looks really sweet, wish mine looked that good.
Thanks man I really appreciate it. Judging by the work I saw on your project page I'm sure you will have your looking great.
I forgot to post these. Its the new 15 inch 55 Belair steering wheel. I think it will look nice with my transplanted 55 car dash.
Before the clearcoat was applied
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After the clearcoat
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beautiful! Just beautiful!!
Okay, out of interest, what is the standard diameter of those wheels and do you guys have a legal size that is the bare minimum one can use for a steering wheel like here in New Zealand ? That wheel looks absolutely brilliant too.
The original 55 steering wheel is 18 inches, the aftermarket one I bought is 15.
coming along nice bam . wont be long until that first ticket :)
Everything you show is awsome. There's the old saying jack of all trades but master of none. For you I think I'd better say jack-of-all-trades and have mastered them all.
Love that green Bam..
I don't think there is any standard size for steering wheels in the US, nor any regulation pertaining to.
N.Z. seems to have an abundance of regulations.
Have you ever read the Peter Pyramid? In essence, it states that any bureaucracy will grow and expand to the point which it can no longer perform the function for which it was originally created.
Bureaucrats must be kept carefully in check and their regulations carefully reviewed or they will regulate every aspect of our lives and deprive us of all liberty and freedom.
That color really pops with the chrome accents. Nice work:cool:
Bam, that looks awesome! Nice work!
Actually there are written standards for everything you can touch on an automobile here in the U.S., but "they" (legislators) don't see any need to enforce it. Here in MA, back in the 80's it was quite common to be pulled over for having a hot rod / muscle car / custom and having ride height and steering wheels measured. As well as headlight operation and aiming! The vehicle had to have fenders, mirrors, wipers, directional and a horn. If you failed the inspection, the car would be impounded and you were handed a hefty ticket and a court summons! Somewhere in the 90's - law "enforcement" no longer saw a need to enforce these laws as well as immigration / intoxication and many other topics.
In the early 70's I had just put the plates on my first Mustang. I barely got out of the driveway when a cop pulled me over to write me a ticket because the car hadn't yet received a safety inspection sticker. My paperwork and my father proved to the cop that I was legit and had 7 days to get a sticker! On one hand I'm glad we don't live like that anymore, but, it seems like anything goes now. I see so many cars at cruise nights that have no business on the road, crappy, scary assemblies are almost commonplace and we seem to have no controls in place at times.