About the color combo, I had an idea - wet sand it lay some lace on and spray lightly with silver for a fade, then shoot some clear and buff. BTW - I am green with envy over $500 for that beauty. That is a steal, give your neighbor a Christmas gift.
I am actually going to remove it first. Got to looking at this morning and realized there's not much holding it on. Funny you say that. I think I'm going to do the lace paint trick on my Triumph. For this thing I am thinking a simply solid color though.
this was my old ride. 58 removed 3 leaf springs from the back and it lowered it 8" then installed air shocks when i had a load. i did need a c-notch but the air shocks it never bottomed out. the other one is a photoshop someone on the hamb did. i was gonna use that lay out just different colors. Bumpstick did this photoshop.
Since you say you c notched I am assuming you flipped the rear and removed 3 leafs? That's a good looking drop in the rear!
Here's how it looks today....more and more degreasing and cleaning up. I am going to shoot the firewall and frame rails with paint while the motor is out. A keen eye will also notice the rust spots/holes on the cab sides where the fresh air vents route. Finding more rust and rot as I go. Looks like some sheetmetal work will be in order this winter.
Started the work for the front end drop today. I am going to do with a flipped front axle since this build is themed on a budget and because honestly I just like cutting and welding crap. I went with a 2.5" C-notch. I know some of the guys on here don't run a notch at all and say they rarely bottom out but since I would like to DD this thing and use it like a truck from time to time I figured I would go ahead and do a notch now. Plus it will allow for air bags down the road. So here's the pics from this morning. Pretty straight forward. - Used a plumb bob to mark find the center of the axle under the frame. - Mark out the area I wanted notched out with some soap stone. My notch is 2.5" deep and 4" wide and the narrowest point and 6" at the widest. - Cut the section out...I torched mine then laid a good bevel on it for the weld - Measure and cut out 3 pieces of 1/4" steel to rebuild the notched out area. - Then I welded the front and back of every seam. - I went ahead and ground the exposed side down smooth then did some filing by hand to kind of round of the edges to make it look more factory. I have a solid weld on the back side and boxed in the back of the frame with 1/4" plate so for me grinding the exposed side down wasn't an issue as far as strength is concerned. If you aren't going to box the back side I would probably not grind any of the weld. - Then just hit it with some primer and started the other side. I'll keep you guys posted on the actual flipping of the axle process.
Did the mods to the front axle today to make it possible to sit it on top of the leaf springs. As you can see the axle beam itself is "T" shaped which in stock form obviously won't sit on top of the springs cause of a lack of flat area. So it goes like this...... - I used some 2"x2" by 1/4" thick square tubing to make my 4 blocks needed to stabilize the axle. - Then cut 4 pieces of the tubing 4 1/2" long. - Now the somewhat labor intensive part. The blocks need to sit as to tight to the axle as possible both against the horizontal flange area and tight against the vertical part of the beam. To make that possible you need to grind back the bottom edge of the axle till the blocks can sit tight in place (makes more sense with the pics). That's 4 1/2" wide section of 3/4" steel getting knocked back about 3/4" (4 times) so it helps to have a hefty grinder...which I don't. - Once the blocks fit it's just a matter of sitting them against the flange and marking the holes to be drilled that the U-bolts will pass through. - Now it's not a necessary step but after all the blocks were fitted in place I went ahead and ran a weld along the seams of the block where they meet the axle. Most guys just rely on the bolts to hold it all together which works.....but I figure it only takes 5 minutes and with suspension parts I prefer overkill. - Then just have to find the center point of the mounting area ( I did this X'ing through the 4 holes and finding the center point) and drill it out with a 5/8" drill bit. That hole will act as your locating pilot hole that sits on top of the bolt holding the spring pack together....and YES I realize I forgot to drill one before painting it. - After that I just wire wheeled it and hit it with some Dupli-Color Cast Gray paint. You can see in the last pic how you now have a solid flat surface that you can bolt on top of the springs. I should have it all mounted up tomorrow. I figured I would knock it out today but it surprisingly took longer then expected to get the axle ready to go.
Got it all bolted up last night and the front is waaaay lower then I expected (removed the bottom 2 leaves also) . Just about right for me though
OK, so I got some pics of it snapped with the motor dropped in and the new front stance. It's raining out so the pics suck but you get an idea now of how much the front was dropped all said and done. Without the front clip on the overall drop with the flip and 2 bottom leaves removed is at 5 3/4" total and I would guess another 1/4" with the front clip. I love it and I think it's right where I want it to be. The ONLY problem I can see is that although the notches were placed perfectly in the frame and clear the axle great....when me and my buddy were bouncing on the front end (without shocks installed yet) the axle does kiss the oil pan. So for now I will get some shocks in and install bump stops to prevent any damage and if it turns out it bottoms out a lot I will modify the pan this winter. Also got the driver side notch done then prepped the firewall and frame rails for paint and sprayed them with 3 coats of satin black (not flat) paint and dropped the motor in. I think the verdict for the truck paint wise will be satin black so I took the paint all the way to the door jambs and cowl for now. All gotta flip the rear axle next for roughly a 5" drop out back and then just button up the motor. So far I am very pleased with the progress....especially considering I haven't had it even a month yet. Still looking for a set of steelies also.
Great score! I don't know how I missed this thread the first time around. For all the guys out there that thought you can't find them that cheep I bought this one for $500 just two years ago. drove it home too!
Of course there is my Red and white one too, and Charlies '57. Don't discard the Y they can be made to run very strong. This is my 341 Y on a stand, give it a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyTHxB25o8&feature=channel_page
Nice job on the front axel, dig into this thread and you can see how it was done on Charlies '57. I'll say this I think you have a better idea. http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic29575-3-2.aspx?Highlight=lowering
That thing sounds SICK man! Not sure what I am going to do with this ol girl yet. Been thinking about boosting it....(cause that's what I do to everything)...but that thing sounds amazing. Love the tri-power also
Remember Ys came from the factory with a blower. The one in the near lane is a SC/Y. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4DpoKCTK-c&feature=channel
Damn, I saw this thread and immediately thought 500! man west coasters have all the luck, that truck would have bowling ball sized rust holes here. And then I saw the location.....super super super score. Good luck with the project, that's a cool ole truck
Very true! Yeah man it was a lucky find pure and simple. Make no mistake the floor boards are ROUGH. But for a 52 year old Iowa truck I can't complain.
Got the rear dropped finally. Not a lot of pics since it's so straight forward. Just a matter of taking the spring from the bottom of the leaf springs and putting them on top. Only bit of fab work there was welding on an axle tube perch on to the bottom of the tubes. I also removed all the helper leafs also. I am holding off on doing the C-notch out back until this winter cause I am also going to need to raise the bed floor since the pumpkin is about 1.5" off of it and doesn't allow for much travel. Anyway here's the new stance. With the steelies on it I think it's really gonna come together just how I wanted....back to getting the new motor running. Not a bad transformation so far though for 24 days and a TOTAL investment of $830 8) This is how to run dual on an I6 the RIGHT way...so nice!
Thanks, I'm really diggin the stance and can't wait to see how the front wheels tuck....especially on the new wheels!
Nice job...great write up and pics... I am going to try this on my studebaker I need to get it on the road I have been waiting so long trying to save the cash for a big suspension drop and here you did it on the low dough! Thanks, Bruce
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