Yeah, yeah. I know. I should have taken the advice earlier. I never planned on getting in to the wiring to much, but the old Chevy really isn't as complicated as I thought. I'm used to the old VW's. They are a damn mess compared to the Chevy. It's nice. That's my first lesson. I realize now that the stock IH firewall would have been a bit more pleasant on the eyes.
It's a 82 I think. Little tiny thing with a carb'd engine. Surprisingly fast and the shock towers are not rusted out. Plus 32 miles to the gallon is wonderful for a little hauler.
More progress. I have been working on lowering the box into place. The floor is removed and I'm working on mounts. The longer wheelbase of the Chevy is showing again. The rear wheels are going to be set back a little bit. But as I look at it, I'm wondering if I can't remove a bit of the rear fender to make it appear like the wheel is centered a bit more. That'll be down the road. No pics today. Just work.
I found a sad IH waiting to go to scrap today. I was able to buy the windshield out of it. It has two spot chips, but I think they can be repaired. Better than the cracked one on my truck. I'm gonna also try and buy the top parts of the doors and roof. They may come in handy if I ever decide to do a chop. Two more weeks until I move. I plan to work all weekend on the truck. I should have the bed mounts made, the cab bolted down and hopefully the front end mounts welded in. I have reached a point where I need to buy a few parts now. I need to purchase new shackles for the rear and bushings. The PO welded all the bolts that are holding the leaves in. So I also need to buy new hardware. I have a pretty cool idea for a home made floor shifter though. I can't wait to start fabbing up some parts. This body work is boring. More soon...
cool. take as much as you can off that truck before it goes to scrap...especially if the price is right. door hinges, window cranks and gears, side glass, rear glass, sheet metal parts if you ding one, anything they will let you. lets see some pics of that shifter when you get it built....bike parts?
nice work. I did much the same for my s10/c10 swap, kept the firewall and floor of the donor and gutted the cab of the 62. I had the same problem with the firewall being too far forward, it would have made for some strange pedal operation if I had left it so I matched up the firewalls, welded 2 pieces of box tube under the frame (doing that both aligned the 62 cab with the s10 floor and gave me a 3 inch channel) welded the floors together, then took the body mounts loose and scootched the whole cab back 4 inches and cut/moved/rewelded the body mounts. Doing so gave me 4 inches extra clearance for trans work, it used to be shoved way under the firewall. I also gained tire clearance to the heater box over the right wheel, and booster clearance with the left wheel. Your way works too, a lot of works haha. Congrats on having the same affliction, loving the lines of something old and desiring the reliablity and parts availability of something new.
Ask and then ignore what isn't helpful. You've acknowledged that you aren't being traditional, but you aren't bringing an F-U attitude and you're working hard. That gets you some credibility around here. There's so much good knowledge here--use it! Now that you've got the front clip at "ride height", have you tried turning the front wheels lock-to-lock? They look tight to the fenders, but that just may be the angles the photos were taken from...
Like I said earlier. I don't know a damn thing about American cars. But I found a picture of this today- Looks a little easier than I thought. I want to try and make an auto shifter using the stock shifter handle out of the IH. I also plan to hook up the e-brake to the stock IH handle.
Believe me, I don't post much, but I read and search a LOT here. The internet is full of information. Between this site and one other site, I have found most of the answers I need. At the same time, I'm seeing how things are/were being done by others. The wheels will clear fine, but they are further forward than I like. I've learned that a 4" difference in wheelbase may not seem like much when it's pictured in my head. But in reality is a HUGE difference. Thanks again for the replies. I appreciate the encouragement.
Move the rear axle til the wheels are centered in the wells. The frame rails are flat on the Chevy, so they are easy. Cut the spring hangers from the frame and move them, then have the driveshaft redone to match.
I wondered about that. Thanks. Is it possible to just slide the rear axle back a bit on the springs? Either way I figured the axle would need to be longer. I guess I didn't know that there was a way to "redo" them. I'll have to do some research. For the time being it's gonna have to stay ugly though!
What do you mean "slide back"? And what do you mean by the axle needing to be "longer"? The Chevy Wheelbase is 117.5", the IHC is 115"...so you need to move the rear wheels forward 2.5". I personally would move the springs & entire rear axle forward & shorten the driveshaft. Or you could build a 2-link setup mounted off the forward spring hangers that puts the tires where they need to be, add a panhard bar, relocate the shock mounts on the frame, and add some coil springs or airbags. PS, and no you cant move the axles on the springs.
Ah man. I as a little out of it last night. We did a 20 mile night ride on bicycles and had a few barley pops at the end. Yes, I need to move it forward, not back. I didn't know the drive shaft could be shortened though, thanks. My friends old C-10 has some sort of trailing arm with a coil. I was just looking at that two days ago. Is that what a 2-link would be like? I have also considered the four link set-up. But I'm gonna have to have my buddy up North make me one of those. They are to much $$$ to buy. I didn't mention it here because I know what others think about bags, but I have already started collecting parts to make a cheap bag set-up for the rear. And old friend is hooking me up with a York compressor kit from an old plow truck. It's suppose to push out 150 P.S.I. Enough to run bags and also impact tools (but I'm gonna need to swap it from v-belt to serpentne). I also have a couple tanks to use for air storage. That's all later on down the road. I'm drawing up plans for a flip top camper to put in the bed of the IH. So I wanted to have bags to help level the rear end for camping. Oh and I now realize there is a hole drilled in that spring to hold the axle. My bad. Thanks again for the information.
Lots of crappy weather lately and moving 150 miles away has been quite the treat. But I was able to work on the truck again for a bit today. The cab is finally bolted down. Gonna work on the firewall tomorrow.
Yes a 2-Link is very similar to the trailing arms from a Chevy C-10, but not as long, not triangulated, but easy to do. The C-10 design is proven to be a great rear suspension, that's why Nascar uses the same basic idea, along with tons of hot rods, customs, etc etc etc. Research it on here and you'll find more info than you need. Also, lots of good parts for the "builder" here: www.suicidedoors.com
Had a couple hours tonight to work on the truck between moving. I was able to get the firewall screwed in place with self tapping screws until I get it welded in place. I will be moving the truck a hour away into an actual shop now. The firewall went in pretty easy with some help from a couple old cobbers. I need to wire it back up quick and fab up a steering extension this weekend. It will be nice to have it in a real shop. No more shade tree mechanic style. TexasHardcore- Thanks again for your help. It's appreciated.
I picked up a floor shift from my buddy for $25. Waiting to get it shipped. I'm now in Minneapolis working the new job. Havn't been able to get the truck up yet. I diud get it all wired up though. It fired right up. Now we are waint to get in to our new place now so we can move for the 2nd time. Won't be long!
Had some time to work on the truck again. I worked on trimming the front end to fit. Looks like I may have to get a smaller radiator. I might use the stock one if I can track the guy down that I gave it to. I actually drove it around the block too! Next weekend I will finish up the front end mounts and make the box mounts. Then it will be making the journey to Minneapolis so I can start doing all the finish welds and body work. The rear end looks horrible. I'm gonna have to move the spring mounts this weekend. The front wheels are a little forward but I can deal with that for now. Pics- These first few are before I trimmed the box to lower it more. Until next time.
Looking good! I think once you get the rear end sorted out it will look great for what it is - a low budget classic with a modern drivetrain and chassis. Great job!
The back end is going lower. I'm not going to chop it though. I like the paint as is. I don't want to mess with it.
Hey! Just got back online! Been a few months! The truck is shoehorned in to a storage garage right now in MPLS. We finally moved in to our new place in MPLS and have been busy finishing the move and working. I have been searching for a place to finish up the fab work. I have met a TON of Hot Rod guys up here though (and found out some people I already knew were on here!) and will finally have someone to give me a second opinion on what what I'm doing. I have been picking up parts right now for the build. Missed out on a diesel engine donor truck. I did pick up a 6.2 turbo kit though. I also nabbed an old floor shifter and I'm picking up a '56 Chevy steering column for it this week. With the help of a new friend, I'm going to build a 4-link for the truck and shorten the drive shaft. It seems to be the right thing to do and the stock parts that are on the Chevy chassis were rigged by the PO to lower it. I'll keep you informed on progress though. Until then I'm researching and searching the forum(s) for info.
The IH is at it's new home! I risked it and drove it to the new garage today. Nothing like seeing the road and drivshaft right under me! Time to get to work again!
Man, it's been a while. Finally have my new work space ready for action. Insulated and heated too! It's been cold and snowy here. The rear frame work will start tomorrow. I picked up lots of steel today.
The Jalopy Journal
