Chevy 3600 into a daily driver

Coach, your AD looks really sweet. The look is iconic, just the right blend of scruffy with new sneakers on a killer stance. Striping is tasty, too; just enough.. Nice fab work and awesome photography. You scored that 261 and speed goodies and I was like Hell Yeeah! All of a sudden there's 350/350, Lokar, IFS and IRS ?
Don't get me wrong. I'm no hater or Trad purist. I get the practical, reliable and cost effective thing and hell, I run a roller cam SBC in my `63 C-10 for the same reasons. My truck is a daily too, in fact right at the moment it's my only ride. Guess I got a little whiplash with the new direction. you took..

How is your exhaust run? Maybe you don't have to change mufflers. Can you post any pics?

 

Thanks. The 261 vs 350/350 was a pure $$$ money decision. The 350/350 came to me for free and had under 75k on it. Too nice to pass up considering the 261 needed a full overhaul and I did not have a tranny for it.

I love the current stance.....but man the ride is rough with the roads up here. I found myself not driving it as much as I could because it rode so bad. I could have upgraded to new leaf springs and associated hardware, but felt it was just better to stick that money into something I knew would be better overall. I was looking at a 4 link set up.....but refused to raise the bed height. That is how the IRS came about.

I swapped out the mufflers for some Porters and they sound a lot better. The more they get broke in the better.

 

2015 Family Pictures

 

Winter has arrived here in North Dakota. Time to start my winter project.

Henry 2.0



Freshen up the SBC
Install Danforth Crossmember and IFS on bags
Install Thunderbird IRS on bags

 

Forward progress has been slow on my teardown.......hopefully I can have the motor and tranny out by this weekend.

 

My headers showed up just in time from Speedway. Got to test fit them before I yanked the motor.....

 

Also notice the Sid's Modified Straight Axle is gone and on it's way to a new home!!

 

Had the afternoon available to get some stuff done.



Motor is now out and I have started stripping the leaf springs mounts and my old motor mounts.

 

Parts are starting to show up...............yippee!!

 

Coach, I'm sure I missed it. Where'd the 350 come from? Crate engine (from where?) or Craigslist? Other?

 

In my possession.......

 

Got it from my Uncle. He pulled it from a totaled Nova. He used it in his 60's Vette for awhile.........

 

Did get some time in the shop today, but did not get near enough done. The frame was totally stripped. Those rivets are a pain in the ass. Most came out by cutting the head off with a skinny wheel and a punch. Some others required more persuasion.



Layout of the 1.5" notch that Scott suggested for the ride height I was looking for.



I did read the instructions....

 

After measuring.....then measuring again, checking the level, then measuring again.....I finally go the cross member tack in.



Should be able to finish up the welding on the top half this weekend if all goes right. I then will mock up the motor and see if I can use the existing transmission cross member, or if that will need to be moved or modified. Hoping I do not have to modify my floor to clear my transmission. One I get that all done the can will come off and I will flip the frame to do the welding underneath.

 

I had a couple hours available today and was able to button up most of the install cross member today!!












Next step is to pull off the cab and flip the frame and finish up the welding on the bottom side.

 

Stellar day in the shop today. Started out with some welding lesson's for my oldest son Ryder. He showed a ton of interest, so I figured might as well get him comfortable with the machines. Got the hang of it real quick. He welded up a bunch of scrap for the fun of it.





After that Ryder helped my get the motor back in place so I could figure out what I needed to do for motor mounts. Sure if a lot easier placing that motor and tranny with an extra set of hands.

I used a set of Chassis Engineering Motor Mounts when I originally installed the SBC. I was hoping to reuse them.

http://www.chassisengineeringinc.co...evy-into-1940-1954-chevy-gmc-1-2-ton-pick-up/

I was concerned about the placement of the motor above the cross member. Sure looked like the motor would be placed higher and I was nervous about having to modify the floor of the cab to make room for the transmission. Once we got the motor and tranny in place It looked a lot better.





I modified the motor mounts and motor placement is about 1/4" higher than it was before. The intake is sitting at about 3-4 degrees without the full weight of the motor on the mounts. I think the full weight of the motor on the mounts will get me within the 2-3 degree spec. If it does not work, all it will take is a small spacer between the transmission and the cross member to get where I need to be.







The next step is the pull the motor again and final weld the motor mounts. After that the cab will get pulled and I will start on install the rear IRS.

 

Had a spare 30 minutes tonight before supper tonight......Just enough time to finish pulling the cab.

 

I had mounted the compressor in the cab till I ran it, then it went under the bed. I mounted my air tank under the cab,the pump under the bed and valves under the seat.

 

Thanks man!!

 

Spent a couple hours in the shop tonight with both my boys. A little added help is always nice and it gets them out of their mom's hair so that is a bonus.

We build a cart for the cab and tucked it away for later.



I turned my little guy (Colton age 3) loose with the vacuum. Taking care of 63 years of dirt that was caked on the frame.



The rest of the night was spent cleaning up and prepping for the next phase. Boxing the frame and the IRS install.

I still have not finalized a frame finish. I got a couple quotes on powder coating today, and that got eliminated quick. Too expensive and I do not like the fact that I cannot touch it up. I reached out to some people on Facebook and surprisingly a number of them suggested Rustoleum over a good self etching primer.

At the end of the night Colton was running around the garage saying " I am Iron Man". It was a good night!!

 

Figure the tank and compressor mounting now, way easier.

 

Spent the last day of 2015 in the garage. A local guy building a truck bought my rear end and suspension so I spent a good part of today cutting that all off the truck. 6 skinny wheels and a couple sawzall blades later it is ready for him to pickup!!





After that I buttoned up a couple easy welds on the cross member install that I could not get to with the cap in place.




I had decided to weld all the cross members and cab mounts in place even though the rivets seem tight. I also started welding shut some holes in the frame.




After that a thorough clean up so I can start out the new year right.




I am dreading wire wheeling this frame before paint.....but I am too damn cheap to pay to have it sand blasted.......

 

Expenses to date......

 

Good looking welds man.

 

Thanks!!

 

Finally drug the rear end in from the driveway.



The front mounts were trimmed off and will be boxed in.



Inside to inside on my boxed frame is 31". I trimmed the back mounts on the IRS to 31".

 

Nothing huge accomplished the last couple days. I kind of butchered the relief for the rack and pinion, so I worked last night to close that up neatly. Use some 4" pipe and some 1/8" flat plate. 4" holesaw was also used......damn I need a Plasma Cutter.







I drug the frame outside today and cleaned up all the loose rust and buildup on it. It is almost ready for paint.

 

what IRS are you using

 

Ford Thunderbird.

8.8, 3.23 Posi with discs.