Get ready, King Of Trucks is coming...

Rob,

Your truck is now officially KILLER!! Perfect stance!

I'm getting the drop shackles from CPP. $49 plus shipping for '55-'59.

 

I finally got around to doing some stuff yesterday. I installed the new (good used factory) vacuum advance and replaced the side cover gasket. The side cover gasket had silicone all over in addition to the cork gasket and was leaking. The funny thing was the leak moved UP onto the head and then back along the ledge of the block to the rear of the engine where it would drip down the bellhousing. It was a total guess that a new side cover gasket would fix it since the direction the leak went was confusing. But that fixed that.

I had to reset the timing after the new vacuum advance. I used a vacuum gauge first then checked it with a light. The light didn't show anything, because as you know if you've got a stovebolt, the ball is at the edge of the window at the stock timing setting. I set the vacuum advance at zero and gave the dizzy a little advance over stock. It runs great now at all throttle positions from idle to wide open. It had previously run great but was lagging a little under hard acceleration.

I ordered drop shackles for the rear from CPP today. When they get here, I'll get the rear end way down. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row to get everything I need for the front end lowering (drop axle and such). In the mean time, I'll pull some leaves out of the front.

I also made a trade deal with my buddy Delton to get a new Wayne valve cover and side cover set he picked up on here. It's shipping now, so when that gets here, it's going on too.

Everybody loves pics more than jibber jabber, so here's a couple...




If that weren't enough, I got the jb weld out of the offy intake with a torch and a screwdriver. I handed that over to my buddy Jeremy to get tig'd up and maybe blasted. After that, I'll start polishing that up. Then the carbs. But my very first and most important priority right now is getting that thing lowered!

 

You sure are rounding up all the gooooodies, terd....

 

Poultry Alignment is a critical step.

That side and valve cover are beautiful man.
- Joe

 

LONG LIVE THE TRUCK .... dduh ... did i say that ?
40 AIN'T TO BADASS ...

 

That's classic... Poultry Alignment.... HA! I gotta remember that one!

Yes Terd, That's some fancy shinny shit there! Love them 6's.

I'm still watching the video as a nice little break in the day. I hope to shoot something similar Saturday Morning.

~Robert

 

Thanks Terd, we'll see ya this weekend at the Road Rash, lookin' forward to seeing your truck with all its mods!!

Rob

 

Hahaha! I'm trying.

That's too funny!

Thanks!

Should be here next week! Can't wait to get that Wayne set on! I've been following your saga too. You'll get those bugs ironed out! It won't be long til you're driving it without worries or headaches. And man, what a feeling!

Can't wait to see your truck's new stance in person!



I'm going to try to take some leaves out of the front tomorrow. The drop shackles for the rear will get here on Monday and I'll do the rear springs and shackles shortly after. I'm working on scrounging up some cash for the drop axle, 1/2 way there. Sid's next batch is six weeks out. Hopefully I can get in on that!

 

A(L)TITUDE ADJUSTMENT...



Before...





After...







Before...




After...





I took three leaves out of the front. It dropped it a total of 3". The center of the front fender was 31" from the ground, now it sits at 28". Still got a couple of inches of travel with the bumpstops cut in half. It rides pretty good and only barely hits on the biggest of bumps.

Seeing it after taking the leaves out was a major boost! The next week or so will bring big changes. I'll have the back end totally lowered and the Wayne set on the engine. I can't wait for that drop axle! I did some measuring and it's gonna be SUPER LOW front and back. Four more inches in the front from the drop axle will have the fender just barely above the whitewall stripe. Six inches in the back from the mono leaves and drop shackles (they'll be here Monday) will have the fender even or below the top of the rim. I can't wait to see how it turns out! It should be about as low as you can go with stock type suspension and without altering the frame with notches and still be able to be driven just about anywhere...which is the way I like it!

 

Bitchin Dude!!!! Makes such a change like right now!

 

You're totally right. Nothing makes as big a difference as a change in stance.

 

Looks great Kevin.

- Joe

 

Thanks Joe! It's getting there. I can't believe I waited so long, lol.

 

I know what you mean. My pickup rides so much better now after being lowered.

- Joe

 

Lookin' good. Which 3 leaves did you remove?

 

Man, you should climb under your pickup and look.. There are ones that you can jerk and a couple that you have to leave there because of the keeper pins that hold the pack straight.

- Joe

 

Yeah, what Joe said. I ended up taking out the bottom three (or the three shortest) because the clamps that keep the leaf pack together are riveted to the leaves. Any other combination and you'll only have one clamp (besides the u bolts) holding the leaf pack together. I may go back and add the shortest leaf and see how much it raises it vs. keeping it from bumping on big bumps.

And tailgater, if you want to lower yours this way, it's about the easiest thing you can do and makes the biggest improvement. It was maybe two hours start to finish. I didn't take the spring off. I just jack it up with stands in the front frame, removed the u bolts, lower the axle with the jack, take the bolt out that holds the pack together, pry apart a clip (you'll see which one when you look), take out the bottom three springs, and put it back together. I cut the bumpstops in half with a hack saw, it works pretty good on the rubber. Pretty much, 30 minutes per side. It took longer to put the tools up and clean up.

 

WOOHOO!!!!

Ummm, does this mean your four wheelin days are over? Tragic.......

Huge difference, I'm diggin it!

 

Hey thanks. Yeah I need to climb under there as I'd like to lower mine about an 1-1/2 or so. I figured the shorter ones would be best to remove. I'll see what works best for me. I have some extra springs I can play with too. Thanks!

 

If you are going to mess with it next weekend, start dousing it every night with Marvel Mystery oil or WD40 or some other penetrating oil.

Hit the leafs, u-bolts, everything. You will be surprised at how much quieter and nicer it rides from a good lube, too.

- Joe

 

It'll be a pain in the ass, but start out with taking out one spring at a time if you only want to go down an inch or so.

My four wheelin days will never be over! Just not in this truck, lol. Missed you at shop night and the breakfast. I know you've been busy, hope you get some time off soon!

Thanks for the tips Joe! A snap on impact and a big compressor makes quick work of just about anything, lube or not. I really need to hit the zerks with some grease. It's probably been a decade since they were last done. I forgot to do that when I got the front end back together. I still need to get some shorter stiffer shocks for the front and back too. That should help too.

 

Nothing sucks more than breaking a U-bolt that no one keeps in stock!

- Joe

 

Northern Tool and Tractor Supply trailer section! Cheaper than Speedway and/or the catalog places too! But you're totally right. Be prepared if you're going to monkey fist it so you're not stranded on a Sunday afternoon and have to drive to work on Monday!

That reminds me (as a reminder to others who may be reading) for if you get replacement u bolts and are planning to run monoleaves or remove springs from the spring pack. Measure how thick the spring pack is plus the front axle and/or back axle plate so you'll know the threads on the u bolts will be deep enough. Stock type u bolts will no longer work with the thinner leaf pack/monoleaf. You'll run out of threads. I had to use a couple of washers to make up the difference.

 

love the difference in the stance.

 

The sad part is I've been off work for three weeks! But I've been working on an altitude adjustment of my own. You'll see it it Wed. night. I drove it to Puckett's today. No pics yet.

 

Cool! Can't wait to see it!




I got the Wayne valve cover on today. Once again, not without issues. More on that in a bit.


It comes nicely polished. So the first thing I did was give it a good touch up polish with my buffer and some Mother's aluminum polish.



Then, off with the old. Man, that's ugly.



Next, it's time for a test fit. Here's where the issues crop up. The thermostat housing in the front of the block interferes with the new valve cover. The included instructions mention this and say to grind off carefully some of the thermostat housing. Here's where you need to remove material...



Once that's done and checked for fit again, I ran into another small problem. The included nuts in the kit were the wrong thread. Nothing a little trip to the local hardware store couldn't fix though. Once that was sorted, I tightened down the cover, installed the breather and acorn nuts. And here's the final result, 1,000% better...




Although I got this in a trade with my buddy Delton (he got it from somebody on the hamb), Patrick's Antique Auto sells the valve cover and side cover as a complete kit. Included was a new valve cover gasket, breather, and all the hardware for the install. Keep in mind, I didn't get a side cover gasket and the nuts mentioned above were wrong. Just something to keep in mind and something you should check before you get too deep so you can have everything you need. I like to support businesses like Patrick's (even if second hand, lol). He is a cool guy and passionate about what we do. He is the one that makes this stuff and Fentons.



I also picked up some new bumpstops for the front and the drop shackles arrived yesterday. I'm planning on installing the rear mono leaves and drop shackles tomorrow along with the new bumpstops and side cover.

Here's a pic of the bumpstops I'm using along with CPP's 2" drop shackle kit...




I know that's a lot, but here's one more thing to add. I had heard of pinching the oil line in Stovebolts to prevent over oiling to the rockers. I started a thread here...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=476247
Long story short, some oil lines were pinched and some were not. Mine turned out to be pinched. Not sure if it's factory or not, but the rockers get plenty of oil.





More soon...Thanks for looking!

 

Terd,

Where do those bump stops come from??? I need me sum....

Summit/Jegs kinda shit?

~Roberto

 

Thanks!

I got them at Advance Auto Parts, in stock $12 for a pair.

 

Gotcha.. I found a whole line up of similar items online at JEGS. I will measure up what I need and order them up.

That Valve Cover on there is Too Cool....

 

It was a long hard day. And as is usually the case, dumb shit made it harder and take waaaay longer than I thought. More details and some good pics tomorrow. But maybe this little teaser will hold you until then...