Builds 2F Retirement/ Vortec Resto-Fresh (1 Viewer)

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daytonadogie said:
Nice job on that shroud. A little heat and a hammer would get you a little more clearance on the front drive shaft.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I will give it a 'once over' with the hammer.

KeepCruzin said:
Any chance of denting/damaging the oil pan with the drive shaft if you ever flex the truck/heavily load the rear? I know the axle stays pretty centered when flexed but you wouldnt want to wheel up on a rock, tap the gas and gouge into your trans pan...
Click to expand...

Tight clearance to the oil pan is a challenge from what I've seen on all these Vortec conversions. I'm going to buy a bit more room by massaging the pan as mentioned but I think it will be OK. If I needed I suppose I could have the drive shaft modified again with narrower tube (like I wanted in the first place). We shall see...


-Ed
 
Ya that driveline to trans pan is definitely an issue on these 4L60 swaps. Mine is at least as bad as yours if not worse. I have considered shaving the pan to give more clearance. Now I am going with a 6L80 (hopefully) and keeping my fingers crossed there will be a bit more clearance. If not I might look into a different t-case.

FYI, wheeled my 80 pretty hard with about the same clearance you have and never have had an issue. U-joint lets go though and it will destroy the pan, errrrr the trans.

Cheers
 
I take it that is the front driveshaft that came from your truck? 62 driveshafts have a longer slip section (narrower section), which helps a little. You probably don't need the DC end anymore, since the front should be considerably longer. I don't think it will hurt anything though.
 
Nice build, keep an eye on that griffin radiator, the corners in mine started to leak and I could not get it repaired correctly, once everything shakes out with it I will update my thread accordingly!!!
 
RMP&O said:
Ya that driveline to trans pan is definitely an issue on these 4L60 swaps. Mine is at least as bad as yours if not worse. I have considered shaving the pan to give more clearance. Now I am going with a 6L80 (hopefully) and keeping my fingers crossed there will be a bit more clearance. If not I might look into a different t-case.

FYI, wheeled my 80 pretty hard with about the same clearance you have and never have had an issue. U-joint lets go though and it will destroy the pan, errrrr the trans.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info - judging by your experience and FJ60Cams i think I'll be ok since you guys probably wheel your trucks harder than I expect to.

Would love to rock a 6L80, BTW. Watching your build with great interest.

-Ed
 
FJ60Cam said:
I take it that is the front driveshaft that came from your truck? 62 driveshafts have a longer slip section (narrower section), which helps a little. You probably don't need the DC end anymore, since the front should be considerably longer. I don't think it will hurt anything though.
Click to expand...

Yep, stock shaft. When I dropped my shafts off at the shop the plan was to reduce the tube size by 3/8". Thought this would buy me a comfortable margin to the pan. Unfortunately, when I picked them up they (lamely) explained that they didn't have the 2 1/4" tube in stock so they went with 2.5".
 
SharpasMarbles said:
Nice build, keep an eye on that griffin radiator, the corners in mine started to leak and I could not get it repaired correctly, once everything shakes out with it I will update my thread accordingly!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I read about your Griffin troubles in another thread. That's a bummer and kinda surprising given they generally have such a good rep. The pics of the Griffin rad are actually from drillduty's rig, install done by NCFJ. I'm rocking the stock radiator for now,

-Ed
 
A Little Bodywork

Now that I'm putting this back together I needed to address the smashed valence panel.
image.jpg


Headlight washers probably seemed cool in the 80's but the reservoir takes up valuable under-hood space and I can live without them. As such this used valence from an '82 60 will be perfect.
image.jpg


There was some rust hiding here and there so I stripped it all the way down
image.jpg
 
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I took the old valence panel to a local automotive paint supply house and asked them to match the color. I haven't done much auto painting with 'real' automotive paints but I figured my 60 deserves the real thing.

I explained to the guys at the store about my project and about me being a novice painter. They were pretty cool and hooked me up with some two stage goodness that supposedly lays down easy.
image.jpg


I have an older turbine HVLP setup with a good quality gun and lots of different size tips. Really handy for the varied projects I work on. After several applications of filler and sanding I laid down some base color and clear coat. Need to sand and buff still but it looks pretty good.
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Ok, finally for tonight an update on the wiring.

After dicking around with it for several days and growing increasingly frustrated with my DIY harness I decided to order a professional, aftermarket unit. I was having visions of breaking down in some remote desert area due to my shoddy wiring or worse having an engine fire so I decided to pony up. And frankly, I'm just out of patience - I want this thing running!

The Howell harness showed up today!
image.jpg


Looks really well made and I can't wait to get it installed. I believe it will ultimately be money well spent.

Stay tuned...
 
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Very nice! So how hard was it to get the valence off and did you leave the bumper on? I am looking to do the same thing while BeBe is waiting on parts but really don't want to take my bumper off if I don't have to. J (@reevesci) said that it was fairly simple, 3 bolts per side with one under each headlight bucket but the bolts are super temperamental and snap easily if not careful. Just wondering if you got yours off and experience.
 
gregnash said:
Very nice! So how hard was it to get the valence off and did you leave the bumper on? I am looking to do the same thing while BeBe is waiting on parts but really don't want to take my bumper off if I don't have to. J (@reevesci) said that it was fairly simple, 3 bolts per side with one under each headlight bucket but the bolts are super temperamental and snap easily if not careful. Just wondering if you got yours off and experience.
Click to expand...

No need to remove the bumper and his description of the bolts sounds dead on to me. I'm sure you'll have to remove the grill to get at the ones on the head light buckets. Guess I was lucky - I didn't have any problems with broken bolts.
 
Ok well that is good to know. I will take the grill off tonight and look for the bolts and hit them with some PB Blaster for sure just for perpetuity.
 


Finally!!!

Shout out to FJ60Cam for fielding so many of my dumb questions and helping get me to this point.

Still lots to do but I think I'll take a break and enjoy a cold one :beer::beer::beer:
 
$#!& YEAH!!! :bounce::bounce2:

Congrats! That might be a better feeling than when your firstborn emerges from the womb!

You'll be showing this thing off to anyone who'll listen like its a new baby;)
 
Very cool, congrats
 
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