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- #81
Builds My 69' 55 (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter ConspicuousPig
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- #82
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- #83
RUSH55
SILVER Star
Nice! Thanks for the update - was just wondering about this the other day...
cruiserkreutz
SILVER Star
Damn that is beautiful work!!!!
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- #86
Wow, thanks!
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- #87
I made up some sturdy recovery points for the rear of my 69' 55. I torched them out of 3/8 mild plate steel and some 1/4 flat bar. I drilled some holes in the frame and mounted them with 1/2" grade 8 bolts.
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- #88
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- #89
When I bought the 69' 55 it had a Header in a pile of parts that came the rig. It's not the best header out there but i thought I'd give it a go anyway. My old exhaust leaked and was only 1-3/4 OD. I felt that was pretty restricted. This truck has a shaved head and a Holley carburator. My point is, is that I didn't think that old exhaust was doing the truck any favors. Not that I am trying to squeeze very ounce of HP out of the thing either I just want it to run smoothly and as efficient as it can.
I ended up going with 2.5 in exhaust because that is the size of the exit port on the header collector. Hindsight however, I think I would have rather gone with 2.25" or maybe even 2". And I might eventually do that sometime down the road. I'm not an expert on exhaust systems or the performance that an exhaust system can provide to a vehicle and how I interpret the science behind exhaust systems is pretty basic knowledge at best. The greater the diameter, the higher performance is at higher RPMs and the smaller diameter, the greater the performance is at lower RPMs. Now the length of the exhaust also plays a role in how well it performs and will determine the torque curve accordingly. I was going to run it the way it was (in front of the rear wheel) but decided to run my exhaust out the rear of the rear wheel. I installed a 2.5 inlet/outlet turbo muffler.
While I had the intake manifold removed I port matched the manifold to the new gasket. I also port matched the Header to the gasket with the use of a scribe. Once that was done I simply removed the material on each piece with a die-grinder, to help the flow. After these were done I carefully did the same to the ports on the Head. I stuffed slightly oversized pieces of 1 inch thick soft foam into each port to prevent any metal shavings from entering the engine. I scribed the areas around each port and used a die-grinder to remove the excess material. My welds aren't the best but I'm okay with the outcome, besides, this is a fish/camping truck not a show vehicle!
I ended up going with 2.5 in exhaust because that is the size of the exit port on the header collector. Hindsight however, I think I would have rather gone with 2.25" or maybe even 2". And I might eventually do that sometime down the road. I'm not an expert on exhaust systems or the performance that an exhaust system can provide to a vehicle and how I interpret the science behind exhaust systems is pretty basic knowledge at best. The greater the diameter, the higher performance is at higher RPMs and the smaller diameter, the greater the performance is at lower RPMs. Now the length of the exhaust also plays a role in how well it performs and will determine the torque curve accordingly. I was going to run it the way it was (in front of the rear wheel) but decided to run my exhaust out the rear of the rear wheel. I installed a 2.5 inlet/outlet turbo muffler.
While I had the intake manifold removed I port matched the manifold to the new gasket. I also port matched the Header to the gasket with the use of a scribe. Once that was done I simply removed the material on each piece with a die-grinder, to help the flow. After these were done I carefully did the same to the ports on the Head. I stuffed slightly oversized pieces of 1 inch thick soft foam into each port to prevent any metal shavings from entering the engine. I scribed the areas around each port and used a die-grinder to remove the excess material. My welds aren't the best but I'm okay with the outcome, besides, this is a fish/camping truck not a show vehicle!
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- #90
As I had the intake manifold off. I noticed that the thickness of the flange veried considerably where the bolt mount it to the Head.. And that the new Header has much thicker than the intake manifold. I decided to match the Header manifold to the corisponding intake mounting location (where the bolts mount). I did this by measuring the intake manifold and then removed material from the header to match. This made for a nice fitment during install and minimized the chance for exhaust leaks.
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- #91
I ran the intake manifold to the media blaster while I had it removed from the vehicle.
In order to keep the gasket centered I used a piece of 3/8 hose and slid it over the mounting studs. This held it in place while I made my scribe
In order to keep the gasket centered I used a piece of 3/8 hose and slid it over the mounting studs. This held it in place while I made my scribe
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- #92
You can see my scribe here. Now I have a reference for the material that needs to be removed.
Take a little at a time until it matches the gasket.
When I installed the Header and Intake I applied a thin layer of Anti-Seize to both sides of the gasket and all the mounting hardware. This does two things, allows you to easily remove the manifold the next time you go to remove it and also seals any small areas that may allow exhaust to escape.
Take a little at a time until it matches the gasket.
When I installed the Header and Intake I applied a thin layer of Anti-Seize to both sides of the gasket and all the mounting hardware. This does two things, allows you to easily remove the manifold the next time you go to remove it and also seals any small areas that may allow exhaust to escape.
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- #93
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- #94
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- #95
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- #96
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- #97
I built the roof rack nearly a year ago to resemble a Conferr rack. My parents had a Conferr on there 73' and I have always liked that rack. I have a buddy who owns a hydraulic tubing bender with square dies. He also was a burn table, so he also made me some pieces with holes in them. He used his dimple die on the center holes which really gave it the factory look. I will have it powder coated in the near future.
I Finely got around to building the brackets for the rack. I used 10ga. Plate steel. I am happy that I did, They are very sturdy.
I Finely got around to building the brackets for the rack. I used 10ga. Plate steel. I am happy that I did, They are very sturdy.
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- #98
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- #99
Ocho77
SILVER Star
That top pictures is superb. Belongs on a magazine cover. Swine and family time...nice.
