Build The Clustertruck Rides Again - Refurbishing a 1975 Chevota

[RWBeringer4x4]

I bought the resto kit for my heater from Metric TLC.
9/77-84 LHD 40 Series Heater Restoration Kit
A little spendy, but it was worth to get missing tiny bushings and other bits.

Yeah - I sent him a message to see if he was still shipping them about a month ago - still no response. There are also stories of product not delivered floating around on Mud...

Outside of the bushings, most of the stuff seems like pretty standard hardware store stuff.

@Cdaniel - I was actually just going back through your thread today to see if I could figure out how you supported your transmission/transfercase in your build. Debating if I want to reinstall the AA propeller shaft or fab up something different (better?) just curious what you did for rear mounts.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Seriously jerry-rigged sheet metal work ensued.

The end result is still far from perfect. As feared, the worst of the rust has left a paper thin, and very fatigued piece of metal. As much as I don't REALLY want to spend time cutting and welding a patch, it may be necessary here...

Aside from that - the rest of the box is still a little wavy, but no longer warped and bent to the point where the flap binds:

Even the flap and hinge bar itself was bent...

 

[Cdaniel]

I am still running the custom made skid/belly pan/trans mount seen a few pages in on that thread. The drive train is supported by a urethane mount attached to the adapter between the trans and transfer.


I’m not a fan of the “propeller” mount, but in your situation you don’t have many options there. One thing to improve it is to use studs in the transfer case instead of the bolts. I got them from Marlin Crawler many moons ago.

Yeah - I sent him a message to see if he was still shipping them about a month ago - still no response. There are also stories of product not delivered floating around on Mud...

Outside of the bushings, most of the stuff seems like pretty standard hardware store stuff.

@Cdaniel - I was actually just going back through your thread today to see if I could figure out how you supported your transmission/transfercase in your build. Debating if I want to reinstall the AA propeller shaft or fab up something different (better?) just curious what you did for rear mounts.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I am still running the custom made skid/belly pan/trans mount seen a few pages in on that thread. The drive train is supported by a urethane mount attached to the adapter between the trans and transfer.


I’m not a fan of the “propeller” mount, but in your situation you don’t have many options there. One thing to improve it is to use studs in the transfer case instead of the bolts. I got them from Marlin Crawler many moons ago.
View attachment 1388430

Ah, got it - must have missed that. I'll definitely be upgrading to studs if I keep the propeller mount. I feel like it should be pretty easy to source them from McMaster Carr or similar.

I know Georg at Valley Hybrids and John Pardi were developing a new type of V8 transfercase mount, which put the rubber mount at the T-case, instead of out at the frame rails, I have a message out to them to see if that ever came to fruition beyond a prototype, but I suspect it stalled...

 

[Cdaniel]

Memory is foggy, bit I think the thread is M11. Not very common.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Memory is foggy, bit I think the thread is M11. Not very common.

Looks like they're M10x1.25 - sort of weird thread pitch but hopefully I can scrounge something up.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Cut the front scab plates off tonight. Well, pried them off - those booger welds of the PO were about as effective as they were aesthetic...sometimes I wonder how I've been driving this thing for 5 years without serious issue...

Aside from a couple of spots with a decent hold that I had to cut, I literally popped the scab plate off with a pry bar...

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Memory is foggy, bit I think the thread is M11. Not very common.

Now I see what you were talking about. There are a couple of M10x1.25 studs out there, but none with good lengths on booth sides of the shoulder...I sent a message to Georg, to see if he has any input.

I've also been looking at driveline angles. This will likely take some doing...I've already got 2* caster shims up front, which was needed to have my power steering self-center out of turns. This, in turn, had caused my front driveshaft to bind. Obviously this will need to be avoided when the new mounts go in (setting the engine back 4" may help).


Does anyone have any advice, in terms of reference points, to measure driveshaft angles? I know the drivetrain will need a slight rearward tilt to align the rear driveshaft and pinion. I assume your "level" reference is level with the ground (as opposed to the frame), and you measure the angles from there, but is there a good flat spot off the transfer case to measure?


This page has some good information:
Tailshaft Angles

but it doesn't really go into how or where you're supposed to reference from...

 

[Cdaniel]

Use the drive shaft mounting flanges on the diffs and T-case to measure angles. They are the only thing that matter.

Basic 2 u-joint shafts need pinion axis and t-case output axis to be as parallel as possible. If you have to compromise a little, do it on the front because it’s less likely to be at high speeds.


edit: you need to have the full weight of the vehicle (engine/trans/transfer) on the suspension when you measure.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Use the drive shaft mounting flanges on the diffs and T-case to measure angles. They are the only thing that matter.

Basic 2 u-joint shafts need pinion axis and t-case output axis to be as parallel as possible. If you have to compromise a little, do it on the front because it’s less likely to be at high speeds.


edit: you need to have the full weight of the vehicle (engine/trans/transfer) on the suspension when you measure.

That's an interesting conundrum - so I need to determine driveline angle to install my engine mounts properly, but I need the full weight of the driveline in the vehicle for the measurement to be accurate...

How do most go about this? Weld in the front mounts level (to the ground, but the frame, which is angled) , then bolt in the engine by the front mounts (loosely) so it can rock in the mounts, but add its weight to the vehicle, then adjust the trans/transfer height until the flange angles are correct, THEN weld in the rear mounts?

 

[Cdaniel]

Conundrum it is.

The process I went through when remounting the drive drain and front SOA at the same time:

Since the rear axle was already were It was going to be, I worked to that. Put everything in the chassis located as precisely as possible using whatever I could to simulate the mounts. Lumber, straps, jacks, scrap metal etc. I didn’t have all the weight of the front clip and seats in, but figured the major items were close enough. Got the transfer output were I needed it and took measurements to fab the pieces to mount it all. I left it all in place while fitting everything and tacking brackets. Always verifying nothing slipped along the way. Once it was all tacked in, pull the drivetrain and weld. After that was in,I worked the front axle SOA to suit the results.


Tedious process

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Not a lot of progress - been on the road a lot for work, but I did get one small, but time consuming, project knocked out.

I drilled and tapped my crank snout for a crank bolt - which should help to install my new harmonic balancer (without using a BFH), hold my harmonic balancer on, and finally give me a bolt to hand-spin the engine. Previously I had to pull the plugs to reduce pressure and hand spin using the belts. Annoying.

This definitely SHOULD have been done in a lathe, with the crank pulled, but since I don't have a lathe and I wasn't about to pull the crank out of the engine to go find one, i instead relied of 40 years of drilling experience by way of my father in law, a LOT of cutting oil, and careful aiming to get the pilot drilled.

Obviously it's not 100% perfect but for eyeballing it, it's pretty damn close.

Getting a tap started in the hardened steel at the end of the snout was a real pain...

I also re-tapped (cleaned up) a couple of rusty M10x1.25 bolt holes on the transmission that weren't accepting the slightly longer aluminum top cover bolts.

Currently, that leaves only ONE MORE broken bolt to drill - which is a sheared parking brake bolt

I'm going to wait until I can pull the speedo housing to mess with that one...

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Scrub-a-dub-dub...

Spent an afternoon with a dremel with wire brushes, die grinder w/bristle disc, and angle grinder w/ wire wheel. It's still too cold to paint, but that doesn't mean I can't start prepping parts. I swear, at least half the time and challenge of restoring a vehicle is cleaning parts. Starting to wish I had room for a sand blaster...

I finally have the intake manifold a degree of clean I think will be acceptable for paint. In the end, a cup brush on a dremel knocked out most of the bad staining.

Still working on this mess - this 60-series top cover is home to some of the toughest dirt/grease I've ever seen. It's improving, but it is slow, arduous work.

Eagerly awaiting a string of 70-degree weather. Unfortunately I've still got about 2 months to kill before I can paint.

Sounds like welding the mounts in may be mid-March. My welder friend just got married, bought a house, and was out at King of the Hammers on Erik Miller's pit crew...needless to say he's tied up!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Well, after 3 weeks of back and forth the Toyota parts shop I'd received the damaged radiator fund abruptly refunded me (as opposed to replacing the radiator). Said they "didn't want to risk damaging another radiator shipping me a replacement, so they weren't going to sell me one." Good thing I'm not in a hurry...

Not sure why I'm striking out on this...My local Toyota parts house wants more than MSRP for the radiator, even a source here on MUD wouldn't give me a price or sell me one. Guess I'll go with one of the aluminum radiators mentioned here a lot. Seems most of them have a decent reputation, and it'll save me a few bucks at that. Alternatively, I could try to clean up and run the one I had - no issues with it beyond that it had clearly been repaired, hacked up, put back together a few times already.

 

[velillen]

Looks like you are making good progress. Cleaning has been my least favorite part by far! Luckily I own the house and the gf doesnt live with me so didnt have much say with painting stuff in the house Granted I didnt use any spray paints inside (used POR15)

Sucks on the radiator but at least you got a refund. Even more so on getting a new OEM. Id been on the fence between an OEM and aftermarket for mine. The stock one I currently have needs a minor repair. Had no leaks when i got it and ust a couple bent fins. But like a dumbass I hit it hard with a ratchet and sprung a leak (which i pinched off with pliers thankfully). SO havent decided what Ill do on my end.

 

[1Fine40]

At the risk of flamage from some others on the forum, I'll just throw out what I did for a radiator and have been very happy with it for many
years now. McCulloch Fabricating, Inc. Specializing in Aluminum Radiators for Racing & Custom Applications Bryan is a stand up guy and worked me up a superb product that just does what I need it too, no fuss, no muss and it fits in the stock frame. Others may wail, but I can't dispute success. I'm a happy customer. FWIW..

Cheers!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The engine is back on roller skates - so I got to take a good look at the pilot bushing.

Previously I'd thought it was a blown "roller-style" pilot bearing with only the race remaining.

So I pulled it:

I was wrong...traditional bearing, just opened up about 1mm or so, and "machined" by the input shaft:

Old vs. new

Needless to say, I'm really shocked my clutch was holding together. The pilot bearing was worn out, the clutch springs had wear patterns on both sides, throw-out bearing attached by a single clip to the fork, and very loose and crunchy...basically everything seems to have been mal-adjusted and misaligned. Not good.


Next step will be leveling the frame, and getting the driveline mocked back up to load it back into the truck for engine placement.

 

[Cdaniel]

Have a good look at the input shaft bearing on the transmission. Odds are it's not happy either.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Have a good look at the input shaft bearing on the transmission. Odds are it's not happy either.

Yep - this has been a concern from the start. Since the noises my clutch made went away when the pedal was depressed, there's a possibility it was the bearing making the noise.

Of course, this begs the questions:

1. can you remove/replace only the input bearing on the transmission without tearing the whole thing down?

2. Will replacing a single bearing screw up the tolerances on the rest of them thereby accelerating their demise?

3. Is there really any way to inspect the input bearing thoroughly without pulling it?

The objective here would be to NOT rebuild the whole transmission if at all possible...

 

[Cdaniel]

In a word, maybe?


Speaking from similar SM465 experience. It may be possible to remove the retainer/cover in front and knock it out from the inside. Most likely the input shaft/gear also has needle bearing rollers in the back side that support the main shaft. Rollers without a cage that might want to escape into the nether regions of the trans. The input shaft, bearing and probably a snap ring likely come out together.


If you’re lucky you could replace just the bearing associated with the input shaft. I could also become a can-o-worms.


Bite the bullet now though. If you put that tranny back in with a new pilot and a bad bearing in the trans, it will be out again soon.