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Assembly |
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Just completed the front axle, and fitted it to the chassis. I then saw that the distance between the spring-mount attachment for the shock at the top of the leaf springs (used to be at the bottom) and the shock attachment on the chassis is now only 34cm. That is a problem, 'cause your shocks will be too long. Even if you fit shorter shocks, it means that the shorter shock will now have less space to extend and compact. So - again a visit to Mickey at WMH Dealers, and he gave me an attachment that can be welded onto the axle, next to where the u-bolts are. It has a shock attachment (I have to find out the proper name for this!) where the bottom end of the shock can attach. Important! Remember to set the castor angle at -4 degrees (negative castor angle). If you have positive castor, you will experience bump-steer. If you have too much negative castor, it will be real difficult to drive on-road at slow speeds (or so they tell me. I used a plastic protractor that you can buy from any stationer or chain store. You have to suspend a piece of string from the 180 degree mark and with the protractor securely tied onto the pin at exactly 90 degrees, make sure the string hangs over the 4 degrees mark. It sounds more difficult than it really is... Remember that I want to keep it as simple as possible, in case I want to reverse the process, ie no irreversible changes. I had to cut the top of the u-bolts off - they were now sticking upwards towards the chassis. Remember to put two lock nuts on there. The leaf springs were no problem - everything went into place like it belonged there. If you have the threaded shackles like mine, remember to grease them. I don't know if you have to do that with the other types... My front bumper now stands about 80cm off the ground, but I'm sure it will settle a bit with the weight of the V8 engine and transmission assembly (hopefully not by much - I jumped on it, and it barely moved!). It looks REALLY cool - even if I have to say so myself... I decided to not take the engine apart completely - I don't have a torque wrench, and the sockets to go with it. So I stripped the engine bare, ie the alternator and assembly cam eoff, the engine mounting brackets, starter motor, the carb, the water pump, the oil filter and assembly... basically everything that could come off without taking off manifolds and heads. I removed the tappet covers to clean and respray them, as well as the sump cover. Remember to spray it with high-heat paint, otherwise it peels right off again. I got something called "soft face" to mix with normal 2K paint, and it makes it resistant to heat. Rather expensive stuff this, but you use really little. I cleaned the tappet covers and sprayed them - probably get a chrome job later when I can afford it. The rest of the engine will be cleaned and then sprayed red - as red is the colour of Chev engines. I will have to fit it and try it before I decide whether to overhaul or not... I had the gearbox (4 speed manual floor-shift Saginaw) matched to the transfer case (T18 Dana Spicer) - the shafts had to be cut and then hardened again. I'm not sure what all they did, but it cost me enough (R2500), but at least that included a gear that was damaged. I will try to get the engine as forward as possible - that means getting rid of the radiator cowl, and then removing the spacers between the fan and the pulley. Otherwise I'd have to start cutting part of the firewall to make space for the engine. I will keep you up to date... More news soon on the rest of the assembly! Photos of the wheels (31x10.5x15s) and what it looks like with all the lift soon... |
