Full frame off resto

[Terry]

DaveP's Ghost,
Thankyou for the advice and the recommendation of the 98-00 4x4 S10 Jimmy brake system. Just so happens, friends-o-friends work at the wreckers. I put my order in with them based off your detailed post. Not sure of the cost yet but will post that and pictures when I've acquired. Again, Thankyou again for the idea, I give you full credit.

As for the paint, I do have to have the truck painted. Whole front clip is new metal and the required roof repairs deem this necessary. But the interior paint, undercarriage and firewall are all white, the the fact that this truck has all the typhoon specific parts and only 66K make it that much more valuable. If i was going to change the colour, I would insist on covering all the white and to be honest, I don't really want to remove the dash or stuff attached to the firewall. I really starting to lean to a full repaint in factory Frost White.

 

[Terry]

Lol, there's old Dad in the above picture, hard at work. Ever met a 70 year old man who can do 1 arm push-ups? No shit, seen it. Almost got him talked into getting his little syclone. Look at him, I know he's having fan. Love ya Dad!

 

[dgoodhue]

If you are restoring a SyTy, stock trucks are worth more. I modified mine and I don't regret it, but it would be worth more if I just left it and not spent money on performance parts. One of these years, I am going to bring it back to stock.

 

[Terry]

I agree, stock is more valuable. If mine was cut up a bit or modified when I purchased, it would be a different story. I do plan on slighty larger turbo, if I can find one, a chip possibly..but nothing crazy or hard to put back to stock. Good internal parts inside the motor of cource. But anything not reinstalled will be boxed up and put away for storage. I can only imagine how quick some of the trucks on this site must have been. I remember all the Kenny Bell parts that used to be available, along with a few other manufacturers but new performance parts for trucks almost 30 yrs old are getting hard to find.

 

[Terry]

Well, finally back at it. Once I arrived out at Dads place, he already had the frame rolled out and the coffee pot full. Beautiful fall day for working. I should got a picture of all the trees with the amazing colours.

Started with popping ball joints in all the suspension and steering knuckles. Man she was greased up good. Removed the steering box, tie rods, etc and tossed all into my van.

I got a few pictures of the adjustment bolts for the A-arms so upon reassembly, I can get everything close enough before taking to a professional.

 

[Terry]

Here is some more pictures. Not a ton of bolts but some needed heating. I use my acetylene "B" tank with turbo torch most of the time for this and it works good. Ofcource I couldn't stop touching hot spots throughout the day so thats always good for a laugh.

 

[Terry]

Well by this time, we had enough for the day. My hands hurt and I got heart burn from too much coffee. So, loaded up a bunch of parts to take home for cleaning etc. This keeps me satisfied during the week. Put few hours in with the parts washer and sand blaster.

Just 4 bolts that hold in the leaf springs and the frame is ready for blasting.

Once all the tools we cleaned up and the frame rolled in I,got a few more shots of the drivers side floor. You can really see how bad it is.

 

[Terry]

Well by this time, we had enough for the day. My hands hurt and I got heart burn from too much coffee. So, loaded up a bunch of parts to take home for cleaning etc. This keeps me satisfied during the week. Put few hours in with the parts washer and sand blaster.

Just 4 bolts that hold in the leaf springs and the frame is ready for blasting.

Once all the tools we cleaned up and the frame rolled in I,got a few more shots of the drivers side floor. You can really see how bad it is.

 

[Terry]

Back at the parts washer, started removing many years of dirt and grime. The sandblaster wants all grease and oil removed as to prevent contamination of the media. I thank a previous owner who must have dumped oil all over the motor one time, the frame was dirty but once washed off, most stuff was in decent shape.

 

[Terry]

I wanted to get an idea of what the frame parts are going to look like after sandblasting. I took the roughest looking part (upper A arm) and basted it with copper slag. Turned out well. I know I still have to get all the suspension rubbers out. As some point today imngoing to rent a press for this.

 

[proptop]

Terry,
If memory serves me correct leave the metal sleeves in all the hard part/don't press them out as the aftermarket ones are only the bushings and not the hard parts. Plus the hard to get back in the same location during the pressing process.
bob

 

[wildphil]

Yes just remove the rubber part the metal sleeve remains. Just use a propane torch and burn the rubber it will fall out. To install the new bushings I used a long bolt with big washers used it like a press.

 

[Terry]

I have did a full polyurethane bushing kit on the last fl rebuild of a 66 chevy pickup years ago. I had to burn them out then. Was thinking about burning these ones out also to make a bit easier. The hard part right now is sourcing new bushings. Summit racing delivery is not till November 23. Wow! Trying to find someone who has a full set up here in the great white north.

 

[proptop]

Gents,
I recommend drilling a bunch of holes in them and then breaking out the chunks. I don't like heating the sleeves up. Bit messy but it works great.
Bob

 

[wildphil]

Jegs has Energy Suspension kit. Ships directly from the manufacturer on 10/01/20

Energy Suspension 3-3119G: Front Control Arm Bushings 1983-04 Chevy S10 & GMC S15 Pickups & SUVs - JEGS

Note: Upper control arms must reuse outer shells and hardware.

www.jegs.com

 

[Terry]

I had forgotten about Jeggs. Thankyou.

Earlier today I called around to everyone I could think of in Southern Ontario (10-15) No one had anything. Dam... last call, to an old hotrod shop down in the industrial area. Told him what I needed and they said "call ya back in 10 min or so". Famous last words.

Well shit, guy actually called back. Apparently some local warehouse has one master kit left with everything. See, miracles really do happen. He's picking up thus. I dont want to attempt the removal before I see the new ones

T

 

[Terry]

An update for anyone interested.

Was on call this weekend so no truck time.

I did pick up the bushing kit and that same.night, was going to attempt a bushing removal.

Been burned way too many times....so before anything, a very thorough inspection of kit before opening any bags reviled -.this is for a 2 wheel drive. Well shit. Was pissed off at myself for not checking before.

Oh well. No problem to return. Already ordered the kit online along with front diff carrier and torsion bar mount to frame bushings. Surprisingly these are not included in the master kit.

Anyways,

T

 

[Terry]

I really wanted to wait till the new bushings arrived before I pulled the old ones but started last night anyways.

I rented a ball joint press to assist and had my torch, drills etc all ready. Reading some of the crap guys have gone though trying to get these out was worrisome.

I started with the press first but noticed the A-arm ears around the bushing starting to deform. I fashioned a support to slip between the sides to prevent this. So I started to turn the press in again and a few more turns and the bushing moved. I felt the rusty outer shell of the bushing was preventing a smooth exodus of the bushing so I sprayed with some light oil I had on hand. After that, the bushing came right out.

The press was a pain in the ass to use so I found some 3/8 threaded rod, washers and some 3/8 nuts and made my own press. Thing worked great,and had 3 more bushings out un 5 min.

If you want to remove your bushings, oil the metal shell your going to press out or wire wheel to clean and support both sides of the A-arms to prevent crushing and binding of the bushing and they pop right out easy peasy.

 

[wildphil]

That was how I mentioned installing the bushings. I don't think that I ever had to remove the sleeve before. It is good to hear that a little oil helps with their removal. If a person has sockets the correct size they work well for support and for pushing out the old bushing/sleeve. I don't see why pipe fittings from Lowes would not work as well.

 

[Terry]

So now an update after all bushings removed.

Ok, the first three i did came out now prob..well the rest took rethinking a bit but still not to bad.

Bottom A-arms
I found the adaptor set didn't quite fit the bottom bushing shells for removal. Mostly due to close clearance from bushing to torsion bar hex. My press pushed out the inner sleeve, so I thought I'd fashion a rubber remover out of 1.25" pipe nipple and cap. See picture. This worked great. So I was left with the sleeves installed.

Energy suspension components (for this truck anyways) have sleeve/bushing/tube loose and assembled onsite. So I figure the OEM sleeves should work fine. Guess we'll find out.

Metal front diff support
These were easy..clean,oil and squeeze.

Front diff
Was worried bout this. Looked badly corroded. Sprayed down with lube, installed my puller and once had a bit of tension, warmed the aluminum up with oxy/acety. These came out smooth.