After giving LMC numerous opportunities to correct the mistakes they made with my little order of control arm shaft seals and finally being forced to simply return the wrong items to them for a refund (which they still insisted were the right parts), I found a new supplier. Classic Parts of America had the correct seals and got them to me in just a couple of days. While looking through their online catalog I discovered a brand new product they say is "Coming Soon" too. Freshly stamped SHORT BOX FLEETSIDE BED SIDES! Now I really am unsure of what I want to do with my project! They are a tad pricey....$600 each plus shipping.... but if I add up what it might cost to get my sides resurrected...who knows!
My Still Plays with Trucks T-shirts have been selling well and I continue to get requests for more designs. Here's some of the ones I have available currently at www.tabbdesign.com. It seems when I design a fleetside, someone asks for a stepside, or when I present a shortbed, someone wants a longbed. My original art was for my 65 Fleetside and from that I was able to also offer long and short versions as well as stock height and slammed versions. Same for flavors of stepside trucks. Then I recently added a 63 knee knocker version and my first GMC variety. I hope to add more all the time and I continue to have guys sending me photos of their trucks to use as a basis of a new design.
While waiting for the correct control arm shaft seals to come, I had time to install my new control arm bumpers on both the upper and lower control arms. The new bumpers were a bear to figure out how to install them. The round ones for the upper CAs were not too difficult... only applied a little grease to them and push-screwed them into place. The rectangular bumpers for the lower CAs were much more difficult. Guys on the Facebook groups suggested greasing them and "sliding" them into place, tying a cord around the base and pulling them in, and even hammering them into the slot they go into. I had no success with any of these methods. Then a guy suggested boiling them first and installing them while still hot. So I tried that too and with some grease on the slot and a wide bladed screwdriver I was able to get them in. Maybe a tad gouged up by the screwdriver, but finally into correct position on the control arms.
I finally got the hang of it. After a lot of burn-throughs and frustration I got some advice from other enthusiasts about my welding and tried some of their advice. Once I got my settings right on my welder and made use of a copper welding spoon I figured out welding sheet metal! And it's a blast! Here's some shots of the progress I've made...
I finally got around to begin re-assembling my frame only to find that there was an error made when LMC sent me my new parts. I was all ready to build my new front suspension but discovered that the control arm shaft seals were wrong. I put on the upper control arm shafts along with the seals and noticed they were very very loose.... way too loose to contain the grease that would be going in to them. I wondered if I had them in backwards too.... but they only "seemed" to fit one way that made some kind of sense. Still, they seemed wrong. I decided to post a video of how loose they were to a couple of pages of groups on Facebook that are for old chevy truck lovers. A lot of people responded... mostly telling me that they WERE too loose. One even said he had encountered the same problem with LMC. Then, I remembered that I had kept the old seals and when I compared the old and new it was obvious that I had been sent the wrong parts. They also sent me the wrong lower control arm shaft seals. Not only that, but they sent only 3 of the wrong ones and 1 of the other wrong upper seals in the bag! Bummer. That postpones my suspension work for a while now. I was able to get my crossmember installed with the help hand of my engine hoist that is now holding up the front of the frame and enabling me to install components more easily... kind of a poor man's lift of sorts! Since I was stalled on the re-assembly, I thought I would practice my mig welding more in order to get ready to shorten my longbed sides. I cut a slice into one of the short sides I have and tried to tack weld it back together. Not much luck there as these photos show. I've got a long way to go in the process of learning how to weld, so I thought I would post these images to the FB Truck Groups too. I received a ton of responses and tips to try and I am anxious to get back to the garage and try them out. I'm not there yet, but I am beginning to understand the technique and settings required....just need to practice more. The most posted remark was that I was running too hot with the voltage. I was trying all sorts of settings but I guess I was starting out way too high on the power and wire speed.
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ChevyEddieA guy just having fun fiddlin' in his garage Archives
May 2016
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