1969 Chevrolet CST10: Part Deux

[texan_idiot25]

The gist of the build so far for those who are new to the site:

Bought it in the beginning of 2007 for $500 bucks, and a week later dragged it home and parked it. For two years it's home was my dad's drive way. So long so that it is on google maps and street view Late that year, I had found an engine and transmission for $750, a 'rebuilt' small block 350, and a rebuilt TH350 trans. Paid for it friday, painted it saturday morning, and it was running by that evening. That Christmas broght a slew of parts to get the drivetrain fairly finished. Over the course of the next year though, not much happened. I had a second car, the SlowBird, and was just trying to save money. But, when it came down to it, I had one choice. Sold the Firebird for 2 grand, and went to work for the 2 week xmas break to get'r'done. With a 2 grand budget it was just enough to get things done. Disk brakes parts from a 73-87 C10 "heavy halfton" were used including the spindles, calipers, ball joints, and brake lines to convert the front from drums to disks. The disks are custom made 6 lug versions. This was the most taxing part of the build, 40 year old truck suspension was nothing but trouble to take apart. And I now hate any suspension work to this degree. It was also dropped initally 3in front and 5 rear, but the rear was raised to a 3in drop for some axle clearence (this is still a truck, and it still works like one) Then attention was paid to finishing everything under hood. Engine wiring, various fuel and coolant lines were done properly. New accessory fuse block and wiring were added to keep the new things we added out of the stock harnes. The gauge cluster was painted, rebuilt, and added an '05 Cadillac Escalade clock. All of the garbage wiring done to the truck was redone and the electrics of the truck restored. Interior consists of 1st gen S10 seat belts, and 08 Silverado seats, with welded supports for all new bolt holes. New radio and speakers were added, apart of the new wiring process. Head lights were in finally, and the truck began to look like a truck for the 1st time! Every day from the moment I woke up til I went to sleep was spent on it during those two weeks. And by the end of the brake, I took it for it's first drive. Just a little run to burnish in the brakes and get a little test run in. It needed some odds and ends done, but on Febuary 5th, 2009, tag inspected and taxed, I drove it home and the CST10 was a road worthy machine. Not with out a few quirks, but as to be expected. Currently awaiting body work and a cab swap, and of course, mo' speed. Currently my daily driver with several thousands of miles put on since last febuary. A total joy to drive, and a unique experience with other people make this one of the best experiene/decisions/money pits of my life so far.

The newyears started rather well. A quick scare of crank bearing failure turned out to be a timing problem (the rattling of detonation sounds like a bit like a spun bearing..), but other than that, not bad. New dash pad installed, and gauge bezel. The dash is now done!

The Dash Pad


Gauges

Now it's blingin' inside!

Drive drive drive, come last thursday night, a hidious grinding appears. It's like rocks being chewed up by the rear end. But for the life of me I couldn't figure it out while driving. Not the diff, it drives fine. Lugs are all tight... Drive shaft has no play... Trans shifts fine. It hits again, and once more, nothing appears wrong. I get home, double check everything, nothing's apparently wrong, and goto bed. Next morning, drive into work, no problem. Birthday night, on the way out into Houston for some shenanigans, and the violent rock crushing sound reappears, this time with much more frequency. Enough to make the truck pull left when it grinds... WHEEL BEARING SHYTE!

In theory, a wheel bearing on these older axles is a pretty **** simple job. Pull diff cover, unscrew the lock screw for the spider gears' shaft, remove shaft spider gears, pull axle clips, slide axles out, and knock out bearings.

So, get to the diff... Look for the lock screw... ****.



It's been broken off, and someone has already tried drilling it out. Sonuva*****! The entire axle is locked together by this simple screw. So in effect, my uber badass indestructable Dana 60 is scrap iron due to a $15 wheel bearing and a broken screw. Not to mention it's one of the rarest axles on this generation of truck, the 6-lug Dana 60.

Having no choice, after breaking more drill bits and even stripping out easy out bits (it's a hardened steel screw I might add), I have no choice but to pick up another axle.

On to the GM Coporate 12 bolt! One of the strongest GM axles at the time, but no where near as beefy as the Dana 60 (Once I pull the 60, you'll see). Thankfully it's in **** solid shape inside, and came apart with no problem... Besides that the bolt that holds in the spider gear shaft also was broken! But, it was sheared at a 45* angle, so it was able to thread out almost all of the way, and I was able to get it out.


Perfect fit in the back of the Jimmy!


FUUUUUUUUUU- One of those times where it would be nice to have a cop light and siren.


And the new GM 12 bolt, 3.73 open diff axle. It's not all bad, I was wanting to put 3.73s into the truck later anyways to help with freeway cruising (80% of my driving where I live), and it's an excellent balance of power and economy, even better when I swap in an OD trans later on.


Nice and clean, even if it isn't as monsterous as the Dana 60, it'll get any job done I'll ever need.


And in under 30 minutes I had both axles out, and both axle bearings out. See how god **** easy this would have been if someone else hadn't ****ed up their job when they replaced the ring and pinion on my axle?

Oh well, the surprises you find in a 40 year old truck. The plan is to keep the D60 around and tinker with it. It's the OG axle and a very rare one for the 60-72 Chevy/GMC trucks, so it has some value compared to your dime-a-dozen GM axle. Maybe one day I'll have the heart to just torch it apart, but don't have the time or tools for that now.

Tomorrow it's suppose to rain sleet and be generally ****ty, so I'll rebuild the axle and paint it, and hopefully friday swap them out.

Maybe now my speedometer will count right too!

[KITT222]

Texans legendary money pit. I absolutely LOVE that truck. The orange truck lowered with black wheels make it look so mean! So aggressive! Back when trucks were trucks. Once you get the axle perfect, then get the new cab on, and no more problems arise what will you do with your life and extra money?

[texan_idiot25]

There's always the quest for more speed

Or buy another old car, start all over again.

[KITT222]

Why risk the truck for speed? Do a V-8 conversion of a Chevette to start over. They'd make a good pair, a V-8-ed Chevette and the CST/10. And nobody would expect anything of the Chevette!

[texan_idiot25]

Why not? Nothing wrong with horse power if used properly. Not talking about a stripped out race truck, but something more than a little 300hp 350.

[AJB32690]

...open differential? For shame, for shame.

Give that truck the LSD that it deserves.





(Or a Ford 9")

[GearHeadV8]

http://www.optimiz3.com/how-to-remov...olts-and-nuts/

check out the last part about the welder, Couldnt hurt to try it.

[texan_idiot25]

Originally Posted by AJB32690

...open differential? For shame, for shame.

Give that truck the LSD that it deserves.





(Or a Ford 9")

I have an, "interesting" enough time with this thing in the rain One day it will get a posi, but for now it needs a working axle 1st and foremost. Almost done prepping the new one. Have to run and get another set of axle seals, the OD on these were wrong (trying to match up 40 year old truck parts is a PITA), and then I'll rip the axle out and swap all the brake stuff onto the new one. And toss it in. Hopefully the rain will stop and it won't be too miserable.

Gearhead- it's a small screw that's recessed deep in the carrier, nothing worked.

[AJB32690]

Originally Posted by texan_idiot25

I have an, "interesting" enough time with this thing in the rain One day it will get a posi, but for now it needs a working axle 1st and foremost. Almost done prepping the new one. Have to run and get another set of axle seals, the OD on these were wrong (trying to match up 40 year old truck parts is a PITA), and then I'll rip the axle out and swap all the brake stuff onto the new one. And toss it in. Hopefully the rain will stop and it won't be too miserable.

Gearhead- it's a small screw that's recessed deep in the carrier, nothing worked.

Haha, good point. Still a bit of a shame. Sorry to hear about your part-searching difficulties. Its hard at work (Advance Auto) when a customer comes in with a "custom" vehicle that has parts from several different manufactures and years... Like a '69 Scout with 80's Chevy rear end and suspension, and 90's Jeep front end/suspension... I didn't even ask what it had for an engine/transmission, I was still trying to figure out his suspension problems...

Gearhead, the only way he's going to be able to take that Dana 60 apart is by cutting the axle shafts or possibly the pinion gear retainer if he can get to it.

[texan_idiot25]

It was a problem in their computer, it had the wrong part number. The part number online pulls up the seal for the Dana, but that same number instore pulls it up for the GM axle. The difference in OD? .01 of an inch! Always bring the old parts to the store, compare **** before you leave.

Other than that, NAPA kicks ***. Had everything I needed, knew WTF I was talking about, and actually had things in stock... Walked out with everything for under 30 bucks too, good bit cheaper than it shoulda been. The same can't be said for Vatozone. Anyways, got the right seals and got to work this afternoon.

New bearings in, new seals, diff sealed up (it's an interesting game getting those spider gears lined up), and then jacked the truck up to rob it's brakes. Boy. Drum brakes...

1st side took over an hour and a half to take off, and put on the other axle. I've never messed with drums and hope to never have to again Thankfully with drum brake tools, getting the springs on wasn't too hard, but it's a PITA never the less to get everything setup 1st.

Tomorrow the axle goes in. Ran out of light here, it's cold, and I need a burger. Ready to rock and roll once more! I had to start the truck up and listen to it for awhile. Tired of driving our quiet little '98 GMC Jimmy.

[KITT222]

Why dont you go for discs? Better braking power means you can hold the throttle for longer. Is this your final axle or did I miss anything because I'm being a bit lazy at the moment?

My dad has had a VERY good time with Advanced Auto Parts. His former coworker from Best Buy became their CEO, and he shops there so often he is given a special discount. I'm going to take advantage of that discount once I get my car. Although the main difference is that I will be economy driving, not power driving.

[2jack3jack]

I hate advanced autoparts the one were I live the people don't know what the hell they are talking about. Sorry to here about the dana 60 id love to have one. Napa does make great parts but were I'm from they jack the prices up skyhigh because they have no compitition. On another note did you put that new motor in yet? Because I got some high comp pistons if your interested made for the 350

[texan_idiot25]

Originally Posted by KITT222

Why dont you go for discs? Better braking power means you can hold the throttle for longer. Is this your final axle or did I miss anything because I'm being a bit lazy at the moment?

Don't have the time or money to put in disks. It's not a bolt on affair, and I'm keeping 6 lugs at the moment and there's no real disk options for 6 lug rears. Though, now that it's a GM 12 bolt, it will take nothing to swap on 5 lug axles shafts, and 5 lug front rotors later on. To my knowledge, there's no parts swapping to get 5 lugs on the Dana axle, with out going aftermakret/$$$. In the end for a street truck, there's little reason for them. I've got plenty of whoah with 12in front disks, now it's time for GO!

The axle is in, and everything but the drive shaft and panhard are hooked up. I didn't think about this in retrospect, but the D60 is technically a 3/4-1 ton axle, and it had the heavy duty drive shaft accordingly. So when it came time to bolt on the driveshaft, U-Joint was too big!!! Gotta two-sized u-join (again, Napa, you kick *** at finding this, they're **** hard to find) that adapts the 3/4 ton drive shaft to the 12 bolt (which is the strongest GM axle from the time, funny). Haven't put it in yet, but will tomorrow night when I get back home.

Pan hard bar won't line up with the new axle, the stud on the axle isn't long enough, and the pahard is too far towards the rear. Will have something rigged up tomorrow, trying to hunt down a different sized stud tonight.

Should be back in bidness tomorrow.

[monsterhunter]

very nice grab and swap. took you really no time at all. me and my dad are gonna be picking p a set of axles on monday(dana 60 front and dana 70 rear) for cheap, and its a shame to see a broken screw ruin and good axle but at least you got a new one.

[texan_idiot25]

It was more work than it should've been, especially with the panhard bar, can't see why it was so far off.

But, it's done and on the road. Had there not been a parts problem this would've been done in no time.

[AJB32690]

Originally Posted by 2jack3jack

I hate advanced autoparts the one were I live the people don't know what the hell they are talking about. Sorry to here about the dana 60 id love to have one. Napa does make great parts but were I'm from they jack the prices up skyhigh because they have no compitition. On another note did you put that new motor in yet? Because I got some high comp pistons if your interested made for the 350

Sorry to hear you've had problems with Advance Auto Parts. Even before I worked there, they've always been very helpful and knowledgeable. Honestly, if they are that bad, I think you should put in a formal complaint with the district manager.

[monsterhunter]

Originally Posted by AJB32690

Sorry to hear you've had problems with Advance Auto Parts. Even before I worked there, they've always been very helpful and knowledgeable. Honestly, if they are that bad, I think you should put in a formal complaint with the district manager.

i second that. ive never had a big problem with them either. the napa people around me tho are really bad. and the parts are always like twice as expensive too. i guess the service and such ranges from area to area.

[winner]

Up here autozone sucks ***.... We were trying to find a master brake cylinder rebuild kit for the golf cart and we walked in there and the guy don't even look at the part number book, he just tells us to tell him when we find it..... We just got mad and threw it back, then left... But luckily napa had it, even in stock, but there's this tall mexican dude in napa that is great help?

[texan_idiot25]

Welp, besides the further consumption of dino-juice, 3.73s were a good choice. Though, lesson learned, don't rely on online calcs to measure gear ratio. Despite the factory options of 3.9x and 4.1x, someone threw in a 3.50 rear gear (presumably when they broke the screw too).

Oh well, so **** it, the goal of better fuel mileage was silly anyways. Sucker moves pretty well with 3.73s in it though. And when I get the OD trans, a shorter rear tire can go in, and this thing will certainly be much quicker off the line.

Also, the interior as it currently stands, all chromed up (as it was originally for the CST trim) and the dash is done!




And the new, albeit smaller, GM 12 bolt

[winner]

looks beautiful! lol i've only scimmed the thread, but have you done the cab swap yet?