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'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build

This is the build description. I will improve this later. (GB)
Overview Gallery Discussion
YJ,

Hang in there....I'm headed out to the shop in a few minutes, and my goal for today is to finish up the sheetmetal work on the driver's side.

That will pave the way for the driveline work which I'm just as excited about as you are!


:usaflag:
 
2008.04.28 - UPDATE: PROGRESS COMES TO A CRAWL...

After many hours and a lot of great learning, the major part of my rust repair is now officially completed! :saweet:

DSC00481.jpg


Sure, there's some "fine tuning" and finish welding to do, but knowing how much potential cutting and fabricating is still ahead of me in the firewall / tunnel area, I didn't want to waste time on it only to cut it off and throw it away later on.

The driver's side came out pretty well. I can't honestly say it only took 10 hours....probably more like 16, but it WAS faster than the passenger side even though there was more to deal with.

With that victory out of the way, I did some cleanup on the firewall so that the documentary photos will hopefully look clearer when I start showing valvecover clearances, etc.

DSC00479.jpg


After removing the paint / undercoating from the flat surfaces, you can easily see the depressions (aka: Sledge marks) where the P.O. had to create clearance for the previous 396BBC. Keep in mind, this truck came with a 2" body lift and STILL needed all that hammering to clear the valvecovers! :yikes:

Since this thread was about coming to a crawl....I suppose you also need to see a photo of this little beauty.

DSC00495.jpg


This Atlas-4 has been sitting quietly in the corner of my shop for just about a year now....and today was the day it finally got married up to the TH400 (which was freshly rebuilt almost 3 years ago, and also sat unused in my shop....seemingly forever). It's basically an Atlas-II box with an additional planetary housing bolted to it. This gives 1:1, 2:1, 2.72:1 and 5.44:1 ratios....basically like a Doubler, but with deeper gearing and a much more compact package overall. It has the dubious effect of making the truck lighter by removing all the money from my wallet. :D

There were some problems...the green studs didn't want to screw in without the "doublenut" trick and a lot of colorful language...

DSC00486.jpg


Then the output shaft "bottomed out" on the input side of the Atlas about 1/8" too soon....

DSC00489.jpg


Oops...!!!
DSC00492.jpg


So I threw some washers between the two parts so that I could continue with mock-up work... I'll have to figure this issue out later on.

DSC00493.jpg




Finally, it was time to roll the assembly under the truck and get it hoisted up into position....how much of the floor will I need to cut?? :thinking:

DSC00497.jpg


ANSWER: Plenty!

I used a cherry picker to lift the cases from the middle (throught the open tranmission cover hole) and then spent most of the rest of the day fabricating temporary crossmembers to hold it up close to the floorpan. I haven't determined the exact position of the setup (front-to-back) but it's clear that most of the passenger side floor under the seat is going to need to get removed to get the clearance I want.

This is the fun stuff. I'm hoping that there will be time tomorrow to sneak back out in the shop to take more photos, and to make that large cut in the floor so that I can get this setup into it's correct position.


:usaflag:
 
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Greg72 said:
Then the output shaft "bottomed out" on the input side of the Atlas about 1/8" too soon....

DSC00489.jpg


Oops...!!!
DSC00492.jpg


So I threw some washers between the two parts so that I could continue with mock-up work... I'll have to figure this issue out later on.

DSC00493.jpg
Click to expand...

I say just hit the end of the output shaft with a grinder to knock it down that little bit. Even better would be a band saw if you could get the transmission jigged up to run straight across it.

Man! This is looking great otherwise!! I'm VERY jealous of the Atlas-4. sheesh!

Looking good,

Buddy
 
Yukon Jack said:
That tranny/tc combo is definitely drool-worthy!!!
Click to expand...

It makes me laugh (or is it cringe?) to think that the 502BBC/TH400/ATLAS4 combo actually cost me more than what I originally paid for the ENTIRE TRUCK back in 2001!! :eek1:

I have to admit, it's pretty exciting to realize that all these parts are finally going to be used for something.... It's strange, I've been spending money for a long time then simply putting the parts away on shelves. In a way, they became more like "abstractions" than actual useful parts.

Now that I'm finally bolting them together I'm having this realization like: "WOW! I'm going to have a mega-big block and some radical gearing in my 1st Gen!!!" :bow: It's hard to explain...I've always known that's what was going to happen, but now it feels more "real"...

I feel like letting out one of those Burt yells.... YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAABBCATLASCRAWLING!!!! :D
:usaflag:
 
NIce work Greg, can't wait till you get it together and moving. Itching to see the end result.
 
Remember the old adage: "Measure twice, then once more, then start cutting."

If you're going for totally flat belly pan, I can see that a lot of cutting is probably needed, but if you have some leeway on how much clearance you really need, you'de be surprised how much can fit up there with just a little cutting.
 
2008.04.29 - UDPATE! - THE CUTOFF WHEEL OF DOOM...

It was obvious that the new driveline will not fit "as is" under the truck, at least not the way I want it to. So I made my measurements, and did what needed to be done.

DSC00500.jpg


There's plenty of access now, but unfortunately I'm going to have to cut that structural seat bridge and re-build it higher to get the cases as high as I want them to go... At this point who cares? Nothing really scares me anymore, and it won't take much (more) time.

DSC00502.jpg


After getting the tranny and xfer case mocked up, I decided to put the engine in place to see what sort of clearance issues I'm going to have....and how much firewall cutting will be required to get it where I'd like it to be. Actually, it wasn't as terrible as I first imagined.... but there will still be plenty of fabrication to get the clearance for the distributor and valve covers (I'd like to be able to remove them without pulling the engine....)

DSC00509.jpg
 
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Why don't you move the entire drivetrain forward about 4" or so. That'll relieve the firewall issues & give you better driveline angles as well.

Just a thought.

Later,
Buddy
 
BUDDY said:
Why don't you move the entire drivetrain forward about 4" or so. That'll relieve the firewall issues & give you better driveline angles as well.

Just a thought.

Later,
Buddy
Click to expand...

He's trying to distribute the weight evenly front to rear. He also needs to make sure it's far enough back so that when the "future phase" takes place he has room to move the engine forward some to accomodate that phase.
 
Buddy,

Scott's right (how does he know all these details? :thinking:) I am trying to balance a number of different requirements here... the TH400 will eventually be replaced with a longer T56 tranny setup when I do the Mog axle swap. I don't want to change the position of the Atlas at that point, because I don't want to resize the driveshafts....so I'm going to set the motor/tranny a little deep into the firewall to give me room to pull them forward later on.

Also, getting the weight of the motor closer to the center of the truck will help make it better balanced for weight distribution and should make it more stable. Additionally, the Mog axles have enormously long pinion snouts on them...so anything I do to move the oilpan away from the axle is going to make my life easier later on.

There aren't any "simple" solutions really.... I am just weighing all the pros/cons and trying to make the least number of compromises to the final product.

:usaflag:
 
Greg72 said:
Buddy,

Scott's right (how does he know all these details? :thinking:) I am trying to balance a number of different requirements here... the TH400 will eventually be replaced with a longer T56 tranny setup when I do the Mog axle swap. I don't want to change the position of the Atlas at that point, because I don't want to resize the driveshafts....so I'm going to set the motor/tranny a little deep into the firewall to give me room to pull them forward later on.

Also, getting the weight of the motor closer to the center of the truck will help make it better balanced for weight distribution and should make it more stable. Additionally, the Mog axles have enormously long pinion snouts on them...so anything I do to move the oilpan away from the axle is going to make my life easier later on.

There aren't any "simple" solutions really.... I am just weighing all the pros/cons and trying to make the least number of compromises to the final product.

:usaflag:
Click to expand...

Seems like fabbing up another frame/chassis all together would be in order.
You could build it to as a stand alone unit and then when your satisfied, swap over the blazer tub & body parts to the new chassis.
All the while driving/wheeling what your creating today.

It's going to be such a different approach, I'm guessing that very little "original" framework/drive-train pieces will get re-used anyway. :thinking:
 
Really?? :confused:
Yer gonna do all that work to get that TH400 in there and then swap it out??
Yer crazy :doah:
I thought your 69 was the mog receiving rig?
I probly missed something like allways...I can't keep track of it all...:crazy:
 
Greg, you might want to rethink the not wanting to move the tranny/t-case combo later. With the Mog pinions being so long you're going to need to do driveshaft mods anyway regardless if you keep the tranny/t-case combo where it will be.

I would be more concerned with keeping the engine far enough back like we talked about to clear the front Mog pinion. Moving the engine later is alot more work than doing driveshaft mods. Yes you may save some $$$$ but time is also $$$$.
 
Burt4x4 said:
Really?? :confused:
Yer gonna do all that work to get that TH400 in there and then swap it out??
Yer crazy :doah:
I thought your 69 was the mog receiving rig?
I probly missed something like allways...I can't keep track of it all...:crazy:
Click to expand...

Don't worry Burt, the 80's weren't THAT bad to you... :D

I decided a while ago not to cut-up the '69 tub, and now that I've got the rust issues resolved on Stomper I'm just going to use it for everything.

Phase 1 is what you are seeing here....502/TH400/ATLAS and 1-Ton axles. I'll probably link up the rear with some coilovers to control the inevitable axlewrap from that BBC.

Phase 2 will be the natural progression to a full tube chassis, where I will also link up the front end, swap the Mogs in place of the 1-Tons and then use that Viper 6-speed to replace the TH400. The transmission HAS to change when the Mogs go in because they has such deep gearing (7.56:1)...and that 6-speed has a 50% overdrive in 6th. Otherwise, the truck would end up being a "trailer only" vehicle and that's not how I roll... :wink1:

Stay tuned, lots more fun to come...


:usaflag:
 
Great job and build Greg. I love that kind of ground up fab build.
 
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