'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build

[ClassicStyle]

@ClassicStyle:

Are they stainless? Send me a fistful of those hangers..... and I'll check them out!!!






.....or just post a link.

-G

Made by stainless works if that counts! Haha
https://m.summitracing.com/parts/st...ZwAO6rXRo_78jtlqn9T7OEpPwSvCrH8ZY4aApoi8P8HAQ

 

[Greg72]

MORE EXHAUSTING WORK.....

The one final piece of the exhaust puzzle was the finicky section of tubing that runs between the first muffler (in the torsion box) and the resonator that is on the inside of the framerail. This requires a very precise set of turns and threading-the-needle over the top of the framerail, and there isn't much margin for error..... and not a lot of extra room even if everything is done perfectly.

For starters though.... McMaster-Carr came through with a quick (as always) shipment of bronze bushings for the seat pivots. I love spending $5 for parts and $6 for shipping!!! LOL

The first bends coming out of the torsion box were already figured out, so the trick was getting a 90-degree bend connected to the existing tubes, then angling it downward to clear the transverse B-Pillar crossmember and then angling it slightly upwards to meet up with the resonator. The benchtop looked the part, with lots of cut tubes, grinders, sanders and the like:

Of course, anyone who does fabrication work knows that the perfect time to knock the angle-grinder off the bench is JUST after installing a fresh cutoff wheel..... my shop is no exception!

It was a strange combination of metal cutting, yoga moves and green tape... but eventually the whole assembly came together and started looking right.

....from a slightly different perspective:

So the good news is that now there is a perfect set of template cuts that can be used to replicate a "mirror image" version of this exhaust routing for the driver's side.... so that will go MUCH faster. Basically the entire thing is figured out now with the exception of the final few inches at the rear tailpipe (which will be positioned and fine-tuned once the bedsides are re-hung), and a small 18" section that comes off the headers into the front muffler....(which will require the headers to be finish-welded to the collector to lock those dimensions in 100%).

It's been a really productive couple of weeks and hopefully things keep moving along at this nice steady pace in the coming months!!!!


-G

 

[sreidmx]

Man, I live like 3 hours from McMaster and I get charged like you do for shipping.
So.... where's the x pipe going?

 

[Greg72]

So.... where's the x pipe going?

In someone else's truck, I guess.....

X-Pipe needs to go at the hottest point in the exhaust which is typically right after the header collectors. When you look at the routing of the exhaust on this truck those pipes are at least 48" away from each other!!!

Ain't no way they are going to ever get anywhere near each other with this setup....


-G

 

[sreidmx]

Through the cab is fine... just wrap it so no one gets burned, plus it'll quiet her down

 

[Greg72]

Through the cab is fine... just wrap it so no one gets burned, plus it'll quiet her down

You are full of great ideas this morning.....

Perhaps bring them through the cab at a low-horizontal position so that they can act as heated leg rests???





-G

 

[folkenheath]

Looks good Greg!

When do you think you will be final welding the headers and exhaust so you can finish the whole exhaust up? That will be a sweet moment, a full exhaust you built yourself from cylinder head to tailpipe.

X-pipes make the sound higher pitch I believe, sounds more like a V8 without it.

 

[Greg72]

Looks good Greg!

When do you think you will be final welding the headers and exhaust so you can finish the whole exhaust up? That will be a sweet moment, a full exhaust you built yourself from cylinder head to tailpipe.

X-pipes make the sound higher pitch I believe, sounds more like a V8 without it.

Heath,

I think the welding will wait a while longer... possibly in the coming months when the snow is flying and I'm stuck indoors for large amounts of time. Obviously, I've got a lot of "torch time" queued-up with all the TIG joints that have been created... especially in those headers.

The main reason that I'm putting it off is so that I can focus on ANYTHING that is framerail-related as quickly as possible. The fuel tank is probably next.... then hardlines for fuel, brakes and air-lines down the inside of the rails. Right now, the rear bedfloor is out of the way, and it's a LOT easier to get into the places I need to reach and see. There will come a time in the not-too-distant-future when that bedfloor will be dropped into place and bolted down, and everything will get a whole lot tougher to do once that happens.

My wife has been extremely patient about not having her parking space in the garage all summer and most of the autumn season, but in the next few days that party is over. I've got to come up with a new method for getting all my tools and parts over to just ONE side of the garage every single night at the end of my sessions. So my productivity will be impacted by all the extra cleanup / parts moving on a semi-daily basis.....

I'd love to open up the mezzanine area a bit larger so that I could truly hoist the entire topside rollcage up-and-out of the way. I think that by cutting out maybe 2 feet of flooring up there, I'd have a large enough opening to pull that off..... That could be a good space saver.


-G

 

[NorCal69]

Some bad ass fab work going on in here. Those seats came out really slick. I was only a year too early to copy your stuff, like normal. lol

I get so jealous of your tabs and stuff that you make. That 20" grinder does such a sweet job on them. I just can't get that look with a flap wheel.

Carry on.....

 

[Greg72]

Some bad ass fab work going on in here. Those seats came out really slick. I was only a year too early to copy your stuff, like normal. lol

I get so jealous of your tabs and stuff that you make. That 20" grinder does such a sweet job on them. I just can't get that look with a flap wheel.

Carry on.....

Thanks brother!

Yes, the disc grinder is a "take it to the next level" tool for sure.... there's a lot you can do with a flapwheel grinder, but the disc grinder makes beautiful 90* edges and really nice outside curves. (For inside curves, I like the Walter drum style flapwheels on an air grinder).

There is a downside, and it's that every component becomes a small "work of art" project that seems like an unnecessary amount of time and effort. Three hours for seat tabs? Yeah, stuff like that makes you scratch your head sometimes....

There is an expression in German that I can't recall.... (maybe @Z71paramedic has heard it in his travels?) but it describes the quality of obsessing over small details that don't really get noticed. To paraphrase it's "For the love of the thing....". Basically the idea that you celebrate every aspect of the vehicle (or whatever) and do things that aren't necessary or practical just because.

If you've ever seen a Singer 911 (check out YouTube) I think that's basically the idea.... they rebuild an old Porsche 911 and EVERY detail is reimagined and refined to the Nth-degree. The end result is a gorgeous rolling work of art and no matter where you look on the car, there are amazing touches and details to appreciate. Ultimately, it's barely any faster than a typical 911, but people pay $400,000 for one because it's just SO far off the deep end in build quality.

-G

 

[Truckman4life]

I tend to just go with the "Roadkill" way of doing things but a little nicer and safer. I like to make really nice brackets and fab work but just don't have the time with the family and everything going on so I just make things the best I can in the amount of time I have. Yours will definitely be the truck that you have to stare at for hours just to see all the little things you have modified and made better.

 

[ashman]

Just watched the video. That is sweet!

 

[JoshHefnerX]

A year to build fenders only to throw it away and start over w/ another 2 years on new fenders... Kinda sounds like someone else here... lol

 

[Greg72]

A year to build fenders only to throw it away and start over w/ another 2 years on new fenders... Kinda sounds like someone else here... lol

Yeah.....interesting coincidence, eh?

The hardest part is all the R&D that goes into a "one-off" build..... the "tuition pile" is the absolute embodiment of effort and designs that don't quite work out...

For my own build, add the extra delays of having to learn new skills like TIG, tube bending, suspension theory, etc, etc.... and suddenly nobody should be surprised that a build like this takes 10 years (or more!)


-G

 

[UpnAdam]

Well I'm thankful to be along for the ride. I appreciate all the effort you take to document and share with the brotherhood. It would be a lot easier to just "power through it", and take before and after photos, but the build process is so much more interesting and educational.

 

[bp71k5]

Looking good Greg. Is the idea to put clamps at each muffler so you can unwind the sections of tubing from under the frame to do the final welding? Looks pretty tight.

 

[blazinzuk]

nobody should be surprised that a build like this takes 10 years (or more!)


-G

Seems like you got plenty of time to go throwing buckets under your axles.

Back to work!

 

[Greg72]

Looking good Greg. Is the idea to put clamps at each muffler so you can unwind the sections of tubing from under the frame to do the final welding? Looks pretty tight.

Brian,

Yeah it's hella tight!

I've got several sets of Vibrant V-band clamps already. The plan initially was to put them on either side of each muffler so that I could swap them out for straight pipes or a different style. But that transition-piece that goes over the framerail is going to be REALLY hard to remove. So it seems like at least one set of clamps will need to go in that tube section or it will be trapped forever (once the floor is reinstalled).


-G

 

[AgDieseler]

There is an expression in German that I can't recall.

I remember Gesamtkunstwerk from my architecture classes. It's where a designer oversees every detail of a project through to execution, creating a "total work of art."

This blazer has come entirely from your hands and imagination. Few other barely-pronouncable words would apply so well.

David

 

[Greg72]

2016.10.17 - UPDATE!! - DROPPING THE MEZZANINE..!!!!


Winter is on it's way.

Although the weather has been sunny and crisp and basically perfect lately.... it won't be long before it's just a bit TOO cold in the shop and heater needs to get fired up. And with the winter comes the snow and the idea of rolling the truck outside gets more problematic too.

There have been a couple of recent build days where the overhead mezzanine made it difficult to get things done. A recent "flex test" day came up short because the rollcage actually hit the ceiling and prevented the truck from getting high enough to fully droop the suspension. On a separate occasion, attempts to lift-out the upper rollcage structure were thwarted for similar reasons. For the small amount of storage space those platforms provide, they just aren't worth the aggravation they create.... and when it comes time (soon!) to install the rest of the foil-backed foam insulation it will be simpler to just work directly off a ladder rather than climbing onto those platforms 100 times.

Step 1: Pry up the plywood and to expose the beams.

Then....cut the nails with a trusty Saw-Z-All....

.....and enjoy the "open sky" effect!!!

It didn't seem like it would be as critical to do the inside mezzanine (over my toolboxes) but I knew I'd regret it later on if I didn't say "MAW"...

The end result is really good!!

The upper ceiling lights were originally dropped down about 24" to give better light, since the mezzanine floors blocks much of that light. But now that everything is wide open, they can be raised to the very top again. This will actually create enough clearance that the entire rollcage could be lifted up into the rafters and the truck can actually be rolled out from underneath if I wanted to. That's HUGE. It means that in the future the sheetmetal tub can be removed and sent off to the bodyshop for final paint, and the rolling chassis can be prepped and assembled while it's away. Also, the topside cage can be finish-painted and will be ready for final assembly as well.

Over the next few nights the priority will be getting the foam sheets installed so that the garage will hold heat well... then it's right back to exhaust work!!!


-G