Saturday, October 02, 2004  -  Spent the day in the shop again, but spent as much time cleaning parts as anything else, so there really isn't a lot of pictorial-type updates. I ordered new flexible front brake lines yesterday and stopped in and picked them up this morning. Last weekend I sandblasted and painted the clips which old the flexible lines to the frame brackets, but when I went to install them today, I could only find one, so I had to swipe another off the parts truck and sandblast/paint it. While I was under the parts truck, I also removed the front e-brake frame bracket so I could sandblast and paint it, and got it mounted.

I then decided I needed to get the fuel line put in. The parts truck has a good line, so I went back out and removed it. However, I decided to hold off getting it cleaned up and mounted until I can get the fuel tank permanently mounted, since there will be some minor fabrication involved, adapting the in-cab fuel tank line to the underbed auxiliary tank I'm using.

When I went to install the front flexible lines, I found out that the new lines didn't come with the special hollow bolts which attach the line to the caliper, so I had to go scrounging in my parts bin and round up a couple of them and get them cleaned up. Got the flexible lines installed and then went on to finish up the front lines. I also picked up a new 60" length of brake line (the longest they had), but found out that it was still going to be about 6"-8" too short. Therefore, I had to decide whether I wanted to special order the length I needed to go splice two pieces together, and I opted for the latter. After doing some careful measuring and bending, I was able to put the splice up alongside the frame rail where it will be pretty well hidden (Fig. 3)

I then spent almost two hours cleaning up the power steering cooler and getting it mounted (Fig. 4). I decided to try using the '73-'79 style of cooler which is mounted to the L/F inside frame rail. After some unpleasant experiences with the earlier engine-mounted PS cooler, I decided to try this one. However, it appears that the front crossmember on the '73-'79 trucks is a bit narrower, allowing the cooler to sit closer to the pump. I had to slightly stretch the lines to clear the wider '67 crossmember, but I think it looks good. However, should I decide not to use this as the project continues, I can easily remove it and go with the engine-mounted style. There was only one hole to drill in the frame to mount this. After scraping the gunk off this one, I then scrubbed it down with cleaning solvent, then hit the lines with some coarse steel wool to further clean it, then polished it up with some fine steel wool. I like the look of the raw polished steel, so I'm going to do some research to find out what can be done to keep it looking shiny without worrying about rust issues.

Fig. 1  -  Here's a shot of the finished-up front brakes.

Fig. 2 - ...and here's a close-up of the L/F corner.

Fig. 3 - I was forced to put a splice in this front line, but it's in a fairly hidden spot.

Fig. 4 - Here's a view of the '73-'79 style of power steering cooler that I'll be (tentatively) using.

Fig. 5 - One last view of the rolling chassis, which is about 98% completed.