'82 GMC ... Yard truck no more!

[Shifty]

Looks nice! 

[bluevan]

I was pretty happy with the dust shields at the end.  Not sure how critical these things are, but I have come this far and would end up bothering me to forgo them on this project.  If I was going to use tis for mostly off roading I dont think I would care as much.

[Mike81K10]

Looks nice! Would like to replace mine eventually!

[bluevan]

Putting together the hub and rotor with the wheel studs was a bit of a pain because I couldnt do it with the press.  It was just too awkward with it flipped over.  Even with a big impact wrench and plenty of lube it took a while to do them all.  After packing them with some new grease (as well as the outer wheel bearing) they slid on the spindles like butter.  The inner spindle nut (with the pin) goes on, then the retainer (lined up with the pin), and finally the outer nut to complete the metal and grease sandwich.  The tie rod was slightly bent, so I swapped it with the one from the other axle after some cleaning, new rubber boots and adjuster.

[bluevan]

Here is a picture of one of the Mile Marker locking hubs all blown apart (I think these are 449SS).  It is tempting to slather a bunch of grease on this stuff when it goes back together, but dont do that - just use some oil or it will get sticky and not disengage.  Some grease on the outside splines (where it slides in the hub) is OK but there should be none on the inside of it.  The other thing that should be noted is that the three teeth on the cam need to be lined up with mounting holes on the housing (see pic).  After I got it all together and tightened up I found that the passenger side was a bit loose.  There was about 1/16 of play when you pull on it.  To correct this I added a second outer lock ring that I robbed from the extra axle.

[bluevan]

I felt the need to add something shiny so I got some ceramic coated headers.  I wanted to get something that didnt need to be wrapped or painted and will (hopefully) stay looking nice for a while.  These Summit ones were reasonably priced and fit pretty well.  They did have some welding boogers on the mounting surface that I ground off and did some grinding around the entry tubes to eliminated some excessive metal lumps that may affect the flow.  Got some stainless mounting bolts to replace the rust prone black oxide hardware that came with the install kit.

[bd]

Looking really good, Joel!

If you haven't already done it, while it's apart would be a great time to fabricate some upper shock mount stabilizers for the rear shock absorbers so the frame doesn't tin can.   

[JohnnyPopper]

Nice Build Man, I'm inspired to get back to work on the '80 I've been doing for 2 years!!!

[bluevan]

Thanks for the kudos!  Hard to believe I actually inspired someone - I browse this site often to keep myself inspired.  Good suggestion bd - seems like that would be an easy modification to make.  I will add that to the list and post some pics when I get it done.

[bluevan]

With the calipers installed I am just about ready to cross front end off the to-do list.  The only problem I ran into was that the K10 brake hoses I have are too short.  I used 1 ton leaf springs and have no lift, but the hoses have a metal tube section on the caliper end that just aint right.  I will post some pics when I get new ones.

Here are some observations I made during the brake installation.

-  The new calipers came with a convenient bag of hardware.  One of the parts was a little clip that I had no idea what to do with since it was so long ago that I took it apart.  Turns out it is an anti rattle clip that goes on the bottom of the inboard pad like so before you stuff it in the bracket (see pics).  Hopefully this helps someone scratching their head some day like I was!

- Installing these "wedge style" calipers can be a challenge (dang gravity!).  You basically need three hands.  I ended up pushing up on the bottom of the caliper with a floor jack and tapping it into the ideal position with a rubber mallet to get the spring clip / wedge started.

[bd]

Thanks for the kudos!  Hard to believe I actually inspired someone - I browse this site often to keep myself inspired.  Good suggestion bd - seems like that would be an easy modification to make.  I will add that to the list and post some pics when I get it done.

Here is some food for thought:  Frame cracks around upper shock mounts

By all means, post what you do.  Keep up the great work!

[bluevan]

The 1/2 ton front brake hoses wont work with a Dana 60 front end - the tubing end comes off the caliper at the wrong angle.  Since I now have a set of both 1/2 and 1 ton hoses here is a comparison.  The 1 ton hoses come off the caliper and make a quick 90 straight up.

[JohnnyPopper]

I had the same problem on the 1980 C10 I'm putting back together, I physically had to reshape the tubing.

[bluevan]

Well, its been a while but I have been busy working on the house.  Added an addition and the work seems endless.  It warmed up around here and I finally managed to get out to the garage to make a little progress.  Wanted to show some progress pics and thank bd for the inspiration.  The brackets I made ended up being the same for both sides, just needed to drill some holes in the frame to make it work.

[JohnnyPopper]

You're never going to want to drive something so CLEAN! 

Might get some dirt on...