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I've been pretty busy the last few weeks. Unfortunately it didn't involve the truck. In February I was getting a little frustrated with sourcing a drive train. So I called Blue Print Engines and ordered a 383 stroker fully assembled drive train. Fuel injected and 700 r4 trans. They said due to...

roller Lots of little tasks done. It's roller ready. Started doing the brake lines, which meant I needed to install the exhaust system to make sure the rear axle flex line was clear of the pipes. So I went ahead and installed the fuel tank.... I needed some line clips on the rear axle so I made...

Truck is looking great! I like the wood finish, the burn came out nice. The wheels are a really nice choice too. How will the original style cap be held on?

Dirty floor... I removed the spring pads on the rear axle today, what a job! It took about 3 hours to fully remove them. When I did them years ago I really welded them on. The rear is in place but the new pads aren't welded on. Once I get enough weight on it I'll weld them in place. I put the...

Tidy Shop... My shop is generally clean. Clutter is usually the problem. I sweep up frequently, I don't like working in a dirty shop. Today I did a bunch of little time consuming jobs. I ordered a set of Rocket Racing Fire wheels and the wheel studs needed to be swapped out. I needed 2" studs...

The fronts are mono. They seem pretty nice, the stationary mount had to have quite a bit of material removed for them to fit. The spring eye is reversed where the original eye was centered.

Moved the '53 to the shop today. Pulled the rear out; more work than I was expecting... always is. Everything came apart fairly easy. This rear was completely rebuilt about 15 years ago, I only put about 3000 miles on it but I'll still pop the rear cover off and have a look. It's a little wet...

Thanks guys. So it seems that a proportioning valve helps. My strategy right now is no residual valves. A proportioning valve can't hurt as it can be opened all the way. So that's my plan for the moment.

There are plenty of companies making them though. For example Blueprint engines doesn't start with a rebuildable block. It's all new parts. There's plenty of sources for the parts, for examle, https://www.originengines.com/engines/5-7-liter

I'm getting ready to do my brake system lay out. Residual valves make sense to me but what about when the master cylinder is close to the same plane as the calipers/wheel cylinders? Are they only needed when the master cylinder is completely below the other components? The original braking...

Spent about 5 hours in the shop today. I got a lot done but it doesn't look like it. I removed the original trans and bell housing cross members; 22 rivets. My goal was to remove them without destroying them, just in case their needed in the future. Next up is the master cylinder. Should get...

I ordered cross members for the SBC and 700r4 but didn't order the "kit" because they were back ordered; they didn't have the mounts... I ordered the mounts from Summit...

Newly assembled front end... Had a pretty productive day in the shop. The front rotors and brakes are assembled. The steering arms have been modified to accept a tie rod end with a taper.... I ordered the tapered reamer last night around 10pm and it showed up today around noon... amazing. Still...

Got a little time in the shop tonight, my wife is out of town... so I pre-assembled the disk brakes... and I had to do a little grinding... all in all the kit fits pretty good.

That was the plan, but two of the four machine shops I've contacted can't get all the parts needed and they don't want to start without all the parts, which I can appreciate. And both shops said if they had them it'd be a year before they could even start. The third shop took my info and...

some suspension work Most of the suspension parts I ordered towards the end of December have arrived. Strangely rear shocks made by Western Chassis are still back ordered... not a big deal. The front springs were the holdup. They arrived a week ago so with my schedule finally clear I got to do...

Ratrod, sports car, hot rod, street racer, performance car... etc... I prefer nice car, thumbs up by the passerby and all the other friendly things people say...

Bob, it is a labor of love... I'm also finding out my body doesn't like laying on the concrete and more importantly it doesn't like getting up.... is that the labor you are referring to??? LOL the "paint prep" progress was good, but I didn't get "lost" in the work... but it had to be done. I...

Bob, I agree. It's been a long time since I've driven one of these with the straight axle, but I don't ever recall thinking it rolled a lot. I'm going to hold onto it and see how it handles first.

Does this really work? It's been a long time since I had a straight axle under the front of my truck. I recently picked up an original chassis for my 1953 Chevy truck; it had a anti roll bar attached to the front suspension, does it really help? It's pretty narrow so I wonder if it's effective...