"Papa Smurf" - 1966 GMC 1500 Custom

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by James

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Maybe this will help:

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That absolutely helped. Exactly the same as the old one. It fit and my speedometer worked for all of 3 miles before I heard a ratcheting sound in the transmission and the needle started to "float" around 15mph. Then I heard nothing and the speedometer dropped out. I'm willing to bet the plastic drive gear has given up. I didn't bring my borescope home so I can't confirm that yet. But the adapter key is one problem solved. Overall success!

On the bright side, I managed to resurface my drums at work today. Braking vibration is now completely gone. My truck also seems to be coasting better. The left drum needed .030 to clean up. The right drum needed .015. After a 20 mile test drive I checked the temperature of my brakes. Both front discs were hot, but I could touch them without getting instant burns. That's normal, in my experience. The left rear drum was kind of warm, and the right rear was warm. A noticeable temperature difference existed but it was nothing drastic. The fact that I can touch all 4 without getting burnt means that I am no longer overheating.

Now I just need to monitor my front and rear brakes closely to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'm pretty sure I solved my brake problems, but we'll have to wait and see.

The attached photo shows the right drum after the first cut. Just one small low spot remained.


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And here's a video showing the left drum being cut. It only shows the initial skim cut, but you can hear just how little the cutting bit is making contact with the drum. Please excuse the shakiness. I was trying to operate a lathe and record at the same time.

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[Prowbar]

Nice job cleaning up those drums. Reminds me I need to do mine. Tried doing the rear drums earlier but only had chatter because I clamed on the welded on sheet metal hub. Need to make a sturdy flange to clamp the piece properly instead of trying to work with the 3 jaw.

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by Prowbar

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Nice job cleaning up those drums. Reminds me I need to do mine. Tried doing the rear drums earlier but only had chatter because I clamed on the welded on sheet metal hub. Need to make a sturdy flange to clamp the piece properly instead of trying to work with the 3 jaw.

I'm going to preface by saying I've never used a 3-jaw lathe, so my suggestion may be useless.

What if you took apart an old front wheel bearing from an early 2000s GM truck? If you use just the hub and bolt the drum on it backwards, would that be enough to clamp onto?

[Prowbar]

That's a good suggestion, I don't have a wheel hub laying around unfortunately.
3 jaw and 4 jaw just refers to the chuck (part that clamps the workpiece) of the lathe.
Ended up using the slotted mounting holes in the 4 jaw chuck to mount the drum. I just bolted it to the chuck and indicated it on the center bore that locates on the wheel hub.

Happy with the results, should give the shoes a nice mating surface. All 4 took about .030 to .040 to clean up.



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[LordNatedawg]

Pretty quick and easy weekend. I swapped out my rear shock absorbers for some Monroe shocks to match the front set. I also readjusted my drums once more. I failed to tighten up the left shoes sufficiently after I resurfaced the drums. That is now fixed.



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After the basic maintenance was done I took my truck on a 85 mile trip to go pick up a thermostatic air cleaner that I bought on Facebook. I hit the freeway and cruised at 65mph and 2700 rpm for about an hour. No issues occurred during the trip besides getting less than stellar fuel mileage. 11 mpg isn't great. It's only 1 mpg better than what I get on my daily commute to work. A SBC 350 should be able to squeeze out 14 mpg on the freeway. I'll have to figure out where those extra 3 mpg have run off to.



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Unfortunately this air cleaner won't work on my truck like I was hoping. I have too many things in the way of the snorkel and tubing on the passenger side. My rams horn manifolds also won't work with the heat stove. And the stove pipe would be rubbing against my heater hoses.



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I bought another air cleaner online. This time with a snorkel that points to the driver side. I'm hoping that will work better, although I will likely need to swap my valve covers from left to right to make the air cleaner work with my PCV system. The air cleaner hasn't shipped yet. So no test fit has been performed.

My goal with the air cleaner is to make sure my engine is getting air at a regulated temperature. Currently it runs "good" when it's frosty out, then great once under hood temperatures start to rise, then back to "good" once it gets really hot under the hood. Very subtle changes that could also account for some lost fuel mileage. We'll have to wait and see.

[Jim A]

With all the open space and venting, I am not sure my '60 1500 has ever gotten "really hot" under the hood.
I am curious if you are including arcing the shoes to the new drums.

[James]

Originally Posted by LordNatedawg

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Unfortunately this air cleaner won't work on my truck like I was hoping. I have too many things in the way of the snorkel and tubing on the passenger side. My rams horn manifolds also won't work with the heat stove. And the stove pipe would be rubbing against my heater hoses.

Your ram horn exhaust manifold could still work. I used a section of tail pipe (the same size as the fitting on the breather) and shaped it to fit around the exhaust manifold. Then clamp it to the exhaust manifold and connect the two parts with a hot air duct.

Do you want to sell that breather that doesn't fit on your truck? Will it fit a 2/4 barrels Holley?

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by Jim A

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With all the open space and venting, I am not sure my '60 1500 has ever gotten "really hot" under the hood.
I am curious if you are including arcing the shoes to the new drums.

I was exaggerating to make a point. I realize I didn't exactly do a good job of explaining my thought process. I'll try again in another post.

As for arcing my shoes, I did not do that. I left them as they are.

[LordNatedawg]

Originally Posted by James

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Your ram horn exhaust manifold could still work. I used a section of tail pipe (the same size as the fitting on the breather) and shaped it to fit around the exhaust manifold. Then clamp it to the exhaust manifold and connect the two parts with a hot air duct.

Do you want to sell that breather that doesn't fit on your truck? Will it fit a 2/4 barrels Holley?

I'll keep that trick in mind. If this new air cleaner works out then I will be able to use the stock heat stove which was intended for the driver side manifold.

I may consider selling the first air cleaner if the second one works, although I'm not familiar with Holley carbs so I can't help much with determining fitment. The guy who sold the air cleaner said it came off a 1981 K1500 with a 5.7L. It fits my Quadrajet, but I'm fairly certain is was designed for the q-jet to begin with.

[James]

Originally Posted by LordNatedawg

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I'll keep that trick in mind. If this new air cleaner works out then I will be able to use the stock heat stove which was intended for the driver side manifold.

I may consider selling the first air cleaner if the second one works, although I'm not familiar with Holley carbs so I can't help much with determining fitment. The guy who sold the air cleaner said it came off a 1981 K1500 with a 5.7L. It fits my Quadrajet, but I'm fairly certain is was designed for the q-jet to begin with.

If your Quadrajet carburetor breather gasket is 5-1/4" ID then the breather would work on a Holley carburetor.