74 NovaMan's 1979 Chevy Truck - LS Swap - 5/6 Drop

[74NovaMan]

Finally tackled the rear brakes. The side with the bad wheel cylinder was a disgusting mess. The other side had significant gunk as well but at least it was dry. Bad side:



Parts after cleaning:





Reassembled:

[74NovaMan]

any chance the nova's longtubes will fit the truck?

I'd bet they would, but with my plans to lower the truck I suspect I would have the same issues.

[silver_bullet]

any chance the nova's longtubes will fit the truck?

[74NovaMan]

We picked up the start of the dual exhaust a few weeks ago:





Scored them off Craigslist for $50. We already have a pair of Flowmasters and some pipe left over from the Mustang project. Oddly enough, these are the part number for the Camaro and will probably work on the Nova as well. I'm actually planning on installing something similar on the Nova as it has long tubes that hit speedbumps and such on a fairly regular basis.

[DanStokes]

Cool Chris! It'll be fun to see how everything comes out. My last one was a '80 that started life with a Diesel. In MI the bodies of the Diesels held up pretty well 'cause they wouldn't start in salt weather! I installed a BBB and a TH400. That was many moons ago.

Dan

[74NovaMan]

No progress on the truck this weekend but I did score some "ink" on the main page!

http://bangshift.com/general-news/project-cars/bangshift-project-files-ditching-the-sports-utility-vehicle-for-an-honest-1979-chevrolet-pickup-truck/

[74NovaMan]

So we decided to rebuild the 700r4 for the truck as that fits better with the long term goals and it makes sense to not spend $ on the TH350C if that is the case. While having that debate (mostly internal) we needed to buy another $500 worth of stuff to do the Camaro Top replacement "right". Then we factor in the need for tires for the Nova (rears are 12 years old and fronts are 14) and we will be patching up the leaks as best and cheaply as we can in order to put off the 700r4 conversion to a later date.

In other news, one of the rear wheel cylinders has let loose and doused the shoes. I was hoping to turn the drums, but there was not enough meat left to work with so I have new wheel cylinders, drums and shoes on the bench waiting for me. I'm not expecting to get to any fun stuff on the truck for quite a while at this point.

[>>>>head]

With an outdoor privvy, no less

some junkies just are born with a spoon, for the rest of us .......................

[silver_bullet]

nice call on the tires! I run AT3s on the ZR2 and they wear like iron... excellent tires!

[yellomalibu]

Joe and Patrick - Thanks for the tire suggestions. The tires on it are Cooper Cobras 255/70 R15.

Big Dave - Looking forward to seeing your truck in person on Power Tour this year.

I like the 255/70 on an 8" rim for these trucks. 29" tall something close to 8" tread. I couldn't find a 255/70 with a decent "truck" tread last time I needed tires, so I went with the 31/10.50 in a Michelin LTX M/S which do a great job of filling up the wheel wells, are great in rain and sand, and last a long time. The down side is they killed gas mileage and acceleration due to my 2.73 gear... really good on the interstate - but I spend most of my time around town pulling a trailer.

Since getting them, I have discovered treaddepot.com, and see that Cooper makes their AT3 in the 255/70. These will likely be my next set of tires. I keep hearing good things about them.
Only $115, while the Michelins were $200 each.

https://www.treaddepot.com/#!productDetail/tireStandardFitment/90000002677

[Stewzer55]

It's getting pretty hard to find a good set of 15" tires, really thinking about Cooper Cobras for when the craptastic tires wear out on the Olds.

[Deaf Bob]

Got mine while driving this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1097572[/ATTACH]

With an outdoor privvy, no less

[74NovaMan]

Joe and Patrick - Thanks for the tire suggestions. The tires on it are Cooper Cobras 255/70 R15.

Big Dave - Looking forward to seeing your truck in person on Power Tour this year.

[74NovaMan]

Hooked my wife while driving it.....guess so!

Got mine while driving this:

[Big Dave]

My truck engine....496 CI BIG Block and these seat came out of a '90 Tahoe. Should be able to find them easy at the local U PULL IT.