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

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  • #31
    Good luck on your truck project Chris. Here's some crappy pictures of my old 73 from years ago. But I did the rear flip kit and shorter coils up front. went down 5-6 in the back and 2-3 in the front. had a little bumpy ride on rough roads but wasn't bad for only a $200.00 lowering kit. Nice thing was it was very easy to load things in the back of the truck when you needed to.

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    • #32
      Chris, I added you to a couple Facebook pages for squares. Lots of good tech help there. I wish mine would have been notched when the previous owner did the flip. It rides pretty stiff. Just ask Bernie & Pops.
      Hauling ass & sucking gas are the best uses for a truck.

      Comment


      • #33
        Thanks for all the responses. I'm thinking these for the front for just under $500 (5in total drop):

        http://www.jegs.com/i/Belltech/146/3100/10002/-1 and http://www.jegs.com/i/Ground+Force/476/1027/10002/-1

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        And this for the rear for under $270 (6in drop):



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        Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
        74 Nova Project
        66 Mustang GT Project

        92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
        79 Chevy Truck Project
        1956 Cadillac Project

        Comment


        • #34
          you are still planning to "work" this truck?

          i do believe in the old saying "praise the Lowered" , but that is LOW for a truck you are gonna work.

          how are your roads?

          and above all, DO IT
          Charles

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          • #35
            also, please verify the backspace requirements for that spindle. your stock wheels might hit the lower control arms
            Charles

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            • #36
              Originally posted by 1badmonkey View Post
              you are still planning to "work" this truck?

              i do believe in the old saying "praise the Lowered" , but that is LOW for a truck you are gonna work.

              how are your roads?

              and above all, DO IT
              Truck will need to pull a loaded car trailer once and a while. Roads are good.

              I'll have to check on the clearance for the stock rims as I do want to keep them.
              Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
              74 Nova Project
              66 Mustang GT Project

              92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
              79 Chevy Truck Project
              1956 Cadillac Project

              Comment


              • #37
                I dropped the Dodge 4" front and 3" rear (the most commercially available). It looks REALLY LOW when parked next to a stock 2500. I occasionally hit a driveway apron or some such as I pull out (I think it's usually the hitch which sticks out a bit) but really no issue. I say "go for it"!

                Dan

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                • #38
                  i drag the hitch on my suburban ALL the time. Im super excited to see this truck slammed!!
                  Charles

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                  • #39
                    Thanks for the input. Just went out and checked the truck with the extreme drop in mind. It appears that 3" in the front is probably the most I can get away with given the current rim and tire combo. That leaves me needing 5" in the rear for an almost level rake. I'm guessing a shackle kit will get me close.
                    Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
                    74 Nova Project
                    66 Mustang GT Project

                    92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
                    79 Chevy Truck Project
                    1956 Cadillac Project

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Last weekend I started with the mundane (maintenance) stuff I mentioned a while back. First upgrade:

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                      Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
                      74 Nova Project
                      66 Mustang GT Project

                      92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
                      79 Chevy Truck Project
                      1956 Cadillac Project

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        After that, I crawled under the truck to assess the transmission leaks. The puddle extended around the front of the passenger front tire and more that half way to the rear end. I need a pan gasket for sure and probably o-rings for the speedometer take off, dipstick tube and kick-down cable. This fell on me while I was under there:

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                        I'll be ordering a full set of body mounts for about $140 from LMC in the near future.
                        Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
                        74 Nova Project
                        66 Mustang GT Project

                        92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
                        79 Chevy Truck Project
                        1956 Cadillac Project

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          I spent some time under the hood assessing needs and convincing myself not to pull the motor and transmission. The plan is to get the leaks under control, address basic maintenace issues, and get it running and driving well for the time being. Before Pics:

                          In this pic I was trying to show the starter wires going around the outside of the exhaust pipe. The steel sleeve is still there but it is laying on the exhaust pipe (it should go between the pipe and the block.)

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                          New wires are on the list. This one has been chewed on by something.

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                          That zip tie was the only attempt to keep the wires off the manifold.

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                          Quadrajet with rubber supply line. I suspect this carb is not the original as the kick-down cable does not connect to it and the throttle connection is odd as well. It did seem to work well outside of that so I will probably use it for a while. I will probably try to replace the rubber supply with steel at some point though.

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                          Little coolant leak. My Nova does this over the winter as well. I believe that the intake is a cast iron factory piece that was painted silver. (Ironic because I recently painted the aluminum intake on the Nova orange.)

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                          Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
                          74 Nova Project
                          66 Mustang GT Project

                          92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
                          79 Chevy Truck Project
                          1956 Cadillac Project

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            So far it looks like pretty minor stuff. Good to see it coming along.

                            Dan

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                            • #44
                              Started with the spark plugs. Most came out fine, but a few took some effort to remove even after breaking them loose. I used some anti-sieze on the new ones to hopefully ward off future issues. This one (#5) was the toughest one to remove, so much so that I contemplated leaving it in because I was worried about stripping the hole.

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                              The others looked like this:

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                              Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
                              74 Nova Project
                              66 Mustang GT Project

                              92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
                              79 Chevy Truck Project
                              1956 Cadillac Project

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Next up was replacement of the PCV valve, air filter and breather. The air filter and breather went fine but I had to cut the PCV out of the grommet. The grommet must have been original equipment as it was rock hard and had also been painted when the valve covers were done. Fortunately O'riely's stocks the grommets, so I picked up 2. During the PCV debacle, I wound up removing the drivers side valve cover. Here is what I found under the cover:

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                                Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
                                74 Nova Project
                                66 Mustang GT Project

                                92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
                                79 Chevy Truck Project
                                1956 Cadillac Project

                                Comment

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