Should drive like a new truck! Very nice work.

 

More progress!!!!

I managed to get my pitman arm and drag link dropped off at my buddy's shop so he could weld them up for me. I stopped in there today and got them picked up.


After a little cutting and trimming;


Added a bit of paint to the drag link, pitman arm, bracket, and rag joint;




I managed a few smaller things also. With a little gentle encouragement I managed to straighten and recurve the steel hardline portion of my power steering pressure hose (without making any kings....woohoo), I got the front brake line rerouted (mostly), made a plan to redo the brake lines coming off of the master cylinder (they just don't look right), started figuring out the mounting for the ignition and headlight switches (going to be using late 60's T-bird parts....stay tuned).

Hopefully tomorrow I can bolt the box to the bracket, bracket to the frame, install pitman arm and drag link and mock the steering column in place so I can start fabricating brackets for it....whew

Bobby

 

Nice work Bobby! Time for a frosty beverage...

 

Thanks Joe

You read my mind. I grabbed a frosty cold one, climbed up into the cab and sat behind the wheel enjoying my frosty beverage while making the odd vroom vroom noises

Nothing like cruising on a Friday night
Bobby

 

Almost there! Is your front end bodywork off?

 

Yep, I figured it'd be easier to have a bit of room to work so I pulled the clip

 

The best and only way to drink and "drive"
Great looking work and one of a kind - very cool.

 

More progress!

I bolted the steering box to the bracket and bolted the whole assy into the truck, I havent permanently installed the pitman arm or drag link yet but I think I have it where I could.

I also hooked up the pressure line to make sure it would all work out. When I built my pressure hose I took a section of hard line that fit my GM pump, I cut it down, installed a metric fitting and reflared the line so that I could mate it to a toyota pressure line that had a female fitting. This piece of hard line was almost a 180 degree bend. I was able to straighten it out some without kinking it;


On the steering box end I had a similar situation where I had to straighten out a bend in the hard part of the line. I still need to tweak it slightly so that it angles outward from the exhaust manifold, but it will work;


After getting that stuff mounted I started working on the column mount. I took my old mount, cut it apart, turned parts around, rewelded it, drilled some new holes, and cut the width down to match the new column. When I bolt it in permanently the bolts will go in from the bottom up to make things a little cleaner;


I made a small start on the floor plate. Hopefully tomorrow I can make some headway there. Its amazing how long some of these little chores take.

Bobby

 

Just curious, were you able to get all four of the steering box mount bolts iin or just the two, using the mount you made.

 

I was able to utilize all 4 steering box mounting holes. The upper 2 holes In the bracket receive through bolts. I was able to drill and tap the lower 2 holes in the bracket. It doesn't look like it but there is a good 1/2" of thickness for the threads.

Bobby

 

Bobby, thanks for the info, I'm fixin' to do the same conversion in the near future, not relocating the box though. Thanks again.

 

No problem,

These might help you a bit. There are 2 basic styles of steering box brackets to put the Toyota box in the original location. Here are drawings of them;







Good luck with your conversion.
Bobby

 

OK, the floor plate is done.

Woohooo

I started out with the bare hole;


Cut some sheet metal and did a bit of bending and tweaking to accommodate the parking brake cable;


Cut a chunk of exhaust tubing, made a partial cut in it, then made a lengthwise cut in that and welded a couple of tabs on to make a pinch type clamp;


Welded it all together and screwed it in place;


Finally, everything is coming together;


I guess the next task is to figure out what I'm going to do about an ignition switch, and start figuring out the turn signal wiring.

I'm getting there, bit by bit
Bobby

 

Been watching your work ; nice fabrication Bobby !

Are you going to go with a keyed ignition and push button start as per original ? I kept mine that way and like the process of pushing the button to crank it over.

Keep at it; we're in the middle of another minus 27 C cold snap. No work on the truck until spring.

Tom

 

Bobby, it's coming together. You should keep track of all the fabrications you've done over the years and catalog them. Make a list and post a link here or in your signature.