My 1971 highboy build, the sequel!

[DuckRyder]

I don’t know anything about off-roading it, but Holleys are fine I had on on my truck for years and it wasn’t finicky or in need of fiddling.

Most rebuilder special cards are going to be junk. I’d prefer the devil you know. That said something like a Holley sniper would be my choice if I was going to change it.

[jzjames]

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/thr ... eys.26396/

[69Highboy]

James, the carb on my truck has been there since 1986 at the minimum, (the p.o. bought it in '86 and said he never swapped the carb), so I'm not real worried about it being made overseas. What I meant was that my dad and neighbor both said Holley's were more finicky than other carbs.

[69Highboy]

Not much progress has been made on the truck, but I need a bit of advice. Currently I have a standard (non-HD) Dana 44 under the truck. I want disc brakes, and there are two different disc brake front ends for my truck that are available near me. #1 is a low pinion 44, #2 is a high pinion 44 and #1 is $400 less than #2. Purely from a "wanting disc brakes" standpoint, is there any advantage to one or the other? Is the low pinion like the 44HD in that it's hard to find parts for?

[hfdco4]

I do not think there is a huge differences finding parts for the low vers high pinion axles. The low pinion should be a straight bolt in swap. I did the high pinion axle but I also got mine so cheap it only made sense!

[69Highboy]

I ended up with the low-pinion axle and I'm giving it a full rebuild with all new bearings, seals, pads, rotors, calipers, etc. I've also picked up a Pertronix ignition, all the parts to convert the rear end to disc brakes, and new 1999 F250 booster + master cylinder setup as well as a bracket set to run them on the truck. Oh yeah, and since I'll be doing all that axle work I picked up some new Rancho shocks for all 4 corners. In addition I have an overfueling issue so I'll be putting a fuel pressure regulator in place. I also fixed my flickering/sketchy lights by cutting the wire that leads to my dead roof lights. Lastly, I replaced two dead instrument cluster bulbs with some LED bulbs. For a $10 upgrade they sure makes it a lot easier to read the gauges at night.

[69Highboy]

In case anyone is curious, installing the new led bulbs was the same as installing a new standard bulb, just pull out the old one and push in the new one. The bulbs I used were these guys:

[Fordkid68]

Cool, it's really coming along great!

[69Highboy]

Tiny update, an existing exhaust leak suddenly got very loud and the following day my brother told me my muffler had a hole in it. I actually looked at it today and it turns out that the, ahem, non-intelligent folks who built the exhaust did a very poor job of lining it up, so when I tightened down the brackets and regularly drove the truck it started folding the mufflers. Now the front half of the exhaust is straight and the rear pipes are bent down at a 15 degree angle. I guess fixing the exhaust just moved up on the priority list! Maybe I'll even splurge and use rubber hangers instead of bolts welded to the frame!

[hfdco4]

Isn't fun fixing the PO fixes!

[69Highboy]

Well, work has stalled progress on my truck (by which I mean the new front axle) but some progress has been made. The whole thing has been stripped, cleaned, and rebuilt with fresh bearings, seals, and gaskets. I managed to source new tie rod ends for both sides, finding the long one was nothing short of a miracle. I could not find any of the long outers anywhere, but one day I was re-checking the inventory at work and apparently some store somewhere had one sitting on their shelf, and a "class pull" (where non-stocking warehouse items are sent back to the distribution center) made it available to me. It was sitting next to the axle waiting to be installed by the end of the night.

As of right now, all that the axle needs is the passenger side perch and the shock mounts welded on, the tie rods installed, the diff cover installed, and some gear oil poured in. Unfortunately, once the axle gets finished either it will get bolted under the truck and the truck will get shelved or I will learn the steering setup will need to be custom made and the truck and axle will be shelved. I acquired a Dodge that I am planning to daily drive and so getting it repaired will become a higher priority.

[69Highboy]

I figure it's about time for an update. I'll do a full, detailed write up on the power steering conversion later listing Moog and Napa part #'s, but for now I'll keep it short and sweet.

I installed a 99 F250 vacuum booster/master cylinder in the truck using a battle born brakes bracket, the whole thing was very easy. The lines going from m/c to the prop valve needed to be re-bent to go on the other size, new fittings were needed, I had to fab up a prop valve bracket, and I spliced a bleed-back valve into the rear system where the joint is under the cab. The brake hoses for the new front axle were 7/16 threads instead of 3/8 like the old ones so I put new fittings on the lines at those ends too. The whole thing took a day, and everything worked right from the get-go.

The power steering was, ahem, a little teensy bit more complicated. But it's in and works beautifully. I need to get a slightly shorter pitman arm and matching drag link end, but at the moment it works with limited steering to the right. I have both parts, but I've been too busy to install them. Quick rundown is a 71 F250 pump, bracket, and lines, 78 F150 box shell, 84 F250 box guts. The steering arm coming off the axle is off a 70's Chevy 1/2 ton axle. Drag link on the axle end is from the same. Pitman arm and drag link end at the pitman are tbd. Steering shaft is the original, but trimmed down ~4-6".

I want to level out the front end and get rid of the 2" blocks while I'm changing up everything, so before I get a new front driveshaft built I'm going to adjust the ride height. Of course, I'm also wondering if I should put a diesel in it since I'm getting driveshafts made.....

Old axle out:


New axle under it:


New box in it:


Power brakes in and the fender's back on:


In the wheel well:


The other brake bits:

[69Highboy]

The best part is, the only required welding was shortening the steering shaft. The box just bolted right on, no crossmember chopping like the 78 F250 swaps require.

[hfdco4]

Nice job. I did the 78 box swap and yes a fair amount of cutting and welding was done. I can't wait to see your in depth on these mods for the steering and brakes.