| Stock Setup |
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| Here's the stock crossmember in place, holding the gas tank, exhaust, and evap controls. Start by removing ALL of that junk! Let the exhaust dangle for now, and keep all of the smog control stuff off to the side for now. |
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| Removing The Gas Tank |
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| Unbolt the straps holding the gas tank in place, remove the lines connected to it, and carefully drop it away from the frame. Is it too late to mention that you would be wise not to have a full tank? Hope you caught that step in time! |
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| Wide Open Spaces |
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| With the gas tank safely out of the way, get ready to do some grinding! Get all leaves, cardboard, and other flamable items out of the way of shooting sparks, and cover your back window with a piece of cardboard to keep it from getting pitted by any stray sparks or pieces of metal. And, of course, get a fire extinguisher nearby in case something catches! |
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| The Rivets |
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| The stock rivets... Why, oh why did Chevy have to use rivets instead of nuts and bolts? Too late to cry about it now- we've got to get them off of there! Grab your grinding wheel, safety glasses, and work gloves, and get ready to grind! |
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| Grindin' |
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| Lots of grinding... that's the way to get those rivets off your truck! Make sure to keep the grinding wheel on just the rivet- try not to take too much frame material away! Get the rivet knocked down to almost flat, and you can beat it out the rest of the way. |
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| Done Grindin' |
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| By the time you're done, your frame should look like this. |
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| Getting The Rivet Out |
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| Grab a punch and a hammer and knock that rivet out of the frame. Now, just repeat this step for all 8 rivets and you're good to go! Once they're all out of the way, take that stock gas tank and SHOVE IT! (In the dumpster, that is!) |
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| Drilling For The New Crossmember |
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| Lay the new crossmember into place. The mounting holes are slotted to allow for any tweaking your frame may have done over the years. With the new crossmember in place, drill the frame large enough to allow the new bolts to slide right in through the crossmember. |
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| Bolting It Up |
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| With all of your holes drilled, line the crossmember up with the four mounting holes in your frame. |
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| Crossmember Lined Up |
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| This is what you should see. If your frame is severely out of shape, you'll need to use a come-along or some other device to pull your frame back into spec, but we've given you quite a bit of room to fudge it! |
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| Dropping In The Bolts |
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| Drop the included bolts into place, and leave them loose until all four are in. |
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| Tightening It Down |
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| With all 4 bolts in, tighten that sucker down! You're almost done, so get ready to drag! |
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| Putting The Gas Tank Back In |
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| Slide your gas tank back under the truck, and get the straps back under the tank. |
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| Line It All Up |
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| Now is the time to figure out your exhaust hanger and where you'd like to locate the smog control box. Many people mount both to the new crossmember, but it's up to you. Tighten the straps for the tank, stand back, and behold the extra clearance! |
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| Final Steps |
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| Make sure the tank is tight! All of your fuel lines and the mounting straps should be double checked before you take it for a spin! |
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| No More Holes In My Tank! |
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| Nothing but frame! (and somebody's work boot!) Feel free to drag that frame all you want- nothing but sparks, and no more fuel spills. Now you can take that bar of soap out of the glovebox! |
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| We'll Get To The Exhaust On This Truck Later... |
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| Just another shot of the tank up in place. This truck is pretty haggard overall, but at least the crossmember is nice and new! |
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