Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Who makes the rear sway bar you have? I have not seen that one and it would clear my stuff I got going on under the bed.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Thanks.

When I picked the color I had no idea it would transform so much in the sun, I really am glad that I picked it. I remember it being a hard decision and I couldnt be happier with the one I picked.

Cam is a Texas Speed 212/218 .600 lift 112 LSA

Sway Bar is from No Limit Engineering. I like it because its up out of the way.

I got about half of my bed wood cleared. I flattened the clear giving it kind of a nice satin sheen. This is the exact look I was after when I set out to stain them black.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

nice

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

That wood will look fantastic against your blue paint. What color/finish are you using for the strips?

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Thanks.

I held a small piece in place today and its really going to look good, this shade of blue and black really goes good together, its going to look better than I originally thought. Strips are polished stainless with hidden fasteners.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Got my exhaust finished up, I believe Im back to where I need to be with my tips so my box will fit. I got all of the exhaust back together only to decide to tear it back apart in order to install a couple additional o2 sensor ports for tuning purposes. Im planning on doing that sometime this coming week. All these little rework projects are adding up to a lot of time

I also sent off my injectors and got word back they cleaned up good. He said cylinders 6 & 8 were stuck, with the others showing flow loss. All of that has been remedied with the cleaning so I am glad I sent all of them as a set. Im pretty excited to get it back together and try running it again, I think its safe to expect quite a difference.

I started and finished buffing the inside of my box. I sanded it with some 2000 and then buffed, in hindsight I should have maybe gone a little more aggressive sanding as I have a little urethane wave. I wanted to stay on the light side of things as its a pain to buff with all the raised body lines. All things considered it looks pretty good for the inside, I plan on going more aggressive on the outside since it will be easier to work with. I set my wood in to see how it looked and I have to say Im thrilled. It finally felt like all of the hard work Ive put into this box has started to pay off, it feels like Ive been working on this box for a lifetime, lol, still have a long way to go too.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Just BEAUTIFUL.... ;)

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

I love the black wood against that blue. Awesome.

.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Did you have any issues fitting the new bedsides? I had lots of issues to get mine fitting well. Also did you paint the panels in separate pieces and then put together or did you paint the bed assembled?

Absolutely love that blue, might be my favorite color I've seen on a C10

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Thank you.

I did have quite a few issues with the box. If I remember right the passenger side I had to cut a 1/4 inch out of the front of the inside panel. It was almost like it wasnt stamped right. Along the top rail all the measurements were the same side to side, but along the bottom where everything bolts together they were off. I had to reposition quite a few holes or elongate them. Most of them that were elongated were welded back shut and drilled in the right spot. I had an absolutely terrible time with the rear splash guards.

I did 95 percent of my body work with the box apart. I sprayed epoxy on everything, and then on any bolt flanges I taped off to keep build primer off of them and leave only epoxy. I bolted it together once I was ready for sealer. I then assembled the 2 sides, front panel, and rear cross sill. Those were all sealed and base/cleared together.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Thanks for the good explanation, that's the info I was looking for! I had planned to paint mine the same way and had to do similar work getting besides, front panel and rear cross sill to fit.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Real nice truck, I sure hope mine turns out this nice.
How did you do the VA firewall cover panels from VA ? did you just weld over or did you cut out the fire wall ? I am getting ready to install mine.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

I got this one sprint_9... I asked him the same question, see post 245 in this thread. There is also a thread called "smoothing the firewall" that has some close up detailed pictures that may help you.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

I remembered answering that for someone, hard to believe it was that long ago. The short answer is I welded the panel on top of the firewall. I think its probably fine either way though, maybe a little stronger leaving everything intact and welding over it, and probably a little less body work.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Tied up some loose ends over the last couple weeks.

I started off reassembling my engine and working on my exhaust. I added an o2 sensor port for a wide band o2 sensor in my drivers side header. Once I had that welded in I installed my wide band sensor and wired it up in more of a temporary setup. The gauge for it just sits in a cup holder, but the main use will be interfacing with hptuners. With all that completed I fired it up and as expected it sounds much better. Running a bit lean according to my new gauge so plenty of tuning work to come.

After that was operating without any major issues I moved on to completing the front end of the truck. I started off assembling my grille, and then installed it. Talk about a pain to install, it eventually went and I got all the bolts in. From there I moved to the bumper. I bought a premium chrome bumper, which I think is a reconditioned original, and I have to say the chrome is really nice on it.

I also sprayed the inner fenders for my box with raptor liner

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Ran out of room for pictures and wanted to post one of my parking brake setup. It is a Wilwood universal kit for the rear, and an oem replacement for the front. It doesnt work too bad but Im not impressed with the oem replacement cable, I might try finding a better one.

One more pic of the front end, Im so happy with how everything came out. I was smiling from ear to ear when I set it down off the jack stands.

If all goes well I should be able to install the box next weekend.:metal:

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

That is really looking good man, I agree. I would be smiling ear to ear too. That's an interesting ebrake setup, gonna have to look that one up.

.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

That looks so nice! I like the emergency brake set up. I need to look into that as I don't like the original set up.

Did the aftermarket grill surround fit the fenders? I like those chrome surrounds, but have heard they don't fit very well. From the pics it looks fantastic.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Thanks.

The e-brake would work alot better if the oem replacement cable had a decent clamp where the pedal pulls on the cable. I used the original clamp from the original cable I had but with the replacement cable having a black outer jacket it just slips on that. I looked today and didnt really come up with anything better. I might end up fabbing something up to hold the cable in place.

I was worried about the chrome one fitting as I had seen some of the bad press they had. But the grille seems to fit ok on the fenders, it could be better. I actually had an aluminum replacement but after taking it out of the box it was dented in a bad spot. I did mock it up and I think it fit equally as poor when compared to the chrome one. I think some of the difference in getting them to bolt up is the fact that the aluminum ones can be manipulated easier since they are so flexible. Probably the biggest issue for me was that it was a little too wide on the mounting holes, I really had to force it. And the bend in the center was a little too shallow to match my hood, but I pulled that into place and bolted it so it clears. So all stuff that can be worked around.

One thing I did that turned out nice was bolting the brackets to the grille. Instead of rivets I went and bought some nice button head allen bolts, I thought that was alot nicer way of doing it.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

I have a question about your grille and insert. You mentioned it is a chrome piece, is it made by Counterpart? Also is the plastic insert the original argent color?... that's what it looks like to me in the last picture. I bought the complete chrome grille surround with the chrome insert from The Truck Shop at a local swap meet and I still can't decide if I like the chrome insert enough to use it. I'm afraid it may be too "blingy" for my liking. I still have my original in good shape so I still have a choice. I really do like whatever you have on yours at the moment.:metal:

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Yes it's made by Counterpart. I was hoping for a Tri-Plus one but ended up with a Counterpart when I ordered. It's not too bad looking but the chrome isn't near as nice as my bumper, and there is a weird silver painted strip in a recessed area toward the bottom. The stripe dosen't really show up but I found it odd.

My replacement insert is a painted one. I thought about the chrome one too but had this one already so I just used it. I think both will look good either way though.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

That is a killer front end picture!!!! :cool:

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Thank you, Im really happy with it.

Figure I would bring this up to date in what has happened with my box over the last week.

So starting out last week I was working on some final touches to the box after we had it on once. I had it on and found some clearance issues with my rear sway bar, so we decided it would be best to take it back off and clearance a cross sill. I had all that done and was re assembling when I got tangled up with a floor jack and tipped it into my box side. I was pretty upset about the whole thing, I was going to put the box back on the next day and now that was out the window.

I was really concerned in my ability to try and fix something like this. I feel alot more comfortable starting with bare steel and working up from there. My first idea was to try paintless dent repair and just touch up the chip. That idea was out once I measured the distance between panels and figured there was hardly any room between the inner and outer skins at the top of the box side. So I figured the next best option for me with my skill set was to sand it down and use a little dolphin glaze to fill in the dent.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Once that was sanded I sprayed more epoxy on it and let it sit overnight, blocked the next day and then put it in the sun.

After it had sat again overnight I set out today to mask and spray everything. I really wanted to split it up a bit more but I was worried about leaving the tape on over night so I decided to make a long day out of it. I was really almost more nervous about masking than I was about anything else. Ive only masked a couple times before and they were lackluster. Since I had the inside of the box buffed already I really wanted to do a good job of masking. I masked anything next to where I was spraying with paper and then completely wrapped the box in plastic. I was able to lift the box and slide the plastic underneath and then tape the seams where my bottom piece of plastic meet the top piece.

Re: sprint_9's 72 C10 Project
 

Once it was ready I sprayed my base, this is after the last coat. I kind of tapered off a little bit more after each coat.

I let that sit a few hours and then cleared, and then pulled the tape after it sat for another hour or two. I am thrilled with the results so far, the true test will be putting it in the sun but I have high hopes my blend will be good.