Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Added a DeeZee low profile toolbox today, truck is really dirty.

http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...808_110941.jpg

Another picture of the carpet, interior has been finished just thought I would share this picture.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...627_131105.jpg

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Nice work! Funny to see quad front shocks on a Scottsdale truck w/no AC. Maybe they came with the HD front springs. Either way, nice truck!

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Yep, came with hd springs, premium front end appearance (Quad headlights). I find this trucks options odd. I thought I was going to die with no AC but so far its been OK, not great but OK. Vintage air might come next year with tax season.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Painted and cleaned up the rear axle
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...808_180853.jpg
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...808_180840.jpg
Don't worry about the overspray on the shocks, I have bilsteins coming.

One more pic from my cruise today.

http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...809_140518.jpg

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Are those Goodyear Wranglers on that nice looking truck?

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Yes they are. Pretty good on the street, haven't had a chance to take this truck off road yet.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Still driving the truck every day, getting 12-14mpg not as bad as I thought. New quadrajet carb really helped, tuned it for maximum vacuum and 14 degrees of timing. Last couple of weekends I finally fixed the oil pressure gauge, so now all the gauges work!:metal: Also readjusted the transfer case lever, so now it stays in 4x4.

I forgot to add a picture of the seat and interior all finished up.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...930_115801.jpg

Also I went to the local pick n pull and I scored a set of drip rails as mine went missing after it was painted 15 years ago:smoke: I paid 9.50$ for them. I will get pictures of the install when I put them on in then next couple of days. Anybody have any tips?

I also got a picture of this beauty, just for clarification old vehicles still rust out here, just not as fast as you guys back east. Bondo was at least 3/4" thick lol.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...925_115211.jpg

And for another update, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on vintage air kit. The constant 100+ days are really starting to irritate me, and sitting in traffic a lot sucks with no air.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...926_162856.jpg

And hopefully sometime next year I will be getting 3.73 gears, Detroit locker for the back, and true trac for the front. I will have to have this professionally done, I don't have the required tools and most importantly skill's to do this.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Got the drip rails installed, wasn't as bad as I thought. I recommend 2 people for this, as you are drilling 14 holes in your truck.

The tools I used were:
Corded drill (obviously)
3M double sided tape, good stuff VERY sticky.
1/8" drill bit
14 screws I used 8 x 1/2" Phillips stainless screws. (I got the screws with the drip rails, but I decided to buy new ones.
3M gasket adhesive, I put a little over the holes I drilled and screw end to ensure there will be no water getting in there.

Pictures:
I painted the channels with some black paint I used on the frame turned out nicely.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...001_111347.jpg
VERY carefully measure, check, measure, check again, and finally mark the holes.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...001_112747.jpg
Drill the holes, would be 10x more nerve racking if this was a fresh paint job!
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...001_113028.jpg
One of the holes
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...001_113400.jpg
All done! Looks better to me IMO.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...001_125936.jpg
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...001_125948.jpg

Got the measurements within 1/8" of eachother on both sides. Now when and (if) it rains in socal, I won't get wet when I open the door.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Cool truck. You will like the Vintage Air. Nice work!

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Nice bondo i love when people do that lol.Worse one i had was a 67 mustang that had 5 coats of paint on it.When we sanded it looked like a rainbow in places.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Well, when I got the truck it was lifted too high in the back, so I lowered it down a bit. Anytime I load to bed now, the drive shaft is engaged too much in the transfer case, so I had it shortened a bit re balanced and new u joints. The u joints were shot anyways. Also while I had the drive shaft out to get shortened, I fixed the leaky tailshaft on the transfer case. No leaks so far.

Case:
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...015_183305.jpg
Driveshaft before:http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...015_104905.jpg
After: http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...016_133343.jpg

I hope I have enough space, I thought there was going to be more clearance. What do you guys think?

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

I had a crack in my engine crossmember on the right side (typical). When I had the engine out, I had my uncle weld the top of it, not the greatest work but it has held up. I wanted to get the bottom side welded and get the steering box reinforced. So I had a local off road shop do this for me, turned out great. I also replaced the steering box while it was out, old one was leaking, and a little sloppy.
pics:
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...112_095320.jpg
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...112_095416.jpg
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...112_095432.jpg

I really did not want to spend the money on this right now, but this is insurance on this area which is common to cracking especially with bigger tires. So with the bolt in brace and the weld in done, this area is plenty stout. Even the guy at the off road shop said this is bulletproof even if I had 44's on this thing.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Nice looking daily!! I've got an '81 that I'm also thinking of turning into a driver after I sell my Cummins. It's hard to find a low mileage NBS Silverado in my area that isn't rusted to $hit...so a "restomod" square seems like the ticket!

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Nice truck and great work taking a basket case and bringing back to a good condition driver. All that little crap adds up but it's so nice when all the minor stuff, like oil pressure gauge etc work. Pumped to see you driving it. Pull the trigger on AC?

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

No I have not, I recently picked up a 2005 honda accord. I wasn't looking for a car, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. We will see how much tax money I get back, and go from there with the vintage air.

On another note, this "new" 350 has decided to start leaking oil from the front on the oil pan, and sometimes it leaks a little from what looks like the rear main seal. Not too happy about it, so I'm keeping an eye on it. Any tips?

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Did the crate motor come with the tin already on it? 2 piece rear main right? Seems a little early for it to start pissing already.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Yea I didn't remove anything from the engine except valve covers to install the intake manifold (Edelbrock performer with EGR).

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Thread good!
Truck Nice!

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

How much difference did that fatmat make on the cab noise? I am looking at using that in combination with Lizard Skin. For my 85 K10.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

I didn't really drive it too much before I put it in, but it made a huge difference in the way the doors close. But its pretty quiet now even doing 75 mph. That with lizard skin would be a nice addition.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

why did it help with the way the doors close? curious cuz of course i need to slam mine shut on my 79 k10.. need to rework my interior at some point..

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

It's not that they are easier to close, they just close with more of a thud instead of a clunk now if that makes sense. On the issue of needing to slam the doors, look at your door striker bushings, if they are missing replace them or just use electrical tape around them. My truck has new door weatherstripping, and the doors are a bit harder to close with the windows up, but its water tight and less noisy now.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Ok that makes sense... thanks for the heads up.. I'll check out the striker bushings..

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Well with gas prices lower and cooler weather, starting Monday I will be back at my old job. The truck will serve DD duties for a couple of months until the weather gets to hot, then I will drive my Accord. Truck will be seeing 70 miles a day, sometimes 100 miles a day will be interesting. Truck has been sitting for about 6 weeks started right up and drove her around to check things. A good wash and wax and interior cleaning this weekend so I will get some more detailed pictures.

I guess I kinda have a update, I finally replaced the rusty inner fender with a junkyard unit.

Re: 81 Chevy K10 ShortBed
 

Some Pictures:
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...218_111535.jpg
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...218_111546.jpg
The old inner fender rust, was worse than I thought:
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...210_112046.jpg