budget beater c10 to k30 swap over build.
 

friend sent me a pic in a text his buddy wanted this gone and had listed it a few times on c-list and no one took it .

so i said were is it and how much . i went and looked at it 20 min away and told the kid no problem i will be by tonight after work with the rollback and pick it up .

87 c10 long bed silverado trim . 305tbi/700r4/?.?? ratio .

needs a little tlc .

but i swapped in a good battery . smelled the not to bad gas and cranked the key for 10sec and LOUD VROOM she was running . . . bad cat they cut it off so open exhaust .

found it odd tho it has factory short bed tanks in a long bed truck . pics of filler necks and brakets holding them .

not sure direction yet . possible 4x4 frame swap with a rolling 4x4 frame i have with all the parts ready to use in it .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Cool! Project time!

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Hard to believe the kid had trouble selling it. That looks like a pretty solid truck for NY. Good for you.

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

good score

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

My 87' long bed 4x4 has the short tanks from the factory just like that.

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

My 87 longbed 4x4 had one long tank and one short, now has just one long on drivers side.

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

good deal

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

oh i know how to redo the steering guy . thanks tho for the links . this one has WAY to much slop and from past rebuilds i am thinking its got striped threads or broken parts .

but HUGE update today .

got the trans pan off / cleaned up the little amount of buildup ( possible good sign ) in the pan . re-sealed it and filled it up with no leaks .

found the carrier bearing rubber falling apart . got to thinking i have a 1 peice shaft from a parted out older long bed 2wd . so i swapped it in place and removed the carrier bearing bracket rivets .

got the broken o2 sensor swapped out . had to heat the sucker up with the BIG wrench glowing orange . then used my old s-k spark plug thread chaser to clean the threads up good .

fixed the rear section of brake line from the factory mid joint to the hose and reused all the line clamps . had to hold the pin on the prop valve cause it actually worked still . got great pedal now .

when up in the air the rear felt funny like maybe a new or malfunctioning g80 gov-loc unit . . . . . seemed to grab way to easy and unlock to easy . so when i pulled the rear fill plug i looked in at good oil and full level and also found out why it felt funny . . . . . lock-right or power-trax locker is inside this 10 bolt rear :devil::metal::ito:

have to figure out the HUGE lumpy cam idle it has . possible bad plugs or cap-rotor junk . has new plug wires and told new plugs . could be bad tbi base gasket ? could be timing off . they said they tried to set it . but i dont think they know the single brown wire thing for setting it .

she dosnt run like a stock motor . the engine has over heat plugs on it from the reman company so i know its not original .

need a 20" ish long section of 2.50" exhaust pipe to fill the void were the restrictive device was that was plugged up bad .

so in short this is looking like a real smoking deal of a truck so far .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

This is crazy; I have a 1987 :gmc2: 2wd longbed very similar to yours! It has 87k original miles; it came from Georgia. Mine has the Sierra trim level as stock; they built it like a Sierra Classic though. Same engine and trans as yours.

I also have a 4x4 frame and have considered making it a 4x4; are you related to me somehow :lol:? Kinda hate to do the conversion because the truck right now handles super good; it has hand of God steering, and the truck has nice acceleration. My plan was (if I do the 4x4 conversion) is half ton axles, 3ish inch lift, 400 trans, and the 305 TBI engine that it has right now. If I did the conversion, I would probably sell my old drivetrain, including the 700r4 trans. Another reason I hate to do the conversion is because I have a set of powdercoated 5 lug rally wheels and like new Coopers to throw on them; then I'd have to purchase new tires for the 6 lug wheels... :(

Considering getting an 88-98 4x4; I bought a 94 GMC plow truck, but it needs more than it seemed. Needs a trans, cab corners, rockers, front fenders, possible rear end, possible driver's door, part of the frame welded... need I go on? The 94 runs and sort of drives (rear end locked up and no reverse); I hate to part it out in some ways because the way the truck was built from the factory is really nice (SLE trim). So thinking about putting an ad up on craigslist for my 87 so I can have a truck to try and get some of the 94's value back by putting the good parts on the new truck.

I'm not sure what to do; anyone have suggestions? Thanks

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

unless its rolled more than 1 time its 110,xxx miles on this truck .

I have a few in this gm color of blue .

and they are body swapped to 4x4 frames .

another is my 2wd short bed c10 build . its been all redone and painted almost a Sunoco gas dark blue . going to get 2 tone like mine but white in the middle section .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

so bit of a update . she needs lots of work to stay 2wd . so i did this today to prep her for the 2wd to 4wd conversion .

k30 crew cab frame . cut 33 inch out of the middle under the cab and made it a std cab frame . just need to add my fish plates and then swap over begins .

tbi350/th400/203/205 doubler/4.10/60-14ff combo.

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

rollin frame with brand new 255/85/16 BFG mud tires. 33.30 inch tall .

3" tuff country hd front leafs . 22-547 2600 lb stock rear leafs for a 3/4 ton suburban to get me a better ride . then a flip kit in the rear for lift .

then for you non rust belt guys a bit of eye candy to drool over . :devil: 40-50 lb pile of RUST on the shop floor .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Is that my imagination or is the rear axle mounted backwards? :lol:

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

that is correct .

had the 56" springs in last truck backwards to move the axle back 4" . since 56" springs are 4" longer on the back side its a cheep trick to use .

now when i am ready i will swap the axle for the good one i plan to use and be good to go .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

cab is ready for removal from old truck in the am .

this thing was bad . :waah::waah:

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Damn!! that exhaust manifold looks like it was on the Titanic.

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

look closer at the head bolts and head . . .

its the liquid de-icer stuff there using now . its making stuff way worse than just road salt .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

did a bit of work today on the doner truck to 4x4 frame swap .

figured the rear would be a bit high . have to wait and dial it in when full weight is on it .

255/85/16 tires = 33.30 inch tall.

the cab & front clip are about ready to lift off in the morning . few hoses left yet but fluids drained and wires all unplugged and labeled .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

more progress today .

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Nice work! :metal:

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Looking good. That liquid rust is what they use here and it is nasty stuff! Crew cab frames are getting hard to find around here. Are there a lot of them out there?

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Awesome looking project!

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

around as many as you find . . . it was already my frame from 1 i cut up that the cab got so bad it was 3-4 inches up the A B C pillers with rusted out metal . the cab was cone . so i kept the frame . but then i still had a bad spot in the left side frame rail i had to think of my cut lines to remove the most bad spot . when i was done i had a 45* slant cut on the rails and got 98% of the bad out .

and fyi for anyone searching . crew cab frame cut down to std cab frame is 33inches out of the middle under the cab floor . ;)

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

Fun project! FYI...87-91 squares are R\V....not C/K.

Re: just scored this 87 c10 long bed
 

ya i know and hate the fact they did that to us . :devil: