C10CJ: A Pro-touring '71 Stepside on a No Limit Pro-C10 Chassis

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by knomadd

I'm guessing here, but since he said he ordered a slightly narrower than stock rearend, I think he meant minimum backspacing to get a bigger wheel lip.

Yep. Wrong choice of words. Trying to maximize wheel lip. This thread has a ton of good info in it for those building a truck with a No-Limit chassis. Just figured I would ask him what rear end width he ordered. I'll start my own build thread for my truck but it'll be pathetic in details compared to this one.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by kxmotox247

Yep. Wrong choice of words. Trying to maximize wheel lip. This thread has a ton of good info in it for those building a truck with a No-Limit chassis. Just figured I would ask him what rear end width he ordered. I'll start my own build thread for my truck but it'll be pathetic in details compared to this one.

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of attention. The end of January was a nightmare for me at work. Been recovering since ...

And thanks for the compliments on the thread content!

My rear axle is 61" wheel mount surface to wheel mount surface (so rotor installed yes). 61" is the standard width Rob installs in the chassis. It's a good balance of getting a decent lip on the wheel but not narrowing your track to drag race specs. That's 2.5" more narrow than the stock '71 rear axle, but keep in mind the 67-70 had a different width than the 71-72.

[1971_c10]

Didn't realize until today I didn't post anything on the mods I did to the OEM trans tube to fit an LS. Recall I'm running a fairly built 700R4 as I had that from a prior upgrade. I was using the factory style trans tube and dip stick. So when I went LS, a problem came up. The hole where the dip stick mounted doesn't exist. Yep, it's the one hole in the bell housing that got deleted on the LS blocks. So I went about fabricating a simple bracket that attached the tube to the back of the passenger side cylinder head. And darn if I forgot to take a shot before I cut off the factory bracket.

Here's the bracket I came up with. I actually used a scrap piece of 16 ga steel and from start to finish painting this thing only took me 2 hours.


The curve was hand hammered to match the tube diameter. The small holes are for the plug welds I used to attach it to the tube in addition to some perimeter welds.


The original bracket was brazed on one end and welded on the other. This one is just welded since I don't have any gear to braze.


All painted up. That small square piece below is the remainder of the OEM bracket that was welded on. I didn't feel like trying to remove it so I cut it and benched the edge.


And here's a shot showing the tube installed. Also got a nice new air cleaner to finish off the look I was going for.

[1971_c10]

I also got around to working on the wiring braid and mounting up front. All I've basically got left to do is the area around the power feed panel and one branch that goes back along the passenger rail for my trans temp, heater control valve, starter and alternator feed.

Getting the braid through the grommet into the PDM was a small PIA. But it's done. That single wire floating around is the horn that isn't mounted currently.


Tucked up under the bottom of the radiator support.


The branch coming through the driver side of the radiator support which has the left turn signal and trans cooler fan (for the trans cooler I have yet to install).

[1971_c10]

A little ride height sneak peek of sorts ... a shot of C10CJ as I was rolling it into my detached attached garage for that h__l week I had for work.

One major difference this build versus previous is the truck is technically drivable with most of the body missing. I didn't drive it in this case as I have not finished checking out the transmission, but there is no reason I couldn't take a stroll around the block looking like this.

Oh, and it has a few small leaks. A sign it's becoming a real truck again.

[1971_c10]

Also, for those curious on how I made sure the electrical worked before I fired the engine up, here's a short video on the procedure I use to check things out.

C10CJ Electrical Checkout Procedure Walk Through...

[1971_c10]

Hey guys, been a little since I last updated so figure I'd catch you up. Here I'll show you what I did to the battery box. I knew the OE battery tray just wasn't going to cut it if I wanted to turn corners hard, and relocating on the step side is a PIA, so I built a battery box.

Over on my FB page, I had a little fun and tossed this pic up with the title "Picked up a new battery box. Universal fit. Some trimming/assembly required."


The plan was to simply drill out the spot welds on the sides of the battery tray, separate the tray and re-use the sides. The tray is pretty much shot from all the battery corrosion over the years. I then set out in the CAD world to do some basic design work to help me focus on the final design. I also wanted to build the box so that I could easily adapt to other batteries from my Optima Yellow Top, mainly a Braille 6034 or 2 Braille 2317. But for now, I've got a 10 year old yellow top and surprisingly it is still going. Here's the layout I came up with in CAD.


A bunch of time later, and here's the final product before paint. I did a slight mod on the top bracket but otherwise it matches the CAD minus all the lightening/looks holes.


Everything all painted up. I also painted the power feed panel even though it is aluminum.


Installed and ready to rock. Pretty sure the battery isn't going anywhere now. But keep in mind, with the way I setup the electrical, it will be very easy to relocate the battery in the future if I decide to fight that battle again.

[1971_c10]

Over the weekend, I had a life long friend (also an avid car builder) show up and we knocked out a ton of stuff, including getting all the front sheet metal back on. I had already gotten the bed back on the week prior. With basically everything on the truck except the bed floor and a full tank of fuel, we dropped it on the ground to get a look at the final stance. It is perfect. So perfect, all the measurements match my planning, down to the coil overs being the right length at ride height with me guessing on the pre-loads for the front and currently no pre-load on the rear (which I plan for 150 lb each coil over and that is essentially the missing weight from the bed floor and fuel).

Man it looks good.





I still have work to do on the grill/bezel. So that will come back off, but the bezel helps set the width at the bottom of the fender so it needed to be set in for the front end panel alignment. I've got some wonkiness going on with the hood hinges, but honestly my hood hinges have never worked right. They probably just need some good rehab.

As part of the process we also got the side bumper brackets I had put off roughed in and fit. Due to the wider frame rails they were sectioned about 1.5" out of the middle and then I cut the webs so they could be re-shaped to fit. Just need to weld them up now. Then sand and paint.

[nuke1]

Nice Pro Venoms!!! I am the canadian distributer for their mufflers. The boys are awesome to deal with and work with!!!

[builtbyKane]

Victory

[meenaggie]

Very nice build! Have you thought about making your radiator overflow out of hardline instead of hose? With all the tube bending you have done I think it would look more consistent. And please don't take this as anything but a compliment. I hope to see it in May at LMC C10 Nationals.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by nuke1

Nice Pro Venoms!!! I am the canadian distributer for their mufflers. The boys are awesome to deal with and work with!!!

Haha ... nice!

Originally Posted by builtbyKane

Victory

Yes sir! Oh so close to a shake down drive on the streets. Got a few things left to do before then though.

Originally Posted by meenaggie

Very nice build! Have you thought about making your radiator overflow out of hardline instead of hose? With all the tube bending you have done I think it would look more consistent. And please don't take this as anything but a compliment. I hope to see it in May at LMC C10 Nationals.

Thank you! And yes, I have actually thought about making the overflow line from hardline. I'll admit I tossed the rubber line in there so I could get the thing running. So stay tuned, at some point it will go hard line.

So far on track to getting down to C10 Nationals. Real question will be if I can get enough seat time to feel comfortable racing it in the autocross. Next couple months will be interesting!

[gringoloco]

Love it when a plan comes together

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Love it when a plan comes together

hehehe! Yes Sir!

[BigDaddyV]

Love the amount of detail and awesomeness in this truck! I hope mine turns out half as nice one day. long road still ahead of me.
Killer Truck!

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyV

Love the amount of detail and awesomeness in this truck! I hope mine turns out half as nice one day. long road still ahead of me.
Killer Truck!

Thanks man! I'll say my short road turned in to a semi-long road, but I also had some "scope creep" along the way. Keep your focus and your truck will turn out just fine.


---------------------

I got some further run time on the engine today, actually got it warm enough to find out I thought I had flipped closed loop off but didn't. O2 sensors don't read well with no exhaust, well, it's really they are only 2 inches from the exit so they get washed out and the air/fuel readings are junk. So when the ECU flipped to closed loop when it reached temp, it struggled to put the right fuel in and stalled. Luckily I have enough experience in all this EFI stuff it didn't bother me and I didn't panic. So hopefully I'll get some more run time on it tomorrow. Before that though, I had to fix a few leaks, one which required a new olive/ferrule in a power steering line (that sucked).

In the meantime, more pics.

I can actually take a photo of the engine compartment now, so here it is! Note: the inner wheel tubs will get some further mods / repainted this summer when the weather is more friendly to spray expensive paint. I'm not too thrilled with the A/C lines so those may get hacked whenever I take it to someone to charge the A/C.


Man I love how the stance turned out. I'm so used to seeing the truck with a huge rake that seeing it leveled out still blows my mind.

[Stickman]

Awesome truck, the detail work is incredible.

[builtbyKane]

I can't find anything to dislike on this truck. excellent job.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by Stickman

Awesome truck, the detail work is incredible.

Originally Posted by builtbyKane

I can't find anything to dislike on this truck. excellent job.

Thanks guys! Rock on!

[1971_c10]

**Big Fanfare**

C10CJ is BACK ON THE ROAD!!!! I've spent quite a bit of time lately working "the little things" and getting this thing truly ready for a test drive. On Friday the 30th everything came together and it happened. I backed the truck out of the garage under it's own power. Here's a short list of things done in the last week:

-Exhaust finished, including fab of a couple brackets for the hangers
-fixed a problem with the speedo
-ran the engine closed loop for the first time
-got the trans through all 4 gears and topped off fluid
-bed back on
-installed the remaining ground straps
-cleanup and repainted all the bumper brackets
-installed the rear bumper
-finished chassis wiring (rear section)
-all the lights work now
-fixed the 2nd damn leak in a power steering line (I hate Russel fittings with a passion. 30+ Earls and not one leak and 3 Russel and 2 had leaks.)
-Got the grill installed correctly for the first time since I've owned the truck. I always knew the previous owner didn't quite install is right, now I know how bad he f'd it up.

If you've been following over on FB/Instagram you've seen a short video of the first drive. Here's the extended version, starting with first backing out of the shop on it's own power. Man those Black Widows sound good.

C10CJ Back on the Road - YouTube

[cornerstone]

O what a feeling! I have to live vicariously through all you guys are way ahead of me

[Advanced Design]

Great video! Sounds awesome, congrat’s on a successful first test drive.

[gringoloco]

Stance is killer and she sounds badass! What’s your IG handle?

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

O what a feeling! I have to live vicariously through all you guys are way ahead of me

Haha! Your time will come. I too had to live vicariously through others for 2 years. Rock on!

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Great video! Sounds awesome, congrat’s on a successful first test drive.

Thanks Doug! I got drive #2 in today. A short 8 miles but got up to 60 mph and hit the gas station (oh the looks I got hehe). So smooth at 60. All those spreadsheet calcs are seemingly paying off so far. Holy crap is the steering tight. I did some pseudo half chicanes on a back road at about 30 and wow it was point and go. Wasn't sure I was even driving a truck at that point it was so responsive.

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Stance is killer and she sounds badass! What’s your IG handle?

Thanks Chris! You can find me (the truck) at C10CJ on IG/FB/Youtube.

[knomadd]

Man that sounds good! Congrats on the successful first drive. I know how good that must feel.