C10 Goldilocks

[MMcMasters]

Man that looks so good

[GR8-68]

Man that is one sweet ride , if I did another 68 it would be the gold and white. I understand the not wanting to work part, sometimes I just dit and look at mine

[Phill0406]

Saturday night was a success. Got everything done that I wanted to except weld on the bag brackets and paint the rear end (waiting until the brackets are on). Got the posi in and started removing the rusted firewall. The bed floor was actually pretty fun to take out, some of the bolts were trouble some and needed to be cut out but it wen't pretty smoothly. For anyone interested, I loosely followed this guide which is for swapping to a wood floor but still goes over removing the steel floor.







You can see here I have the rear end sand blasted (no blast cabinet, what a mess) and the diff cover painted.





No photos of the firewall, but all the spot welds are drilled out and it's hanging in there by a thread, gonna get some more progress swapping it out on Tuesday.

I need help though, this is my first time working on a rear end so I'm looking for some insight. I got the posi unit in, bearings pressed on, I didn't change the gears, haven't checked the backlash yet but there is a lot of slop when I twist the yolk by hand (as if the driveshaft was spinning it) before it will engage the gears. Surely it can't be normal, what do I do to adjust this? Anything else in specific I should note or look for? I used the original shims from the open diff.

Still looking for a steel high hump too if anyone's got a lead!

[MMcMasters]

Phill,

Get some gear marking compound and check your pattern. Here is a video that will be helpful. I would think that changing the carrier and bearings you will most likely need to set pinion depth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVb5WRUfM7Y

[Phill0406]

Originally Posted by MMcMasters

Phill,

Get some gear marking compound and check your pattern. Here is a video that will be helpful. I would think that changing the carrier and bearings you will most likely need to set pinion depth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVb5WRUfM7Y

Good info Mike. I asked a few people and I really think it's because I used the previous shims so I took your advice and got those and some gear marking compound. Hopefully I can correct it because I called a shop just to see what they would charge to set it up and they said $650!! Hell no...

Having a little fun.

[MMcMasters]

$650 to set up a ring and pinion??? That's very high!

[69short]

Originally Posted by MMcMasters

$650 to set up a ring and pinion??? That's very high!

I paid $125 to have mine installed. That was also replacing all bearings and seals. $650 is way too much

[rustytruck50]

I'm really enjoying the build progress...keep up the great work!

[aggie91]

Just found this build. Awesome work so far.

Gear set up around here is about $450-$500 plus parts...

[Phill0406]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Just found this build. Awesome work so far.

Gear set up around here is about $450-$500 plus parts...

Thanks Karl, greatly appreciate it.

Ya know, the tricky thing about these boards is prices fluctuate everywhere I've found. A guy up top paid $500 for his whole frame to be sandblasted and powdercoated, that's half of what I paid, plus I had to pay more for the loose porterbuilt pieces.

Same thing with this rear end - prices are all over the place depending on location.

I bought a shim kit and some gear compound, hopefully get it figured out this weekend.

[Phill0406]

Updates!
Welded in the rear bag brackets (tip for anyone doing this - a digital level is your best friend!), got the shocks back in, put the air bags in, threw some paint on it and viola... my rear is just about complete.



Just a quick video showing the front and rear airing up and down because my rear finally can, man I'm sure happy about that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME1x5Hvja5I

More importantly though, the worst part of my truck was my cab. The firewall was bad, and I mean BAD. I bought a replacement panel from NsaneHotRodz which the pannel was cheap but shipping literally doubled the price. Here's some of the original carnage.







Drilled out the spot welds, ended up cutting it in half to get it out easier, and slid the new pannel in place. The lip where the firewall gets mounted is pretty well shot too so instead of shaping a new piece in it's place I'm going to just weld up the wire channel and use that to mount it. Filled in the cab hole with my Porterbuilt piece as well.

Don't mind the gap, it's not set in entirely, I have to take it back out to spray some kind of rust encapsulater (eastwood makes one - other recommendations encouraged) and then patch a hole under the cowl.





Not the most exciting progress but arguably one of the most important steps for me.

[flashed]

Wow ,that looks good .

[MMcMasters]

It's amazing how bad your firewall is considering the body is in such great condition.

[Phill0406]

Originally Posted by MMcMasters

It's amazing how bad your firewall is considering the body is in such great condition.

Honestly, it's the strangest thing. It's like the original owner would pour salt water on the front of the cab every day... I don't understand it...

[Phill0406]

Finished bolting in the tank and the rear brace this weekend. Also got the fuel lines done. The kit from AzPro is literally awesome, everything I needed all in one. I actually had to buy a little more braided line because I had to use so much to get the regulator over to the frame - a little more real estate to cover with a big c notch haha. Other than that it went smooth. Going to work on the cab some more tomorrow so updates on that then.





More importantly though my amazing girfriend had a surprise party for me at the shop Saturday night. She tricked me by saying her dad wanted to come check out the truck (which he's been saying lately). Walked in and all my friends shouting surprise at me, a memory I'll never forget. She even hung up balloons and streamers all over the shop. I think Goldilocks looks good dressed up!



more this week.

[Phill0406]

Haven't checked in with you guys in a while. Little slower progress than normal lately. Finally got the firewall fitted into place, finished welding up the top of the wire channel, cut the trans cover out and put in a high hump, put the cab on the frame (temporarily) and that's pretty much it. I have to move shops since the building I am currently in is selling. The new spot I'm going to has significantly less room but it'll do! Some pictures.

The death wheel caught a piece of the carpet cutting out the low hump and the disc exploded upon impact. No guard too Don't mind the mess.









Had to slap the rest of the body panels on just to get a wiff of the final product.







My two trucks, one went up the other not so much…



Moving all my crap this weekend, some more welding on the cab tuesday. Maybe do some break lines or something next weekend. Who knows.

[milner]

My new favorite truck! Sweet build!

[hewittca]

Lookin' so good. I like the mockup, it helps with inspiration.

(Word to the wise, I would edit your post to remove the stickers for sale or else the thread will get locked real quick since you're not a premium member.)

[Phill0406]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Lookin' so good. I like the mockup, it helps with inspiration.

(Word to the wise, I would edit your post to remove the stickers for sale or else the thread will get locked real quick since you're not a premium member.)

Yikes, good call!

[knomadd]

I love the sticker in the back window Nice work too!

[MMcMasters]

sorry to hear your losing that great big work area but the truck is looking killer!

[Phill0406]

I need to go through all my photos and update you guys with some goodies!
I've been working, getting it done. Had a lull for a month or two but the firewall got finished, I shaved and seam sealed up everything including the AC and heat holes, got a driveshaft, figured out why my motor wouldn't turn, new 3.73 gears, did the rear brake lines, mounted the cab, started setting up the air ride, made some bed mount brackets, got a radiator from RnD (thanks sparky!), put in the porterbuilt gas assisted hood hinges... all the little things you didn't think would slow you down. I did however manage to get sponsored by Air Lift which is amazing. The truck will be running full 3H management, dual Viar 444c compressors, 5 gallon seamless tank (had it powder coated black) and SMC Water traps. Hoping to have that done within a week. Been waking up at 5am to get some extra time in on the truck.

My goal is driving it in a month or so. Actually let me rephrase that, I WILL be driving it in a month or so...





When I have some time to come up for some air I'll add more photos for you guys.

[GR8-68]

An awesome build for sure, love the mock up also. I have had my cab and bed off and on numerous times checking fit and seeing how things look.

[Basketcase889]

time for an update Phil! its running and made its first trip and nobody here knows that yet!!

[Phill0406]

Originally Posted by Basketcase889

time for an update Phil! its running and made its first trip and nobody here knows that yet!!

hah! It's true, I finally got the truck up and running. I had an absolute mad dash on it for a few weeks trying to get everything done. The RND radiator I bought unfortunately had a really bad leak in it, they're trying to blame me for it for using radiator zip ties without the rubber backing even though the leak is 6 inches away from where I used them. Ended up getting a griffin and tapping my water pump for the steam port. Had a leak in just about every fluid line you could think of. My rear lights weren't getting any power so that was a fun time to fix, but all in all - it drives. Still having cooling issues where the radiator isn't getting the full flow. The passenger side is ice cold and the driver side is boiling hot blowing steam out of the overflow. Not sure if the radiator baffle is broken (same side inlet and outlet) or if I have an air pocket or if my water pump is **** but I'll figure it out. Haven't had time to finish putting the hood on (need to weld the brackets onto it) or do the bed floor.... or even bolt in the bench seat or clean up anything. I had a deadline for last Thursday and justtt barely made it.

Had the exhaust done with 2.5" and flowmaster 10s. Sounds great.










Trailerd it down to Maryland for a weekend car show with my buddies. Got to drag my frame down the costal highway which felt like a million bucks after all the hard work I put into it.



Some exhaust clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttAnt-39Bl0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMMSGDdUV60