"Head First" '71 C10 build

[jae]

So this is my first C10... It actually belonged to a buddy of mine in high school and it's sat pretty much in the same spot in west Texas since he went into the Army in 2003.

In the shed where it's lived for the last 5 years


Out for the first time


Got it home and knocked the dust off



It needs some engine work, as it stuck a valve after overheating the last time it was driven (2008-ish?). Not to mention that it appears rats have had their way with some coolant hoses and spark plug wires.

[jae]

I'll try this again. Don't know why I kept getting connection errors when I tried to reply last night...

I've got a plan and lots of parts on the way. I'm really hoping to get this at least running within the next 3 weeks.

Current plan is to do a carbed LS-series engine in front of the TH350, static drop, and rust repair. That's really about it, besides just getting the truck about as clean as I can.

I was supposed to pick up a 5.3L engine on Saturday, but kept getting a "voicemail has not been setup" message when I called Saturday and Sunday. Going to try him again today.

Tons of parts ordered over the weekend from AZ Pro Performance, ECE, Brother's Truck Parts, Summit Racing, and Amazon. Hoping they'll be here in time for the long weekend. Parts on the way include:

- Boyd Welding aluminum under-bed gas tank
- Edelbrock Performer carbed manifold for LS
- flex plate spacer ring for TH350
- MSD 6010
- misc gaskets

- Classic Performance 2.5" drop spindles
- 2" front drop springs
- 5" rear drop springs
- McGaughy's bolt-in c-notch (will get welded in)
- Belltech drop shocks
- rear shock relocation brackets
- Super track bar

- floor patch panel
- inner / outer rocker replacement panel for passenger side
- glove box pocket and bolt kit

While working on getting the current small block out I found out that the battery tray has been rusted through, as well as quite a bit of the inner fender on the passenger side where it would connect to the radiator support (right under the battery tray). I guess now I need to figure out if there are patch panels available for these areas or if I'll just have to replace the entire piece as I'm quite inexperienced at trying to form metal to match curves.

[jae]

Haven't gotten much done (stupid rusty bolts) and still don't have the engine, but was finally able to get in touch with the guy.

Parts are coming in and I am going to go ahead and get my base timing curve on the MSD 6010 setup using my PC before I install the box as I've got some general timing guidelines thanks to LS1tech, and apparently the pre-loaded timing pills don't work worth squat. My wife tells me there's a huge pile of parts on the front porch... can't wait to get home this evening.

[jae]

More parts in, but still no engine. The search for a good deal on a 5.3 is certainly not an easy one...

[cstewart8808]

Subscribed. Looking forward to seeing progress. Clean truck to start with too

[jae]

I'm going to resume trying to get the old engine and exhaust out tonight and see if I can't start selling off some stuff locally. I did just get in the new driver's side floor pan panel and passenger's side inner/outer rockers last night, so I might start cutting out some of the rust here pretty soon as well.

It does look like I've got one cab corner that will need a small patch, but since it's not too bad I may just hit it with a wire wheel and a sealant for now. Can't tell yet if the rust is all the way through or if it's just bubbling under the paint.

[Fattback]

Great looking start

Rob

[jae]

Actually pulled the head last night to see just what that valve looked like...

it does appear there was a problem




Fortunately though, it appears valves are cheap (set of 8 for ~$70 from Summit) so I'm thinking I'll go ahead and get the original 350 running while I take my time sourcing the gen III block, and at least that way I can sell it as a running engine.

Also, new Boyd's tank came in. Looks like it might be time to pull the bed and get to work on the rear end.

[twangismythang]

subscribed......
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[bigguy69]

Subscribed

[sduckworth13]

Jae, congratulations on your new truck. You have a nice start for your project. Here is a link to help you with your engine search http://www.car-part.com/ this is a site used alot by auto recyclers.

[jae]

$150 + the old long tubes off the C10... low mileage 5.3L, some assembly required.

I'll try and get better pics in the light this afternoon.

[jae]

Hard to see anything in that last pic, but I've got all the accessories and brackets (down to the A/C compressor), the truck intake, throttle body, all sensors, full intake to the resonator tube, exhaust manifolds, y-pipe, mechanical fan, valley cover, and valve covers. I haven't looked to see if I've got the rockers anywhere, but I imagine that's something I will replace along with valve springs, lifters, and push rods when I put in a cam. I've got the stock cam, but it wasn't oiled very well and has significant surface rust along what was it's "top" side during storage.

I don't know yet if I'll need an f-body oil pan, but I guess I'll figure that out once I get the truck dropped and can set the engine in place. I am still planning to use the carbed intake and MSD 6010 for now, so a lot of the parts not needed for this setup will be up for sale soon.

[Hardesty454]

Looks like you're going to have some fun! Good luck!
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[jae]

I love how active the projects section of this forum is. Don't update in almost a week and have to go thru 5 pages just to get back to my thread...

Got some suspension work done this weekend. The more productive part of my Saturday was spent finishing up some house projects and cleaning up my garage in preparation to pull the bed off the truck, but finally around 5 I made some time to work on the truck.

Started on the driver's side, throwing in a CPP 2.5" drop spindle, 2" drop spring, and the Belltech Nitro 2 drop shocks.


As greasy as my hands were I didn't get many pictures on that first side, and it started getting dark by the time I got to messing with the passenger's side.

Old parts out, new shock going in


spindle and spring


Front end back on the ground. I'll have to get some day light pictures for a before/after comparison.

[67cheby]

great start !

[jae]

Unfortunately, still not much to update on. Got my cam and some misc. stuff on Sunday, and got the cam into the block last night. I'm hoping to get as far as getting the heads back on tonight. Finally got the rear springs in as well, so may see about getting those and the drop blocks in. I may just wait until I can pull the bed though, as it'll have to come off to do the gas tank installation, panhard bar and shock relocation, and to stitch-weld the trailing arms.

[jae]

It's been a while since the last update, but I finally ordered the rest of the parts I need to get the block together. The heads are on, now I'm just waiting on gaskets for the valley cover, timing cover, water pump, and oil pan, as well as the carb rebuild kit, new timing chain, oil pump, and GM "muscle car" oil pan/pick-up kit. Even though it's not running right now, I got the truck registered (antique vehicle plates, reg. is good for 5 years and no inspection) so hopefully the HOA won't be bothering me too much about it. I'm hoping to get the MSD module programmed this week so that once the parts come in (sometime next week) I can get the engine assembled, dropped in, and get it fired up.

[jae]

Wow, I can't believe I neglected updating for so long here.

Plans changed (like they do) and rather than the 5.3 I'm using the stroked LS1 out of my '98 Trans Am in the truck. The engine put down 396hp at the wheels through the 4L60 in the T/A, and I'm hoping with the larger Doug Thorley headers and a bigger intake it'll do even better in the truck.

I don't have the garage or driveway space to have both the car and truck "down" at my house, so they went to a buddy's shop where it is getting the transplant, and I will complete suspension and rust repair once I get her home.

Unfortunately pictures are sparse here because I just haven't stayed on top of it, but current progress is shown in the attached pic. From what I hear, the truck should be driveable this weekend, then it's just shake-down. That passenger side inner fender is one spot I didn't realize was so bad until the front end was apart. To avoid this in the future, the battery will be relocated to the box.

[rincones]

Any updates.

[jae]

yes, and no.

The shop that has the truck primarily works on euros and exotics. I know the shop owner and the work I asked him to do is work that I'd get in trouble (with my HOA) for doing in my driveway, and he accepted more or less as a favor to me. Obviously, since he needs to make money and he's cutting me a deal, the truck hasn't been high on his priority list. He's had several classic Porsche restorations come and go, as well as several of his own race car projects (more immediate deadlines, with actual events scheduled), an NSX getting a full stand-alone fuel system, several Lamborghini and Ferrari clutch/engine refresh jobs, among other things taking up his time over the last several months.

This is the pic I got back in September...


The last time I spoke to him, back in October around his second date of "it's going to be done by today", he still hadn't touched it and offered to have it towed back to me (free of charge) along with not charging me for the 80 or so hours he already had in it. I probably should've taken him up on it then, and messaged him late last week thinking that's exactly what I'd do, BUT he said he's digging in to the wiring conversion this week, and he's hoping to have it running within the next week or two so he can do some shake-down on it. I guess we'll see.

I'm planning to see if I can make it up there this weekend to see if he'll let me help pull the bed and work on some of the rear suspension stuff at his shop (installing frame notches, rear suspension drop, gas tank installation, etc.), but as he just fired everyone that worked in his shop over "quality control", I'm betting he's a tad too OCD to have anyone else coming into his shop. Good for me as I know he does kick-ass work, but at the same time I'd like to see this moving along a little faster.

[jae]

I'm hesitant to even post that I'm hopeful, as it's been such a long road to get even this far. Not much has happened since my last update (seems like forever ago), but we're back on it. Don't know how many are interested in old British cars, but you might notice the two Jaguar E-types sitting beside the truck that are in for full body-off restorations... this is the type of thing that has kept my truck off the top of the priority list.



I'll have to see if I can get the original picture links restored (not sure where they went), and I've got quite a few parts purchased for the original plan that I can stand to unload (Edelbrock LS carb manifold, MSD LS ignition controller, Aeromotive A1000 pump just to name a few).

[jae]

Finally getting to the fuel system (tank and lines run under the bed)

[jae]

A very unfortunate set of events has seen my truck sitting in the same shop for a little over 4 years, now returned to me in very much the same condition as in the last few pics.

But, now that I have it in my hands, I'm finally back to work on it. At the moment I'm working on getting the LS harness modified for the "three wire" setup. I think I got extraneous stuff all pulled out last night, now just need to get a smaller fuse and relay box set up.

I can't tell if I'm working more frequently on it than I would have otherwise, or just slower, but I've decided to put progress videos up on youtube. I couldn't find everything I was looking for, so I'm making videos as I go to hopefully help out others who might be looking for the same info later on.

Until this video actually gets posted, pics are what I can provide.







LS engine harness out, that pile toward the top left is what I've cut out so far.

[jae]

Video FINALLY uploaded, first part of wiring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM6HZqQKhok