Project "You thought yours was bad!" '78 C10 Stepside

[lowbrow454]

Nice to see you're taking the time and the little extra money to clean and organize the engine bay even though it's a "budget" build. Cluttered motors drive me nuts. I dig the lights too.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you guys! Wiring is one of my biggest pet peeves and I like to try and make things look at least relatively neat under the hood. It's a little hard with keeping things such as the heater/vacuum lines/some emissions and also pre-made harnesses such as with the Holley, but I think it turned out pretty nice, even with all those things.

Finally found a clamp to work as a coil mount bracket. I couldn't find any better places to mount it as I didn't want it sticking out like a sore thumb. I think it fits nicely here.



I also got my O2 bung in, and drilled out the exhaust and welded it in place.



It's hard to see here since it's buried under everything else, but I also installed the alternator conversion harness (10SI to CS130)



I also used the A/C box as a mounting point for much of the Sniper wiring. Also fabbed up a little bracket for the coil driver.



And lastly, everything wired in!

[Shucks]

Looks good in there!

[madmax908]

Great build!
I may borrow some of your ideas!

[Nick_R_23]

Originally Posted by Shucks

Looks good in there!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by madmax908

Great build!
I may borrow some of your ideas!

Go right ahead! That's what this place is about, one big collection of ideas. Some worse than others, lol.

Not much of an update for now, for the most part this truck is pretty much nearing completion! I'm working on the small things that need to get done, the fuel filler hose is my current hang up, and the last big thing I really need to buy is my driveshaft.

I replaced the last high beam light that was bad. Also finished up running the wires for the fuel pump and fuel sender, as well as got the brakes bled out. I'll be picking up a new gasket and gear oil next time I'm in town to change the fluid in the rear axle.

[Nick_R_23]

A couple more parts trickling in!

My trans-dapt valve cover inlet breather showed up. All I could find were chrome ones, and I didn't really want chrome on this engine since nothing else is, lol. Finding one of these in black and in 3/4 was painful though.





I also picked up another LED light to convert this cargo lamp into a 3rd brake light. I'll never use it as a cargo light, and I'd rather have the extra safety with as little as people pay attention on the road now.



Still need to wire it in to the brake switch, but it's working!

[Nick_R_23]

Woo, more stuff getting done! I'm trying to take care of all the little things that I can before I get the chance to fire it up. I'll be going into town tomorrow to try and find a better hose to mate to the fuel tank, otherwise, I think it's about ready to fire!

I drilled two small holes and inserted some speed nuts into the frame for the heat shield bracket. This will protect the fuel lines inside the frame where the headers run fairly close.



Heat shield itself, made from scrap aluminum



How it sits on the frame



I also removed, sanded, and painted the battery tray.



I figured that my single, rusty tailgate latch wasn't going to be enough to keep the tailgate in place the way I wanted to, so I picked up a few pieces to fabricate some new tailgate chains.



Started off by welding the chain to the carriage bolt, testing for proper length.



Properly cut, and S-hook crimped on



And how it will latch



Both sides completed. I also cleaned all the junk out of the bed and vacuumed it as well. Fancy~



Annnnnd shut!

[jott_06]

when I had a stepside bed on my old k10 I cut bicycle inner tubes to make chain covers to keep them from clanging around

[Nick_R_23]

That's not a bad idea, I'm considering putting something on there. Although with the exhaust, I'm not sure there's much else I'll be hearing, LOL

[54inches]

Very nice!

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you!

Another minor update, the license plate light I ordered off ebay showed up today, and I got that installed. All the lights in the truck work now!

Compared to the old one







I ran into an unfortunate setback while I was cleaning up the filler neck on the wire wheel at work. It's rusted through just above where the hose mates up. This may not be all bad, as the hose size is too small for my '86 tank anyway, so I may weld on an 1-3/4" snout instead of repairing this factory one, and making it easier to connect the hose up.



And lastly....checked out the Sniper system for the first time! I spent a few minutes going through it and getting things set up for the initial start (when I can finally put fuel in the tank!) and everything seems well laid out and simple to navigate. Hopefully I can get this filler neck sorted out soon and be able to fire it up!

[daddyjeep]

You're holding off on firing up that bad ass system due to a filler neck? You are a patient man. I'd fill that tank one scoop at a time with a spoon if I had to.

[Nick_R_23]

Haha, tell me about it! Realistically I actually need to have the driveshaft made first, as I need to have the output of the transmission sealed so I can put fluid in it. Not a great idea to run the motor if the trans is empty, lol. I called in and got a quote today for about $500, so once I get all my measurements sent in, I can have that done.

[jott_06]

Have you checked any junkyards to see if a shaft out of anything else will fit? I'm actually running a 70's ford drive shaft with conversion U-joints in my suburban. It was $25 and I paid about $40 for the joints.

[Nick_R_23]

Everything in the junkyards right now are frozen to the ground or have a lake forming under them with the melting snow. I'd rather not wait until summer, I'm impatient

[jott_06]

nothing wrong with wanting to get stuff done. I will probably have to have a shaft made at some point also. My burb sits a little low in the rear since it was originally a 2wd. I'm afraid that once I lift it to match the front that the shaft I have is going to be to short.

[Nick_R_23]

Yeah, plus it's one of those things where I'd rather not risk a bent or out of balance or maybe not quite right deal either. Brand new bolt in is nice (and worth it!) in this case imo.

So not much of an update with this truck, but I did pick up another stepside! I was certainly not planning on any more vehicles (there's 6 around my house currently) but for $500 with a clean title, runs and drives, I couldn't pass it up. It's a 1989 Chevy single cab stepside 2WD with a 350/700r4, and a coach conversion interior. It's plenty rough around the edges but the body is pretty clean and rust free despite it needing a wash in the pictures. This may become the next project once this one is done.

[Nick_R_23]

I tackled a few little things on here today. I got the filler neck welded up and installed, but I'll need to get another section of hose to connect to it. I also picked up one of those bicycle inner tubes and made the liner for the tailgate chains. It does make it look much better!

[jott_06]

The chains look good

[Nick_R_23]

Appreciate it, thanks for the idea too!

It's been a mostly uneventful week with the truck due to things really picking up at work and trying to tackle many of the other side projects I have going on and other ones that continue to pop up. However, I did pick up some new wheels on my daily driver. I wanted something a little bit more modern in size, and I love the fact that they make the truck look 10 years newer!



I also ended up (mostly) scrapping the idea I started on with the filler neck. The bend radius was too large, and no matter what I did I couldn't figure out a way to connect it to the tank that didn't require multiple fittings or being ran in a way I didn't like. I lopped off the piece of tubing I welded on initially, and picked up two more of the same diameter with much tighter bends. As a bonus, they don't have the cheapie looking crimp bends in them either!

I did have to trim the ends a little bit to get things to line up exactly the way I wanted, but I'm glad I started over - it came out a LOT cleaner this way! Everything tack welded in place:



Pulled out and fully welded on the bench



Gave it a shot of primer and paint



And here's the final fit! I'm very happy with how this one turned out. I even put in 5 gallons of fuel and no leaks!



I also got a call on Friday that my driveshaft is ready. I'll be picking it up Monday (tomorrow), and get that stuck in. That should be the last piece I need in order to fire this old girl up!

[Shucks]

Looks real good! Can't wait to hear how the EFI works

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks! I'm excited too, it's taking too long at this final part!

So I got my driveshaft in today thinking that this was the final piece of the puzzle, that I could bolt it in, top off the trans, and fire it up. But when I went to mount the driveshaft to the axle, I couldn't get it to slide forward enough to come even close to getting the U-joint to make with the axle - the driveshaft was made too long! I called the shop and we verified that the specs and measurements given were correct, so I'm not sure what happened. But, they are willing to fix it for me if I drop it back off, so I'll be happy with that! I think between 3/4" to 1" shorter would be perfect. Unfortunately, with the time from dropping it off and picking it back up may leave me with limited time to actually mount and then be able to test fire this thing before I leave on my trip. Hopefully I can, but if not, I will have to leave you all as well as myself in suspense for two weeks!



Here is the yoke fully bottomed out in the transmission (note the mark)



And here is the yoke laid near the transmission with the U-joint seated in the axle (note mark again). There is some free area, but it is maybe 3/16" at most. Not good.



And here is the yoke bottomed out in the transmission, then pulled out 1" at proper free length setting. The U-joint sits almost perfectly 1" further back from the rear axle yoke.



I will be dropping this off extremely early Wednesday morning in hopes that this will be done in time before I go!

[Nick_R_23]

I'll just leave this here

Video of it running! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yWL7IucV2E

[Nick_R_23]

Woohoo, so everything last night went pretty smoothly. Picked up my driveshaft, fit great this time. Topped off the trans, installed my new battery hold down clamp, primed the fuel pump a few times, hit the key and she fired right up without even a hint of hesitation! I let it run for about 15 minutes up to temp while keeping an eye on the trans fluid level. While I didn't get to drive it, the trans engaged into all gears and felt solid. The exhaust sounds great! It has a nice rumble and while it is obviously far from stock, is thankfully just quiet enough where it shouldn't wear on me during long drives.

I've unfortunately ran out of time before my 2 week trip down to Texas, as I'm leaving right after work tonight. But there's minimal things left to do to drive her! I still need to set the timing and phase the rotor, pick up an air filter, the air cleaner looks like it'll barely clear the linkage so I'll be picking up a 1" spacer for safety. Other than that, I just need to renew the registration and take it on a drive! Please check out the running video, I'll be trying to get a driving and maybe a walk around video here in the coming weeks!

[rusty76]

Glad to see things working out. Have a safe trip.