78 c-10 swb lsx sm465

[bowtieguy79]

10 years ago this past august I married my wife, and became what my father in-law said was his long awaited SON..

Since then I have introduced him into a great hobby of automobiles. It took some time for him to embrace buying anything, but as a first timer he long hauled the 2010 Hot Rod Power Tour in his then recently purchased 02 Z28. From that point on, he was hooked. Amazed at the auto lingo he heard on power tour, ( thanks comp cams and your BIG MOTHER THUMPER cams ).

He wanted a truck to tool around in and maybe take to some shows and tote the grandkids around in. He had previously bought my 79 K20 from me and started to buy parts to restore it.


We made a trip to KC and visted LMC, filled the back of my suburban with front fenders, rockers, corners, supports and floor pans. We had locally found NOS inner fenders and a 8ft bed for this truck.

Few months pass and we come across this little truck.

Father in-law really liked it. I offered to buy back the K20 and all the parts that he wouldn't need for the little short bed.

The little red step side is a custom deluxe, 250 I6, SM465 with Z85 suspension code. It is solid where it needs to be and doors shut really nice. I'll get more pictures in the spring.

He had also acquired a 02 5.3L out of a Tahoe as a complete pull out, this will be finding its way to the C-10 now.

There was talk last night about getting this prepped and going for a few days of power tour. I'm excited, he's excited. Should be a fun project. I'll post progress as we do the work.

Plan is to put the LS in and get it up and running. Get the floor pans fixed and supports replaced, rockers repaired and cab corners touched up, fenders swapped, inner fenders swapped, and put it in primer.

[slugish]

good plans .Sounds like a lot of fun . Should be pretty dang swift as well!

[bowtieguy79]

We ordered all fuel system items, LS engine mount adaptors, Clutch, Flywheel, Pilot bearing, as well as a Vintage Air set up for the truck.

Not sure how this is going to looks, but he bought wheel adaptors to run his 02 Z28 wheels on it. Tires are like new when he swapped them out for the Z06 wheels on the Z28, so might as well try them.

[bowtieguy79]

Missed that Power Tour goal... but we are making progress..

[bowtieguy79]

Swapped out the manual brakes for a Power set up for a 90 Suburban. Also going from manual steering to power steering. Ordered all the needed parts last night from Rock Auto. Delco Steering box and wheel to wheel steering parts.

[bowtieguy79]

A little weekend progress

[flashed]

Im in for this one .

[shippman]

Out of curiosity, where did you get your flywheel and clutch setup?

[bowtieguy79]

Originally Posted by shippman

Out of curiosity, where did you get your flywheel and clutch setup?

I went with a factory 2500HD Flywheel for a 6.0L truck
and the standard clutch set up for the 79.
Pilot bearing for a LS2 06 GTO was also suggested.

All from Rock Auto

[bowtieguy79]

Rocker, cab corner, floor support, & floor pan welded in. It's not pretty..... But it will work.














Now to do some finish sanding.... Then on to the passengers side.

[bowtieguy79]

Spent saturday getting the tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm and new power steering box all installed.

Sunday cut the passengers side of the cab rust all out. Slow but sure, its coming together.

[tintbox]

Coming along nicely

[bowtieguy79]

Started on the PS last weekend, got the Rocker put in place, and ran out of gas for the welder. Hope to get some more time Saturday.

[83swb]

Always thought an lsx and a 465 would be a fun combo. Don't care what anyone says the ford 435's and gm 465's are fun to drive.

[InitialBoss]

Sweet truck and build. Looks like my truck. I'll be following this as I want to do a LS swap in the future with my truck. I have a 250 I6 in my rig to start with as well. I just have to deal with stupid CA smog stuff with the swap.

[bowtieguy79]

A little mid week sanding

[greg64]

Looks good! I'm curious how the LSX and sm465 work together. I know it's possible to connect them, I'm interested in the driveability.

[bowtieguy79]

WOW Its been a while since I've had a chance to work on the little red truck. I took today and tomorrow off to get it mobile. To many other projects that need attention and this one is hogging the garage up.

Today I finished the passengers side floor, all welded up. Just need to seal it all.


I then moved on to the fuel system. I dropped the tank and installed an intake 87 sending unit and a 97 C/K truck pump. Made my own stainless steel braided fuel lines and added a GM truck inline fuel filter (88-99).

That took me the majority of the day. I did get time to line out the harness and lay it in place. I think I know where I'm going to mount most everything now.



I'll post up a video if I do get it to run this weekend. The goal is to make it move on its own before I got back to work on the 20th. Time will tell!

[gasmn1620]

What does NOS mean? I feel dumb asking

[8swbk10]

looks like a fun little project..make sure to post a video of it running! i am also curious about the driveability of the lsx and sm465

[bowtieguy79]

Originally Posted by gasmn1620

What does NOS mean? I feel dumb asking

No worries, someone had to tell me to. NOS = New Old Stock

[MalibuSSwagon]

Which motor mount adapters did you use? And how do you plan on running the VSS?

[bowtieguy79]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

Which motor mount adapters did you use? And how do you plan on running the VSS?

I used the 1" back Transdapt adapters. Worked perfect, transmission was not moved.

The VSS I plan to use an inline cable style pick up.

something like this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rp...4153/overview/

[Super_Dave]

bowtieguy79,

Shameful, simply shameful, the way you addicted your wife's dad. Your poor wife doesn't stand a chance. Then again, that's quite a strategy...

It must be a blast to have something like this in common with your FIL, other than his daughter, of course... Enjoy!

[stepside83]

looks like a fun project