Crocodile Rocks Build Thread

[lolife99]

You can also add a 1.5" lowering block to the rear.
It won't help you air out any lower,... BUT it will help keep your ride height low.
I run about 50 psi in the rear bags on my blazer at ride height.
Without the lowering blocks the rear would be way too high.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by MattPSU

I'm basing it on air pressure, but I need to drive it some more to dial it in. A few PSI can change the ride height easily, so it may change a little. You must be feeling better since you're giving me a hard time about my ride height!

I'll be giving someone a hard time on my deathbed

[Bennett68C10]

Truck looks great, nice job on the write up you did in the suspension section

[MattPSU]

Originally Posted by lolife99

You can also add a 1.5" lowering block to the rear.
It won't help you air out any lower,... BUT it will help keep your ride height low.
I run about 50 psi in the rear bags on my blazer at ride height.
Without the lowering blocks the rear would be way too high.

Good suggestion, Keith. I'll keep that in mind. I'm pretty happy with where it sits, even at ride height. Paul just likes to give me a hard time. If I lower the rear more, the front will be too high, and I'm maxed out up there without changing arms and inner fenders.

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Truck looks great, nice job on the write up you did in the suspension section

Thank you sir! I've been following your build which is going to be awesome when finished! Looking forward to see yours and mine completed!

[Jahloha]

Matt:

Awesome build! I particularily liked the master series write up. I just ordered two quarts of the silver from them. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

-roughly how cold was it when you applied the silver coat
-how much did you order (pint, quart, etc.) and how far has it gone?
-did you reseal the containers and use again at a later date, did it work ok after reopening?

Thanks a lot. Just trying to prep myself for when it gets here.

Mahalo!

[MattPSU]

Originally Posted by Jahloha

Matt:

Awesome build! I particularily liked the master series write up. I just ordered two quarts of the silver from them. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

-roughly how cold was it when you applied the silver coat
-how much did you order (pint, quart, etc.) and how far has it gone?
-did you reseal the containers and use again at a later date, did it work ok after reopening?

Thanks a lot. Just trying to prep myself for when it gets here.

Mahalo!

I did the back in late October/early November and the front in February. I did wait for warmer weekends, and I think it was at least 60 F when I painted the frame. I know it was at or above the minimum on their instructions.

I used one chassis kit for the front and one for the rear. They say one kit will do an entire frame, but if you do 2 coats of everything like I did, you'll need two kits for one frame.

I did reseal the containers and it worked fine. I didn't try to reseal the top coat that had already been mixed.

When you order final color, make sure that you get enough for the whole project. I ordered mine a few months apart, and the rear of my frame is matte finish and the front is gloss even though both were marked matte. I called and they were supposed to send me a new can of matte, but they never sent it.

That and the fact that some of mine is chipping already (mostly where I put my jack and jack stands) has me a little disappointing to be honest. They suggest having your frame sandblasted but I just used a wire wheel (which is also an approved method) but maybe sandblasting would allow it to stick better.

I've never used anything else, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm not overly impressed. Hopefully it'll work out for you. Good luck - Matt

[MattPSU]

My tax refund was better than expected, so I was finally able to order everything for air management. I ordered the Pro 2 kit from Pro Performance which includes a 5 gallon aluminum tank, 2 Viair 440c compressors, an Accuair VU4 valve block and most of the necessary accessories.

I decided to start with mounting the tank. I had run a piece of 2"x2" square tube across the rear of the frame to replace the rear crossmember that I cut out when adding my Boyd Welding fuel tank. I moved it from below the frame to in between, then mounted the tank to it. The tank is on it's side since hanging it upside down wouldn't put a port at the bottom for the drain.

I opted to mount a compressor on each side of the frame at the very back, behind the rear tires. Knowing this area could get some splash from the tires, I made some splash guards to protect the compressors from the weather.

I mounted the VU4, the relays for the compressors, and a power distribution block on the crossmember that's behind the axle. I ran 8 gauge power wire from the battery to a fuse holder, to the distribution block along the passenger side frame rail. I ran 3/8" air line from all of the bags back to the VU4 and 1/4" air line from their to the cab for my gauges.

The Pro 2 Air Management kit has an 7 switch box for controls which has a short cable that wasn't going to reach the VU4 valve block. So I picked up about 10' of 10 conductor sprinkle/thermostat wire to make an extension. I wired this into the VU4 and ran it into the cab where I plugged into it the switch box.

I spent about 12 hours or so on it total. The first half was mounting everything and making the splash shields. The second half was mostly plumbing and wiring.

I was really happy to finally fire it up. I figured for sure there would be a crossed wire or something, but it all worked great on the first try! Taking the extra time to make sure everything was wired up correctly from the start really paid off. I was also surprised how quickly the bags fill and empty when the switch is flipped.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled to finally have a system on board to allow me to fill & empty my bags on command. Another great purchase from Pro Performance!

Here are some before pictures:

[MattPSU]

In progress pictures including building the splash shields.

[MattPSU]

Pictures of it finished up.

[MattPSU]

Couple more finished pictures.

[slowcpe]

Looking good.

I'm still waiting to see how much I have to pay in taxes before ordering my air management. Sometimes owning a business sucks.

[Bennett68C10]

Nice job on the air management install

[bluex]

No video yet???

[MattPSU]

Originally Posted by slowcpe

Looking good.

I'm still waiting to see how much I have to pay in taxes before ordering my air management. Sometimes owning a business sucks.

Thanks and been there.

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Nice job on the air management install

Thank you!

Originally Posted by bluex

No video yet???

Not yet. It was raining and cold yesterday and I had some issues this afternoon when I went to start it after work today. I must have a leak somewhere, because the compressors start up the second the key is turned. In this cold weather, my truck needs a few cranks before it wants to start. But because the compressors were running, it killed the battery before she fired up. I pulled the connection to the fuse panel, but it was too late. I had to jump it to get it started. Once it was fired up, I plugged the lead back in, but I connected it to the wrong place - a lead that's on all the time, not with the switch. So when I cut it off, the compressors kept running and the battery died again. By this point, I had moved my daily driver back and it was starting to get dark, so I threw in the towel.

Obviously, I need to find the leak(s). Second, I'm wiring in a switch that I can turn off the compressors if I need them off. Maybe once those two are taken care of I can get some video.

[sduckworth13]

Thats awesome Matt, congrats on the air ride setup.

[bluex]

Bummer about the leaks. I noticed the compressors come on as soon as you turned the truck on the other day but figured it was from messing around with it while it was off.

Hope it's just a fitting that needs snugged up an not a defect in the tank. Lmk if you need a hand chasing them down.....

[MattPSU]

Originally Posted by bluex

No video yet???

Here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAos4...ature=youtu.be

[sduckworth13]

Matt, that is so cool. Thanks for the video.

[MattPSU]

Being that it's almost been a year, I figured I should update my build thread.

I know there are probably a lot of people who think I'm crazy because I build it some, then put it back together, then drive it some, then pull it apart to do more work, then start all over. But I've seen too many projects get blow completely apart only to never be put back together or really enjoyed. It's hard to have fun with a truck that's been in pieces in your garage for 3 years.

That being said, I enjoyed driving my C10 most of 2014! A few of us started the Upstate SC GM Truck club here last January, and it's grown to nearly 500 members in about a year. We meet once a month or so, and I drove my C10 to meets every month except November in 2014. I also took it to a bunch of local cruise ins, Cars & Coffee and more. I even drove it to Charlotte for Good Guys before restarting my build.

Here are some pictures from this summer:

[MattPSU]

At Good Guys I got the chance to meet Travis from Pro Performance. Travis has been unbelievably helpful throughout my build and he's been super patient with me. I also got to meet Benjamin from Pro Performance and Alexander Speed. I cant say enough good stuff about these two guys.

[MattPSU]

So with a fun summer behind me, I was trying to decide what my next project would be. My small block had run great, but it had a few leaks and I was really wanting some more power out of her. I started to look at building the 350 and swaping the TH350 to a 700r4. Then I started talking to the LS swap guys, and before you knew it I had drunk their Kool-Aid.

In October, I found a 2005 L59 and 4L60e out of an Avalance with 112k miles on it, and the stage was set. I decided that while I had the engine out, I'd clean up the engine bay, and paint my firewall.

I also found a 1968 clip for sale cheap. I have always preferred the 67/68's but was content with the 72 clip until I found this one for just $150.

So the plan was in place. Pull the small block, clean & paint the frame, paint the firewall, install the 5.3L, and swap to the 68 clip.

[MattPSU]

My buddy Kevin and I cruised the C10 to Good Guys in Charlotte where we had a blast. We left broke and exhausted with great memories and phones full of pictures and videos. We left before the sun came up and came home after dark. It was a great final trip for the old small block - which got 12-13 mpg!

But on Sunday, the transformation started! First the clip came off, then the engine compartment was disassembled and the engine & trans were pulled.

[MattPSU]

One of the truck club members bought my drivetrain for use in his Apache. I'm happy to know it'll have a good home, and he was happy for the deal.

I also wanted to shave a few more holes in my firewall, and my buddy Tommy helped with that.

[MattPSU]

So it turns out that my $150 clip wasn't the deal I thought it was. There was no hood, the support and passenger side inner fender were trash, and passenger fender was shot. The lower cups were both gone, and there was a big dent in the front edge of the fender. The driver fender & inner fender, grill, and some of the hardware are all I was able to salvage.

Needless to say I had to pick up a new core support, a new passenger fender and new passenger inner fender and hardware. I drove up to Tommy's Pickup Parts in Shelby, NC since he's a club sponsor. He also had a used hood that was cheap but needed some work.

Add it all up and my $150 clip probably cost me $1000. Live and learn I guess.

[MattPSU]

I'm borrowing a few ideas from N2Billet in my engine compartment. I picked up a regulator cover, cut a hole in it and mounted it to the firewall to cover my wire harness. I also smoothed my radiator support and modified it to run my wires inside rather than on top of it. I love how clean his stuff looks, and my goal is to be as close to that look as I can with my skill level.

During my mock up, I trimmed my inner fenders some so that my wheels wouldn't rub when aired out. I plan to run some door edge guard so the tire doesn't rub on metal, and I also had the under side of them sprayed by the Greenville Line X guy. They look awesome. They were the first piece of the puzzle that was sort of done, and that got me excited all over again.