Project Old Colorado

[SCOTI]

Excited to see how this one turns out. The blending of the old school OE straight-6 combined w/the benefits of the later OD trans gearing in a relatively low milage package/body is pretty cool.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Been at it hard and heavy over the last month and nearly got her running. A power steering pump fitting kept me from firing it up on Christmas and breaking in the new cam. Need to finish a few wires and hook up the radiator and might give it ago this weekend. Dog house is on, just need to line it up a bit and bolt her down solid. Still need to bleed the brakes and get an alignment done. What I did accomplish: had a drive shaft made and installed it , new engine harness, CS130 alternator, relocated 72 BB radiator mounts, Toyota Koito H4 Headlight Upgrade Kit w/ Harness, LED turn signals, shifter installed, added heim joints to the stock clutch rod and wired up the sniper EFI. Getting there.

[The Rocknrod]

That's really looking good.

[joesscamaro]

Your truck is coming along nicely! Forgive me if you've mentioned this already, but what are those buckets seats out of that you are using? I like their look.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Your truck is coming along nicely! Forgive me if you've mentioned this already, but what are those buckets seats out of that you are using? I like their look.

Thank you, these are from a 69 Camaro.

[SOON2BLAZE]

It lives! Finally chased down all the little items and fired it up last night. The new RV cam from 12 bolt (Howards Cam) required the engine to be immediately run up to 2500 rpms for ten minutes then allowed to cool, then repeated. Went off without a hitch and the sniper EFI ran well. Still need to do a little fine-tuning on the timing and throttle but I hope to run it around the neighborhood sometime this next week. Added a 90-ohm fuel gauge from ebay from an early 70's chevy big truck and it bolted right in (Chevrolet GMC FFC Truck Gas Gauge GM 6431426). Well worth the 35.00 to have a near-factory-looking gauge that works. I might change the face of the gauge to remove the E and F marks as it's already printed on the warning gauge plastic. More pictures to follow.

[Braunschweiger]

A great project.
They go to great lengths to get great parts.
Congratulations on successfully breaking in the camshaft, an exciting moment.

[lolife99]

Such a cool truck.
Love it.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Thank you gentlemen. The cam break in went well with no hiccups. Fought brake line leaks and will resume them over this weekend. I thought I would include a pic of the fuel gauge and a digital oil pressure gauge I hid where the warning light was. I may have a more factory looking face placed over the gas gauge in the future. Just about everything else you would want to know about the engine vitals is in the sniper hand held.

[caseyjones]

That’s a really cool combo of 292, TKX and EFI. I’m considering a Camaro tank-do you have any photos showing how much of the tank is exposed under the bed and bumper and where the filler ended up?

[SOON2BLAZE]

I'm running a 67-72 step bumper so it may be exposed differently than a 60-66. The filler neck popped out perfectly right where you would want it near the very top of the license plate bracket for use with a fold-down tag mount. I'll try and grab a few pics to post over the weekend. Honestly, I'd use a tank that hangs down less next time such as the one lakeroadster used in his build. That one was a Tanks, Inc 1949 Chevy passenger car tank. It would require more fab work of course. Ps. I've been following your Palomino Tan Survivor, it kicks ass.

[caseyjones]

Originally Posted by SOON2BLAZE

I'm running a 67-72 step bumper so it may be exposed differently than a 60-66. The filler neck popped out perfectly right where you would want it near the very top of the license plate bracket for use with a fold-down tag mount. I'll try and grab a few pics to post over the weekend. Honestly, I'd use a tank that hangs down less next time such as the one lakeroadster used in his build. That one was a Tanks, Inc 1949 Chevy passenger car tank. It would require more fab work of course. Ps. I've been following your Palomino Tan Survivor, it kicks ass.

Thanks man! I used that old Chevy-style tank on my green 64 C10. The Camaro tank is appealing for the rear fill but you confirmed my concern about how low it sits. Carry on, looking forward to seeing your finished product!

[SOON2BLAZE]

Got home early and grabbed some pics. Please pardon the mocked up bumper, it's waiting to be painted. The stance is with a 1/2 full tank and the fenders and boards in the bed. I have yet to set the final settings for the QA1 rear suspension, it's a guestimate at this time. Bottom of the tank is 6" from the floor. I may increase the rear height for a little bit of stink bug. Main reason I chose this tank was the Holley sniper drop in Efi in tank pump for the Camaro tank with no return line required and I bought the tank in 2007 but never used it till now

[caseyjones]

Super helpful pictures, thank you. How far below the rear bed crossmember does the filler neck sit? With a stock bumper you could conceivably put the filler right up to the crossmember…

[SOON2BLAZE]

The filler neck is 2.5" below the rear bed cross panel and 2" below the top of the license plate bracket. It is possible to gain 1-1.5 " if different tubing was used above the tank. I used 1x3 but 1x2 would work.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Started monkeying with the bed today. Got it squared up and ready to bolt the floor down. The box sides need a lot of holes welded and the fenders need a significant amount of body work. Looked at new fenders and summit racing had them for 350.00 ea but the shipping was 400. four hundred for the pair.... Today's truck lesson was on rear axel changes. I put a 84 C10 axel that I traded some 2A goodies for because it had new Richmond gears, Eaton LSD and new disc brakes on it. With the 4" bs of the wheels it measures 74.5" outside tire to outside tire. There is approximately 1" between the inner tire and the bed box on each side. Here you can see fender lip touching the tire. No chance of running a fleetside bed with this setup. Luckily the Qa1 rear suspension will let me raise the height up quite a bit. As pictured the rear fender lip is 26" from the floor. The more you know. I will most likely raise it 2" and consider trimming or reshaping the inner fender lip.

[joesscamaro]

Are you going to try and match paint the bed with the rest of the truck?

[SOON2BLAZE]

Undecided on the bed finish. 3 options: paint it myself and it will look like crap, have it painted and leave it alone or have it painted and patina it. A lot of fake patina jobs go too far so I'm not sure that's the route I want to go. I will try to match the rear bumper paint to the front. Right now I just want to get it legal and driving. In the middle of a 93 corvette refresh with my 17 y.o. right now.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Back at it, delayed but not dead. Got the bed finished up and raise the Camaro gas tank so it uses thick wall 1"tubing so it's nearly right up against the frame. Always like the look of the back of Jim Aust's Circus Wagon wagon so I used the same late 50s truck tail lights. 67-72 bumpers look good on a 60-66 fleet side and had my suspicions that they would look good on a stepside as well. Rockin rod beat me to it, but confirmed my suspicions that would work well. Still need to do a little tweaking aligning on the bed and bumper. But then I will get a Vin check done by the local police department and an alignment and I think I can have this on the road pretty quick. I bought a tentable bedliner kit that I hope to get done next weekend. This winter I will replace all of the glass / seals, add ac and may paint the top of the cab white.

[SCOTI]

Bed turned out well for the match.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Thanks Scoti! VIN Check done, Insurance is figuring out how to insure base on the motorhome to truck change. Got the bed and bumper straightened up and now staring the spray in bed liner. Today is a good day!

[SOON2BLAZE]

Drove it for the first time today. Right about 2 years from when I went and picked up the cab motor and front clip in Colorado. I forgot to put the breather on the valve cover and remove the plug I had put in its place resulting in oil getting sprayed on the fire wall (Pcv's need a vent) Todays drive went well with other issues. Alignment scheduled for tomorrow morning. Over the last week I was able to get the bed liner sprayed, neutral safety switch relay wired, rad overflow installed and hidden reverse LED's wired up. Need to get turn signal & hazard gremlin ironed out and continue to shake it down. Pics to follow

[lolife99]

Beautiful truck!

[old51sedan]

Just happened to run across your article with the story of your build, very interesting plus a lot of planning and work for you but looks like it's playing off. Your truck reminds me of mine and the issues I've been through. Mine came out of CA with a 250/350 combo, I've installed a 292 and a 200-4R in mine, just now getting it all together. Kinda wish I had installed a slight cam in mine, not sure how well the holly 4-barrel is going to work out. Nice truck, the white top will look nice.

[SOON2BLAZE]

Old51,that is a beautiful ride! That combo of engine and trans should serve you well! Alignment done on the 66 today, drives like a champ