Project 65 C10- Take two

[dlisabeth]

Hi there-
My name is Derek and I am building this 1965 shortbed stepside C10 in San Diego, California. I am calling this project Take two because I started building a '64 stepside about 14 years ago when I was 15 years old and due to school, a lack of money/skill, and a move across the country it never got finished. I have since sold that project and picked this truck up last October.

It was a pretty solid platform for the truck that I am trying to build. We drove it around town for a few months and as you can see in the photos the transformation has begun. I removed the stock bench seat which was actually in pretty good shape and replaced it with a seat out of a 1997 Dodge Ram. My parents actually gave me this seat as a Christmas present 13 years ago for that '64 I had. It feels great to finally put it to use in the new truck. The seat fits great with the frame that I fabricated for it which still utilizes the slider for the driver seat.

I pulled the 283 motor and TH350 tranny that the previous owner had installed in a less than precise manner. In their place I will be installing a 350 that I built from the motor that came out of that '64 I had back in Michigan and a 700r4 that I picked up out of a 1991 Corvette. I built the motor with flat top pistons that are .030 over, a fairly mild Comp Cam, Edelbrock RPM intake, Edelbrock 600cfm carb, Hooker shorty headers, and World Products iron heads which put the compression ratio right at 9.1:1. The entire rotating assembly was also balance while it was at the machine shop. According to a Dyno simulator it should put out around 375 hp.

While the motor is out I have decided to swap in the front suspension out of an '85 C10. I picked this up at a local junkyard, disassembled it, had it sandblasted, painted it, and reassembled it with 2.5" drop spindles, new polyurethane bushings, and Moog balljoints. The truck had 3" drop coil springs all around when I bought it. I pulled those off and installed new 5" coils in the rear and will be running the 2.5" spindles up front, hopefully this levels the truck out. If not I will either cut the stock length front springs or install 4" springs instead of the 5" in the rear. I will also be installing an adjustable track bar that the previous owner had but never installed. I have also picked up and will be installing a tilt column shift steering column out a 70's Chevy van. The final items I will be adding in this first stage of the rebuild is a serpentine setup, rear disc brakes, and power brakes.

As you can see in the photos there is some rust that needs to be dealt with on the front passenger cab corner, and a hole in the frame that the previous owner made to install a power steering gear box. I will be repairing the frame at this time but will probably wait on the body work for now. My goal is to keep the downtime to a minimum so that we can continue to enjoy the truck during the rebuild process.

Enjoy these pictures that I took tonight, there will be plenty more in the future.

Derek

[dlisabeth]

more pics

[dlisabeth]

more pics...

[dlisabeth]

that is it for now

[Captainfab]

You've got some nice parts to put into your truck. It all looks good except for that hack job on the frame for the power steering.....the things some people do Let me know if you need an adapter plate to do it right. I've got the power brake booster bracket as well.

[DPowers]

Looks good

[structures]

Looks good, I like the pictures and info. Stick with it this time! My project still has a long way to go but sometimes I can't believe I've gotten so far.

That's cool, the 85 front end just bolted up huh?

[dlisabeth]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

It all looks good except for that hack job on the frame for the power steering.....the things some people do Let me know if you need an adapter plate to do it right. I've got the power brake booster bracket as well.

Took care of the hack job tonight. I am going to fab the brackets for the steering box and booster myself, but do want to purchase a set of rear caliper brackets from you if you have any ready to ship.

What hack job?!!!

[dlisabeth]

Originally Posted by structures

That's cool, the 85 front end just bolted up huh?

I haven't bolted it up yet. But after I drill 2 holes for the crossmember and 2 holes for the idler arm mount it should bolt right on.

[Captainfab]

That looks lots better.........I don't have any Impala brackets right now, but I do have the other two. I can have the Impala brackets in a few days. Let me know.

Originally Posted by dlisabeth

Took care of the hack job tonight. I am going to fab the brackets for the steering box and booster myself, but do want to purchase a set of rear caliper brackets from you if you have any ready to ship.

What hack job?!!!

[dlisabeth]

I have made quite a bit of progress over the last week and a half. I cleaned up the frame from the firewall to the bumper with the help of a wire wheel and paint thinner. I fabricated and welded a plate to the frame to correctly install the power steering gear box. The firewall was cleaned up using the same wire wheel/ paint thinner method. I filled a few holes in the firewall including the clutch hole which I will not be using and a few holes made by the previous owner for misc. wires. I then primed both the frame and firewall with epoxy primer before covering them with 2 coats of Rustoleum black hammertone paint. I spent the day yesterday installing the new front suspension and replacing the wheel bearings in the rotors I had turned. It was pretty satisfying to mount up the front wheels/tires and set it back on the ground. The next step was bolting the motor and trans together and carefully setting them in their new home. This process went very smoothly and the motor mounts lined up perfectly with the motor. The motor and trans will be coming out again so that I can get the trans flushed and install a new filter and lockup kit in the 700r4 after I fabricate a new transmission crossmember. I was very happy to see the front suspension sag quite a bit under the weight of the motor. I am hoping that the additional weight of the front clip and other accessories will drop it a bit more.

One big issue that I ran into while I was installing the motor is that my new hooker HOK 2466 headers do not fit. They hit the motor mount tower on the driver side and the frame crossmember on the passenger side. I was very surprised by this because I have read several threads on this forum about other members that are successfully running these same headers. I guess I will be selling these and trying to find another set that will fit. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am not set on the shorty's and would consider a long tube header as my truck will only have a 3/5 drop so ground clearance shouldn't be an issue.

I will be tackling the transmission crossmember next at which time I need to decide if it is worth trying to maintain an opertaing parking brake. In order to do so I will need to fab up a new cable mount on the crossmember and figure out a way to hook up the new disc brake calipers.

Enjoy the pictures.

[dlisabeth]

more pics

[dlisabeth]

last pictures for now

[Rich 5150 69]

Some of the members here have trimed the frame on the pass side and notched the tower and boxed tower mount on the underside side.

[dlisabeth]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Some of the members here have trimed the frame on the pass side and notched the tower and boxed tower mount on the underside side.

That is not something that I am interested in doing. I will just find a set that will bolt on without any modifications.

[64Fugly]

That looks very good.

[dlisabeth]

I spent this weekend building a new transmission crossmember. The old one had been hacked up by the previous owner to install a TH350. But I would have needed to build a new one anyways to install my 700R4. I have decided to stay with drum brakes in the rear for now. There were two factors that led me to this decision the first being it will be much cheaper to just buy 5-lug drums and the second it would be much easier to maintain a working e-brake. With that being said I utilized some pieces of the old e-brake setup and made a few new pieces and ended up with what you see in the photos. It works great and allows me to use the oem cables and lengths while still fitting in the tight confines between the crossmember and trans. This 700R4 was out of a '91 Corvette so I had to replace the rear tailhousing with the unit in the photos. This is a fairly rare tailhousing which moves the trans mount quite a bit further back than the mount on most 700R4's. I am very happy with how this crossmember turned out. Now I just need to get the driveshaft shortened and shim the pinion with the correct shim once I decide on a final ride height.

[dlisabeth]

more crossmember

[thirdstreettito]

Updates? This is great!

[dlisabeth]

Originally Posted by thirdstreettito

Updates? This is great!

Here's a quick update.

I pulled the motor and trans back out after the crossmember was finished so that I could tie up some loose ends. While the trans was out I pulled the pan off and installed the internal lockup components from the Bowtie Overdrives kit that I purchased. I also installed a new filter, pan gasket, along with new input and output seals while I was in there. I then cleaned up the outside of the trans and installed a new 1800 stall converter before mating it back up with the motor. I also primed the oil system on the motor while it was out just to make sure everything was working correctly. All of the pushrods received oil and the oil pressure gauge read 50psi. I painted the new trans crossmember, steering components, and engine accessories/brackets. Finally, I patched the hole in the floor which the previous owner made for a floor shifter along with a bunch of small holes left from the original seat and the jack that was stored under it. I will be using a 70's van column shifter so this hole in the floor was no longer needed.

After all of that was completed it was finally time to install the engine/trans combo for good (at least for awhile). With the motor bolted in place I could bolt on the new serpentine setup. I also mounted the power steering gearbox, steering links, and front sway bar. Then it was time to stand back and admire all of the work that I have done so far. I am really happy with how all of these pieces are coming together.

I sent my Hooker headers back to Summit Racing and plan to order a set of Sanderson's when I get back from vacation.

Here are the latest pictures.

[dlisabeth]

more pics

[dlisabeth]

last pictures for now

Check out the original dent free bumper that I picked up for $40! It will be dropped off at the powdercoater's with the front grille soon.

[dlisabeth]

Here are some updated photos. I found some Hedman headers that fit with a slight modification to the passenger lower control arm. The inner fenders, radiator core support, heater box, brake booster, and other small parts have been sandblasted painted and reinstalled. I have painted and installed the new steering column and connected it to the 700r4. I had the rear axles redrilled and the hub register turned down so that I could use some '71 5-lug drums. I also cut 1 coil off of the stock front springs to improve the stance which was a bit nose high. I am ready to start plumbing the motor and brakes and running electrical so that I can fire up the new motor. i will also have to rig up a temporary exhaust so that I can drive it to the muffler shop to get a new system made. Enjoy the pics.

[dlisabeth]

more pics

[ChiefRocka]

Coming along nicely ....