Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

Looking Good.

Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

Yes - It came the day before my wife went into labor. So needless to say... I haven't had a chance to get back to it yet. I'm hoping to this weekend.

We'll need to get another work night planned. It's pretty close.

Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

I agree with above, very nice job on the panel replacement and paint.

Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

I threw the seat in quick to see how it looks. It's different, but I like the color contrast.

Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

That contrast is just crazy enough to work! Killer interior look

Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

Apologize for the lack of updates over the summer. The truck undergone a number of changes, and many of them I couldn't talk about until now.

Throughout the summer my truck was the test vehicle for QA1's new coil-over conversion system. A entire coil-over front and rear system was developed, and we plan to release it in January / 2018.

The kit we're going to release will be available in a couple different formats. I have the full coil-over conversion on the truck now, but you will have the option for stock spring style control arms in the front. The rear is coil-over only, but you can choose a conversion to be used with a stock truck arm, or go with a tubular truck arm with integrated pinion angle adjustment. Of course, adjustable pan hard bars are included that work with rear mounted gas tanks.

check out QA1's website for more specifics on the kit.

All in all the truck has been transformed. I'm still amazed how well it handles, while riding as good as it does. That's the most common thing people say when they ride in it. The stance is much approved over the stock ride height. I'm sitting a little over 5" lower in the front with the coil-overs and spindles, and approximately 5.5" lower in the rear with room to go 1.5" lower.

I'll keep this thread updated as progress continues.

Re: Project: Fun daily driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Since we're up here in MN, project season is upon us. The truck is now being torn down again for a host of projects.

Re: Project: Fun daily driver
 

Job well done!!!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

the truck looks great, congrats on the new addition to the family. They will keep you busy...

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

hey there brother,
your sound/heat deadener, is that the home depo stuff??? "ultra touch"

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

No, I got it through Summit. I forget the name of it, but it worked fine for what i was hoping to achieve.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Sound deadening is on the list twice. Something to cross off the list already! Nice

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

You're right! Didn't notice that!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

What brand water pump?

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Made some headway today. Wider rear tubs painted and installed.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

More pics

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

I think is was AC Delco, but I painted it to match the aluminum intake manifold.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Looking good. Can't wait for the work session over in your very clean garage!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Sorry for the delayed progress pics. Here are some pictures from thed past month or so.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Working on ruffing in my Slosh Tubs firewall fillers. Makes the process of shaving the heater box so much easier....and they look awesome!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

More progress

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

...and more progress.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

More progress

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Nice work on the firewall. Looks awesome!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Firewall looks great, how did you put that little lip/bend on the top of the filler panel?

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

I took some 1/4" diameter steel rod and welded it on the backside of the filler panel. It gave some nice dimension to it. I know many people shave the entire drip rail, but i didnt want to do that.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Few more progress pics.

Got the Slosh Tubz firewall filler bodyworked. Then the entire firewall got a fresh coat of paint. I finished cleaning under the bed and painted that as well.

The new engine and trans is due to arrive next week, so re-assembly will begin. Then the highly anticipated QA1 suspension will get installed.

Won't be too long before this truck hits the road again!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Are you installing the QA1 suspension in both front and rear? I saw their display at SEMA and looked nice. I especially liked the rear trailing arm setup that allows for pinion angle adjustment. Nice looking build!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Yes! The entire coil-over system front and rear will be installed. The adjustable pinion angle is really neat and removes the guess work on what pinion angle spacer to buy.

I'll have suspension updates shortly.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

The transmission arrived! Gearstar level four 4L60E built to handle the 400 SBC due to arrive any day.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Awesome work man. I wish my exterior paint looked that nice. In for the drive train!

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

I'll just leave these here...

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Alright folks, it's been a fairly productive weekend.

Since I deleted my factory heater box, I decided to install one of those mini Summit Racing heaters with a blower motor and heater core. That meant I needed to find a place for it and fab up a bracket. I ended up mounting it on the far left side of the glove box. While I'll lose some storage space (not that I use much), the two heater outlets will exit towards the center of the truck. I can drop one straight down at the trans tunnel by your feet, and the other up to the speaker grille which will exit at the windshield. The two heater lines are accessible on the right side of the unit and it will be fairly easy to make a short run to a bulkhead fitting at the firewall. I bought a 4x8 sheet of ABS plastic, so I'll be building a new glive box inner with that.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

I also was able to get my front accessories put on the engine and have that fairly close to being ready to go in the truck. I chose a serpentine system from CVF racing. Their kit came with new power steering pump and alternator. Pretty slick kit, and it looks great.

I'm anxiously awaiting my trans crossmember that should arrive on Tues. That will allow me to install the engine and trans in the truck.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

I was also able to make some headway installing the new rack and pinion. I decided replacing the worn factory steering and upgrading to a quick ratio box was silly when upgrading to a rack is fairly economical in comparison. Also, I suspect I can run a much wider front tire now that the steering box is no longer on the outside frame rail. The rack I went with was from No Limit.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Awesome progress and choice on the rack and pinion.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

killer progress on this truck. All-in to see more. Great products being used. Kinda reminds me of a mish-mash of the parts used across the Roadkill/Engine Masters/Hot Rod Garage shows. Will be nice to see them used on an every day truck.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

Thanks Robbie - Truth be told the only new parts are drivetrain and steering related.

I've been fairly quiet about it, but this truck was the development truck for the new QA1 suspension. Here is a shot of one of the first setups on the road back in 2017. Working at QA1 was an ideal opportunity to test this system and implement changes in real time. Since the truck is daily driven (and will continue to be), I would come to work in the morning with feedback. Engineering would evaluate and make adjustments as needed and I would drive it home and take notes again. Many others critiqued and contributed as well. Many with very diverse backgrounds in asphalt and dirt circle track racing, street rodders, drag racers and a host of other C10 enthusiasts. There is a big group of C10 guys at QA1, and all of our voices were heard. This continual critiquing continued for many months and many thousands of miles. In the end this real-time feedback led to a fantastic system designed around the wants and needs of a C10 enthusiast with unique features peppered in from other disciplines. I'm pretty excited about it!

What will be installed this winter is a fresh production (non prototype) system. That spawned many of the "might as well" projects you see going on in conjunction.

Re: Project: Fun Daily Driver (Plus New QA1 Coil-Over Suspension!!!)
 

The UPS man is really starting to get to know me.

Sounds like a fun job and a great way for the company to develop new products with real-time feedback. Very cool! I’m in to watch the progress.
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