Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I’ve had that thought, too, but I’m so far from stock I don’t know if it would look right
All black definitely is in the running

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

More parts piling up in the house. I don’t have Dakota Digital money (and I really don’t like the clock in the center), but I couldn’t pass up on a Labor Day weekend deal on these New Vintage 69 style gauges. Should save me some time and heartache trying to adapt everything to the LS. I dig the way they look modern, yet not out of place.

They still need some minor tweaking to get them seated correctly, but I couldn’t resist mocking them up for a look-see. The through the dial lighting and illuminated pointers seal it for me :chevy:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Stock photo of the center hole, transfer case light doesn’t do me much good, but I can find some use for the others, for sure.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I love the New vintage gauges, great choice!

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Love the gauges. Those look perfect.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Those are so cool!!!

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Looks Good!

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Nice gauge cluster Chris. I have to admit their new line of classic look gauges are growing on me.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Thanks, all. I diggum. More to come on this, soon, now that distractions are out of the way...

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Since I now know all of the big parts fit, it’s time to start making things pretty. 3 steps forward, 2 steps back is still progress, right?

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

...and while the fenders are off and the backsides accessible, I remembered to drill out the (bondoed over by the PO) holes for these guys:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Looks good to me!

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I do believe you are correct, Sir! ;) :lol:
You have learned much young grasshopper :lol:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

At least you took steps forward, I just spin in circles as of late. :lol:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

It just wants to be like your Blazer when it grows up
Just keep swimming...
I feel this way, too. In my mind I have it all figured out, but when I start working it all falls apart

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I opened a stink bomb in the garage this weekend. Amazing how funky used gear oil smells

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Since it was so smelly, I used my fresh air paint booth

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

...to paint the brackets for the Corvette C5 rear discs. After spending waaaaaay too much time trying to get the drum-in-hat-parking-brake to work, I finally succumbed to the fact that it won’t fit on a stock truck axle :cry: Calipers look good, though, and they the pass the “credit card thickness” clearance to the wheel test, but just barely. I’ll have to figure something else out for a parking brake...

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Very nice upgrade to the brakes! I can smell it now just thinking about that gear oil....

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Not sure why you could not get the drum in hat parking brake to work with the truck axle. I did it on the Red (Sunburn) truck we built. I used a different set of brackets to mount the caliper though...

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Yeah well... I thought it was the other way around. This weekend that 700-R4 just broke the camel's back, & I'm on the hunt for a manual. Valve bodies and torque converters are the devil!

Who's brake setup is that on the rear? Kore3?

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

“Fresh air paint booth”,LOL. I use mine all the time

Wade

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Thanks, just wish I could get the parking brake to fit
Details, please. I’ll go peruse the thread

I agree, effum. Did it leak, not shifting right, or?

Not Kore3, he doesn’t make a DIHPB kit for trucks, says it won’t fit. Silly, me, I thought I could outsmart Tobin and had a set custom made. There’s just not enough room between the axle flange and housing flange to squeeze the mechanism in. The car axles are offset an additional 1/4” or so, just enough to fit.

That does give me an idea, though. Maybe I can have my adapter bracket milled down 1/4”. Hmmmm... need to take some measurements
It’s one of my favorite tools :D

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

It decided to quit upshifting. It still pulls and the fluid looks good. Probably something simple, I'll dig into it this weekend to try and finish off the year. But, I won't be able to trust it on a 3,000+ mile road trip come June 2019. ;)
I've got quotes coming in for manual upgrades already.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I’ll be watching which route you go. Dunno how long I’ll survive with 3:73s and no overdrive...

In other news, I got the DIHPB to work! :ele:

Well, it works in mock-up with a stack of washers. What a difference an 1/8” makes. Clearances are tighter than a gnat’s ass everywhere, but no rubs and it functions beautifully.

Big thanks to aggie91 and 87chevy.com for the ideas on getting everything to work together. Now I just need to have my spacers milled down or find/make 3/8” spacers, then on to the next project. This was supposed to be a bolt-together deal, now on day three and counting...

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Does the drum of the rotor cover the brake shoe? On my setup the flange of the axle is just barely outside of the metal of the shoe. The flange actually fits inside the shoe to get the c-clips on in the diff.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Yup, it’s as deep in there as it will go without contacting anything. I actually moved the backing plate out another 1/16th after taking this picture with no interference. It is as close as I’m comfortable with at the back of the studs/lever mechanism area. The contact surface of the shoe is fully within the drum, but just barely. Thankfully, it’s just a parking brake and (knock on wood) will never see any real braking action, else I’d like to see the shoe better centered in the drum.

When I put it together for the last time, I will have to slide the axles in, install the c-clips, then final assemble the parking brake setup to the axle housing. Using car pattern axles is definitely the way to go to make this easy. Maybe when I get ready to buy wheels I’ll swap to 5x4.75. For some reason, I feel like a set of 315/35-20s would fill out the rear nicely :chevy:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Welp, I got the brakes all final assembled and working, but it turns out my 40-something year old axles’ flanges are bent. Allowable runout is around .003 when running discs and mine are visibly wobbling, which causes the rotors to knock the pads back in the calipers, resulting in soft pedal. No thanks. Add to that the very slight rub of the parking shoes inside the drums once per revolution, and the subsequent noise that would drive me crazy and I ended up buying new axles...

While I wait for Summit to deliver, I thought I’d take care of some things that have been bothering me for a while. Since I have the interior torn down, now is a good time to go about fixing my cut for DIN dash. I used some measurements I found here in the forum (sure hope they were right). I had it all bodyworked and primed, then my spot putty had a reaction with the primer, so I’m starting over on it tomorrow. Color and clear, soon.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Since I had some paint mixed up, hoping to shoot the dash, I went ahead and primed and base-coated the A/C vents, ashtray, and radio delete plate (might run it ‘til I find a radio). Much better than the chrome look, I think. They still need cleared, but look pretty good and the color is a good match to the dash :chevy:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Looks nice, Chris!

Find an original AM radio and send it in to get converted. Nothing else looks "right" in these dashes to me. Here's a video of one of my friend's radio before the guy shipped it back to him. I'm hoping to be sending mine in to be done somewhat soon.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Looks really nice, have you priced one? For now, I grabbed a Retrosound Laguna to stick in the hole (and verify my measurements). If I hate it, delete plate gets installed...

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Yeah, for the full conversion with BT, USB, etc. they are about $650, but it doesn't seem out of line for what you get.

I have a single DIN radio and the same universal mounting kit that you used on the Highlander Blazer, but I don't think I want to have to open the console everytime I want to fiddle with the radio. I'm not in a rush to do it... I haven't had a radio in the Blazer in the 4.5 years that I've had it.:crazy:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

This one will almost fool you, about $300:

Edit: upon further review, it appears they are junk. Too bad, looks nearly like an AM/FM

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I looked at that one before, the reviews are a resounding "meh..."

Bart seems to be real happy with his conversion, when I get around to needing a radio, I'll probably get mine re-done.

Sorry for cluttering up your thread.

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Nice work on the radio repair Chris!

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

Haha, seems like it’s mostly just you and me anymore these days...
Thanks Mike! It is proving to be somewhat of a pain, like most things. I did receive the Retrosound faceplate so I can tweak the hole. I was pretty close on the first shot, just needs minor work with a file to provide enough clearance once painted.

More to come, soon. Spending some time getting a heater setup in my workspace, as winter is pretty much here in UT already :chevy:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I pulled into the garage after work yesterday to find this:

I don’t know if it’s a seasonal thing or if it’s some comment on how long this project is taking :lol:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

^^^

I have to say, That's FUNNY!!!!

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

If it's still there come Christmas time, I think you may have found your answer. :haha:

Re: How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10
 

I completely agree!