Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Hey Vic!
Looking good my friend! I can't wait to see that chassis come alive! Are you still going with your original paint scheme? Or have you decided on a different color combo?
If you need a hand with anything be sure to let me know, my overtime finally dried up and I'm back on regular hours.
My nieghbor has a friend who has no less than five times asked me to sell him my truck, he asked me what I had tied up in it, and I said I had somewhere north of $18k in it, and if I couldn't get at least that, it wasn't happening.
Of course the wife said " Oh hell no!" " I put up with you building that truck for three years, you're not selling it, and your not buying another project!" I think she has since softened her stance on selling it, although, I'm not sure if that's what I really want to do. I always wanted an 80's corvette. My biggest issue with owning this truck is seeing it parked, .vs- driving it, it's just not economical move to drive it a lot.
I am looking to change the cam to a much milder one, maybe even run the FItech fuel injection on it to see where that gets me. Oh well, just a thought.
Hope you're feeling better and your vision improves!
Have a good one!
Ben
:metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Vic its looking awesome and the 18' wheel are perfect!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Everything is looking great Vic. Anxious for more updates:metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice work Vic! Everything looks so nice and clean! I like your wheels too, they look great.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looking good Vic :metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

That looks sharp! Nice work Vic!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

wowee, took me awhile to get updated. Very intensive and you're really doing it up right. I'm envious of your garage and what you're able to do in there. Outf..standing! Can't wait for the final shine on that baby but then again it never really ends.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

That is coming together sweet!! The finish on the wheels is really cool.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Start saving for the LS swap! DD reliability and mileage, tire fryin' fun!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Good stuff, Vic! I dig the black chrome.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks for the encouragement and support, everyone! I'm finally heading in the right direction, I think. Funny how much you forget, though. What order do the parts go back together, which fasteners go where and how are they oriented? I've obviously slept too much since I took this puppy apart. According to my photo folder numbering system, it will be four years in January since I white-knuckled CRLS home in sub-freezing temps. Still way ahead of the 25+ years it took to finish that Ford. ;)

Oregon mentioned the shop and I have to say I've been truly fortunate when it comes to that. Over the years I've occasionally helped other guys with projects in single car garages and it takes a special kind of patience and organization to work in such a small place. I once painted a car for a guy in a tiny shed with a dirt floor and a salamander for heat in the dead of winter. Never again! :lol:

The fuel tank, trailer hitch and air system are all back in place. I haven't fired up the E-level yet because I have to have a running vehicle hooked to the 12V battery via jumper cables when the compressors are pumping. The amp draw is too much for the battery alone. Even adding my Sears battery charger in jump start mode won't keep them from cycling. Knowing this, I ordered a 320 amp alternator as an option with the March serpentine setup. Figured there was no way a stocker could keep up.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Vic,
Looking good my friend! Very clean and detailed!
Ben
:metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, Ben. I'm with Chip regarding Serious Black... an LS would scratch that "project itch" better than starting over with another truck.

I reinstalled line clips and routed air lines today until I had to stop off to order parts. Turned my attention to the serpentine drive and started setting the kit parts loosely into place. First crack out of the box, the bolt for the crankshaft drive hub was too long. Had to whack 3/8" off it to keep it from bottoming out in the crank snout. Harbinger of things to come.

Next up, the water pump had to be replaced with the one in the kit. After getting it in place with the fasteners just barely snug, it occurred to me that I remembered something on the March website about needing button head screws for the back of WP. No instructions whatsoever regarding the pump, so I pulled it back off and could see that the bolt heads had already made some light impressions in the cast aluminum timing cover. Swapped out the bolts and put the pump back on. At this point I discovered the thermostat and its housing were not correct for the new pump. Again, because there wasn't any remarks in the instructions about the WP, I was forced to call March to see what gives. Turns out the kit pump is off a 98-02 Corvette 350. The pocket where the thermostat sits is .275" shallower than my LS3 plus the housing bolt pattern is slightly different. So now I need to schlep off to the auto parts.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I did get the PS/Alt brackets trial and idler pulley assembled before knocking off work. Gotta go get Dad and bring him back home for the evening. Hopefully, there won't be too many setbacks as the accessories go on. Still a lot of parts left on the table. ;)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

With all that weight savings with the aluminum block and heads, tubular control arms, air bags and the engine sitting back closer to the firewall, sway bars and the lower center of gravity that little pickup is going to corner so much better it will feel more like a Camaro than a C10, sounds like a hell of a lot of fun to me!
Just a thought here that would cause you more work because I know how much you love that haha, how bout fabricating a tubular inner frame stiffener?
Everything looks great and hey aren't you almost back to where you were before you found out the frame geometry was irreconcilable?
How are your eyes doing?

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I wish I had known you were looking at March before you bought it. I would have warned you about their "quality" parts. This sounds like par for the course with them. I have one of their kits on my GTO... Not happy with them, or their idler pulleys. Just a heads up: the idlers they use are made in China. They're sealed units and all 5 of the one's I've used (3 on my kit) had developed an annoying (and embarrassing) squeal. I now have various OEM replacement idlers from many different year and manufacturers vehicles. Oh, and the clear powder coating has started to chip on my brackets. To be fair, it is about 15 years old. Their parts do look nice though.

Everything else looks good though, Vic. Keep it up!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Hey Brian, how's it going? Hope you're right that the weight distribution and "tubular" parts will give more of a performance ride. I'm afraid, though, that the exhaust cutouts and resonators will take up too much room to do much in the way of adding stiffeners to the frame. When Chip and Boppa were upgrading Yeller, they felt the best bang for the buck they got was a rear sway bar. I had one on the silver truck briefly, but didn't feel much in the way of "seat of the pants" improvement. That said, I didn't really do much before and after testing, so it's possible there was more to it than I thought. A rear sway bar might be easiest to fit in the available space.

The eye is doing terrific. Scheduled to do the left one the week of Thanksgiving. So two more weeks of misery after that. Results are worth it, though. I can see close up with the right eye with no correction. Distance still needs an assist, but I'm a happy camper!
Thanks, Duane. I'm arriving at the same conclusion about March. I was on the phone again with them today about an interference issue between their AC compressor and a module mounted to the head. The tech surmised it was related to EGR and I should just delete it and reprogram the computer. AYFKM?!! He also stated their alternator would probably not play nice with the computer either. No instructions, no fixes ...just a suggestion to Google what to do. <sigh>

I am however, making progress with the assembly with only minor setbacks such as chasing threads, re-tapping holes and removing .050" from one of the spacers. I'll build a bracket to relocate the module that was interfering with the AC, but I reckon the time will come when I have to spend a few days on the old interweb and figure out how to at least talk intelligently about what I need fixed in the ECM. Stopped at auto parts today on the way home from taking Dad to therapy and picked up a new thermostat and housing. It appears to be slightly smaller than the LS3 takeoff, but hopefully it will cool as good.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Even though the front runner is giving you a fit, everything else is looking awesome!!!!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

That is nice looking stuff! Too bad the fitment isn't what it should be. You're the one to figure it all out though!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Too many errands today to get much done, but I did assemble the last hose to connect the fuel tank to the hard line. After reading more about push-lock hose and fittings, I decided against using it in the EFI system. I may be overly cautious but decided to go with steel braided line rated for fuel. I liked the look of the braided black nylon covering, so popped for 10' along with some black fittings. Getting the nylon covering to go into the fitting nut turns out to be a PITA as it wants to bunch up when you attempt to push the hose in to the necessary depth.

The solution is to use a short length of Scotch tape and make a couple of tight wraps on the very end of the hose after cutting it square with a thin kerf Dremel cutoff wheel. I prefer to use dishwashing liquid instead of WD-40 or oil when assembling rubber hose. Makes it much easier to make up the parts, IMO.

Hope to stab the engine and trans tomorrow. I picked up a cheap digital inclinometer off eBay and will see how far off my driveline angles are. ;)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice looking stuff!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Some shots of the engine going in and the Style Track accessory drive. To make the CPP pedestals and slider mounts work, I had to remove the spacers that were supposed to go under the motor mounts. Also ended up putting the mounts in upside down relative to how I had them initially. This finally gave me enough room to get the bolts thru everything. I have the engine set forward as far as it will go at the moment, but will slide it back as far as practical when I get the cab set back in place.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looks great Vic! I'd trade jobs with ya in a heartbeat! Nice, clean and dry too.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Everything is so new and shiny.
Every time I see it I have to remind myself that it is a daily driver and not a show truck.
Impressive Vic.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Pretty pretty new stuff. Gonna be neat to see the rest come together.