1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Well here we go! The can of worms is open. I'm just about to start a 1977 P-10 Step Van restoration. I picked this van up from a guy in Phoenix. It's lived its entire live in AZ so there is very little rust, and all that can be seen are surface stains. I'll just have to give the frame a little bath in light scrub, then paint to seal it.

This truck will be used as a catering/dessert truck used to supplement my wife's bakery business. I hesitate to call it a food truck because it will not be used to prepare food, but only vend. I will have fresh croissants, cookies, scones, eclairs, espresso, and pour over coffee. I only have about 42 sq ft inside the back that will be used for the work area. This will need to fit the refrigerator, hand sink, counter for espresso machine and storage for the day's pastry items. I will have the option to also pull a small trailer if it ever required.

This truck has the original 1977 I6 292 with a SM465 4-speed manual transmission. There has not been any previous restoration work done, so no modern luxuries. No A/C, no power steering, manual shifting.

My plans for the restore are as follows:

Replace the 292 with a new engine. I have a few options here. I could swap it with a small block 350, but I really don't want to spend a lot of time cutting/welding the frame if that would be needed. I really don't need a lot of speed, and I sure don't want to lose on towing ability. The back will have only a few hundred pounds of gear so I think a 350 would still do the trick. It was also suggested to me to look into a 383 Stroker which would give me the speed of the 350 and still have quite a bit of torque that the 292 had. I dunno. I'm still on the fence on swapping the motor. I know the 292 works and would be a direct replacement. The faster this is in service the faster I'm making money, so I'm weighing that with this decision too.

Next is to replace the tranny with a 700R4 automatic. I'm not always going to be the one driving this baby, and I want to make it as easy as possible for anyone that is working the truck that day. Since it won't always be me, and all the current staff doesn't know how to drive a standard transmission, this is a must. I decided on the 700R4 for the overdrive to save a little on gas. Since I won't be pulling and stumps out of the ground or hauling bricks, the 700R4 would be up for the job.

New radiator/transmission cooler. If this is needed, I'll be adding this since I'm swapping the transmission to automatic.

New drive shaft. Will need to be shorter since the new transmission is longer.

New steering column. I will cover up the hole in the floor where the shifter once was and will move the shifter to the steering column.

Power steering. This will be interesting since I've never added power steering before or even know where to begin for this. This will be fun.

Air conditioning. I will install an RV A/C unit to the roof of the truck. This way it can run without the engine running if I have A/C power available at the vend site. I will also have a couple portable generators. It would be nice to be able to run the A/C driving for hot summer months in TX, but not 100% required.

We'll I think that is about it. If I can think of anything else I plan to do, I'll update the thread along the way. I'm also open to any suggestions or opinions you may have!

Re: 1977 P-10 Rebuild Thread
 

Day 1
Attachment 1440776

Inside:
Attachment 1440777

Re: 1977 P-10 Rebuild Thread
 

8/22/2015
Floor panels removed. Almost ready to cherry pick the transmission and motor out. These clutch head screws were a real pain in the *** to remove. 38 years of light rust and dirt were really holding those panels on. I will be investing in an impact driver to remove the rest. I want to resurface/prime/paint the dash to make it look classy.

Attachment 1440778

Attachment 1440779

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Very cool and unique. Looking forward to seeing this come together.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Very nice. What a time capsul for a little utility vehicle. That baby was put on this earth to work, that's it.
Question; Where did you get your shade structure and how much was it? I have a little 10 X 10 that I work under in my back yard and that right there would be much better if I can anchor it down from the monsoon winds.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Hi Cooper. I believe this was picked up at K-Mart many years back. They have since closed their stores around this area. I believe you can find something similar at Northern Tool or Harbor Freight.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

I'm in. If you guys need a hand let me know.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Is there something wrong with the current 292? Just wondering why you are considering a v8 swap? The 292 and small block are the same bolt pattern so the 700r should bolt up.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

jdl71 brings up a really good point. Those 292's are awesome motors. Run like a champ. You could just do some gaskets, and a great tune up for now using good parts and run it. During a slow time pull it and rebuild it and back in she goes.
Might want to save your Hot rod aspirations for another vehicle?

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

There is nothing wrong with the current 292, AFAIK. Since converting to an automatic transmission is a must, I figured I would just replace the motor at the same time and give myself the peace of mind that it shouldn't break down anytime soon. Once I get this in service, I don't want to pull it out because it suddenly didn't want to hold compression anymore.

Time is also constrained. My wife wants this project done and in service ASAP. Buying a crate motor ready to swap reduces the restore time since I won't need to rebuild.

For the project managers out there, I'm prepared to spend money for reduced time and higher quality. :)

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

With all this said; "I'm prepared to spend money for reduced time and higher quality" you might want to look at the GM performance parts offerings such as the LS-3 option. It's lighter, fuel injected, will run forever, better performance, great mileage, and it's practically a one wire plug in. Pricey, but quality. Plugs will go about 80,000 before they need replaced.:metal:

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

update??

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

My day job required some travel recently, which limited my progress. This past weekend we pulled a couple more floor panels off so they could be stripped, sanded, and primed. We also got the old motor and transmission out.

Ready to pull
Attachment 1447701

It's out! That was kind of a pain. In hindsight, we should have done the transmission and motor in two steps to make it a little easier to manage.
Attachment 1447702

Final resting place
Attachment 1447703

Big empty hole
Attachment 1447704

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

A path has been chosen and I'm sticking to it. :)

I've decided to keep the 292. I will either find someone in the DFW area to do the rebuild, or I'll buy one already done. Either way, I didn't want to lose any time with dorking with any cutting or custom fab to make the 350 work. Plus with a little tweaking on the 292, I can get more HP than I really need for this application.

Here are my thoughts on the 292 rebuild. I'll let someone do a simple rebuild to bring it similar to OEM specs. Maybe just a few minor tweaks. However, the other day I was speaking to my primary care mechanic. He mentioned that if a rebuild is going to be done, I should try to find someone that will add dual carburetors to the build. He mentioned this will assign one carb to three cylinders, which will give it a bit more efficiency, and smoother idle since the FA mixture will be burning more efficiently. Then at the same time, convert to a dual exhaust system. Has anyone done anything like this? Is the juice worth the squeeze? There is a lot that can be said about keeping things simple too!

Next, I'm going to add a MSD. Better spark, better burn. Speaking with someone that added this to his P10 with a 250, this is a must.

As for the transmission, I'm going to use either a 700-R4 or the 4L60E (which would require an external computer to control the shifting). If anyone has any experience with the the 4L60E over the 700-R4 for this kind of application and has any pointers, please fire away. I'm all ears.

Since the transmission will be quite a bit longer, a new drive shaft will be in order. No biggie.

Power steering - I'll be adding power steering to a 292. I read that this is not as much of a commodity part as the 250 would be. Any tips on everything I would need to add power steering would be immensely helpful.

Steering column. I have not found anyone to rebuild my steering column yet. I want to add the gear shifter to the column instead of a floor shifter. Still working on finding someone to take that project on.

Right now I have a 411 rear end. I'll be swapping that to a 350 or a 373 so I can go faster than 55 mph without hearing the poor thing scream at me.

Well that should be about it for now. I'll keep posting as progress is made.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

A pro to using the 4L60e would be the lack of a TV cable. Since it it electronically controlled, you don't need a TV cable. The downside is the cost of the controller. It would also require an electric speedometer, but putting aftermarket gauges in your van would be relatively easy.

For the shifter, why not use a floor shifter so you don't have to mess with the steering column?

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Cool project! Sub'd.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

You might not have to change rear gears since you'll be adding overdrive.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Another thought on the shifter would be dash mounted like the older Dodge trucks and motorhomes used and I'm sure some step vans have used. I've also seen these in medium duty trucks with automatics. They basically look like a floor shifter rotated 90 degrees and mounted to the dash.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Are there any additional downstream effects to using the 4L60E over the 700-R4? Looks like the gauges are not too hard to find, but don't want to get any surprises down the road later. I sure love how much control you can get by programming the controller to make thing just right.

Pretty simple really. I want that precious floor space back. To me, it's worth redoing the entire column just for that. Honestly, the column could use some love anyway. The turn signal doesn't turn off automatically for right-hand turns because of a busted part that controls that.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

I'm in for the build. :chevy:

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

It's been awhile since posting an update, so here goes. October was a crazy month. I spend 3 solid weeks on the road, so during that time I was not able to do much. But before I left, I was able to drop off the engine to the machine shop to be rebuilt. I also was able to get some work done on refinishing the inside panels. Pics to follow.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

The panels on the truck were in pretty good shape, but painted an ugly green. I have not decided on the final color yet, but I knew for sure it was not going to be green. Since I had most of them off the truck to remove the motor and transmission, I figured now would be a good time to strip the panels down to the metal, prep, and prime them. Here is the progress on that so far. I went through a few cans of stripper. Most of the top layers of paint scrapped right off, but there was a few layers of primer that was really being difficult. I found that aircraft paint remover did the trick for that though.

Doghouse stripped and ready for the first coat of etching primer.
Attachment 1466783

Attachment 1466784

Attachment 1466785

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Here are the right and bottom panels around the doghouse. As you can see, a little surface rust on the parts that had the metal exposed. Sanded it right down and smoothed it out. Ready for primer.

Right floor panel topside:
Attachment 1466793

Right floor panel underside:
Attachment 1466794

Bottom panel topside:
Attachment 1466795

Bottom panel underside:
Attachment 1466796

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Here is a look of the main floor. It's in decent shape for 38 years. On the bottom side there is some rust damage, so I'll fill that in with some Bondo and smooth it out before priming it. Since I plan to replace the manual transmission with an automatic, the hole where the floor shifter came out will need to be filled. What I plan to do is cut a piece of sheet metal to size and fill the hole, then place a new layer of diamond plate over the entire floor so it's one continuous surface. This will also give the floor a little more support since the original diamond plate floor was of a pretty thin gauge and we can do better. I may also weld on a new cross beam under there for even more support, but cannot do that until I make sure it won't hit the new transmission.

Floor bottom:
Attachment 1466803

Closeup of rust damage:
Attachment 1466804

Kill room (for Dexter fans):
Attachment 1466805

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

This is exciting. The engine is almost finished. Just a new water pump and distributer before she'll be ready to be hoisted back into her home. Since it was already apart, I had the chance to make it better than new. I bored it out to .030, and upgraded the cam. I also put on a new Offenhauser intake manifold, new Holley 4 barrel carb.

Fingers crossed that this is going to fit when I get it back in there. If not, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm very happy how this turned out.

Attachment 1466808

Attachment 1466809

Attachment 1466810

Attachment 1466811

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Sweet I love it when guys keep the 6 banger this thing has cool written all over it Im in!

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Me too! I thought you were set on a drop in crate small block. I must have missed the post where you decided to keep the 6. It looks great. Kudos!

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

I was hell-bent on a crate V8, but then reality set in. This will allow me to get this back in service much faster. With the minor performance tweaks, I think it's going to be a great little workhorse with just enough pep.

I'm looking at the old pictures before it was pulled out, and the stock carb & air filter did sit pretty high, so I think I'm going to be ok on the height. I may just have to rotate the carb 180° and come in from the other with the cable linkage. We will all know soon enough.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

I'm in!! I like that you kept the six!

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Do you have any other pictures how did the automatic transmission work out

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Subbed!

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Nice looking truck Matt .
I see it's a steely , all those are long rusted away here in the northeast , my aluminum was a rare unicorn that was still around .
I put a 700r4 in mine behind the stock 292 with 373s and was the best upgrade I did so far .
If your able to find a motorhome you can pull the steering column out for both the automatic shifter and a tilt wheel . Or if you can find a 67/72 pickup with an auto that column will also work . .
I sent you a PM about the power steering stuff too .

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

I realize that it's been awhile since I last updated. Lots of progress though. Over the past month, I've found a new steering column, sourced all the power steering components, stripped all the paint in the front compartment to the bare metal, primed, and then reinstalled the engine. Lots of little hiccups along the way, but so far all have been manageable. Here come the progress pictures for each of these little milestones.

Re: 1977 P-10 Step Van Rebuild
 

1/28/2016

Steering system day!

Pulled off the old steering components and removed the old steering column. The old column was a non-tilt, floor shift model. It has a busted turn signal switch inside so it needs to be rebuilt. It would turn on, but would not automatically turn off for the right-hand signal. If you didn't remember to turn it off, it would make for some good times on the streets of Dallas.

This truck came with manual steering originally. I see the logic that the fewer bells and whistles you have, the fewer repairs that need made. But man, manual steering sucks to actually drive. I could deal with manual steering if it was an automatic transmission, or I could deal with a manual transmission if it had power steering. But when you have neither? No way, screw that noise. I decided I wanted to ride in the pure lap of luxury though, so I decided from the start that I was adding an auto transmission and auto steering.

Steering column:
Attachment 1508555

There are only a few things that secure this. There are 2 bolts holding a clamp just under the instrument panel, and just under the floor plate there is a clamp holding it to the floor. That floor plate? That was an interesting story. More on that later. Then finally the end of the column is connected to the intermediate shaft. Loosen everything, and it should just slide right out.

Once the components were off, I was able to see what I had here. The original column is 35", no-frill, straight column with no shifter. It was a decent enough shape, minus the turn signal problem. Since I was moving to an automatic transmission, I wanted to move the shifter back to the column. The OEM automatic version is quite difficult to find. A P30 RV will have what I really wanted (tilt and auto shift), but there are not many step van graveyards around here, so I hit the Internet to find something.

The steering column is 3/4", 36-spline. Write that down. That was a big deal since it needed to match with the intermediate shaft if I couldn't find an original and needed to go aftermarket.

Intermediate shaft:
Attachment 1508556

Attachment 1508557

Next off came the intermediate shaft. This is the part that connected the column to the gear box. Pretty simple component. Heavy too! This thing is serious. In a murder case it would be known as exhibit A. I don't recommend having your face under this when removing it from the truck or you'll be likely to lose a few teeth if it falls on you.

Once off, I was able to get a better look at it. It's 3/4", 36-spline on one end (to match the column) and 3/4, 36-spline on the other (the gear box end). This is important to note, and I found out why later on. After looking at, this thing has grease fittings all over it. A real fine piece of craftsmanship and built for business.

Gear box:
Attachment 1508558

Ah, the old manual gear box. 38 years of manual steering. Only 3 bolts holding this to the frame. Just don't be under it when you remove it. Little thing is a heavy SOB for its size.

See the end on the right side? Yeah, 3/4", 36-spline. That matches the same connector as the intermediate shaft. Cool. It's like the engineers at GM thought of everything.

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

02/03/2016: Tackling the steering column

Man, the steering column on this thing is pretty difficult to find. Again, I wanted to move the shifter back to the column because of a two main reasons.

1. That was the stock look with an automatic transmission.
2. I wanted the floor space back. How many times have you had to straddle the shifter when you exit the seat to the right and come close to the hitting a sensitive area? For me, I'm not very tall so it became a safety issue.

There was a P30 parked just down the street from me that NEVER MOVES. It’s used for advertising an auto shop. It works too cause it’s bright green. You won’t miss it. The frame is cracked and it's dented in too many places to count. I asked to trade my old floor shift column for his automatic shift column, but he was not interested. Strike 1.

I hit the interwebs. There are not many column shops that supply this specific animal. I finally found one but they were not interested selling it to me since they wouldn't get a core in return. It was a pricy little bugger too. $700-ish. I would have paid more too for the original, but they were not budging. I can understand though. Without a core, they cannot keep the inventory and the problem of finding an OEM to restore falls to them. Oh well, Strike 2.

Finally I found something that seemed perfect. The fine guys over at Classic Performance (http://www.classicperform.com) seemed to have something. I found a 35” column with an auto shifter and no key (since the key is located in the instrument panel) for $325. Oh, and it even was a 3/4”, 36-spline too. Seemed just right, so I called and it was exactly what I needed. It even had a tilt, so another convenience upgrade.

Steering column: TC-6772-SB
6772 TILT SHIFT BLACK STEERING COLUMN 6772 COLUMN SHIFT; 3/4-36

Linkage kit: CPTSL
GM SHIFT LINKAGE KIT TH-350, 400, 700-R4,4L60, 4L80

Here is the old column:
Attachment 1508770

The new column arrived:
Attachment 1508771

Testing the fit:
Attachment 1508772

The shifter arm at the floor end of the column was going to cause an issue though. The floor plate didn’t have an opening to account for this. So I was presented with two options.

- Dismantle the entire column so I could remove the shaft that had the shift arm attached. Reassemble it with the floor plate above the shift arm. Discard the rubber boot.
- Cut the floor panel to the size of the rubber boot. This would allow you to get the shift arm through the panel. Seal the hole with the boot.

I went with option 2. I hated the idea of cutting the original part since I’ll never be able get back to original. Also, if I screwed up the cut, I’d be left with a large hole in the floor and forever searching junk yards for the panel. After much deliberation it was the path of least resistance. I don’t have enough experience with steering column assembly so if something went wrong, I’d be up a creek. I had the tools to make a clean cut though, so I created a template in CAD and went to cutting. Turned out very well.

Cut lines on the floor panel:
Attachment 1508774

I then stripped and primed the panel so it’s ready for the final coat of paint.

Here it is installed:
Attachment 1508775

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

2/27/2016 - Power Steering Gear Installation

First, a special thank you goes out to Koffer for all his help with this install. He was very patient with me and the million of questions I had.

This upgrade turned out to be much more expensive that I estimated. So far only the new gear box and new pitman arm is installed. No hoses and no power steering pump yet. That will come soon.

It was a pretty simple install once you figure out all the parts you need, and that is where Koffer really helped me out. Again, thanks!

First thing was to remove the old pitman arm from the gear box. This little guy didn’t want to come off. I didn’t need a pitman arm puller, but it would have been a lot easier had I rented one. Just a couple direct whacks with a hammer and it popped lose though.

Next was to remove the intermediate shaft that was between the gear box and the steering column. Once that was loose, just 3 bolts held the gear box to the frame, and everything came apart.

Koffer told me I was going to need a new intermediate shaft, and once I had everything off, I understood why. The old shaft for the manual steering setup had 2 identical connection sizes at the ujoints. They were both 3/4”. The input shaft on the manual gear box was also 3/4”. So that works. The problem was the new power steering box had a 13/16” input shaft. No worries, I’ll just get a new intermediate shaft. That can't be expensive, right?

Also, the other connection on the gear box that attaches to the pitman arm is larger. (I don’t have the sizes). This is why a new pitman arm is required. The old one would just not fit correctly. The good news is it appears the idler arm is not different between manual and power steering, so at least there is that. Although I’m thinking about swapping it out anyway since, but that can really wait until I can drive it to the auto shop.

I noticed that the old bolts were pretty rusty, so I went to the specialty hardware store and grabbed some new grade 8 bolts and nuts. Then came the time to put the new parts together.

The power steering box is attached by 4 bolts. The holes were already drilled in the frame, and just needed to mount it. Again, don’t put your face under this thing when installing. Just don’t. Or do it, I don’t care, it’s your face.

Once the new box was installed, the pitman arm attached without any incident. Just a couple of nuts. I torqued down the nut and noticed the arm gets wedged onto the gear box. It’s not coming off now unless I have a pitman arm puller.

Then I attached a new intermediate shaft. One end is 13/16” and the other end is 3/4” The 13/16” side attaches to the gear box input shaft, the 3/4” side attaches to the steering column. Next step was to get it in there and torque down the bolts to hold it in place.

One thing I noticed is there is a small nut on the intermediate shaft. It’s right in the middle of the slider. I’m not sure if this is for a grease fitting or if I’m supposed to torque that down to prevent the shaft from moving. I don’t think it will move since both ends are pretty tight, but if someone knows, feel free to chime in.

That’s about all there is for the steering right now. The next part will be to mount the PS steering pump, attach the hoses, and install the belts.

Parts list:

Pitman arm
Moog K6143 - $71.99
There are cheaper options, but this one had grease fittings and was built for business.

Intermediate shaft
Mill Supply 89-715 - OEM Number 346810 - $312.40
This this is crazy expensive. I didn’t have a choice in the matter though. Mill Supply was just as expensive as the dealer.

PS gear box
Master Pro 503-0118 - $138.99 + $75 core ($213.99)
Seems to be just as good of a box as anything else out there.

New power steering pump bracket
4-5-6chevytrucks.com $260
More expensive than others on the web, but these look fantastic. Very well constructed.

Total cost so far: $858.38, and I still don’t have the pump, hoses, belts, and pulley yet. Is it worth it? I think it is.

Old Pitman Arm
Attachment 1510417

New Steering Box Installed
Attachment 1510411

Intermediate Shaft (I cleaned it up for no reason)
Before:
Attachment 1510414
After:
Attachment 1510415

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Looking good so far Matt .
As for the nut in the new shaft I'm not sure ,does it look like that where the grease fitting is on the old unit ? Also you don't want to tighten the slide part of the shaft as it does 2 things ,allows for the body and the frame movement or you would beat the snot out of the steering gear input shaft and column with the body flex. Also acts like a collapse able steering shaft .

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Ah, OK. Then I won't tighten it. Once I get back home from work this week I'll take a picture. From memory, it looks like a hex nut with a flat top. Almost like I could replace it with a grease fitting if I wanted.

What you say makes sense though. I would definitely need some up/down play as the steering wheel turns. Otherwise, just like you describe, that would cause a lot of force being shoved into the steering box. Makes perfect sense.

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

If it is in the same spot as the grease fitting in the old unit , just pull it and install a grease fitting . Now that I think back my pick and pull unit had a "plug"screw in a grease fitting if left in the spot would hit the frame as the shaft installed the opposite way with the slide jount was toward the box on one of the shafts and the other way for the power steering .i just pulled the plug , put the fitting in to grease it then reinstalled the plug when finished

Re: 1977 P10 Step Van Rebuild
 

Any update on the transmission?