|
Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
I've been cruising in 67-72 C10s since before I can remember. My dad thought it was a good idea to start the C10 brain washing as soon as possible. Not kidding my first word was not mom or dad it was actually "truck". This is a picture of my first cruise in my dad's 1970 C10 (2006).
Attachment 2409780 My Grandpa Dennis helped my dad build his 70 when he was a kid. Here is a picture of my grandpa and I with my dad's truck Attachment 2409785 Early on even though I didn't have a designated truck of my own we started the process of dragging donner trucks home wheneverwe could find them. We knew we would need a good stockpile of parts to build six C10s for me and my five siblings. Here is a picture of my siblings and I with my grandpa and dad pulling one of our first trucks home. Don't worry we didn't pay sticker price. We walked away only having to shell out $200. Attachment 2409786 Much of my early childhood was great memories of finding and dragging trucks home and searching for parts for my future truck. Here is a picture of me and one of my brothers finding our first gauge clusters. Attachment 2409787 My grandpa, little brother, and I changing the alternator in my dad's truck. Dad taking the picture. Attachment 2410263 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
Sadly, in 2018 my Grandpa passed away unexpectedly, just as we were about to start working on a truck for me. Over the years my Dad and Grandpa were working on a 1968 Camper Special for my Grandpa. They had installed a roller rocker 350 out of a Caprice cop car in the early 2000s. The plan was to start working on it again while working on another truck for me this time putting a 5.3 LS in my Grandpa's 68 and then I would inherited the 350 cop car motor for my project. When Grandpa passed we decided that we would put all of our focus on building the 68 for me keeping it in the family and having it be a three generation truck. I saved up money for a whole summer working to buy the truck for myself. Here is a picture of when we went up and picked up the truck from my Grandma (March 5, 2020).
Attachment 2409792 On the way home we stopped by the cemetery where my Grandpa was laid to rest and let him know what our plans were, and that we would bring it back not on a trailer when we got the project up and going. Attachment 2409793 In the 90s when my Dad built his truck with my Grandpa most of the work was done in the back of Grandpa's NAPA Auto Parts Store. Conveniently the building previously was a car dealership built in 1920. In the early 2000s the business and building was sold. Luckily for me in 2014 the business and building was put up for sale again. At that time my family moved back to Idaho and bought the store back. That means I get to build my truck with my Dad in the exact same building, and in the exact same bay as he built he truck with his Dad. Here is a picture of when we brought the truck to the store. Attachment 2409794 The first thing that we did when we got the truck in the building was pull the two rotted saddle tanks (April 4, 2020). Attachment 2409796 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
Cool story, looking forward to seeing more on what you do with your 68. Thanks for sharing!!
|
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
From all the holes it looked like this truck had changed side mirrors quite a few times. We figured going back original would look the best. This was one of my first purchases, parts wise, for the truck. The new mirrors did not come with backing plates, so we made some out of aluminum.
Attachment 2409863 But once we got the inner door panels pulled off to install everything look what I found at the bottom of the doors! Attachment 2409864 After a quick sandblasting and squirt with black paint the old backing plates were good as new and we were able to install the new mirrors. Attachment 2409865 I love the look of the original mirrors. They are so clean and simple (July 3, 2020). Attachment 2409866 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
On September 11, 2020, we started to take the old cop car motor out.
Attachment 2409867 Attachment 2409868 Attachment 2410264 I made a list of everything that needed to be done before we could take the motor out. Attachment 2409869 I got everything unhooked, but I had to stop there because my dad needed me to stock shelves. Attachment 2409870 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
3 Attachment(s)
Then the next day September 12, 2020, we were able to pull the motor and transmission all the way out.
Attachment 2409875 We even stopped to take a couple father-son pictures, I am glad I will have these for the future, my dad always says he had more pictures of working with his dad. Attachment 2409873 There is a lot of room in the engine bay without a powerplant inside. Attachment 2409874 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
3 Attachment(s)
November 10, 2020. At first, we were thinking about reusing the cop car 350.
Attachment 2409878 But after pulling it a part we decided that we would save it as a core for a future project. Attachment 2409879 Lucky for me, my dad decided that the LS he had bought for my grandpa needed to go in the truck as was the original plan. The LS motor and 4L60E came out of a rolled 2007 2WD Silverado Classic with 40,000 original miles. When he bought the motor, it came with the original computer and wiring harness which had been reworked for the swap, GM ProFormance oil pan, motor mount adapters. Attachment 2409880 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
December 4, 2020. This was our first attempt at putting the LS motor into the engine bay.
Attachment 2409887 After adjusting the motor mount adapter plates we gave it the first stab. Attachment 2409886 Attachment 2409882 Attachment 2409881 Once we got it in there we realized that the stock Silverado exhaust manifolds were not going to fit between the frame rails. Attachment 2409888 We decided to leave it in there while we thought about what we were going to do. |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
March 19, 2021. I was able to take care of a couple of items.
Sandblasted and painted some under hood parts that were showing their age. Attachment 2409893 Attachment 2409890 I did one at a time so I could show a before and after. Its amazing what sandblast and paint can do. Attachment 2409891 I also started to take my cracked dash pad out. Attachment 2409892 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
1 Attachment(s)
April 24, 2021. I was able to get back to the store and worked on cleaning up some more rusty parts. Didn't get as many pictures this time, Dad must have been busy with customers. At least we got one before picture. I was also able to clean up and paint other items like radiator mounts, etc.
Attachment 2409895 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
June 11, 2021. After bumping the motor into the heater box and cacking it a little bit we decided to the position of the motor figured out it would be a lot easier with the front clip off. I am very thankful for nematic hoists it made the job a whole lot easier.
Attachment 2409903 Attachment 2409902 Attachment 2409898 Even after cutting the flange off the stock exhaust manifold we were not able to make them fit with the frame. Also, we want to keep the stock lower mount A/C position so there is still more to figure out. Attachment 2409901 Attachment 2409900 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
November 17, 2021. For my birthday, I wanted to figure out a stereo system. We really liked the look of the original AM radio in the dash but wanted to have a more modern Bluetooth capability. Now that we are using the more modern LS motor the choke lever is no longer needed. That opened up an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. We are pretty proud of this solution and think it doesn't take away from the classic look of the original interior. Nothing like hiding your radio in plain sight.
Attachment 2409905 Attachment 2409907 Attachment 2409908 We were even able to swap out the knobs so that it had an original choke style look. Attachment 2409904 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
3 Attachment(s)
November 22, 2021. Getting my stereo figured out for my birthday got me excited about my interior. With Christmas coming up I wanted to figure out my carpet and upholstery options. So, I set off a couple of samples to some fabric companies.
Attachment 2409911 Attachment 2409912 We didn't hear back in time on the seat material, but we were able to figure out the carpet so that I could have it under the Christmas tree. Better than asking for some waste of time Xbox game. We heard back later on the buddy bucket seat material. That is going to be an expensive project. We will have to deal with that later, but at least we have the info to keep everything looking stock. Attachment 2409919 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
December 30, 2021. Christmas came through with the stock carpet kit time. The original carpet from the factory which is now about 54 years old. It was missing pieces in places and was starting to frizz.
Attachment 2409913 We plan on using a blazer style gas tank so the original one has to go. We order the carpet extra long to cover all the way to the back of the cab. Attachment 2409914 For now we left the old carpet under the new carpet hoping it will act as additional sound deadening. The new carpet makes the interior look a lot better. Attachment 2409917 This is a before and after picture you can tell where the thresholds were on the original carpet the color is pretty much identical. Attachment 2409918 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
1 Attachment(s)
February 25, 2022. Finally got the motor adjusted to where we wanted it and got it bolted down.
Attachment 2409920 We gave up on trying to the stock exhaust manifolds to work. Our local VFW Hall has a yearly competition called the Patriots Pen where students can submit and essay on the topic they assign. The topic was “America: Where Do We Go From Here?” Turns out I won the competition and got a $200 cash prize. I took that money and ordered a new set of stainless-steel headers that will hopefully solve my problem. |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
Great story and nice work! Do you have more info on the radio thingy you put in the choke hole? It's a great idea!
Good luck, Rg |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
Cool background stories! Sub'd to follow along.
|
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
March 2, 2022. Now that the motor is where we want it we can find the correct length for our driveshaft. I pulled it out and my dad's friend Kipp cut it for us with his lathe and welded it back together at the shorter length we needed.
Attachment 2410192 Attachment 2410194 With new u-joints and a quick paint job we had it back in the truck. Attachment 2410193 March 11, 2022. Bolted on the correct alternator. Attachment 2410211 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
March 12, 2022. Lucky for me, many years ago while on this site my dad purchased a gas tank from Boyd Welding that was a ding and dent deal. He didn't need it at the time but the price was good enough so he got it for when he changed his truck to fuel injection. Turns out his truck is still carbureted so he won't be needing this for a while 😁.
Attachment 2410196 We used the future fuel pump block off plate as a start for our homemade fuel pump assembly. We got pretty creative with this one. We soldered a barbed fitting into a brass 90 creating a way to hook the in-tank pump line to the fuel injection house coming from the intake. We then drilled another hole and used a copper line compression with pipe thread on the opposite side to run the wiring into the tank. We also put a chunk of small gas line where the copper line would be compressed by the ferrel. Once we tightened up the compression nut it was a watertight penetration. We used a piece of conduit and a large carriage bolt to create a mounting stem and set the depth of our aero motive fuel pump. For a bunch of random parts it turned out really well and was very cost effective. Attachment 2410200 Attachment 2410197 Attachment 2410198 Attachment 2410199 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
March 15, 2022. When we bought the LS motor the harness was already modified and the plugs were cut off. Whoever reworked the harness did a great job and labeled everything by number. The only problem was when we got the motor the previous owner had lost the paper with the information that each number meant. So we had to break out the volt meter and check where each wire went. With the help of LS1Nova71 and some good wiring diagrams we were able to start to figure everything out.
Attachment 2410201 Attachment 2410202 Took the LS pressure sender and broke out all the plastic. Then drilled and tapped so I could run my stock gauge. Attachment 2410255 Attachment 2410256 Attachment 2410257 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
April 5, 2022. My fancy new headers showed up and lift great except for the passenger side motor mount perch. But with a little cutting and welding we fixed that.
Attachment 2410205 Attachment 2410206 Attachment 2410207 Attachment 2410208 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
April 9, 2022. Got all of the wires figured out and labeled. Feels really good to get that done.
Attachment 2410265 Attachment 2410209 Cut a little relief in the farm and installed stub outs off of the ac compressor for future ac line hoses. Hope this helps us in the future when we get the ac system up and going. Attachment 2410245 Attachment 2410246 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
April 11, 2022. Made a cardboard template to figure out a bracket for the drive by wire pedal assembly. Ran the wires through the clutch block off cover.
Attachment 2410212 Attachment 2410213 Attachment 2410214 Attachment 2410215 Attachment 2410216 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
2 Attachment(s)
April 12, 2022. Out the fuel tank in the bed for now. We'll put it in the blazer tank location later when we have the bed off for the short bed conversion. Ran plumbing.
Attachment 2410217 Attachment 2410218 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
2 Attachment(s)
April 15, 2022. With a bunch of temporary fuses, relays, and switches the beast runs!!!!!
Attachment 2410220 Attachment 2410219 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
April 27, 2022. Found an old water line riser on the farm that should work good to run the exhaust through the trailing arm cross member.
Attachment 2410221 Attachment 2410222 Our friend Larry was nice enough to bring his portable plasma cutter in and cut our holes for us. Attachment 2410223 Attachment 2410225 Our buddy Kipp has an exhaust benders at the shop he works at. He bent us up some pipe to get us from the header back through the trailing arm. Attachment 2410224 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
May 6, 2022. Time to get the front clip engine bay cleaned and painted before we throw it back on. Lot easier to do off of the truck. Painted the top side of the engine bay with black high temp paint. And sprayed the underneath with 3M under spray.
Attachment 2410268 Attachment 2410228 Attachment 2410229 Attachment 2410266 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
May 11, 2022. Got the front clip reinstalled. Found a cool place to hide the pcm computer. Copied this location from LS1Nova71, that guy has one sweet build thread. Installed the drivers side battery tray, radiator and hoses, etc. Man this thing is really coming along.
Attachment 2410237 Attachment 2410238 Attachment 2410231 Attachment 2410233 Attachment 2410232 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
May 21, 2022. Modified the stock fan shroud to fit a V8 Jeep electric fan. Used the stock connector to make sure it was a waterproof connection.
Attachment 2410234 Attachment 2410235 Attachment 2410239 Attachment 2410240 Connected the drive by wire module to the proportioning valve. I would have liked to have hidden it like the computer in the fender well but this is the next best thing. It almost looks like an ABS module. Attachment 2410236 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
May 27, 2022. Installed angled spacer and L-bracket to support the 2007 stock air filter housing. This is why we moved the battery to the drivers side. So that we could use all of the stock intake. We really try to make the swap as stock looking as possible. So now if I have problems it's either parts for a 2007 Silverado or a 1968 C10.
Attachment 2410241 Attachment 2410242 Attachment 2410243 The engine bay is really coming together and I really like how it's looking. Attachment 2410244 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
May 31, 2022. Our friend Dave helped us mock up oil cooler lines on a transmission case he had kicking around. We ran hard lines from the transmission supported by brackets bolted to the side of the oil pan. Once we got to the front of the motor we transitioned to heavy duty rubber hose the rest of the way to the radiator side tank.
Attachment 2410269 Attachment 2410251 Attachment 2410248 Attachment 2410249 Attachment 2410250 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
3 Attachment(s)
June 1, 2022. We have been pushing the project really hard lately. There is a reason for this. The last day of my freshman year of high school will be on June 2, 2022. I really want to be able to say I drove my truck my freshman year of high school. Here is the list I have made and taped onto the post next to my truck.
Attachment 2410270 We worked until midnight on the 1st just to get the truck ready to drive home. I can remember how excited I was to be able to bring my truck home and take it to school the next morning. Here is a picture of me and our friend Kipp who stayed with us until midnight to make sure we made our deadline. Attachment 2410253 When I got home which is 45 minutes away from the shop. I had one thing left to do. Install my freshly steel wooled front bumper. Now I was ready to roll into the high school parking lot just I had dreamt about so many times. Attachment 2410271 This is a picture my dad took of me when we finally brought the truck home. |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
5 Attachment(s)
June 2, 2022 aka the last day of Freshman Year of High School. Rolling into the parking lot was more epic than the opening scene of dazed and confused.
The first picture is of me standing with my pride and joy. Attachment 2410273 Me in the drivers seat of minty fresh. Attachment 2410274 Me and three of my four younger brothers. Attachment 2410275 Picture proof of my truck in the high school parking lot. Attachment 2410276 To reward myself for a successful day with the truck, I installed my back bumper. The one thing I didn't quite get done on my list yesterday. Attachment 2410262 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
Great build thread so far, I’m eager to see more
|
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
2 Attachment(s)
June 4, 2022 As exciting as it was to drive my truck to school, the truck definitely ran a little weird. The throttle was unresponsive at first and then would turn into wide open throttle. Luckly everyone thought I was showing off and doing burn outs on purpose. We installed a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail, turns out we were running a little high.
Attachment 2425779 I know the corvette inline filter/fuel regulator has worked for some people, but it did not work for us. So, we ordered an Aeromotive adjustable regulator. Attachment 2425780 Here is our temporary gas tank situation until we mount it under the bed when we make it a swb. Even with the new regulator it still runs really crazy. |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
4 Attachment(s)
July 27, 2022 My dad borrowed a fancy MATCO TOOLS scanner from his mechanic friend Mike. It took me a bit a figure out how it worked, but it was a super cool tool. Turns out when we put the wiring harness back in the truck we reversed the o2 sensor plugs opposite of what they were supposed to be, driver on the passenger side and visa versa. I was able to find that out by looking at live data fuel trims. Basically, it was flooding one side and making the other side run really rich trying to correct incorrect data. With the o2 sensor plugged in correctly its amazing how much better it runs.
Attachment 2425781 With that figured out we decided to tackle another project under the hood. The stock LS intake pulls from the inner fender. So, we cut a hole through the inner fender in its new home Attachment 2425782 Attachment 2425783 Attachment 2425784 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
2 Attachment(s)
August 18, 2022 Now that I have been driving the truck for a couple of months, we figured we should probably make it legal. Only insured it for liability $15 per month isn't bad at all. How do you like my plates vintage plates from the same year as my truck and the license plate numbers are the year and engine size as well, can't get much better than that. None of my friends understood the significance. Older guy at the gas station thought it was really cool.
Attachment 2425785 My truck still has decals on each side of the cowl and one on the tailgate for the original dealership Edmark Chevrolet. I looked online and found an advertisement for my truck from there, pretty cool. Attachment 2425787 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
2 Attachment(s)
August 28, 2022 Went down to Utah to see my cousins (my dad's brother). Went for a cruise in my Uncle Shay's '72 swb 4x4 Ford. My dad said it was fun to see my brother, cousin, and I cruising around in the truck he had so much fun working on with his dad and brother growing up. I am glad that our grandpa spent so much time with his sons working on projects. It is so cool that they still have trucks that they worked on with their dad and are now passing it on to me and my cousins.
We drove it to church and then went cruising for chicks afterwards. We didn't find any but we did get some thumbs up. Attachment 2425788 Attachment 2425789 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
1 Attachment(s)
September 11, 2022 Me and my brothers were feeling patriotic so we washed all of the trucks that we had at the house and parked them on the lawn. My '68, my dad's '70, and my brother Andrew's K5, my brother Connor's '76 Highboy and the family 89 S10. It is too bad that my other 3 siblings trucks are at my dad's shop in Gooding. We need to get them all together for a picture someday.
Attachment 2425790 |
Re: Jack's Minty Fresh 68 Build
1 Attachment(s)
September 28, 2022 First break down. Me and my dad were taking my truck to work and a quarter mile from the house we were dead in the water. We walked back and got a volt meter and it didn't take us too long to find the break in the line going to the fuel pump. Definitely gave us some motivation to finish up the wiring clean up. We stopped to take a picture on our walk of shame home. Now I know what its like to own a Ford.
Attachment 2425792 |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:12 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright 1997-2025 67-72chevytrucks.com