Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Hey guys, this here is my current project, a 1980 c10 short box that had a stock peanut head/4bolt 454 and a th350 transmission. I bought it from an importer here in Australia, direct from California. on first inspection it looked like a pretty decent truck, something that wouldn't need much work. I took it for a test drive down the street and it seemed good so I purchased it.


within the first 5 minuets of driving it home the engine stopped... the fuel pump stoped working so I had to tow it home, it was the middle of summer and my car kept overheating. 7 hours later we arrived home with a dead c10 and a close to dead Mitsubishi wagon

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that next week I purchased a new fuel pump and while I was at it I noticed the front bumper was sitting a little crooked so I loosened the bolts to straighten it, only to find the front of the chassis was bent! the left hand side chassis rail had been knocked upward and outwards.

its hard to see in the photo but it is bent!

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I pulled the radiator support off the front of the car to straighten it out the chassis and also noticed the left hand lower control arm had been hit pretty hard too so I needed to get another lower control arm.

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inside the engine bay was a mess, all the suspension bushes were worn, back brakes needed replacing, most of the wiring around the engine was wrecked, cab mounts were almost gone and the engine and tranny were leaking bulk amounts of oil. this is where I decided to completely pull it down and start from scratch!


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I made an attatchment that I put on my engine crane to lift the cab off and a trolly to sit it on

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heres some pics of the build so far

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this is my project manager, lucy!

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DJM control arms and CPP big brake kit

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

I pulled the heads off the engine to have a peek at the condition of the bores and pulled the oil pan off to check the main and big end bearing, im glad I did! I found a couple of bearing had grabbed, the crank was scored, there were broken rings, the bores were tapered and one cylinder had been rusted at some stage. also found the cause if the major oil leak at the back of the engine

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

latest pic with the new 20s :metal:

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iv got the engine at an engine shop getting the crank ground, bored .030", decked and cleaned and going to order brand new internals in the near future!

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Looks like you have a nice solid truck to start with. Lucy looks worried though. You need to assure here its going to be a lot better when your done.

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Are you going to convert it to RHD ?

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Nah i dont need to so keeping it a lefty.
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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

She looks like she is not very good at delegation.

Sort of a "hands on" leader.

K

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Shes the best project manager iv ever had to work with. Everything i want to do to the truck gets approved, she lets me work back late at night whenever i want and lets me drink beer in the workshop while im working!

What are peoples thoughts on the 23" dual acting american shifter? Or is a push button lokar better?

Anyone know where i can purchase one of those front areofoils that sit under the front bumper?

Thanks! Bainsy
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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

I haven't been able to do much lately because im still waiting on parts. summit picked the wrong parts and other parts were on back order so iv been waiting 8 months since I placed my order for them.

in the meantime, with nothing to do I bolted the front end on just to have a look at the stance with the wheels on and im happy with how the front sits

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

do you mean these air deflectors?

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cc/full.aspx?Page=85

lmc says they're only for 81-87 trucks

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

8 month's ??? I would go nut's.
the truck is gonna be nice when you finish.

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Yeah i have been going nuts but being from another country, they dont seem to care. I recieved a few parts the other day from cpp and everything fits so poorly so they will be thrown to scrap and ill make them myself


Yeah they are the ones im sure i could make them fit. Thanks!

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

iv been a little busy over the Christmas break, got some speed pro lumpy top pistons, lunati street master cam and lifters, rollmaster timing set, got the block dipped, rebored and decked, crank ground and balanced, and lots of other new parts. also got my oil pan modified by Russell oil pans in Melbourne. sorry about the blurry images, my camera lens is broken!

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

The fuel system ill be running will be 1/2" lines with twin electric fuel pumps in parallel with a return type regulator. the current fuel tanks would not support this setup because the suction line from the tank is only 3/8 and draws from the bottom of the tank then out the top which is not good for an electric fuel pumps, (they don't suck the fuel just push it) unless I ran a lift pump up to a swirl pot or surge tank. another downside is the return line is only 5\16. so iv come up with a baffled sump design with 2, 1/2' barbs which will allows fuel to be drawn from the bottom of the fuel tank without the need of a lift pump and surge tank.

I made the sump from 50x100mm (2x4") RHS steel which ill just weld into the bottom of the tank.

I purged the fuel tank with running water for 5 minuets before attempting to cut into the fuel tank!

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Looks like you've got the thing under control, I like the truck!

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Decided to scrap the fuel tank idea and just buy a fuel cell which ill mount in the bed.

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Purchased a TH400 and then put in 4L80 clutches and manual valve body with a 3000 stall

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Purchased a pair of 3" hooker aero chamber mufflers.

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Bottom end is pretty much done.

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I sat the cab, truck bed and some guards on just to see how it sits with the new suspension and im pretty happy with it. hopefully the front drops a fraction more when the rest of the engine and its bolt ons are fitted.

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

time for some updates!

here im test fitting a pair of 3 1/2" hooker full length headders (not c10 headers but to suit chevelle I think) on the edlebrock heads. didn't fit ofcourse so had to do a few mods.

right side wasn't too bad
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but left side needed some meat taken out of the engine mount bracket and a few little dints

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Braced up where the hole was cut

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also had to mill out the flanges to clear the ARP head bolts

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

next dilemma was the transmission crossmember. as you can see in the photo the chevelle headders sit almost at the same plane as the crossmember to had to knock up another one to clear the pipes.

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this is what I come up with

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come up a treat with a coat of hammertone gray. I made 1 side unbolt so it can easily be mounted inside the chassis rails

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

next job was to make my exhaust. 3 1/2" full length headders into dual 3" with H pipe and 3" aerochamber mufflers and dump them at the rear axle.

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firstly I cut up the bends and roughed it into position with masking tape before tacking it together

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cut some 2 1/2" holes and tacked in some 2 1/2" tube for a crossover

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welded it up then gave it a coat of ceramic gray. also made a crossmember to hang the mufflers off

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rear end shot with the cab and bed on. plenty of clearance, even with a 5/5 drop

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

with the bed on it was time to install the fuel cell

had to make up a frame that utilized the bed mounts and fuel cell mounts

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I wasn't happy with the return line running into the top of the cell and aerating the fuel so I made a tube that still enters the top but exits at the bottom of the tank to eliminate the aeration (common in hydraulic reservoirs)

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a quick snap of the fuel pump mounting under the truck bed

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

now with the trans manualized, I wanted to ditch the column shift and install a B&M pro stick shifter. I really wanted to do something different and retain the bench seat so I fabbed up a frame that mounts to the seat and still allows the seat to move fully backwards and forwards and also feels comfortable to shift

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

installed a few gauges and lamps

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

engine is slowly getting there

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when I started stripping it down

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AND NOW! much better

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Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

Looks great man! Awesome work.

Re: Aussie built 1980 c10
 

this is my latest crazy idea, its a K&N 9" velocity stack, I have removed the 9" filter and replaced it with an 11" dominator base plate and 11x6" air filter on top. hopefully it wont sit this high once I assemble it all but you get the idea. :metal:

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