66 frame off resto-mod

[tomlamb]

Hi all,

It is finally time for my own build thread. I have a shop (RRC Fabrication and Speed) doing the build for me and wanted to post some pics of the progress.

[tomlamb]

The bed was welded to the perches so it took a lot of grinding to remove...

[Alan's Classic]

Fresh meat, gotta love it. Nice progress on a good lookin' truck.

[tomlamb]

We are gluttons for punishment but so far so good. I do have the typical rot like cab corners, rockers, floors, and front fenders, and I am sure other stuff will turn up when everything gets back from blasting...

[Captainfab]

Looks like the truck was built once before. What are the plans this time around?
Glad to hear you're having it blasted.....best way to go about a rebuild/restoration IMO. Hopefully you aren't getting it soda blasted.

[tomlamb]

It was done once but instead of rust repair it had bondo. The plan is to keep it fairly stock looking, repair all the rust, install an 08 5.3L engine and trans. I want it to be a great daily driver not so much of a show truck. It already has a 2/4 drop, disks, Power steering. The guy doing the work builds Race cars and classics and has experience with Rust repair and metal fabrication(not a common skill from what I found in California). The blasting is a combination of soda and black magic done by Cal Blast, here are some shots of the old fender repair.

[62 short step]

Looks good!

[tomlamb]

Here is the motor and trans, it's a 5.3L with 13,000 miles from an 08 Silverado. We are planning to keep the active fuel management and keep the engine completely stock.

[65VOL]

Originally Posted by tomlamb

Here is the motor and trans, it's a 5.3L with 13,000 miles from an 08 Silverado. We are planning to keep the active fuel management and keep the engine completely stock.

This is exactly what I'd like to do with mine. How was the project of getting the engine, trans, and drivetrain all connected. Did you have to update gauges as well for sensors? Also what parts were you able to keep and trim from the silverado setup?

[tomlamb]

Originally Posted by 65VOL

This is exactly what I'd like to do with mine. How was the project of getting the engine, trans, and drivetrain all connected. Did you have to update gauges as well for sensors? Also what parts were you able to keep and trim from the silverado setup?

Well, we were able to get the engine, trans, harness, computers, tank, fuel pump all from the same roll over truck. We are seeing some issues with the engine (see posts above) that we are trying to fix, but all is going well otherwise as you can see from the Pics.

For the gauges, I will likely run extra sending units on the engine, I already have an electronic Speedo and fuel gauge and volt that should work so I only need water temp and oil pressure sending units and there are places on the block to locate these. You can get something like the Aeroforce Interceptor gauge to read stuff from the computer directly and not use extra sending units if you choose. The other option would be to use the BCM and gauge cluster from the donor truck and trim to fit.

Basically, I am not doing much to the Interior as it is not in my budget so I need to cobble together what I can for this round. I hope to save up a little and be able to get the Interior stuff done at a later date.

[tomlamb]

Some more pics, getting the rot out.

[joe231]

nice looking truck to start..it will be SWEET when you finish it!!!

[ChiefRocka]

Nice, really nice !!

[jason65]

You move fast and post pics. Thats the kinda threads we like.
Good job on the truck.

[MacAttack]

Nice work - and really nice power-train!

Originally Posted by jason65

You move fast and post pics. Thats the kinda threads we like.

(wonder what he means by that?)

[1964C10]

Thanks for the pictures, I will looking forward to hearing how you like the 5.3L in your truck as I am still deciding on what I am going with

[1964C10]

Is that a Ramjet you have in there now? If so getting rid of it? ;-)

[tomlamb]

Originally Posted by 1964C10

Is that a Ramjet you have in there now? If so getting rid of it? ;-)

The old engine is an 86 IROC 350 TPI motor with a TH350 trans. The motor was getting tired and started burning oil a bit (blue smoke at startup). The deal I have with RRC is he gets to keep all the unused/old parts. He may be looking to sell the stuff so if anyone is interested let me know and I'll pass it on.

I should soon be able to post more pics as I asked RRC to photo document the work but the thread will likely be a week or so behind. I will try to post some more pics tonight.

[1964C10]

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to more pictures, wish mine was moving that fast

[tomlamb]

Here are some photos of the engine removal

[tomlamb]

And now for the interior ...

[tomlamb]

New engine first fitting...





The old floor was hacked up and will need to be fixed...



RRC decided it was better to make a full patch...

[joe231]

Nice!!

[tomlamb]

Thanks for the complements, so far it is nice (but expensive) to have it being worked on every day as I don't have the fabrication skills to do it myself.

I hope to post some pics of the custom motor mount perches later today. I wanted to use the stock 08 motor mounts as I read that they were tuned to the active fuel management in order to reduce vibrations and It also makes finding replacements motor mounts less of a chalenge (provided GM doesn't implode).

[gostranger]

cool nice job looks kind of like mine i am also getting a 5.3 vortec ready to put in mine any info on harness, computer reprogramming, motor mounts ,fuel pump and regulator, adapting fuel lines, adapting power steering lines ect. i am going through this right now any suggestions or input would be awesome cant wait to see yours done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!