1978 C10 454 Project

[RenegadeZ454]

Hello everybody. Newbie here from Ca. I have been frequenting this site for a few months now, mainly looking for information and such. I found and followed a few threads with some pretty cool projects in the process. All-in-all, I got more than I came here looking for; I found inspiration and want to say thanks to the people here. So I thought it would be fun to share a project I'm working on, also.

Not too long ago I purchased a 1978 C10 (112K miles) w/ 454cid that's been bored out .030 over. The last owner had it for well over 20+ years (he was second owner) and basically used it as a grocery getter and for the occasional dump run. When I got it, it ran decent. It missed and ran a bit rough but still seemed to have plenty of power and the tranny is real strong. Come to find out a week later, when I had time to troubleshoot the engine, it was running on 6 cylinders. A couple of the plug wires weren't attached. They appeared to be, but the connectors had broken off. A tune-up, set of wires, and re-timed made a big difference. But it still wasn't quite right. Ran a few other checks, including a compression check that resulted in all cylinders registering at 150-155psi, and narrowed it down to the QuadraJet. For 31 years old, it wasn't bad but enough to create vacuum issues, etc. So, I rebuilt the M4MC last weekend but still need to dial it in. Ultimately, it's gonna get replaced but not until I can afford the intake, a new carb, etc. and do it all at once. Pretty much just making sure it's streetable and safe for now while I track down casting numbers and such to see what I really have.

I'm out of time right now but I'll be back later with pics and finish catching up what I have done to the beast to date...like the 5" drop I installed a few weeks ago. I think I'll have some fun with this...

Peace out

[Jerry Jones]

Very nice. Santa Cruz is a cool place, I might just have to get back down there one of these days.

Oh yeah....Welcome aboard from Northern California!

[msgross]

welcome...

you'll find that in the project areas guys like to document the entire build... we love pics so the more the merrier...

[RenegadeZ454]

Thanks Jerry. I appreciate that. If you ever need to divert your destination in that 'hand basket', Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay will help so you can at least enjoy the ride.