my lowwww buck 83 build 5.3

[slinginrods]

now that i finally have my engine im going to start my build.this truck is meant to be a low budget build that will be done in my driveway mostly,because my hot rod takes up my garage space and i cant really leave it out side(roadsters hate being rained in).my dad gave me this truck,ive wanted one for a long time.thanks pops!

[slinginrods]

this is shortly after i got it.as you can see there has been some quality repair work going on here.now to be fair to my dad he never did any of this.he bought it with intentions of building it ,but changed his mind ,now its mine.more to come

[slinginrods]

front suspension was shot.steering box was sloppy ,all steering gear worn and ball joints

[WarBeard]

Looking good so far! Custom exhaust huh

[slinginrods]

some shots of the steering shaft i built using a joint.also the notorious cracked frame

[slinginrods]

frame repair......i had to go back and further reinforce the frame around the bolts with some thick washers welded in place around the holes. the plate they sell to fix this for the 4wd does not work on th 2wd.

[slinginrods]

used a paint and rust removal wheel on the bed and painted it with ace hardware ruststop paint.way cheaper than spray in bed liner but not as strong.

[Gordonr1973]

Looks to be a really good foundation of a truck!

I like that blue!!

[slinginrods]

put on my salt flat discs,painted the rear filler .pulled the sickly 305.starting on cleaning the frame up

[slinginrods]

after cleaning found even more cracks ....no wonder it felt so loose up front.between the worn out suspension and steering and the frame falling apart im surprised it went down the road at all.im used to working on much better frames these 73-87 frames have alot to be desired.if i decide down the road to really upgrade the suspension ill probably just fab my own up using a combo of 2x6 and 2x3 tubing and full coil over suspension ,rack steering,and a 4 link rear.i already have the 9 inch rear for it.i built a 55 this way and it was awesome .anyways i digress, heres were we are

[slinginrods]

more

[slinginrods]

redid the under hood harness,replaced all the headlight conectors and cleaned it all up

[burb1085]

That's crazy! I'm about to look over the frame of my Suburban. I have the same loose feeling in the steering you described.

[slinginrods]

when turning the wheel the whole frame moves around,its crazy.part of e wants to tear the whole truck apart and just build a solid frame and suspension set up but remember the name of the thread low buck.we shall see if i can refrain

[stepside83]

cool build sucks you have so many cracks in the frame, i have a small one by the mounting hole for the one of the bed bolts, the 5.3 carbed idea is cool i was thinking on doing this with my truck, will be watching closely

[slimneverdies]

They actually sell a plate for that frame fix that suppose to work. I've welded mine probably a total of 4 times and it just keeps cracking in different spots. I just bought a newer(better condition frame) and a dropmemember cause as long as you have that steering box on that cracked frame it's gonna be week.

Anyway, nice and clean upgrades
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[Can't kech me]

sweet, i wanna build a carbd 6.0l, just think it would be cool

[slinginrods]

got the engine stripped down and cleaned up.the inside looks pretty clean,so far.im going to tear the bottom down and check the bearings.still gotta get my cam kit and gaskets.

[slinginrods]

this is what i started with .....

[kwin]

Originally Posted by slinginrods

this is what i started with .....

Thats what mine looks like now!

[Can't kech me]

nice nice i too have a 5.3l, will be getting a cam too, but yours will be much cooler with a manual!

[slinginrods]

finally got my seals last night ,lapped the valves and put them together

[slinginrods]

these upgrade the factory roller bearings with a captive design incase the bearing fails it wont spit bearing guts through the engine.recommended when upping the lift and pressures of an aftermarket cam.i will be upgrading the lifters to brand new ls7 units as well.the low buck is starting to fade but ,aftermarket rockers are 400-600 .00 and morel lifters run 500.00 so really at 140.00 for the ls7 lifters and 140 .00 for the trunion kit im saving alot of coin,and not giving up reliability.

[slinginrods]

went to the junkyard with dad to get stuff for the camaro build.always keepin one eye open for any squares and damn if ididnt fid a 3/4 ton diesel sub.snatched the sway bar,been lookin for one for a while.paid 20.00 rubbers look ok but im replacing em anyway.cleaned a bunch of parts too.ofund a driveshaft for the th350,rolled it over and it had two big dents in it damm forklifts.heres some pic up dates

[slinginrods]

donated my th350 to the camaro and scored a fresh th350 with shiftkit and installed my tci 10" 4000 stall converter.i still need to paint it ,its pretty clean though.it was in my dads 32 ford.it only has about 2000 miles on it.