My first C10-LS2/4L70E swap

[SeTx67]

This will be my first build and it will most likely take me a while due to my work schedule and limited time at home with two little ones running around. Keeping that in mind I bought a truck that seemed to be a good starting point. My goal is to keep the truck running and driving most of the time with limited down time so I can actually enjoy it as much as possible.

First I started out by trying to figure out exactly what I got myself in to. At first glance the truck is clean on the outside and in the engine bay but the interior is rough (I knew this going in).

Exterior pics






Engine compartment





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[Claytona08]

Man, what are you a professional photographer or what? My build thread has pics in my driveway...lol.. Nice truck, very nice starting point!
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[SeTx67]

Originally Posted by Claytona08

Man, what are you a professional photographer or what? My build thread has pics in my driveway...lol.. Nice truck, very nice starting point!
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I wish. We do have a nice camera but the first 3 pics were done by a family friend. He does great work if you want his contact info for your truck
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[Claytona08]

Originally Posted by SeTx67

I wish. We do have a nice camera but the first 3 pics were done by a family friend. He does great work if you want his contact info for your truck
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Yeah that would be awesome! Sounds like it's Christmas at your house!
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[SeTx67]

I knew I wanted to get the interior finished pretty soon since that's where I plan to spend most of time. So earlier this week I started gutting it and getting it ready to drop off at the paint shop. Another forum member (Claytona08) stopped by earlier this week to check out the truck. He's got a pretty cool build going on over in the 73-87 build section.

The body shop is going to do a few patch panels and get the interior painted. I dropped the truck off early on Juky 3rd before returning to work so it should be ready when I get home at the end of the month. I also just placed a order for quite a bit of the small items I'll need to get the interior put back together. On to the pics...

At some point my truck had a whip antenna


Some rust spots around the kick panels and floor pans














Dash area (I forgot to get pics after I removed the dash pad and a few other items)






The driver side defrost vent was busted when I removed it


Green visor in a blue interior truck?


Apparently my truck only came with one visor


More pics












SPID


Is this a original 67 seat?

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[SeTx67]

My wife just called and said I have a few packages by the front door. I guess my order from Tommy at TNT-motorsports showed up
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[Xeen]

When you say the body shop is doing a few patch panels what do you mean exactly?
If I were you I would find out what method they use to do patches.
Here is a horror story for you.
Most body shops now days won't weld in patch panels instead they use a bonding agent and lay in the new panels.
What's worse is if you request that they be welded in they will scab the new metal in behind the old with the worst welds you have ever seen instead of doing it right and butt welding them seamlessly because most of those guys never had any formal training or apprenticed under someone who has.
The moral of the story is do your homework and find out what method this shop uses before you trust your truck to them and regret it later when you get the bill and find out they did a horrible job and still expect you to pay the bill.

[SeTx67]

Originally Posted by SeTx67

My wife just called and said I have a few packages by the front door. I guess my order from Tommy at TNT-motorsports showed up
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Originally Posted by Claytona08

Yeah that would be awesome! Sounds like it's Christmas at your house!
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Text me if you want his info. I wish. Hopefully by Christmas I'll be ready for wheels

Originally Posted by Xeen

When you say the body shop is doing a few patch panels what do you mean exactly?
If I were you I would find out what method they use to do patches.
Here is a horror story for you.
Most body shops now days won't weld in patch panels instead they use a bonding agent and lay in the new panels.
What's worse is if you request that they be welded in they will scab the new metal in behind the old with the worst welds you have ever seen instead of doing it right and butt welding them seamlessly because most of those guys never had any formal training or apprenticed under someone who has.
The moral of the story is do your homework and find out what method this shop uses before you trust your truck to them and regret it later when you get the bill and find out they did a horrible job and still expect you to pay the bill.

Advice taken. When I showed him the truck and got a estimate I asked as many questions as I could think of. He said he was going to cut out the bad spots and replace them with new sheet metal. He didn't seem to think any of it was bad enough to warrant repacing the entire panel. I hope this clarifies some things
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[Claytona08]

Man I'm excited to see the truck once it's painted on the interior. You painting the interior the same color as the exterior?
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[SeTx67]

Originally Posted by Claytona08

Man I'm excited to see the truck once it's painted on the interior. You painting the interior the same color as the exterior?
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Me too. Yes sir. The color is called cool vanilla
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[Claytona08]

Originally Posted by SeTx67

Me too. Yes sir. The color is called cool vanilla
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Thought you might paint the interior black granite! For some reason I have a feeling this truck will be that color one day....lol
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[builtbyKane]

Truck looks great. My magnum is cool vanilla, love it!
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[gdavis]

Your truck is rusty at the typically places on these 67 thru 72. The dash is cracked also typically. I would check the seal area around the front glass. I see rust above the wind shield. That tell me that you may have a leak somewhere. Maybe where the roof connects to the drip rails in the front. I had the same thing and found out the drip rail above the wind shield had been leaking. I had a lot of repairs in that area. With limited amount of funds. I been working on my truck 1968 swb step side for 11 months now. The repairs were so bad on the cab that I replaced the whole cab with another cab. With the same rust but no rust around the wind shield. I am going to shoot some color around the last of this month. Be good my friend and good luck with you 67. You will like the truck when you are done. God Bless

[SeTx67]

Yeah the more I read it seems to have the common problems. Although it's not nearly as bad as some but worse than others. I've been planning on reading a few build threads and yours is one I've been eyeballing. I should have time to get a good start on it tonight
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[gdavis]

I wish you all the luck there my friend. I hope to have all my body work done the 19th and 20th. My brother-in-law is a body teck from Lehigh acres, fl. He works for the Ford dealership there. He is coming up to do all my fine tuning on the body work. So be good and God Bless

[SeTx67]

Thanks. Sometimes it's good to have friends or family with some know how.

My build is about to go to the next level. I just bought a ls2/4l70e combo
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[Claytona08]

Originally Posted by SeTx67

Thanks. Sometimes it's good to have friends or family with some know how.

My build is about to go to the next level. I just bought a ls2/4l70e combo
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Man this thing is going to be sick with the ls2
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[SeTx67]

Originally Posted by Claytona08

Man this thing is going to be sick with the ls2
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I hope so. I just realized that my goal of keeping it running and driving most of the time just went out the window. This place is a bad influence

I've been researching what else I'll need to complete this swap and a few others things like cam and converter. Now back to the lsx swap section for more reading...
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[Low Elco]

Looks great! Can't wait to see the LS swap!

[SeTx67]

Thanks. Me either. I've been researching and pricing parts to the point that I almost have smoke coming from my ears. I'll take a break and read some other build threads for more ideas on how to spend my money
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[Xeen]

After doing this swap myself I submit that it would be best to think about only the most basic of requirements to complete the swap, then once you have a parts list for the necessary components then see where you are at from a cost standpoint.
I haven't kept a running tally of expenses for the swap because quite frankly I don't want to know what it has actually cost me but it's alot I know that much.
I know my advised aproach goes against what I did myself but context matters and at the time I had no real budget constraints, so I just threw caution to the wind and did what I had to do, fortunately I didn't waste very much money making mistakes.
For you though I would recommend benifiting from my experience and allowing me to help you do this the most efficient way possible and avoid the complications I had.

[SeTx67]

Originally Posted by Xeen

After doing this swap myself I submit that it would be best to think about only the most basic of requirements to complete the swap, then once you have a parts list for the necessary components then see where you are at from a cost standpoint.
I haven't kept a running tally of expenses for the swap because quite frankly I don't want to know what it has actually cost me but it's alot I know that much.
I know my advised aproach goes against what I did myself but context matters and at the time I had no real budget constraints, so I just threw caution to the wind and did what I had to do, fortunately I didn't waste very much money making mistakes.
For you though I would recommend benifiting from my experience and allowing me to help you do this the most efficient way possible and avoid the complications I had.

Yes sir. I'm sure I'll miss a few things but I'm not restricting myself to a time frame. I'm going to take my time and hopefully have it done in 6-8 months. I have no plan of keeping any kind of tally of money spent. That would probably make me wonder wtf I was doing . I plan on using all the experience and knowledge I can draw from this board to make this swap as painless as possible. I appreciate all the help you've already given me

I already know my tbss oil pan won't work so I've been looking for a budget friendly alternative. My other issue I've been researching is a efan setup but I may have that one figured out. I won't know until I get the engine in and can make some measurements though
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[Xeen]

Originally Posted by SeTx67

My other issue I've been researching is a efan setup but I may have that one figured out. I won't know until I get the engine in and can make some measurements though

That's one of the things you can benifit from my experience on.
The entire reason to use the custom 2" forward adapter and then move the engine perch back 2" from the stock v8 mounting position is so that you can keep the AC compressor in the stock location and still have room for the radiator and electric fan, however you can also relocate the ac compressor with custom brackets and avoid the complication, but that will cost extra and the relocation kit isn't cheap.

[SeTx67]

Originally Posted by Xeen

That's one of the things you can benifit from my experience on.
The entire reason to use the custom 2" forward bracket and then sit the engine perch back 2" from the stock v8 mounting position is so that you can keep the AC compressor in the stock location and still have room for the radiator and electric fan, however you can also relocate the ac compressor with custom brackets and avoid the complication, but that will cost extra and the relocation kit isn't cheap.

I need to go back and read that portion of your thread again. There's a company that makes a wiring harness setup for the ls1 dual fans. It's designed for a tbss which is what my motor came out of. The only issue I can think of is battery location. The tbss battery is on the drivers side where as mine is on the passenger side. It's been so long since I did that to my tbss I feel like I'm forgetting something. I need to do some more research once my brain cools off
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[Bomp]

Looks like you have a good start going on.
On the patch panel stuff you can't be to careful.
What one says is acceptable work may not be acceptable by the paying customer.
Good luck with your build.
Like the motivation.
Subscribed
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