Russ the 79 c10

[Russ_the_truck79]

Im new to forums so if I'm doing something wrong make sure to tell me. got my first truck last year during summer but just now decided to create a thread. I went out and bought myself a pretty much base model 1979 c10 with an inline 6 (integrated ) and three on the tree manual. The only thing above base was the "heavy duty" suspension. long story short it lived its life on kelly's island (in lake Erie) as a handymans truck he worked on island houses and such so it only had 39,000 miles on it and wasn't drove in the winter. The owner of the matinence company sold it to the worker at some point in time who put in new front breaks, tires and some other goodies. The worker then sold it back to the owner once he was tired of the truck who then sold it to me!

[Russ_the_truck79]

I was planning on leaving it as is......... but then we (me and my dad) found out that when you turn the fan the harmonic balancer would screw in and unscrew about 1/8th inch hearing this my uncle donated another inline 250 this time however it was a non integral head and after much research and youtubing i decided to be original and keep the 6 and also to put a little skip i my step with a very mild engine rebuild id then keep the 3 on the tree souley because it is cool and it blows all my high school peers mind's that i can drive it (especially the girls . then id like to lower it 2 or 3 inches, keep original paint, and do some retromods.

[79GMCSierra]

Originally Posted by Russ_the_truck79

I was planning on leaving it as is......... but then we (me and my dad) found out that when you turn the fan the harmonic balancer would screw in and unscrew about 1/8th inch hearing this my uncle donated another inline 250 this time however it was a non integral head and after much research and youtubing i decided to be original and keep the 6 and also to put a little skip i my step with a very mild engine rebuild id then keep the 3 on the tree souley because it is cool and it blows all my high school peers mind's that i can drive it (especially the girls . then id like to lower it 2 or 3 inches, keep original paint, and do some retromods.

Hey Russ the 79 c10 your project sound familiar. I'm new to this forum too and have just purchased a 79 GMC Sierra SWB Fleetside with an I6 (inter-grated head ARG!!) with 3-sp manual, converted to a floor shift.

Question for ya... what model year is the new 250 I6 that your uncle supplied. I'm looking for a non-inter-grated head also, as mine is cracked on the exhaust manifold.

Was kinda hoping reading through your thread that you might do away with the 3-on-the-tree shifter, as I'm looking for one also. But good to hear your going to keep it. I agree it's pretty cool and reminds me of the '66 Chevy SWB fleetside I had years ago.

Look forward to seeing your build!

[Russ_the_truck79]

Originally Posted by 79GMCSierra

Hey Russ the 79 c10 your project sound familiar. I'm new to this forum too and have just purchased a 79 GMC Sierra SWB Fleetside with an I6 (inter-grated head ARG!!) with 3-sp manual, converted to a floor shift.

Question for ya... what model year is the new 250 I6 that your uncle supplied. I'm looking for a non-inter-grated head also, as mine is cracked on the exhaust manifold.

Was kinda hoping reading through your thread that you might do away with the 3-on-the-tree shifter, as I'm looking for one also. But good to hear your going to keep it. I agree it's pretty cool and reminds me of the '66 Chevy SWB fleetside I had years ago.

Look forward to seeing your build!

my 250 is from 1968 you can tell the year by removing the manifolds the date is cast in that spot. (im sure you can tell by the vin numbers but idk which ones matter) and yeah if you can fix the slop in the shifting i think its cooler than "three on the floor" good luck on your project

[79GMCSierra]

Originally Posted by Russ_the_truck79

my 250 is from 1968 you can tell the year by removing the manifolds the date is cast in that spot. (im sure you can tell by the vin numbers but idk which ones matter) and yeah if you can fix the slop in the shifting i think its cooler than "three on the floor" good luck on your project

Thanks for the quick response and the info!

[Russ_the_truck79]

Originally Posted by 79GMCSierra

Thanks for the quick response and the info!

anytime and just an additional tidbit... they were made from 63 to i think 72 and they did not change through those years. if you are near a body of water like me and know a boat mechanic you could work up a deal with him for a marine engine (these engines are often used in boats) only thing you'll have to change is the exhaust because it requires a constant flow of water to cool it down but the marine inlines have a more radical cam, 2 bbl, a forged steel crank, and i believe they also have flat head pistons. that is a very affordable route if you planned to build it up.

[Russ_the_truck79]

One last thing. I have choosen to name it Russ because that was the handyman's name and he wrote his name above the door handle.. and it wont come off so ive decided to use it as a name tag. I also dont think trucks deserve girl names because they were built to be strong and tough i never really got why people named them after girls. Anyways ill be updating every once in a weekish

[InitialBoss]

Cool man! Welcome to the boards!! Enjoy it! Do you now the gearing on the truck by chance? My '78 used to be a 3 on the tree but my dad swapped it out for an auto. I'm still not sure why. I'm trying to figure out the rear end on mine and if it was stock. What bolt is your rear-end?

[Russ_the_truck79]

Originally Posted by InitialBoss

Cool man! Welcome to the boards!! Enjoy it! Do you now the gearing on the truck by chance? My '78 used to be a 3 on the tree but my dad swapped it out for an auto. I'm still not sure why. I'm trying to figure out the rear end on mine and if it was stock. What bolt is your rear-end?

it has 3.73 gearing and it is a 12 bolt rear

[Russ_the_truck79]

not sure how many bolts but i'm pretty sure mine is a 3.73. He probably removed it because 3 on the tree can get pretty fussy with all the linkage

[rusty76]

Welcome to the board and we look forward to seeing more on your truck. Kool truck.

[Boost2Bags]

Nice truck!

[Russ_the_truck79]

thanks guys! My dad and i will be working on it this weekend so there will be an update coming.

[rusty76]

Sweet looking forward to it.

[Russ_the_truck79]

just came home from a day of work on the truck! got a lot accomplished the engine is almost all put back together



my dads buddy brought his kids over so i had them clean up some of the engine ay grease and grime . and the -47 degree weather inspired me to insulate my cab with some very retro shag carpet ... thankfully you wont be able to see it when i re-install the seat



Me and my cousin did this a while back but i figured id share with you my solution to bench seats causing the stereo to sound muffled. I got my hands on some nice computer speakers and took them out of the casing. Then wholes were drilled in the box saudered them into the main speakers wires as the don't require much power at all and the speakers were pointed upward along with some bass ports i put in (just a fancy term for additional holes) now a lot of sound comes up through the top instead of bouncing into the seat.

[Russ_the_truck79]

also i was doing some snooping at my grandparents house (where the truck is located) and came across the exhaust tips my dad has on his 65 f*rd galaxy. they are chrome and have some nice patina which will match the truck quite nicely i plan on running duel exhaust out infront of the driver side rear tire. And once i get headers itll be true duel

[rusty76]

Cool work on the truck. We'll be looking for more. Those inlines are a lot of fun.

[79GMCSierra]

P.S. found a sound box similar to the one you have pictured here, behind the seat of my truck. Too funny...

[Russ_the_truck79]

got some work done today! biggest thing was that my dad, uncle, and me (mostly them) fabbed up a power steering pump bracket



Took about 2.5 hrs to make but diffidently worth having power steering. The engine and transmission are bolted back up and are ready to be dropped back in, the engine bay has been cleaned some more and all the bare metal has been covered. today i also put a nice paint job on my valve cover looks better in person, I'm not sure why the paint looks like a pumkin shade in the pics but i hope to have the script striped over.


One more work day and the engine will be in the truck. pumped is an understatement since as of last monday i could legally drive.

[rusty76]

Looking good.

[D13]

Love Russ. I grew up on a 69 C10 250 3 On TT and a 67 Biscayne (strippo impala) 250 3OTT, have my dad's 81 3/4 ton 250 3OTT in parts in the back yard, an 84 250 auto chassis in the back yard, and picked up a 77 GMC 1/2 ton integral head 250 3OTT, no options *and I mean none!* ex road commision truck.
Integral heads started in 75 IIRC on cars, and 77 I think on trucks. Somewhere 80-81 they went integral 2bbl. There also was a shift in belt spacing that appears to be linked with integral heads, which affects balancers and brakcets and water pump pulleys.

[Russ_the_truck79]

dropped the engine in today! only thing that didn't go to plan was that the starter from the 79 inline didn't fit the older one oh well. exhaust work goin on tomorrow!

[Russ_the_truck79]

echaust work cancelled today due to bad weather

[rusty76]

Keep on gettin man.

[Russ_the_truck79]

welp mostly just tooled around today but my dads buddy came over he's gonna bend up a pipe for my exhaust. The man runs a custom golf cart shop he's a pretty cool guy, anyways he usually has some vehicles sitting around at his shop that are headed to the scrap yard and he has given me dibbs on anything off a high option 76! pretty stoked anyways here's Russ's new ticker! (i apologize on account of the pic, yes i took it with a potato)



need a starter, exhaust pipe, reinstall drive shafts, and some carb linkage the list is slowly getting smaller!