1972 C10 Pro Touring/Autocross build

[72GREENC10]

Hey guys, ive had this truck in my family for the past 18-19 years and was given to me as a highschool ride when i was 15. needless to say, i put it through hell for those few years, after highschool i drove it to work for a few years and finally bought a daily. then this year i had enough to get the it built how i always wanted. So i thought id share this with you guys, Yes i know its a longbed, yes its a leafspring truck, but that doesnt show itself as a problem, i see it as a challenge that would be fun to take on. so ill be keeping you guys updated for a while from suspension, steering, drive train, and paint.

I decided to go with cpp for the front suspension, i liked their products, as well as the customer service and the cost of their stuff, so i bought upper and lower control arms, tie rods, steering box, spindles,sway bars, springs, and some other small things, needless to say, everything installed super easy, and i love it,couldnt be more happy.

As far as brakes go, i went wilwood d52 kit for the front for the time being. im planning on having the d154 kit for the rear as well soon. got the pads bedded yesturday and wow i am amazed with the product as well as simplicity. the brake lines were a struggle to figure out because of the different sizes on the hard lines coming down to the cross member but i got it figured out. stops great.

Steering, i went simple, quick ratio box from cpp, installed it yesurday, and wow i am completely amazed in the difference, these guys know their stuff, if your not looking to get into a rack and pinion this is the next best thing. super stiff feeling, no slop and very good ratio.

shocks, easy for me, ridetech, hearing nothing but good about their hq series shocks, still waiting for those to come in, should be fairly soon.

wheels and tires, i wanted something cheaper, but can still take the beating, so i went with rocket booster wheels wrapped in potenza re11 tires, the look awesome and werent priced super crazy. love them.

ill keep you guys updated when i get my shocks and the rear sway bar in.

Thanks

[72GREENC10]

got it aligned and put the steering box in

[72GREENC10]

..

['68 Newtricks]

nice, how much drop is that in front?

[72GREENC10]

3 1/2

[knomadd]

Looks good with those wheels. Nice choice!

[72GREENC10]

Still waiting on my shocks and rear sway bar 😑 ordering my rear brakes Friday and I got my gorilla lugs today!

[72GREENC10]

My lady

[Raleighswb]

Originally Posted by 72GREENC10

My lady

Looking good,what are the specs on the wheels and tires?

[72GREENC10]

Wheels: Rocket booster 18x9 5.25 bs

Tires: 275 40 18

[72GREENC10]

Got my rear brakes in along with proportioning valve, lines and fluid.

[knomadd]

I remember those boxes. Brings back memories of my install. You'll love the look when you're done!

[72GREENC10]

Got my shocks in, and installed, I am very impressed. Love them!

[72GREENC10]

Truck handles amazingly!

[72GREENC10]

Went and finally put the suspension to work and it was awesome. posi and rear sway bar next.

[72GREENC10]

Finally got my trutrac. Gearing is the next obstacle, I'll be running a 400hp sbc with a 700r4 on a 18" wheel with a 40 series tire of anyone has recommendations. I decided to pull the old 350/th350 this weekend and to start degreasing and undercoating the frame and under the body. The rear end is going off to get the ring and pinion installed soon. I will more than likely be running the stock axles seeing that I won't be making any crazy hp. I also got my shock brackets for the front from cpp.

[1971_c10]

Originally Posted by 72GREENC10

Finally got my trutrac. Gearing is the next obstacle, I'll be running a 400hp sbc with a 700r4 on a 18" wheel with a 40 series tire of anyone has recommendations. I decided to pull the old 350/th350 this weekend and to start degreasing and undercoating the frame and under the body. The rear end is going off to get the ring and pinion installed soon. I will more than likely be running the stock axles seeing that I won't be making any crazy hp. I also got my shock brackets for the front from cpp.

I have ~380 hp SBC with a 700R4 in my '71 stepside. I have 3.73 gears in the rear end w/ ~27" tire. With the tall 1st of the 700R4, you probably don't want too steep of a rear gear. With the 3.73, I'm out of first ~15-20 mph under normal acceleration. Under full throttle, you'll probably be out of 1st by ~35-40 mph depending on how high you let the motor rev. I'm toying around changing the rear end out, and I would still stay with ~3.70 gear. There are some shops that will put a shorter 1st gear in the 700R4 to get the 1-2 shift closer together. Good luck with it all. I'm jealous of the tru-trac. Curious how it goes in with the C-clips (I'm assuming you still have the c-clip axles).

[72GREENC10]

Originally Posted by 1971_c10

I have ~380 hp SBC with a 700R4 in my '71 stepside. I have 3.73 gears in the rear end w/ ~27" tire. With the tall 1st of the 700R4, you probably don't want too steep of a rear gear. With the 3.73, I'm out of first ~15-20 mph under normal acceleration. Under full throttle, you'll probably be out of 1st by ~35-40 mph depending on how high you let the motor rev. I'm toying around changing the rear end out, and I would still stay with ~3.70 gear. There are some shops that will put a shorter 1st gear in the 700R4 to get the 1-2 shift closer together. Good luck with it all. I'm jealous of the tru-trac. Curious how it goes in with the C-clips (I'm assuming you still have the c-clip axles).

The truck will be autocossed regularly and will still be driven on the street on the weekends. so I need all of the quick acceleration I can get, so a 3.73 might be what I end up getting. It will have a fuel injected sbc pushing about 430hp, Should see around 58-6k rpm. It also has a 26in tall tire. And I've heard good things about the trutrac so I'm excited to get it put in.

[1971_c10]

72greenc10, I plugged your #'s into one of my spreadsheet calculators to give you some expected shift speeds based on a 5800 RPM shift point w/ 3:73:1 rear gears (using the stock 700R4 gear ratios and using a 275/40/18 which is ~26" "squished/loaded"). 1st - 39 mph, 2nd - 73 mph, 3rd - 119 mph, 4th - 170 mph. Those are of course theoretical speeds assuming no slip in the drivetrain. Generally, the calculator hits 1st and 2nd pretty good, but then drag effects starts to kick in and you start wishing you had more HP . If you want to see any different rear end ratios just let me know and I can run them through my calculator or give you some equations you can use on your own.

On a side note, I too am working to make my truck more "pro-touring/autocross", although flipped flopped from you, more driver than racing. I'll definitely be following along on your progress. Haven't decided on my suspension just yet though. One day I'll start a build thread ...

[72GREENC10]

Hey guys sorry I've been busy messing with the front end trying to get the alignment correct, I got early classic trailing arms, adjustable trailing arm brackets and hotchkis springs front and back. Just waiting on two more retainers for the rear springs. As for the tru trac that's coming up next, thanks guys!

[1971_c10]

Great to hear you are still making progress!! Keep it up!

['68 Newtricks]

How is the steering with the CPP500 box, spindles, arms, and such? You've got the same setup as I do.

[72GREENC10]

So while I'm waiting on my track bar and sway bars I decided to start building my brake cooling ducts. I used stock dust shields and 3 inch pipe. I'll be putting the inlets in the bumper where the turn signals are and running the ducting to these, I'll be doing something similar on the rear.

[72GREENC10]

The steering is very good and as far as the arms are I wasn't happy with them. I had to switch back to stock hiegth spindles and 4in drop springs to achieve the alignment specs I wanted.

[72GREENC10]

Got everything installed and ready to weld on the rear, and i took her out to let her get some sun. Stay tuned, hotchkis track bar and sway bars coming next.