Lola: My Moon Shot 70 SWB K10

[rowdy11]

This is Lola. I'm the third owner. I owned a 69 GMC 20 years ago that I loved, then an 80 Silverado that I loved...and have been looking for another 67-72 for the past 5 years. Finally found what I was looking for two years ago. I laughed with the previous owner as he reluctantly signed over the title to me. I told him everything cycles and he would have the chance to buy one from someone else when it was his time again. Anyway, that's a bit of history...

Lola has been pretty well taken care of overall. She has an under bed rear tank and a corporate 14 bolt rear end, and a rebuilt and re-cammed 350. I have made the following upgrades:

1. I replaced all the fuel lines when I fixed the sending unit in the rear tank.
2. I converted the rear drum to disc (stopping power has been much better for me) and cleaned the rear end up.
3. I replaced the previous instrument cluster and mounted tach with a new replacement cluster with in-cluster tach and all LED lighting.
4. Oil change, new plugs, wires and HEI distributor/cap
5. Heat taped all the existing fuel lines
6.New thermostat
6. New wheels and tires
7. A few other pieces here and there (such as a new high beam switch)

About 6 months ago, I started getting that LS Swap itch. I want my wife to feel comfortable driving the truck, and want a freaking electronic overdrive! I also want to replace the old suspension & lift (being a 4X) for EZ ride as well.

So...a few weeks ago I saw an ad for a rolled 2011 GMC 2500HD. Went to look at it at my wife's prompting, with absolutely no intention of buying. The outside panels, cab pilars/roof and bed were trashed, but started it right up and took one look under the hood and underneath the vehicle (super clean) and knew I had found my donor vehicle. The owner handed me a huge stack of paperwork on maintenance. Got a screaming deal and now I'm off to the races…sort of. I’m partially posting this for help from all you experts, and partially for accountability. My goal to be to a place of completion in 24 months. I won’t say finish because, well, we all know that’s a myth.

Finally, I have dragged my kids into this mess with me. If I get excellent memories with them from this experience, it will all have been worth it.

Feel free to subscribe, just be aware the pace will be very measured. It all starts with the 2011 tear down.

Here we go...

[Low Elco]

Oh, this is gonna be exciting! Good Luck!

[rowdy11]

Thank you! Exciting is...well...one word for it....

I did a bit more work this weekend. I managed to get all of the rest of the wiring out of the 2011 donor vehicle, most of which I won't' need. But provides a bit more to part out, such as the airbag restraint system module, and the BCM/BCU control module. I cut a hole in the firewall and dragged it all through. Now I can lift the cab off and get to the fun stuff, such as the transfer case, transmission etc.

I also have to research what wiring need to keep to send out along with the PCM and get it rewired, reflashed and programmed. If anyone has any ideas on vendors to use I'm all ears. I thought about doing so myself but I want this part done right, and I can focus on other items that take less knowledge, just brute labor.

Also, I managed to smash my middle finger during the work. I was trying my existing wheel on the rear axle of the 2011 in a wing-and-a-prayer-distant-hope-wish the lug pattern would match. I was pulling the wheel/tire (these are 35's, so very heavy) onto the axle and it slipped off and smashed my finger between the wheel and hub. I knew instantly I was going to lose my nail. I happened to be wearing gloves so I just kept working. When I stopped at the end of the day and noticed the front of my finger was also a dark purple along with the nail (sorry for the bird pics everyone). Not good! My wife was smart enough to take me to get it x-rayed and I have a distal tuft fracture in the top bone.

I would have been fine with that if the lug pattern had matched! But alas, I will be choosing between keeping my older corp 14 bolt axle or buying two new rear wheels to match the 6x180 lug pattern of the new axle. Always tough decisions!

Stay tuned!

[jjzepplin]

That is one bad finger! I'm in! 6.0 right?

[rowdy11]

Yes! Welcome! Ideas welcome!

[rowdy11]

Had a fast but productive weekend. I got the cab off the 2011 with the help of some friends, and have almost all of the engine wiring pulled to send in for reflashing/work.

I've spent almost all my time stripping down the donor truck, which makes me appreciate a dropout on a pallet that you can buy on Ebay! It's been a ton of work stripping it down, but I'm also glad that I have it for all the lines, pieces, bolts etc. I know more than I ever planned about the modern GMC Sierra - another unexpected benefit.

I haven't done hardly any work on Lola but that will be coming in the next few weeks. And with that comes the decision of how deep to go down the rabbit hole: down to the frame, and full body work now or do I get the frame and underneath done and put off the body work until later?

More to come!

[mcmlxix]

www.diy4x.com for a shackle in the rear and B52 swap up front. You end up with 4" of lift, a smooth ride and a good amount of off road flex.

www.vaporworx.com for the fuel system. You can swap in a later model 88-91 Suburban fuel tank under the bed and weld in a fuel pump mounting kit from Vaporworx to use the OEM fuel pump from the donor truck.

[rowdy11]

Thanks mcmlxix! Will check both of those out.

The holiday was a great time to get some stuff done. But also hard...buried our family dog Bailey after 15 loyal years. I was still crying as I pulled the drivelines, exhaust and transfer case from 2011. I cleaned up the transfer case to sell it along with the other stuff I'm parting out (before and after below).

The wiring harness is finally completely off!!! I pulled the throttle body and cleaned it up as well to send it with the harness, PCM, pedal to be re-wired, re-flashed and bench tested.

I ordered Dirty Dingo mounts over the holiday and purchased an A/C relocation kit and static AC unit since the dynamic units from these newer trucks don't work with Vintage Air systems (a real shame).

Also, after some research, it looks like I will need to upgrade from NP 203 to 205 transfer case in order for the transmission to work. Not a surprise and probably a good idea regardless, given the power difference of my existing setup and the L96. I will try to avoid a costly AA adapter kit and find something simpler and easier between the 6L90E and the NP 205. More research ahead... I'd be in big trouble with this swap if this board, Youtube, and the internet, in general, didn't exist!

I'm finally selling my 350 engine and transmission as well. Waiting for that to sell so the buyer can see it running before I pull it and the TH350. I think I have it priced well considering it runs well, has a few performance upgrades, nice headers and a bunch of new stuff like new HEI/cap/rotor/wires/plugs/thermostat etc....1600 for the engine, headers, carb and transmission...

I plan to start pulling the bed while I sell the engine. I already have an underbed tank but need to start the conversion to fuel injection. My existing tank is plastic so assume I will have to upgrade that to flat aluminium or steel.

Had some other goodies arrive:

New Cab mounts
New painless performance wiring harness
New left side inner and outer rocker panel
New bed wheel wells
I also bought ahead with black Friday and purchased new plug wires for the 2011 as part of a tune-up once I install it. Getting stuff while it's cheap!

[rowdy11]

And one of Bailey....

[rowdy11]

I spent some time over the holiday break moving the project along. Got the L96 & trans off the 2011 frame and moved into my garage after finishing up a few odds and ends.

Officially started the teardown on the K10 after dragging my feet and one last drive. Its not an easy thing to pull your fully functioning truck apart piece by piece, and takes a bit of faith and vision to imagine it coming back together again!

I got almost everything unhooked except the transfer case. Should have the 350 and TH350 out by Saturday after getting all the rest of it unhooked. Not surprising that the front fenders and bottom of the radiator support were a bit rusted from exposure to the weather...but all in all things don't look too bad so far.

Ordered a few additional pieces and will keep the teardown going back to the bed after the engine is out...more to come.

[rowdy11]

Small but significant update. Pulled the ol reliable 350 and TH350 out a couple of weekends ago. It's now palleted and ready to sell.


Now begins the push down to the frame! I'm now pulling apart the front of the truck, with the plan to move past the cab to the bed. The radiator support and fenders are rusty as heck (no surprise given it takes the brunt of weather) but everything else looks solid so far.

Hoping to only have to replace fenders with new metal and media blast and keep all other panels (minus the drivers side rocker panels). This feels like the dark part of the project...

[rowdy11]

More progress this weekend. Removed the front cowl, fenders and inner fenders. The hardest part was removing the windshield wiper arms. Had to do some research but managed to get them off with a curved pair of needle nose rather than buy a wiper removal tool.

Bed is up next. I also worked on removing the rear fenders but the bolts to the bed floor were so rusted that I will have to cut most of them out.

On it goes...

[renegade6]

Great build!

[72 tigger]

Very nice project. I’ve heard some guys tightened rusty bed bolts with a impact until they snap off- just a thought

[rowdy11]

Thanks Tigger! I already used an impact gun and didn't have much luck. Looks like I'm just going to cut the nuts off the bolts.

I worked on the LS engine this weekend. Pulled the heads and inspected the pushrods, rocker arms, springs and pistons/cylinders. Everything looks solid! I was shocked to see how immaculate the entire setup looked and helped me feel the fleet donor truck purchase from a company with a good maintenance policy was well worth it. Sending the heads off to get those cleaned, the valves polished up, etc.

Going to install a mild cam update while I have the block exposed and also going to replace the water pump, starter and PS pump. I figure with a mild cam, no more belt driven fan, cold air intake and headers, I should be pushing well north of 400 HP with a bit of tuning.

Transfer case, transmission and back to the body distmantle next weekend. Back to the grindstone!

If anyone has any suggestions on VVT friendly cams, I'd love to hear them!

[rowdy11]

Another weekend, more work! I got the heads back after getting some work done. They sparkle! All cleaned up, polished and I have new stainless steel exhaust valves after a closer examination showed the originals needed to be replaced. Once I have my cam situation down, I have the gasket kit and stretch bolts all ready to mount them back up. The guy at the shop said the 823 casting number from an LS3 head really draws attention. Other customers inquired if the heads were for sale...

I also started the process of tearing down the NP205. I should have that done and over to the machinist tomorrow to bore out the input shaft so I can rebuild and add the 6L90E adapter kit. My son is in town this weekend from Florida so he gave me a hand with the work.

Meanwhile...the cab and bed are still sitting there, waiting for me to remove them from the frame. I need to get cracking on that so I can get the frame blasted and powder coated...it's getting warmer in these parts!

[derotoreut]

Subscribed. I'm definitely interested in this one. I'm glad I found your build. I'm currently doing the same LS swap to my 1970 K10 swb. Pulled the old and tired 307 and SM465. Going with Gen III 5.3L and 4L60E. I'll be interested to see how the Dirty Dingo mounts go for you. Did you buy just the mounts, or their cross member with mounts? I decided to go with the Tilden cross member. Hopefully they work out well for both of us. I'm also using my original NP205 10-spline with the 4l60e. I'm going the Advance Adapter route. Good luck.

[rowdy11]

Thank you! We will need to swap notes. I decided to get the DD cross member as well as the mounts. They look good in the box...we'll see how easy installation is.

I thought hard about using an NP 231 with passenger side drop but decided the 205 was just as easy and better reputation for being bulletproof. As I've gotten into mine, I had a seal leak (the only leak in my entire truck with the original setup) but everything else looks very clean. I should be good for another 20 years after the rebuild and adapter.

Here's hoping it doesn't take me the next 5 to get it assembled. Man these things take a lot of patience and persistence. I'm in Australia at the moment and can't wait to get back and dive back in!

[rowdy11]

I returned from Australia and spent the next 2 months under the weather...great to be feeling better and back at it.

Made great progress in the meantime on the NP 205 rebuild and 6L90E adapter. Rebuilt the case from the ground up with new seals, bearings, adapter and a fresh coat of Chevy Orange paint. I guess I need to get my color plan together before I finalize paint on any other parts.

Shout out to GetBuilt on Youtube. He has an excellent NP 205 walkthrough I would recommend to anyone.

Finally up this weekend is to dig into prepping the front end to remove the cab.

[underliner6]

The NP205 is looking great! YouTube how-to videos are an invaluable resource when pursuing a build.

[rowdy11]

Steady but snooze worthy progress recently. I pulled my steering gear and rag hook to and sent those to the fine folks at power steering.com for a rebuild. After pulling the box, I tested it and discovered the previous owners had already installed a quick steering ratio addition. Bonus!

I also stripped the rest of the remaining extras from the donor truck including the remaining wiring, tank and sending unit. I sawzalled the cab and will haul off anything not sold off for parts to scrap metal, marking an important milestone. From now on any build work will be done only on the 70. Yes!

Now removing the rest of the wiring from the firewall, which freaks me out a bit thinking about putting it all back together when the cab is done. I still need to find someone willing to take on body work on the cab, body panels and bed while I work over the frame and finish assembling the LS again.

I started on the cab body mounts. For anyone attempting the same thing, please don’t make my mistake! I took my Milwaukee impact gun and forced two of the bolts, and I think I broke the small weld holding the top of the bolts in place. After reading a few other threads, I think I’ll have to cut into the cab floor to brace the top of the bolts to get the nuts off. Noooooo! For the others, I plan to apply bolt lubricant generously over several weeks to get those to come off gently.

Attached a picture as well of my home built cab dolly.

[rowdy11]

Loooong day...I'm beat! Got the cab and bed off thanks to multiple helping hands...had to use a nut cutter & grinder to get several of the bolts loose...also discovered that the bed had been welded in 4 spots to the frame!

[rowdy11]

Power washed frame, cleared remaining fuel/brake lines, removed transfer case torque arm, and tow receiver. Close to media blasting!

Need to find someone to get the cab body work done...

[rowdy11]

More prep work for the mobile blaster. Almost done destroying...

[rowdy11]

More pics of the final prep work for the media blast. I even found a great spot of untouched original brown paint under the firewall pad.