Project "Second Chance" - Hot Rod 66' GMC

[siggyfreud]

Originally Posted by kieth

Nice build, we GMC guys have to stick together. Before you dive off into changing rear axle ratios send me the spec's on your truck along with your email address and I will send you a spreadsheet that shows:

1. usable torque to the ground (all rear axle ratios, transmissions,)

2. diameter from the ground to the top of the rear tire in inches

3. your email address

4. transmission you plan on using

If you are going to change tires and wheels send me what you have now and then later send me the new diameters so we can compare them.

5. I think 3:73 (700r4) will work for your truck but just guessing. Kieth

Will do, thanks for the offer to help. Currently its 4.11 with the 700r4 and 27.5" tires. I can't remember what RPM I was turning in 4th, but I think it was little over 2k, but the converter wasn't locking up either. Would ideally like to turn in the 1700-1800 range or slightly lower, which is why I was thinking 3.73. Probably won't go much taller on the tire, maybe slightly though (1-2" max).

Eventually will do an over/under, so maybe 3.73 gets me to the 1900 range, and the eventual over/under will get me to my end goal.

Email is longshotsystems@gmail.com.

Thanks again!

[NEWFISHER]

4th gear lock up will normally drop 200 rpm

[Low Elco]

3.73/700r4 is mas bueno with 29" tall tire. Deeper first gear means Bueno burnouts!

Neat project!

[siggyfreud]

2/14/14 - Engine Slowly Coming Together

Hey all,

Got a chance to do some work on the motor over the past few days. Got it painted today using POR-15's engine enamel. Wanted to try brush painting it to see how it turned out. It came out OK, but in retrospect would probably look better taped and sprayed. Engine is older anyways, so when it comes time for a new shortblock I'll do that one better.



Got a bunch of parts in, including the stealth ram and fuel rails. I ordered a Weiland Stealth Ram intake, but didn't want to Holley fuel rails/integrated pressure regulator. Got an Aeromotive regulator, and used Edelbrock fuel rails which I read fit. Well, they didn't fit, at least with my fuel injectors, so I had to modify them a bit by drilling out the bolt holes bigger. Was a bit nervous and didn't want to shred my new parts, but it worked out okay.



Soon should have photos of it on the engine, with the new pump and hardware on it.

Also received these in the mail . . .



Slowly coming together. I got my Welder/Plasma extension in the other day, so I can reach all the way across the garage and finally cut the bed bolts off to remove the bed!

Cheers all!

[siggyfreud]

2/20/14 - Little bit of engine work

Got a bit more done this evening on the truck. I cut out the old O2 sensor bung from the header, as it was rusted to hell and the welds were terrible (which by my standards means they were AWEFUL as I'm a bad welder).



Once it was cut out I made a patch-over panel. I wasn't worried about patching the exact hole, so I cut a 16 gauge sheet, rounded it a bit and tacked it to the header. Then I hammered it to contour the pipe and welded it up.



Then I used the plasma, cut a hole for the new bung, and welded it in. I think I need to refill my gas as I was getting dirty spattery welds.





Lastly I finished drilling out the crank wheel and test fit it between the crank pulley and dampener. The center of the wheel was honed so the crank pulley rests in it, as if it would in the balancer. Had a machine shop do it. I think with it bolted in there it should spin on true center, but I'll need to mount it up and see.





That's all for now. Dropping the headers off for a new Ceramichrome finish tomorrow. And might be picking up a 77 C10 front end with drop spindles/rotors/calipers this weekend.

Cheers!

[siggyfreud]

2/21/14 Hacking up the valve covers

Well the title is a bit misleading. I didn't hack them up so much as modify them in an ugly fashion. As I've mentioned before, I'm learning to weld and not very good at it. I'm at the point where I'm not punching through metal anymore (learning speed/heat) but haven't gotten to lay down pretty beads very much.

Anyways . . . my LS2 coils came on brackets, however they were spaced apart so much they'd cover the entire valve cover, not leaving me room for breathers/pcv setup. One coil is off the bracket in the first picture, as I took it to Ace to ensure I got correctly sized screws.



So I went up to the local Ace, which has an AWESOME fastener selection. Best I've seen around. I picked up some coupler nuts and some stainless allen head screws.



And I went to work!









After I finish the other one I'll take them to get sandblasted and then paint them some sort of black or blue color. Probably black to hide the ugly welds .

Cheers all!

[siggyfreud]

2/23/14 - Sandblasting

Quick update.

Got it finally stripped down to frame. Took it out to my buddy's parent's house who own a sandblasting business and went to work on it. Plan is to paint it today after work.



My friend helping:



Me suited up to blast:





Back home drying, ready to POR-15 after the metal ready/water treatment

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

2/23/14 - Sandblasting



Me suited up to blast:

Hey! do you do stand in's for the Michellin Man? LOl

[siggyfreud]

Only on weekend if the pay is right.

[markeb01]

That’s a nice looking blasting setup. Back when I did a bunch of it I always had to settle for a respirator and face shield, using a cheap plastic suction style blaster. It did a pretty good job – eventually!

[siggyfreud]

Originally Posted by markeb01

That’s a nice looking blasting setup. Back when I did a bunch of it I always had to settle for a respirator and face shield, using a cheap plastic suction style blaster. It did a pretty good job – eventually!

I'm fortunate to have access to it. It's cool out, but even in the summer with the air being pumped into the suit you stay fairly cool. Going to be blasting the new front end here soon.

[siggyfreud]

2/27/14 - Frame painting

Started painting the frame the other day. Finished the first coat of POR-15. Once it dries I'll put on the top BlackCote to finish it off. After that, I'll be tearing down the front end for a blast and paint, and then new parts.\

For the areas I couldn't reach with a brush I'm going to spray some chassis gloss black.

Before:


After:

[Bomp]

Frame came out sweet.

[siggyfreud]

3/09/14 - Wires and Tanks

Hey all,

Just a quick update. Worked on getting the tank mounted in the frame. Had to cut out a small cross member and remove yet another old exhaust hanger that was welded to the frame.

Then I mocked up the tank to see if there were any existing holes I could use. Sure enough, there were:





At first I planned just to drill through the tank flange and nut/bolt the fuel tank in. But then I though that if in the future I needed to drop the tank to replace a fuel pump or do something, it would be a real pain to get in there and hold a turning nut to lower the tank. It would most likely require either an access port in the bed, or lifting the bed off.

Instead, I picked up some washers and square nuts from the hardware store, and welded them to the frame. Now the tank can be removed from the bottom. I also welded two smaller nuts that can be used for grounding locations. Poor welding, I know! But they feel solid.



Then I mounted it up:







Fits well. My only concern is that it clears the rear end pumpkin. It SHOULD buy a few inches based on my measurements, but we'll see when the rear end is back in.

I also got the new front end apart for sandblasting next week, and chopped up half my old MSD wires into new LS2 coil wires:



Cheers all.

[siggyfreud]

3/23/14 - More engine and frame work

Just a quick update. Since the last time we spoke I have:

- Spilled a bunch of oil on the floor, resulting in a big mess that needs to be scooped up
- Painted the 85 Crossmember and installed it
- Finished making the LS2 wires from my old MSD Super Conductors
- Ran -8AN from the tank to the fuel filter
- Mounted the harmonic balancer, though with the trigger wheel I need a longer crank snout bolt than what came from Summit.
- Painted the valve covers and remounted the coils
- Posed the engine for a pretty picture
- Put the wrong oil pan in my checkout basket from Summit, so ordered the right one and returning the old one.

Next steps:

Get the oil pan in, mount the engine, and begin cleanup on the transmission. Them mount it, and start putting the front end back together with new parts.

Here is a bit of eye candy:






Until next time!

[siggyfreud]

3/28/14 - Engine Back in

Quick update: Unloaded the engine from the stand and dropped it back into the frame. Transmission should be going on the stand next for cleanup, and then it too should be ready to go back in. Progress!

[siggyfreud]

3/31/14 - Intake on . . . starting to place sensors

Hey all,

Small update. Got the intake on and distributor in.

The motor is a Gen I SBC, but will have full sequential spark and fuel, something (to my knowledge) no factory Gen I SBC had. In order to get this, I need both a crank and cam trigger sensor setup.

Cam Sensor - I found a company that makes a distributor replacement that acts as a 4X cam sensor.



Crank sensor - As you can see on the front of the motor, I have sandwiched a 36-1 crank trigger wheel. Yesterday I created an ugly, but functional hall effect sensor mount.





I took the bracket off to reinforce it with thicker metal so as not to flex (as the 18 gauge, although sturdy did have a small bit of flex to it) and to paint it and hide the ugliness . My fab skills are "functional" but not pretty .

Ignore the bolt in the harmonic balancer being slightly out. Didn't have a second set of hands available to hold the flex plate so I could torque it. It's all torqued up now.

[markeb01]

What a great looking setup!

[TJ's Chevy]

Looking really good!

[siggyfreud]

Thanks guys! Kind words are appreciated, especially coming from the heavy hitters such as yourselves .

[bj383ss]

I keep admiring your frame and paint job. I'm about to paint mine today and hope it comes out looking good. I see you flipped the bolts on the cross member to point down. That's a great idea much easier to keep the head of the bolt clean versus 1 inch of threads plus it just looks neater.

As for your engine never seen a non LS motor with the coil per cylinder setup. Its very interesting. Do you have any idea how much your hp you will be making?

Bret

[1963c-10]

Nice work, the build looks like its coming along nicely. Engine looks great....very cool.

[siggyfreud]

Flipping the bolts was actually not intentional. I couldn't remember how they were before, but guessed they'd have threads pointing down instead of up . Turned out better I guess.

Not sure on the power. I'd guess around 375-400 or so once dialed in. Back with the TPI I think I managed to get around 14 MPG highway, so I'd like to see 17-20 with this setup and a change in gears, but that's mainly a stretch goal. An LS would make a bit more power and probably still be more efficient especially due to it being a roller setup, however I already had this motor and the aftermarket heads, and wanted to do something unique. At some point I may retrofit a roller into it, or build on a roller block assuming the heads would still work.

[TJ's Chevy]

That sounds like some killer power it'll be putting out though!

[j.walters]

looking good. I like the coil pack set up nice job.