1970 c10 SWB - Project "Toad"

[OneWheelPeel]

And now for todays snag...



The Hotchkis shock relocation bracket for the drivers side interferes with the clutch Z-bar frame bracket. Apparently this kit was not designed for a manual transmission truck, or at least one with a manual linkage. I was going to try to modify the bracket so they would both work, then decided it wasn't worth it.

I already have a TKO 600 to put behind the 383, so, I guess this forces my hand on upgrading to a hydraulic clutch.

Shock re-locaters installed


And the final shot of everything together.



Ran out of light and found the inner wheel bearings from my brake kit were rusted solid still sealed in the bag

Installing the hubs will have to wait until another day. It was beer time by then anyway.

Hopefully next weekend I can align the engine mounts and drop the 383 onto the frame.

Thanks for reading!
-Ken

[OneWheelPeel]

Holiday update time. Seems these last few weeks I've gone backwards a bit more than forward. Happens with every project I guess.

First Summit Racing stepped up and fixed the rusty bearing issue with my Wilwood kit no questions asked, even though the part was inside a kit and not something I had purchased separately. They even sent them next day so I could keep working.

With new bearings in hand, and a new bearing packing tool from under the tree, hubs, and the rest of the brake kit are installed.





I moved on to the engine next...

First off, my flywheel didn't fit. I had gotten an externally balanced unit for a 400 crank which was a match for my 383's specs. No go. The flywheel matched up with the dowel, and fit over the crank flange, but the bolts would not line up. I test fit the neutral balance flywheel that I got with the TKO 600 kit I got second hand and it bolted up no problem.

A quick measurement of the bolt pattern showed the new flywheel had a 3.55 to 3.56 pattern. The old one, flex plate and crank were all a consistent 3.58. So, back in the box and back to Summit. I don't know how you CNC a bolt pattern wrong, so I'm nervous the replacement is going to be wrong too.

So after the flywheel issue, I tried to install the engine and had one of the rubber mounts come apart before I even took the weight of the crane off. Another forced upgrade to urethane mounts.

With new mounts bolted on, time to mock up the drivetrain...







All in all not bad progress for a couple days.

Next I'll probably be removing the brakes and getting the truck on the ground with the wheels from the parts truck.

I'm almost ready to dive into rust repair, which is a little intimidating to me.

[sammygroundzero]

Wow really good progress truck is coming along nicely

[OneWheelPeel]

Cross post from the general section for an issue I'm having with my motor stands...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654210

[OneWheelPeel]

Not much of an update this time around. I haven't been in the garage much, no fun working in the cold, so on to workshop jobs...

My attempt at re-furbing my heater control. Picked the better of the two from the project truck and the parts truck. Before and after below.

Before...


After...


Another angle before...


After...


Didn't turn out too bad, has that hand-polished look. The pits were too deep to get out so, I'll just have to live with them, or get a rebuilt control if I decide not to use this one. The second controls were also broken, so I'm going to need to do this again for the second truck if I ever decide to build it.

I've got a surprise in the works too, a bit of a major change for the frame and suspension. I'm excited, the 8-10 week wait is gonna kill me tho .

Engine is getting a major overhaul too. I decided to tear it down to ID each part so I know what I have. I'll be making some upgrades on parts I'm not happy with, and detail what specs I have. Keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.

[Sac]

Man… Super clean C10 build and a super clean FD, count me in.

[birdistheword]

Very cool build my 69 swb is the same color. Looks like you're doing everything I want to do to mine one day when I have the time, space, and money.

[OneWheelPeel]

It's been a long cold winter here, but I'm finally out of hibernation and working on projects again.

Started my engine tear down and inspection. I want to know exactly what was in it, and since the builder couldn't remember and the PO is the kind of guy that knew it was "some kind of chevy" I figured the effort was worth it.

Tear down to a short block and heads.



Installed a new high volume oil pump and the correct pick up for my new oil pan.



Next was my ARP pan stud kit, gasket and pan. The pan was just on to adjust the pick up height in this pic, I know the front cover is supposed to go on first.



Front cover and fuel pump installed and the bottom end buttoned up.



Lokar flexible dipstick. This thing was a pain, it and the head wanted to occupy the same space on the block. I'm not sure who was in the wrong, but the dipstick got the massaging.



Water pump, balancer and main pulley...



There were some no-name made in china rockers installed. I replaced them with a set of Crower rollers.




Intake manifold installed...

[OneWheelPeel]

While I was doing the inspect / rebuild I decided to ID the cam. The builder gave me a spec sheet for a cam he though was in the engine. I used a dial indicator to get lift at the pushrod and multiply by rocker ratio to find advertised (gross) lift. The cam matched the card .

[OneWheelPeel]

I wanted to do a little refresh on the carb. Its a Holley 3310C (4160).

Broke the carb and throttle body apart to clean / inspect.




The PO had the choke tower locked full open. This thing must have been fun to start by yourself...



I decided to change over to an electric choke with a kit made for the 3310C. Manual choke assembly removed.



Electric choke baseplate and module installed.





Carb re-assembled and ready for action... well, ready for adjusting at least.

[OneWheelPeel]

Finally re-assembled the engine, bagged it up and pushed it into a safe corner of the garage for when I'm ready.

[OneWheelPeel]

Some specs on the engine:

Block: GM 3970010 0020, early 70's 4 bolt main, clearanced for 383 rotating assembly
Crank: Eagle cast crank, 3.750 stroke
Rods: Eagle 5.700 I-beam light weight
Piston: Flat top of some kind, look like hypereutectic. I was told CR was 10.5:1
Cam: Crower 00427 mechanical roller, .585/290 int .597/296 exh
Lifters: Crane Cams 11515 solid roller, pop-ups
Heads: Brodix Track 1, 67cc, 221cc Intake
Pushrods: Trick Flow .080 wall
Rockers: Crower Aluminum rollers
Oil pump: Melling M55HV
Intake: Edelbrock Performer RPM air gap
Carb: Holley 3310C 750 cfm, converted to electric choke
Ignition: GM HEI distributor with Accel cap, rotor and module
Fuel Pump: Holley Keith Dorton Series 170 GPH mechanical

Looks like the builder may not have been that far off with his estimate of 450HP for this set-up.

[OneWheelPeel]

Last update for today. Got back to working on the chassis again this weekend. I had to get ready for something I've been waiting on for over 3 months. I started making space...



While I was in the process of taking things apart the Fed Ex truck pulls up. I'm thinking, I'm not supposed to be getting anything for a couple days...

I was so excited I had to install it!



I also picked up the rear and trailing arm x-members.



Spent the rest of the day taking everything else apart getting ready for some replacement brackets. Talk about a few steps back. At least I know what I'm doing this time, and where its supposed to go.



Hopefully next weekend it'll be back in a roller and I can start work on rust repair. Its going to be crazy to see this thing on four wheels again.

Thanks for following along,
Ken

[mcbassin]

Awesome looking engine and your chassis just gets nicer with every update! Keep up the good work.

[FRANKENSTEINC10]

Wow. Truck is looking awesome.

[OneWheelPeel]

Originally Posted by Sac

Man… Super clean C10 build and a super clean FD, count me in.

Originally Posted by birdistheword

Very cool build my 69 swb is the same color. Looks like you're doing everything I want to do to mine one day when I have the time, space, and money.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome looking engine and your chassis just gets nicer with every update! Keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by FRANKENSTEINC10

Wow. Truck is looking awesome.

Thanks for the comments guys! I'm glad people are liking my vision for this truck.

[OneWheelPeel]

Small mid-week update...

I got in some replacement brackets for ones that were not useable on my truck. First I replaced the bed mounting brackets.



Then I replaced the coil spring mounting plates. I know I probably could have been just fine without replacing them, but, I wanted to have as much bracing around the notch as possible. Plus, they actually fit pretty well with the notch, even installing them well after the fact. I had to cut a small sliver off of the rounded outside edge to make it flush with the outer frame, that's it...



I had to trim the trailing arm mount plate to accommodate the Porterbuilt x-member. Probably didn't need this bracket either, but it was easy to fit, so I did.




Installed the new POL billet spring retainers. These things are awesome, much better than the stock plate style ones.



Finally put everything back together. I had the inner frame stiffener in the farthest aft set of holes and nothing on the rear suspension lined up. I moved the piece up to the middle holes and everything lined up perfectly.



All done, adjusted and back on the ground, ready for the next stage of mock-up...

[kehstr]

I know this is a long shot since you haven't updated in a while, but I was wondering if there were any updates on the truck?

[oldgreen69]

Any updates to this build you could share? You have a great start!

[OneWheelPeel]

I guess its time to post an update on this project. It's been a while, and I have been working on it. Photobucket basically removed all interest in posting updates by killing most of this thread picture wise. Anyway, I'll drop some reminders of where I started, and where the project is today.

I may start a new thread, or keep this one rolling, not sure yet.