Project: 69 C10 "Junk Yard Dog"

[frednoah]

Been a while since an update so here we go.

Picked up some new shiny stuff back in April at the autofair. Got a new rearview mirror, new 71-72 style sport mirrors for the doors, some new lenses for the park lights in the grill, and new reverse lenses. Also got a reverse light housing to replace the one that keeps eating bulbs. All of that stuff is yet to be installed.

A little over a month ago I had to change the stop light switch because the brake lights wanted to stay on 24/7. Man was that a job I hope to never do again. Spent an hour basically laying on my head/surgically repaired shoulder trying to fit my hands in a space made for a 3 year olds arm.

Once I got the stoplight switch out, I was feeling good about things, so I pulled the dash cluster out and replaced all of the bulbs hoping to get some light. Put everything back in, plugged it up, and you guessed it....nothing. All the guages work, just can't seem to see them at night.

The next project was changing out the battery tray. This job went ok, with the exception of skinning up every knuckle on one hand trying to get those damn bolts on the radiator side started. Oh and getting bit by some spider that made me sick for a few days.

I know I know... by this time you're all thinking so I'll get to the one update that allows you to actually see progress.

[frednoah]

My new console:

I got tired of not having a place to sit a cold drink down while driving back and forth to physical therapy, so I began thinking about building myself a console. I took a bunch of measurements, made a pile of sketches, and finally settled on a design.

I've got about $35 in the whole thing, and about 2-3 hours of labor making it. Materials were:
2 pieces of 2ft square 1/2" pine (if memory serves...)
1 stick stick of 2"x2"x8' furring strip
3" hole saw
Package of small finishing nails
Some wood filler putty for the seams
Two plastic cup holder inserts like you'd see on boats
Free quart of black paint I got from a Glidden promo online

Finished the painting Sunday night and put it in this morning. It is 12" wide, 14" long, and goes from 11"(at the seat) to 13" tall. Down the road I may pull it out and integrate a 10" subwoofer into the design, but just holding a drink and my phone will do for now.

[RCbowtie69]

Gald you're back,it's looking good,hope to to see more of your progress soon & keep on truckin''

[gcburdic]

Yo Fred.....I'm just down the road man....I can help if ya need me too.....don't go hurtin yourself again!!!!....Like the console....nice work!

[frednoah]

Got the new reverse light housing installed tonight, and still no light on that side. Guess it's something in the harness.

The truck's PO was a hack, and I've already had to fix some wiring under the dash for my piece of mind. A down the road project is a complete rewire, but I'd love to be able to put it off for a year or two. It will probably be that long before I even try to tackle the cab corners and rockers. I'd prefer to not rewire before then.

[frednoah]

Wow. Been a long time since any updates. Here's where we stand now.

Top end of the motor got torn down, then a bunch of stuff happened at work and I got promoted to GM. Truck has been sitting for basically a year, as I just didn't have time to even go out in the garage and look at it.

Here recently I've tried to make a push to get her back running:

• Rebuilt Vortecs on and torqued down
• New Performer RPM manifold installed
• Bought a rebuilt 750 Edelbrock to put on since my 600 was in dire need of a rebuild.
• Pulled a serpentine setup off of a 94 Silverado. Got extremely lucky and actually found a non AC truck, so I ended up saving $50 by not having to buy the AC delete pulley.
• New water pump and power steering pump bought, and installed along with the serpentine conversion today.

Now the fun starts. When I went to pull back the wiring from the old alternator to rewire for the CS alternator, I realized my previous owner had hacked things much worse than originally thought.

Multiple gauges/colors all buttspliced together every few feet with sections of bare wire stripped in the middle of a run with the end of another wire just wrapped around it, maybe with a little electrical tape if he had any on hand at the time. No way am I going to be comfortable doing anything other than a complete rewire after what I saw under the hood today.

I am torn on what to do. Part of me wants to shut the lights off in the garage and forget I ever bought the truck. On the other hand, I really want to get this thing running, so I'll end up explaining to the wife that I need an AAW Classic Update harness then get myself back to work. Once I get it rewired, I'll drop it off at a friend's shop and let him do the inital fire up and tune on the motor, since the valves still need adjusting (should have done before installing the intake, but I didn't know that at the time).

[frednoah]

Been spending a little time working on the truck lately. Got out of the funk of wiring hell and decided to push forward with getting the truck running well and then worry about the complete rewire after driving a bit this spring/summer.

What I've accomplished since last update:

• Valves adjusted properly after a ton of reading online.
• Rebuilt a new to me 750 Edelbrock and installed with a phenolic spacer.
• CS alternator conversion completed. Wiring mess fixed for now. AAW harness will be on order after this pay check comes in so I won't have to worry about wiring issues down the road.
• Starter replaced with a mini starter to help combat the heat soak issues I had before the head swap.
• Flex fan replaced with a clutch fan setup. Fan shroud modified for proper fit with new setup.
• Bought a 71+ gas pedal setup and LFD conversion plate to get rid of the old rod setup. Hoping to make that this weekends project.
• Bought an Edelbrock fuel pump that is clockable so I can rework my fuel line. The old one wouldn't clear the serpentine brackets.

My goal is to have things running by the end of the month, even though with no heat/defrost I won't be driving it much during the winter.