Green Beater

[Jeramy]

Guess i could go ahead and make a project thread for my old truck since technically it is my project.

It is an old beat up and abused 1981 silverado c10. originally came with 305 and th350c now sporting a non lock up 350 behind the 305.

used to be a white top and blue bottom with red and white interior i believe, now it is O D green and flat black on the outside and red and flat black on the inside...alot of spray paint lol

so any ways when i got it it was lifted with 33x12.50x15s on 6.5 rallys, a brush guard, and a seat from a 88-95 c1500 in it held in by the center seat belt.

[Jeramy]

So first thing i did was take the 33's off because they were smooth bald. Unfortunately only thing i had laying around were some 215/75-15 but they had decent tread so hey why not. also pulled out the 2 inch lift blocks on the rear.

one of the guys at work gave me a decent bench seat out of a 79c10 so that fixed my skyjacker seat problem.

took the brush guard off after i got tired of listening to it rattle and gave it to a friend with a 87 v10.


i have cleaned up some of the mess under the hood and adjusted the doors to fit better along with dropping the front 2 inches but have no pics of that. the old 305 is starting to smoke a little so im on the hunt for a 350 to drop in it and hopefully next week install the 2 inch rear shackles and my 8 inch rallies that i rounded up this week

[Jeramy]

went outside and took some quick pics.
2inch front drop

8 inch rallies

and finally my ugly interior

yes they spray painted the interior/dash/doorpanels with flatblack which i actually wouldn't mind but they did a crap job of it

[Jeramy]

to add something i have decided i want to keep the od green and flat black scheme that it has now but with wider tires, lower stance, more aggressive performance, maybe a cowl induction hood. have no idea what i want to do on the inside for now

i think with a little body work and a properly applied paint job that it would be an awesome looking setup

[franken]

LOL, had me til the red seat

[Jeramy]

going to pick up a black seat cover to throw over it for now and figure out what i want to do seat wise later

[Jeramy]

picked up a 350 2bolt main out of a 87 chevy van today to use as the base for my engine build. popped the heads off it and cylinders look real good with no sign of ring groove now just need to decide how far and how big i want to build it. which i will figure out after i finish tearing it down

[Jeramy]

so after tearing the engine down and checking everything it was all within spec so i deglazed the cylinders, scrubbed down and degreased the block, and put it back together with new rings and bearings. im going to run the swirl port heads for now since i already have a carb intake to fit them.

hopefully next weekend i will have time to degrease the heads and put in new vavle guide seals along with lapping the valves.

i didn't take any pictures because i figure everyone has seen a black 350 short block before lol.

as a disclaimer i am not building this motor as a permanent replacement for my truck. The 305 in my truck is dieing fast so im trying to throw together a decent stockish 350 with out cutting to many corners to run for the next year or so.

[rusty76]

I'll be watching this one.

[Jeramy]

nothing much done lately. did pick up some used 235/75r15 tires and mount them on 2 of the 8 inch wide rallies i picked up few weeks ago.

before

after

[Zach079xxx]

Hey, that carpet is in GREAT shape by the pics! Dye it!

Cool truck!

[Jeramy]

surprisingly it is lol

and thank you

[Jeramy]

no up date for truck but did go to harbor freight and spend 500 bucks on 2.5hp 21 gal. air compressor, 3 ton low profile jack,various air tools fittings and hoses, a reciprocating saw, and some hammers of various sizes oh and a free mini flash light lol

[Jeramy]

today i made some progress. truck got a complete front end rebuild. took me almost 8 hours but with the new bushings, ball joints, tire rod ends, adjusters, pitman arm, idler arm, and sway bar bushings truck rides really smooth and no more funny noises. will take it in Monday to get the alignment set properly.

[Hankster]

I watch the build.

[Jeramy]

engine is ready to be installed. ordered a oil pump primer today along with some new tail lights, coolant recovery tank, washer reservoir, fan shroud lower half, upper radiator brackets,and assorted hoses/bolts to go with these things. also ordered some header collectors, 2 sticks of 2.5 exhaust pipe, a couple of thrush 2 chamber welded mufflers and a new distributor.

[Hankster]

Sweet, I love ordering parts.

[Jeramy]

me too, just don't like paying for them lol

[Jeramy]

did the rear drop shackles today after work

[Jeramy]

so the quick up date is i finally got around to putting the 8 inch wide tires and 235/70-15s on the front. Also started the engine swap today but forgot the camera. with my brothers help got the old one out and new one sitting in on mounts and trans crossmember before having to call it a day to do husbandly duties.

[rusty76]

Looking good dude

[Jeramy]

so this is where i started

here is the broke down 305 ready for scrap heap

rebuilt 350 sitting in its new home

and where i got to before i went home today



tomorrow will finish up and break it in

[Jeramy]

so here is the verdict. it runs lol

seriously though it runs pretty well for what it is, exhaust note is great but a little loud since i used headers to 21/2 inch pipes and then thrush welded 2 chamber mufflers turned out in front of rear tires.

the cam has a nice lope to it and truck motors along nicely at 55 which is where i spend most of my time. only have about 100 miles on it but the little hick ups and odd moments are being worked out with careful tuning and small adjustments. found out the gauges in my truck are out of whack. oil was erratically reading no /low pressure then good(half gauge or better) when ever it wanted. temp gauge would be reading 230 in about 2 minutes after starting. hooked up a set of manual gauges i had and have steady 25 psi oil pressure at idle warmed up and truck maintains 190-200 temp even with driving and extended idling afterwards.

[Jeramy]

well crap transmission went out today

[Liltroy]

sounds like you have my kinda luck!