1969 C10 Bagged LS/T56 Build

[VA72C10]

looking great!

[darkgable79]

NVU makes some really nice gauges.

[ADub]

Finished interior portion of the AC install, got the stereo back in and put some trim back on. Finally sat down and figured out the clutch master mounting. I'd kept procrastinating because I knew it would be a PITA.

It is an S10 master cylinder that uses the GM 1/4 turn square lock type mount. Like a Vette master. I made a plate and cut a square window into it, then bolted it to the firewall to tie in the mount area to the reinforced area. Put the pedals back in and played around with some 1-1/4" square tubing and a long 3/8" grade 8 bolt until I got the angle and travel I wanted. Cut a sleeve of 1/2" round tube to go over the bolt and tacked it together. Pulled it out of the truck and welded and painted it. Pretty pleased with how it worked out. The pedal bottoms out on the floor just before the master cylinder bottoms out, so I didn't have to make a pedal stop

[ADub]

Finished the dash and firewall. Have few little things to tidy up before I put the carpet and seats back in.

[trkfrk]

Originally Posted by ADub

Finished interior portion of the AC install, got the stereo back in and put some trim back on. Finally sat down and figured out the clutch master mounting. I'd kept procrastinating because I knew it would be a PITA.

It is an S10 master cylinder that uses the GM 1/4 turn square lock type mount. Like a Vette master. I made a plate and cut a square window into it, then bolted it to the firewall to tie in the mount area to the reinforced area. Put the pedals back in and played around with some 1-1/4" square tubing and a long 3/8" grade 8 bolt until I got the angle and travel I wanted. Cut a sleeve of 1/2" round tube to go over the bolt and tacked it together. Pulled it out of the truck and welded and painted it. Pretty pleased with how it worked out. The pedal bottoms out on the floor just before the master cylinder bottoms out, so I didn't have to make a pedal stop

You have been busy.. Your clutch master cylinder came out nice! Very clean and simple. I may need to duplicate yours..

[ADub]

TRKFRK, unless you are in a hurry, I'd wait a couple weeks. I was really pleased with it until about an hour ago. Went to hook up the clutch hydraulic line and the master is loose. It was very tight when I installed it, so my guess is the rubber grommet that goes between the master and the engine side of the firewall really softened up after a few clutch cycles. Its still solid front to back, but Im worried about it rotating loose. I think I am going to do some creative drilling and try and install a pair of screws/bolts to prevent rotation. Maybe later this evening.

I looked at the universal style Wilwood masters that use the standard two bolt mount. Those would have been easier to mount, but they require expensive and hard to find adapters to connect to the LS1 slave. So I went with the S10 since the S10 hydraulic line will connect to the LS1 slave.

[ADub]

Messed with it a bit more. Turns out the snap ring that holds the square bushing onto the master was not fully seated, so that backed off and caused it to get sloppy. Fixed that issue and its rock solid again. Still going to try and get a "set" screw installed so the master can't rotate in case it were to happen again.

[stealthy '69]

Great progress! I can't wait to see it all finished up. Are you wiring it up your self or using a wiring kit?

[trkfrk]

Originally Posted by ADub

Messed with it a bit more. Turns out the snap ring that holds the square bushing onto the master was not fully seated, so that backed off and caused it to get sloppy. Fixed that issue and its rock solid again. Still going to try and get a "set" screw installed so the master can't rotate in case it were to happen again.

That is good news.. The set screw is easy insurance. That is nice everything is inexpensive, simple and you can go to any parts store for a replacement. Nice job.

[502ms]

Impressive! Great work! Following along!
Posted via Mobile Device

[ADub]

Originally Posted by stealthy '69

Great progress! I can't wait to see it all finished up. Are you wiring it up your self or using a wiring kit?

I'm just wiring it myself. Kit is somewhat of a waste. This truck has no side markers, no distributor/coil, aftermarket AC etc, so I would have just deleted all those circuits. The interior wiring was in good shape, the chassis and engine compartment were average. I bought a roll of 4 wire trailer wiring and made my own replacement rear harness. Haven't made it to the engine harness yet. The fuel pump uses a Summit fuel pump relay kit and I did all the wiring for the bag compressor. Same for the bag valves. All the chassis wiring is loomed and secured to the frame. I also bought a Painless Circuit boss to cleanly add 7 circuits to the system. I will mount that up and use it for powering the fuel pump, compressor, MSD etc.

[ADub]

Busy weekend. Finished up the interior wiring, put the carpet in, installed the seats and 3 point belts. I'm very pleased with the interior. It had universal carpet in it before that wouldn't fit with the taller trans hump. I kept the universal carpet to cover the old gas tank area and bought replacement black carpet for the floor. Looks really nice. Yanked the old grant wheel replaced it with a Mooneyes wheel. My wheel adapter was missing the horn parts, so I'm waiting for a new one to show so I can get the center cap on.

Had a buddy stopped by on Sat. We finished the refresh on the dr side door, hung both doors, finished the brake lines, and set the nose on. We had some issues getting the doors to close well. Going to have to make some minor tweaks, but it shouldn't be too much work. Went ahead and ordered new latches since they certainly aren't helping.

Took my Chevelle out Sunday morning and remembered how huge of a shifter it has. So I yanked the shifter handle off the Chevelle and put it in the truck. I put the shorter stick that came with the T56 in the Chevelle. Grabbed a cheapy shifter boot from the parts store and mounted it up in the truck. Also finished the accessory drive and installed the belt.

[5150.4.67]

Looking good! My experience with gen III/IV cam bearings is the same. I've yet to come across a set of cam bearings that looked good enough to leave in. On the other hand, I haven't noticed any completely fail either.....

[ADub]

Buddy came over Friday and we finished adjusting the doors, mounted the front end, replaced all the door latches, and installed the steering intermediate shaft. He named the truck Project Stripped, mainly because half the factory threaded holes are stripped out.

Worked on my own saturday. Installed the condensor and as much of the AC as I could. The vintage air kit comes with 3 open ended AC hoses that you have to cut to length. So I fit them up, cut to length and marked the alignment. Have to get them crimped this week. Installed the heater hoses and the PS return line. Made sure the existing PS pressure line had the right orientation so I just need to get a metric end installed this week. Also finished replacing the battery tray bottom that I started on the day before. POR15d it and got it bolted in place.

Another set of hands stopped by today. Installed the original under hood wiring harness, wired up the starter, and installed new battery cables. We mounted up the LS1 Efans to the radiator. They fit up to the radiator surprisingly well. Not a lot of clearance on between the front drive and the fans. Thats the down side to these motor mounts. We cut up the 05 Silverado hoses that I picked up with the water pump and the cooling system is almost done. Went ahead and threw the carb and fuel block on.

Almost there. Still have some wiring to do and long list of bits a pieces I need to pick up this week to button it up. It will run by next Sunday, hopefully it will drive, steer, and stop too.

[raull]

nice, i like the way you did the engine , and also with the ls carb conversion

[VA72C10]

Nice progress! Looking really good! Really want to do a bagged LS truck of my own...down the road for sure!

[ADub]

Well I have been battling the flu, but the damn truck has to get finished! Fired it up tonight, started first crank. Man that felt good! Everything seems to be working but the fuel gauge. I think the sending unit wire is grounding out somewhere. Still have a few odds and ends to wrap up, but hoping I can hit the classic car show Sat night. Woot

[Tinkermc]

very good looking build, I am crazy about the gauges, who made them? will be lloking back to see finished project before the cruise and after for the final paint.

[67c10rustbuket]

Sweet build! nice job on the eng/trans. I'd like to run a T56 one of these days, lots of fun. Keep it up

[ADub]

Originally Posted by Tinkermc

very good looking build, I am crazy about the gauges, who made them? will be lloking back to see finished project before the cruise and after for the final paint.

The gauges are from New Vintage USA. Its their 1940s series. I have no complaints. They do all out custom stuff if you want, but most of their standard kit can be purchased thru Summit. As I recall, pricing was pretty competitive. Wasn't quite as cheap as Dolphin and not quite as much as Autometer. I liked Classic Instruments too, but I was disappointed that their electric speedo still needed a convertor to work with the T56. New Vintage speedo wired right up.

[Hart_Rod]

Cool build! I'm doing something similar for my son.

[ajstager]

What do you think of the position of the shifter inside the cab? I am doing a SBC 350 / T56 and I am wondering if I need to get the shifter relocator kit or if it will sit comfortably without it?

[ADub]

Shifter position seems fine to me, but I haven't driven it yet. Mine is pretty far back though, not sure you could go with this position and bench seat.

I fired it up again tonight, bled the cooling system, programmed the e fans, installed the coil covers and the cowl. Planning to do the carb adjustments, set the hood on, and bleed the brakes/clutch tomorrow AM.

[ADub]

Truck runs and has cold AC, but not rolling yet. Bled the brakes, but haven't been able to test because the clutch won't disengage. Going to try and fab an adjustable pushrod tonight, but if that doesn't do it, I don't know what else to do but take the trans out.

[ADub]

Ended up needing a longer clutch pushrod. I fab'd the original linkage with the cab bare. I guess with the dynamat and the carpet, I just wasn't getting enough travel.

Took it out for its virgin cruise. Everything was working except the speedo and the fuel gauge. Speedo just needs calibrated. Fuel sending unit is bad. Either it won't work with my custom pickup or I damaged it when I made the custom pickup. I went ahead an ordered a new factory one. Hopefully it doesn't choke the fuel system, but if it does, I'll just have to limit my WOT runs on Power Tour. Rather have a working fuel gauge!