American in Austria 83 Build

[Pro Performance]

I am not sure to be honest, and I don't have a frame here to check. I would imagine 7/16.

- Travis

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by Pro Performance

I am not sure to be honest, and I don't have a frame here to check. I would imagine 7/16.

- Travis

Thanks Travis,

I think its 7/16'' as well. I imagine 2.5" is plenty long enough.

[Bishops Trucks]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

No kidding, what were you doing in Wien for so many years? Its always a good time sitting down and getting a bit lose with the locals here. They drink like fish.

Wife worked for the US Gov. I ended up working at the embassy for the Diplomatic Security Office. If you ever get the chance, go to the Prater (amusement park) in Wein. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it seats a couple hundred people. They have a pork knuckle that just melts in your mouth and the beer is great and plentiful.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by Bishops Trucks

Wife worked for the US Gov. I ended up working at the embassy for the Diplomatic Security Office. If you ever get the chance, go to the Prater (amusement park) in Wein. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it seats a couple hundred people. They have a pork knuckle that just melts in your mouth and the beer is great and plentiful.

Right on man, I'll remember that. I don't make it that far east usually but when I do i'll check that place out.

[Bishops Trucks]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

Right on man, I'll remember that. I don't make it that far east usually but when I do i'll check that place out.

You'll enjoy it, I guarantee it. Now I made myself hungry. Gotta go dig around the fridge.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by Bishops Trucks

You'll enjoy it, I guarantee it. Now I made myself hungry. Gotta go dig around the fridge.

haha, get after it buddy

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by Chaplain

You'll need the thread numbers as well. I came up with the following:
3/8x16x1" motor mount support to frame
3/8x16x1" motor mount bracket to support
7/16x14x1" (maybe slightly longer) cross member support

Hopefully someone will know chime in to verify. I simply cleaned up and painted those bolts to be reused.

Thanks Chaplain!

I was thinking of cleaning mine up as well. But since the rest of the frame is getting all new hardware I wanted to be consistent with the rest.

I think you are right that they are slightly longer. In my head (memory) I am thinking the 1.5" to 2". But probably not any longer. Between the frame and the support it cant be much thicker than 1/2"

Thanks again!

Paul

[44boggers]

Hey guys, I am back in Euro Land meaning I can work on my project again. Got some small things done yesterday and today. I brought back about 10 lbs worth of grade 8 hardware to finish bolting the front end together as well as permanently mounting the fuel cell in the rear.

I did the final assembly on the front brake system which entailed, loc tighting the rotor/rotor hat assembly together as well as safety wiring the bolts down. Lastly I added one more .035 shim to the front caliper to get it centered on the rotor.

Put new wheel bearings and seals in the rear end, and began to put the rear brake system together. This is where I ran into a snag. The caliper mounting bracket is to thick so the caliper can't be centered on the rotor. So I need to take it apart and have about 3.53mm shaved off it, then it should be good to go. Other than that, I have the axle back under the truck, bolted in, the carrier is bolted back up and diff cover is sealed.

Next on the list is to mount the motor back on the frame so I can figure out where I need to drill the frame for the new transmission mount. Once that is done, its time to tear the motor apart and get it ready for the machine shop.

I brought back basically an entire motor worth of parts from the US. I bought a rotating assembly with a forged scat crank, mahle pistons and rods, new bearings, rings. Going to run a Lunati roller camshaft (mild cam, about 490 lift, with 1:5.5 rockers should be around 510 total lift), so very streetable. Going to zero deck the block , bringing compression to around 10.2:1. I bought a set of Trick Flow specialties aluminum heads, 7 qt moroso oil pan with all of the goodies, deep cast aluminum transmission oil pan, double roller timing chain. Only thing left for the motor is the ignition system, fuel system, harmonic balancer, scorpian roller rockers, and intake manifold.

I am staying with the 305 the truck came with. I think with this set up I can get the power numbers in the 300s or so. Nice thing is here in Austria, they offer 95 octane and 100 octane at the pumps!

Ok just a couple pics for you guys. Till next time

Paul

You can see in the first picture of the rear brake assembly, there are three allen head bolts that hold the caliper mounting bracket to another bracket that is bolted to the assembly, It is the thicker bracket that I need to machine down, which will allow the rotor to move inboard enough to center the caliper and rotor.

[Jason Banks]

FYI on your octane rating.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf-OYXlhJis

Truck looks great!

[slotard]

I was going to say that octane is rated differently there. My impression is the fuel is fairly similar, although I don't know if they have as much ethanol in it.

Do you mean your roller rockers are 1.55:1? 1:5.5 doesn't really make sense. Is this a factory roller cam engine or are you converting it?

[44boggers]

Some good info on the fuel. I'll look into it more.

Yeah sorry a typo. 1.55:1 rocker. And no it's not a factory roller. I'm converting it to a roller.

Originally Posted by slotard

I was going to say that octane is rated differently there. My impression is the fuel is fairly similar, although I don't know if they have as much ethanol in it.

Do you mean your roller rockers are 1.55:1? 1:5.5 doesn't really make sense. Is this a factory roller cam engine or are you converting it?

Posted via Mobile Device

[44boggers]

Ok, so I ran into an issue today trying to fit my motor back in for some mock up. the problem is, is that I cant get the motor back in. I am new motor mounts and I cant get the holes to line up no matter what I try. The new mounts came with some metal tabs that must act as stop for the clam shell. First those were getting in the way not allowing me to even get the motor close to position. So i ground those tabs off and i could get the motor to fall into place. The issue is that once I have a bolt in one side, the other side is about a 1/2" off (the mount needs to move outboard a 1/2" or so.

The only thing i did not have on the motor which was exactly the same as when I took it out are those "spacers" that mount under the clam shell bolted to the motor.

I have the motor mounts bolted to the top two holes of the engine crossmember support bracket, or whatever you might call it. The part that bolts to the frame and the engine x member.

I was thinking maybe the frame was bent in, but all of the crossmembers and supports bolted right up, no problem.

Any ideas on what is going on here? Did chevy make an offset bushing part to the motor mount at any point. Is it possible that I have the wrong mount, even though it fits perfect between the metal part of the mount?

Thanks guys

Paul

[44boggers]

I am thinking some how the driver side frame is pushed in a bit. If so, I think I have two options. One is to slot the holes on the 45 degree frame support (which the motor mount bolts to) that way I can get the mount to slide up the bracket the 1/2" or so I need.

Or option to, is to use some sort of jack and try to push the frame rail out.

The thing is, is when I got the truck it drove great, drove straight down the road. The frame was cracked from the steering box, right in front of the engine x member. So maybe the frame cracking tweeked the frame inboard a bit?

The truck did have a lot of camber shims, perhaps that was to account for the frame being a little tweeked, I am not sure. I have also seen many other trucks with a lot of shims as well. So it's hard to say.

What do you guys think my next step should be. Kind sucks slot the holes in the plate since it has a fresh powder coat. But I wont go very far without a motor!!!!

[44boggers]

Hey guys,

Havent had to much time to get work done on the truck lately but I have been working on my 305 rebuild. I also had about 3mm milled off the wilwood caliper bracket and now the caliper sits centered. So the rear brake system is finished.

In regards to the 305 rebuild, I am zero decking the block, actually going to leave the piston in the hole about .005", just for safe being, or if I need to mill it more in the future for any reason. The block is at the machine shop now. I already had the block aligned honed and bored .30 over. The motor will see about 10.23:1 compression.

I did some oiling modifications to the block. I actually didnt take many pictures yet, but I have some from the mods of the 5th main cap. Pretty basic and standard procedure modifications. I ground out a lot of the extra casting flash in the lifter valley and the oiling holes that go to the rear of the block. As well as enlarged the oil holes behind the timing cover to allow better flow back.

I still havent figured out what I will do to spread the frame so the motor fits back in. I guess when the time comes I will loosen all of the crossmember hardware and see what happens. I can't tell if the driverside motor mount frame brace stand thing is bent in a bit more than the passenger or what is going on. Or maybe just by removing all of the crossmembers for powder coating, the frame settled in a different location. We will see what happens when I loosen everything.

Anyone every experience this?

Also built a nice steel work bench, was getting tired of working on the ground.
I am slowly building up my garage/shop here in austria. It sucks, because I am basically buying or making everything i already have in the US. Have a big bench vise coming in the mail along with an airhose reel. I am going to weld a plate off the right side of the bench for a bench grinder as well.

[44boggers]

Hey folks,

Finally got most of my motor built and actually got it to squeeze into the frame today. I am waiting on a few things for the motor that I will pick up next month in the US. So I decided to move ahead and install the motor and trans and get the new trans mount installed. Now I can work on the exhaust. Few other things done, new ujoints, sandblasted the driveshaft and painted it.

I gutted the cab interior to get ready for body work, acid dipped and e-coated. Found a few interesting items under the dash that I am not sure if they are stock or the previous owner put in. Two different boxes labeled AC. One was bright yellow and the other box was black. Then there was an ECU box (must be emissions control or something like that. Then also a red box that had a multi prong plug going to it. Other than the ECU box, I am not sure what these other boxes are. Let me know if you know.

Ran into one small issue with the motor. I got a new ATI damper, started installing it, got maybe an inch of it installed and it basically jammed up. I should have read the instructions where it tells you to mic the crank and the damper hub. Too much interference on the crank. Well now I can't get it back off. Already stripped out one balancer removal tool, got another one on the way.

I am not really sure what my next step is. I am going to try using a heat gun and seeing if that little bit of heat will expand the hub at all. I really do not want to break out the propane torch in fear of ruining the balancer. But i need to get it off. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks guys

Paul

[TurboLS]

44boggers, gotta say this is a great build. You are doing some awesome stuff being so far from readily available parts. I love the brakes. But gotta say, as an Aircraft Mechanic your killin me on you safety wire job! Think of it as the wire should be pulling each bolt in the tightening direction. When done it should look like a backwards "S".

Please don't take my criticism the wrong way. Your doing a hell of a job. Can't wait to see it complete.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by TurboLS

44boggers, gotta say this is a great build. You are doing some awesome stuff being so far from readily available parts. I love the brakes. But gotta say, as an Aircraft Mechanic your killin me on you safety wire job! Think of it as the wire should be pulling each bolt in the tightening direction. When done it should look like a backwards "S".

Please don't take my criticism the wrong way. Your doing a hell of a job. Can't wait to see it complete.

Thanks Turbo, bring on the criticism, only way to learn. But looking at my safety wire job i cant see how they could come loose. If one bolt was to loose it would essentially try to tighten the other. Because they wire is made in an S shape. I swear I did it just like the instructions said plus watching 100 videos on it. But looking at it I cant see how if one was to loosen it would also loosen the other bolt, they would be pulling in the opposite directions.

I mean I believe you know exactly what you are talking about since you do this for a living, but I can't see how my wire job is incorrect. Please enlighten me Turbo.

Thanks

Paul

[TurboLS]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

Thanks Turbo, bring on the criticism, only way to learn. But looking at my safety wire job i cant see how they could come loose. If one bolt was to loose it would essentially try to tighten the other. Because they wire is made in an S shape. I swear I did it just like the instructions said plus watching 100 videos on it. But looking at it I cant see how if one was to loosen it would also loosen the other bolt, they would be pulling in the opposite directions.

I mean I believe you know exactly what you are talking about since you do this for a living, but I can't see how my wire job is incorrect. Please enlighten me Turbo.

Thanks

Paul

So look at it this way, the theory behind safety wire is to prevent the hardware from ever coming loose in the 1st place. And you are correct, if 1 did start to back out the other would hold it tight, when done correctly.

With that said, look at your safety at the 1o'clock position. The top bolt is safetied backwards. Its being pulled loose. Same for the Safety at the 3o'clock. Your best one is at 7o'clock, except its loose. Try putting less turns in the wire and when pulling it through the 2nd bolt have a nice tight safety. I cant see the 6o'clock one, half is cut off. It looks like its good. The ones at 9o'clock and 12o'clock are better, but they are each "neutral" safeties. Meaning 1 bolt is not being pulled in either direction. The wire is coming off the bottom straight.

Im not sure which kind of 12 point bolts those are, do they have multiple holes or just the 1 drilled straight through? If its just 1 hole that does make it more difficult to safety.

More than likely, you will never have a problem. Im just a picky SOB when it come to this stuff.

[streetstar]

Yes- it is safety wired incorrectly- the twisted wire should form an S of sorts as it pulls on both fasteners in the direction of tightening -- i'll try to post a diagram later

Build is lookinge great so far -- you'll be waking the neighbors for sure in that little mountain town

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by streetstar

Yes- it is safety wired incorrectly- the twisted wire should form an S of sorts as it pulls on both fasteners in the direction of tightening -- i'll try to post a diagram later

Build is lookinge great so far -- you'll be waking the neighbors for sure in that little mountain town

Well ****. That's what I get for trying to be extra safe. At least they are red loctited in.

I finally got the balancer off. Heat from a head gun did the trick.

I started today on the exhaust.

Does anyone think it matters where the bends in the system are located? What I mean is after the x pipe I turned the pipes up so they are level with the frame that way I don't need to bend it up over the axle. Does having the bends opposed to going straight until the axle hinder the flow?

Thanks

Paul
Posted via Mobile Device

[Kainedogg]

Great build. Love the brake and suspension setup.

What made you stick with the 305...just want to be different?

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by Kainedogg

Great build. Love the brake and suspension setup.

What made you stick with the 305...just want to be different?

Haha be different. I'm an American living I Austria with a 1983 c10. Can't get much different. But anyway. It's not easy here to just pick up a 350 at a junk yard. So it wasn't more of a choice as it was lack of options.

But regardless I think it will be enough power for a cruiser. Should be mid 300's hp.
Posted via Mobile Device

[TurboLS]

305 is a good motor. But if your ever wanting more reliable power, check out Pacific Fabrication. They are located about 20 miles north of me in California. They specialize in LS swaps ready to go with all necessary parts to run, shipped anywhere in the world. They even run their engines before shipping on a test stand and give you a warranty. I picked up my Cammed 6.0 from them, around 450 hp. Are they cheap, No! But awesome customer support. ...... Food for thought.

PS, again hope you didn't mind the safety wire comments. Either way it doesn't take away from your cool build. Feel free to give me sh*t on my build. We are at about the same place. My link should be below.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by TurboLS

305 is a good motor. But if your ever wanting more reliable power, check out Pacific Fabrication. They are located about 20 miles north of me in California. They specialize in LS swaps ready to go with all necessary parts to run, shipped anywhere in the world. They even run their engines before shipping on a test stand and give you a warranty. I picked up my Cammed 6.0 from them, around 450 hp. Are they cheap, No! But awesome customer support. ...... Food for thought.

PS, again hope you didn't mind the safety wire comments. Either way it doesn't take away from your cool build. Feel free to give me sh*t on my build. We are at about the same place. My link should be below.

Thanks for the info Turbo,

Dont mind your comments at all. I encourage criticism. Ill check out your build and find 1 thing you did wrong

[Kainedogg]

I can't picture LS motors being anymore plentiful in Austria than the ubiquitous 350sbc...lol.

Seriously though, great build OP and if you do swing the ls way you are in for quite a treat. From the lowly 4.8 to the might 7.0 they all fit.