Suprachrgd82's 70 BB Longhorn fixxer-upper project

[suprachrgd82]

One of my father's friends recently past away, and left his widow with this truck. He was the original owner. As I am told, it is a 1-ton single rear wheel.
Pops asked me if I would be interested in a truck with a great engine. I said "Sure, I'll buy it", without looking at the truck. The story was that it has a fresh rebuilt BBC with 500hp, $5k invested in the motor. They guy ran a Kragen Autoparts store, so how could I go wrong?




I should have known my life better than that. I brought it home in February, after pouring 4 quarts of tranny fluid in the TH400. When I got home, I pulled the intake manifold and valve covers for a look. Beneath the rattlecan orange, I found ProComp aluminum heads and roller everything. I also found a missing pushrod, and 2 loose pushrods. The alternator and power steering pump were crooked, and everything but the heads used the original bolts from the original engine. The headers wouldn't cover the exhaust ports either (1 3/4 primaries)

I bought new pushrods, and lifters, stainles allen heads, headers, brackets, and have been working on it ever since. I have yet to find a billet power steeering bracket that fits. I am having one custom milled by a local custom shop. The billet passenger alternator bracket is from Black Mountain Precision. Nice piece.


Plans for the truck are to make a "nice work truck". Slightly custom, not show quality, but still haul stuff around. The body will be shaved, seam in the LH bed welded, no badges, single side window. The TH400 shifts good n hard; maybe a rebuild. Engine seems good, and roasted the tires a good 20 ft on 6 cylinders and a locker diff. The dash will be welded up smooth, modern guages, new wiring. The list goes on...

[68350]

Looks like you are making good progress! That'll make a nice heavy duty work truck.

[leddzepp]

Howdy neighbor! Looks like you got a good start there. Isn't it funny how just about every truck you come up on has the owner claiming the motor is fresh, rebuilt and lots o' horsepower? It's even funnier that none of them have receipts, dyno sheet, etc to back it up.
Good luck with your project.

[Longhorn Man]

Longhorns rock! 1404 C/30 longhorns were built in 70... all of them were single rear wheel for the record.
Looks like you have a solid platform to start with there.
Question... whats wrong with using original bolts? Head bolts and internal parts need new bolts... but intakes, tin, water pump.... all that jazz, original bolts are perfectly finr.

I would leave the seam on the bed personally... I call that the longhorn line personally. If you leave it there, you'll have something there to point out to people when you are telling them how rare it is. If you fill it in, then when you tell people, they'll say "it looks like a normal longbed to me".
Do you have any photos of the SPID? I see some nice options there, Custom Camper, A/C, Custom Trim, guages, 396/TH400... what else is listed on that sucker?

[special-K]

nice project! If you ill the bed seam you`ll have to carry a tape to show how much longer it is when people ask,instaed of pointing tio the seam.I call it the reference mark.

[longhorn396]

LONGHORNS RULE!!!!!!.....period

[suprachrgd82]

God hates me. I got a CPP steel underbed tank and coated it with duplicolor undercoating to protect it yesterday. It is hanging from a tree in the backyard to harden.

Last night and today......rain.....

[cursing smiley here]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Howdy neighbor! Looks like you got a good start there. Isn't it funny how just about every truck you come up on has the owner claiming the motor is fresh, rebuilt and lots o' horsepower? It's even funnier that none of them have receipts, dyno sheet, etc to back it up.
Good luck with your project.

Neighbor? Excellent. Perhaps a few weekends of beer and exchanging expertise? I'm sure you could use a set of extra hands, as could I. We can always use beer. Reassuring to know that I am not the only local with the mile-long-bed-truck.

I do know for a fact that this is a fresh rebuild. I have seen it in the guys garage over the past 3 years being assembled. All the parts are immaculate. I attribute the loose pushrods to misalligned rockers and sitting for over a year. Peeks into the plug holes reveal shiny pistons with tall tops.
The motor has less than 50 miles on it. I believe sitting allowed the lifters to drain. My bad, I should have primed the oil system prior to starting. The missing rod turned up in the oil pan. All is replaced now, with a generous helping of assembly lube.
The old motor is still sitting on the guy's toy hauler.

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

Question... whats wrong with using original bolts? Head bolts and internal parts need new bolts... but intakes, tin, water pump.... all that jazz, original bolts are perfectly finr.
Do you have any photos of the SPID? I see some nice options there, Custom Camper, A/C, Custom Trim, guages, 396/TH400... what else is listed on that sucker?

Original bots - they were rusty....very rusty. If I am not mistaken, modern alloys are stronger and less porous. Use of stainless fasteners in the aluminum parts, with antiseize, will keep the threads in top shape, provide accurate torqueing, less likely to shear a head, and are compatible metals.

SPID? Not sure what that is, but I would be happy to take more photos for you to apply that Chevy wisdom.

[420am]

SPID is the options list located on the inside of the glovebox door.

Nice find.. I wish I'd find some nice aluminum heads under some chevy orange paint.

[suprachrgd82]

Thanks to 19GMC63"s Photoshop skills, here's a pretty good idea of my goal. The tank filler will also be shaved, but that's a minor detail.

Any thoughts?



I am a Suzuki fan, so I'm shooting for something to compliment the TL1000R.

[suprachrgd82]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

...Do you have any photos of the SPID?...

As instructed, here's the "SPID".

[K2Orion]

Flip the colors; yellow on bottom, flat black on top.
Or bring the red stripe down to where the upper trim would be.

[RCbowtie69]

hey from N.C. nice truck

[suprachrgd82]

Been waiting for over a year for these.

[sleepertruck72]

Thats a solid looking Longhorn ! I likey

[Stricklinator]

Originally Posted by K2Orion

Flip the colors; yellow on bottom, flat black on top.
Or bring the red stripe down to where the upper trim would be.

I agree, flipping the colors would look awesome! Nice project I'll be watching this one. The more trucks I see, the more I want this and want that... A big block would be awesome and isn't embarrassing the way my stock 307 seems. What is about men and bigger = better? I don't know, but count me in.

Paul
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[suprachrgd82]

If the truck had A/C, I would consider the black on top. Southern California is home, and the sun will turn a black roof into an oven, particularly with the sliding rear window coming out.

I'll likely bring the yellow down further to the line by the door handles. Maybe silver rather than yellow.

First priority is to get her running again. She's been sitting for over a year. I gotta re-wire the alternator to the right side, and put in the under-bed tank to get her to the shop for a tranny rebuild and new exhaust.

[suprachrgd82]

Started back in on 'er

[/URL]

[Codez67Chevy]

Wow talk about a sleeper. Sweet truck man and the motor looks very nice. Your already half way there no need to put a different motor in.

[suprachrgd82]

The ol' truck is at the shop getting the motor running. From what I know about the truck:

468ci BBC short deck

MSD HEI

Edelbrock dual plane air gap manifold

Pro Comp alum heads with huge ports (had to get 2" primary headers to cover exhaust ports)

Comp Cams hyd installed #'s: 224 duration, lobe lift .301, lobe sep 110

Holley 4150-9381 830cfm

Roller rockers

Large sump pan

What kind of hp should I expect? Sound like a good carb?

[suprachrgd82]

Aluminum radiator (ECP) and aluminum under-bed 20 gal (CPP) tank received in the mail! Slow and steady progress....


http://www.speedcooling.com/about/info_1.html

http://www.classicperform.com/

[suprachrgd82]

Ol' Suprachrgd82 is very excited. The big truck finally runs! I found a great shop (Abel and Sons, Whittier) and they got 'er going. Johnny at Abel and Sons is a genius.

I had to get 2" primary headers and a new mini starter to clear the headers. The aluminum radiator, rear CPP tank and 830 Holley are in, and it sounds awesome!

I have a Dynomax X pipe and Thrush turbo mufflers in 3" to be installed next week.

The shop s literally nextdoor to http://www.onepieceproducts.com/ , so the next stop will be to have single side windows and front & rear flushmount glass put in. They just finished another Longhorn, pic below. Imagine seeing 2 Longhorns in one spot.

I just ordered up all new exterior lights in LEDs, and body panels that need replacement. Classic Industries has a decent Labor Day promo.

Next, to order wheels and tires. I'm leaning toward the wheels below in 8-lug 18" front, 16" rear. Any suggestions?


Classis Industries order:


Another Longhorn at the window shop:


Wheels at the top of my list:

[firedemon]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Howdy neighbor! Looks like you got a good start there. Isn't it funny how just about every truck you come up on has the owner claiming the motor is fresh, rebuilt and lots o' horsepower? It's even funnier that none of them have receipts, dyno sheet, etc to back it up.
Good luck with your project.

ya and they just cant drop the price because it has all that work

[toolboxchev]

Originally Posted by suprachrgd82

Thanks to 19GMC63"s Photoshop skills, here's a pretty good idea of my goal. The tank filler will also be shaved, but that's a minor detail.

Any thoughts?



I am a Suzuki fan, so I'm shooting for something to compliment the TL1000R.

If I understand things correctly around here the bike should end up looking something like the truck!

[biketopia]

Why not just go 18s all around? And in cases of staggered sizes I've always seen a bigger wheel in the back, never vise versa. What are your plans for the suspension and tire size?

[suprachrgd82]

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