67 C10 Makin it handle

[laid67]

Here we are. I bought my 67 c10 as a gift for my 18th birthday.
The night I got home I tore into the engine bay and removed the mess of extra wires and gheto auto zone bling and "air-horns". I half stripped the awesome(not really) paint over the body that was obviously not prepped before hand. and That is how I drove her for about 6 months, All of the southern california summer in a black truck with no A/C and when you open the windows NO AIR blows into the cab. Between that and the turbo 350 trans that made the motor scream at me when I tried to go over 55. It had to go. I bought a vortec 5.3 and 4L60E out of a taho, pulled what I now found was a 400ci small block and 350 trans, which I sold for damn near what I paid for the new motor, and then the truck sat for two years.

A few months ago I caught my lucky break and got a job that leaves me with enough money after bills to put some serious (for me) money and time in the truck. ok, maybe not so much on the time. but I got my weekends.


After 5 or 6 times through the make it handle thread and the great info from Rob and all the other talented people that have contributed there, I have developed my plan.

No longer looking for a frame dragging bagged low rider, I am now building a truck that will feed my sports car desire.

So for the next few months I will be spending nearly every free moment in the garage hammering away at this seemingly impossible build I've got myself into

My baby, the night she came home

[laid67]

An idea stolen from Make it Handle. My rear step notch, An Awesome Idea. I can't seem to find the page its on otherwise I'd provide a link. I'll have to do that at work tomorrow where I have nearly every page bookmarked and labeled. hahaha

Anyways here it is, I still need to brace the inside of the frame, and in a few weeks after I have my engine and trans located I can set up my cross bracing and I will then box the frame from the cab to the rear shock mounts.

[laid67]

and now to even her out the front needs a little work. courtesy of http://www.captkaoscustoms.com/chopcross.html I am pancaking my front cross member 1.5 inches today. I will then sink the cross member about an inch into the frame, wile also moving it an inch forward to center my wheels in the wheel well. The upper A arm mounts will then be moved back until I am at approximately 7 degrees of caster without using any spacers. that way I will maintain a few degrees of adjust ability.

I love the orange paint that was on the crossmember, It certainly added some character
Welding up some bracing to control the warp-age.

[laid67]

Side project: 2 weeks ago I decided I was taking the truck to Zion national park in Utah instead of my car, and I decided I didn't want to get 16 mpg the whole way. So I built this thing. Would you believe it got me to 22mpg? on the way home through Vegas traffic It dipped down to 18 because of the 80mph 40 mph 5 mph 30 mph 80 mph 10 mph.... but still paid for itself and then some, And gave me and my girl a cozy place to sleep while at Zion. I think a more ideal shaped sheet metal version may be in order.

[Tinkermc]

Lower your COG,center-of-gravity some and add sway bars front and rear and she will drive like on rails. Welcome to the forum.

[laid67]

Thanks! the plan is to stuff the motor WAY back. as far as I can go without loosing too much leg room. I'll be raising the trans tunnel and pushing the center of the fire wall back an inch or so so that I can fit the motor completely behind the cross member. mid engine truck?

Speaking of cross members, here it is! minus a little bit of that useless metal between the top and bottom.

I don't necessarily have the most steady hands in the world... and this is my first attempt at using a plasma torch so I have lots of grinding to do.

Also, I didn't QUITE take into account the amount of slope on the leading edge of the cross member. So I think I will do a few pie cuts so I can lean the bottom back more so it lines up with the top half better. Other than that it went way better than expected...

[BlackedOut67shorty]

I'm loving the color man, keep up the good work
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[laid67]

Hey guys, Im going to be purchasing a rack and pinion set up here shortly. From what ive read all over this forum and elsewere the mustang II rack is a great fit, I'd assume that is for it's width more than anything else. By width I mean between the inner tie rod pivot points, which would have to be about the same as our stock center links right? Ive also read that depending on the power steering pump you use some modification of the rack valving may be required.

Now what im looking for (i think) is a nice fast steering ratio. I don't mind putting some muscle into steering in exchange for feeling exactly what is happening where the ribber meets the road. So I am currently looking for a quick ratio rack unless anyone would advise against it.

Anyone know which vehicles have a quick ratio rack as standard equipment?

My plan is to get the rack on order this week, and while im waiting on it to come in I can finish welding up the front crossmember and finish some of the boxing on the rear of the frame. Get this thing sitting on its own wheels as my birthday present to myself

[laid67]

Here is a picture I stole from someon's build thread a few years ago. Althought i think I did photo-chop it a little bit, but I can't find the original.

This is what inspired me to buy my truck in the first place. If anyone knows where it came from please let me know, I'd love to thank the guy. haha

[laid67]

Almost through welding my pancaked front cross member back together. One thing I can say Is LEVEL it before hand. one side of the crossmember I didn't do my measurements completely perpendicular level, so I ended up removing a little too much material. I will now have a crossmember that is pancaked 1 and 5/8 inches instead of 1 and 1/2. but thats ok. Hope to have it installed and begin my engine mock-up this week.

[laid67]

Lost a lot of time with wrecking my TL and that rebuild process. along with an install of a ridiculous sound system. build is somewhat back on track now. I may be loosing the garage in a month or so if the house sale goes through. that will be an interesting challenge.

Anyway. cross member is welded and installed and I have my 3 inch drop spindles installed along with all new bearings rotors and calipers and all that fun stuff.

Next step is my rack and pinion install. I'm going with a mustang II setup. Having a little trouble locating one near me though as I want a quick ratio r&p.

[VDOG]

Try Rob at No Limit Engeneering, he might be about to help you out.
He is on the form.

[laid67]

I'm aware of him, and the semi bolt in rack and pinion system they have. I decided that for this build though I want to do everything I can myself. Otherwise I'd either have a porterbuilt dropmember or no limit's wide ride IFS. both are great systems, and I'm glad we have these companies contributing so much to our community. I would be lost without Rob's advice. Shout out! haha.

[laid67]

So,. I did a lot of work getting my motor tucked way back and down low. I used an F-body oil pan to gain some ground clearance, the bottom of the pan is exactly even with the bottom of my cross member, and the trans oil pan is exactly even with the bottom of my frame. I will be building some skid plates so I don't put any holes through either one.

[laid67]

So the problem is, my crank pulley is right where I think my rack and pinion belongs. I'm super lost on determining an acceptable location that doesn't require me to move my motor forward and up a few inches. Can anyone point me in a helpful direction?

[low&slow]

I'm in on this. Looks great so far

[laid67]

I think I found a solution, I will make a new forward cross member to bolt the R&P to, similar in location to no-limit's bolt in rack and pinion. The rack will sit just forward of my crank pulley, and I will notch my frame about 1 inch for clearance of the tie rods just in case I decide to lower the truck more at some point. I will have a machine shop build me an adapter tube to connect the fox body steering rack to my stock tie rod ends, this way it will be easy to adjust my to as well, just my rotating the sleeves, assuming the tie rod ends are threaded the way I think they are.

[laid67]

Broke down and bought a few things...

No-Limit wide ride IFS. WHOOP!

ididit steering column and flaming river steering linkage.

And now I'm broke again...

pics to come. but seeing this sit on some 10in wide Hoosiers is definitely the motivation I needed.

[laid67]

The only pic I have at the moment...



Install went ok. I drove down to pick up the wide ride in person, but Rob and the trucks were MIA unfortunately. Got it home had it %50 installed in a half hour. the next %50 took a few weeks though. the kit was missing 4 bolts and I had a fitment issue with my upper control arm mounts. overall not to bad from a low-ish volume producer. I'm very happy where it sits and the way it looks, it will be several months though before I see how it rides and handles.

[Hawssie]

I was looking at that set up and Heidts as well. I did think it was kinda B.S. that they charge an extra $300 for drop spindles over stock height as the cost for both should be about the same. Do you know why they call it the wide ride IFS? I thought I read its 61 inches. Is it wider then stock? Must be nice to be able to drive over there!

[laid67]

The wideride is not unique to the c10. I think it was built for f***s first, so the name may reflect a difference in track width there....

Regarding the drop spindles, rob from no limit seriously recomends they only be used for show trucks.... I'll scrounge around and find a pic of my truck sitting on tires.... It is LOW. Even without drop spindles.

[SierraMtns]

I like the look of the no limit stuff. And it's easy for me to pick it up because family lives in Pasadena.

Please keep us post on what you think of their products.

Thanks

[laid67]

I need some advice guys, I'm seriously considering using a hydroboost system for my brakes. problem is I need a flow reducer from the GM pump to the ford rack and pinion. Any suggestions on how I might resolve this issue?

[68shortwide]

Subbed.

[laid67]

Update pic. as it sat last week... its now a short frame with no cab on it


Really small front wheel and tire combo. but its really growing on me.