1966 C10 Project Truck

[scoot_mcgrute]

A little progress tonight! Got the engine and tranny put together and dropped it all in the frame. A few little things popped up but nothing is a show stopper. I'll need some new exhaust manifolds, likely going with the Hooker block hugger manifolds and I'll need a new accessory bracket because my rack and power steering pump want to share the same space. I'm really happy with it!

[Captainfab]

Did you have any difficulties mating the T5 to the 5.3?

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Did you have any difficulties mating the T5 to the 5.3?

None at all. I'm only running 5 bellhousing bolts since the 5.3 has a slightly different hole pattern but that's not a big deal at all.

For the flywheel, I picked up a Sachs NFW1050 flywheel and was able to bolt my existing 11" clutch right to it. It's a metric flywheel so I had to get new pressure plate and flywheel bolts as well as open up the holes in the pressure plate for the larger M10 bolts.

It all went together super easy and looks to be working like it should.

[outfield]

Looking good Scott!

[aggie91]

Looking Good Scoot!

Is that a 2010 and up Camaro water pump? Does it use the truck spacing on the accessory brackets?

[62stepside longbox]

Looking good Scott

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Looking Good Scoot!

Is that a 2010 and up Camaro water pump? Does it use the truck spacing on the accessory brackets?

Yep, it's a 2010 Camaro pump, it does use the truck spacing. Only downside, well not really a downside, but it doesn't have provisions for the mechanical fan so you'll have to run an electric fan setup.

Originally Posted by 62stepside longbox

Looking good Scott

Thanks man!

[siggyfreud]

Would love to come check out the project sometime! I'm not too far from you in the Hillsboro area. I'll eventually be doing an LS setup in my project.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

Would love to come check out the project sometime! I'm not too far from you in the Hillsboro area. I'll eventually be doing an LS setup in my project.

Cool, I'm always down for visitors. I'll shoot you a PM

On Friday, I decided to play hookie and tinker around on the old truck. Wasn't planning on it but it worked out. My exhaust manifolds hit the frame towers for the engine mount so I needed to clearance them. I was able to use some scrap tubing I have laying around and it turned out pretty well.

Making the marks, you can see the scratches on the left side where it was hitting


No turning back now


I used some 1.75" tubing and welded it on both sides. It turned out really well once I ground it all smooth.


Hard to see but there's a bunch of room around the exhaust manifolds now. Perfect!


I also got the power steering pump on. I picked up a kit to reduce the pressure for the Mustang II rack. That was an easy install and so was putting the pump in the brackets. ICT has really done their homework with their LS swap components.


I didn't do a whole lot on Saturday, I picked up the engine harness and sold the 292. Found out that the injector plugs didn't get swapped over for the LS1 injectors so I'm working through that right now. No biggie but a little bit of a setback.

Sunday, my dad came over for a little bit and helped me get the CaptainFab clutch pedal linkage on. The install went smooth and the clutch operates a lot smoother now too. I can't wait to see the difference when I actually drive it.


Last night, I tackled the rear tank install. In lieu of pulling the bed, I took the bod wood out. Seemed to work great and way easier for one guy to do it. I was pretty surprised that it was a no-drill install, I kept asking myself why I didn't do this a year ago.


Tucks up nicely, I won't be worried about it hanging down too low.


That's what I've got for the weekend progress. I need to get a winch put back together for a buddy this week and pick up a couple more parts. Stay tuned!

[siggyfreud]

Wow that looks awesome. Definite improvement over the original routing. How long did it take to extend and rewire?

Edit: Nevermind I see you said a couple hours.

[siggyfreud]

PS definitely want to see this build. I'm considering either an ls3 or LSA for my build and would like to see how it all fits.

[Bomp]

Read through the last couple of pages to refresh and get caught back up.
Rebuilding at a break neck pace with the skill of a fine surgeon.
I'd like to tag along on a drop by with siggyfreud if that's okay.
I'll be at the Portland (PIR) Swap meet.
Looks great

[scoot_mcgrute]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I really appreciate it! The garage is always open when I'm tinkering, BOMP, I'll shoot you a PM with my number

Last night, we got the harness mostly done, the hard parts anyway. My buddy Hackster has been instrumental to this step and I definitely would be waaaaay further behind if it wasn't for him. He's done quite a few builds over the years including a Volvo 240 with a 5.3 and a T56, a 68 F100 with a turbo 6.0, a Coyote powered 68 F100 that he raced in the Optima series last year and then most recently, I helped him with a BMW E46 wagon M3 swap. All of his builds are posted online if anybody wanted to look them up.

Wires all loomed up using the Painless kit, I recommend this to anyone that's looking to cover their wires


I also got the electric fans mounted on the radiator last night so we could start figuring out that part of the harness. I'll have the front clip back on the truck pretty soon so we can finalize the rest of the harness.


I'm going out in the woods with my dad tomorrow for a little off road adventure and to reset my society button so I'll be back on it on Sunday

[scoot_mcgrute]

I didn't get a lot of shop time over the weekend. I'm putting on a 4wd event in our local state forest in June so I spent some time away from the truck to get some things checked off the list for that. I did get to wire the check engine light and tach in on the gauge side though. I'm using weatherpack connectors that run to where the factory gauge connections are. Turned out really good!

The check engine light fit almost perfectly into one of the gauge bulb holders, I epoxied it in place and put it in the provision for the "Tandem Lock" light. Made for a seamless install.




Shop time this week will net me completing the under dash wiring, removing the gas tank from behind the seat and starting to hook the fuel line up. I wanted to get the dash stuff sorted out before I did that.

[Bomp]

Man,,, he climbed up that lil hill like it was nuttin'.
Hope to see you at the meet.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Man,,, he climbed up that lil hill like it was nuttin'.
Hope to see you at the meet.

We were there on Friday but the weather kept us at Expo. One of these days I'll actually get to meet you!

A buddy stopped by on Saturday and we knocked out getting the gas tank install completed, I started working on the new slave cylinder bracket, we bolted the shifter back in and started prepping the firewall for the new gas pedal. I monkied around with the power steering hoses but the hoses I have are either too long or too short so I'll probably end up making my own.

[aggie91]

What Lower Radiator Hose did you use? I assume you had to cut one up...

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by aggie91

What Lower Radiator Hose did you use? I assume you had to cut one up...

I'll get the part number tonight but I went back to the radiator hoses and found one that was close to what I was looking for. Ended up cutting one end off as it was way longer than needed.

[TJ's Chevy]

Looking really good man, I always like clean wiring. haha

[Bomp]

Made the swap look like a piece of cake.

[LostMy65]

And I like the wheels better without the chrome caps. The army would have ordered this truck totally basic.
No chrome.
The black rallies and stance give it just the right look.
Great job.

[jcramsey]

Awesome work scoot! Apparently on these former government trucks you must have been required to open the doors from the inside with a roundhouse kick....my 62 water department truck has the exact same creases on both doors from smacking the fenders....and I love it

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by jcramsey

Awesome work scoot! Apparently on these former government trucks you must have been required to open the doors from the inside with a roundhouse kick....my 62 water department truck has the exact same creases on both doors from smacking the fenders....and I love it

Now that's funny! I'll have to remember that line if anyone ever asks me about the creases

I drop the old girl off for exhaust after work tomorrow so I'm in the big push to get it all together. Last night I built the mount for the ECU. I put it in an S10 mount and made a couple little straps off the frame. Simple and effective!


I also started getting coolant in it and after a few minutes, I heard coolant hitting the floor and about **** a brick. Looked like it was coming from the head gasket so I was pretty bummed. I cracked one of the front steam ports open to bleed the air out of the system and forgot about that. Coolant was running from there, down the valley cover and down the back of the head. Phew!




Check the list out, it's getting down to the nitty gritty now, I love it!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Tinkered on it again tonight and got the idle under control by capping all the vacuum leaks. It runs good, can't wait to get it back from the exhaust shop and finish a few things so I can drive it! Hoping for a Saturday drive down to Cars and Coffee and general farting around in it.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Here's what caused me needing a tow home last week, the geometry for the pull style slave cylinder was off and it ended up bending and breaking the rod on the clutch fork side.



Saturday a friend came over and got my pinion angle shims installed while I built a new bracket for the slave cylinder. Got it all built, painted and installed and had my buddy press the clutch in while I adjusted the slave cylinder. After pushing the clutch in 3 times, the rod was bent again. Bummer.




After some brainstorming, I will be adding a heim joint on either end of the slave cylinder so it can move around a bit while the clutch fork operates. Crossing my fingers!