LearnAsIGo-69 LWB 5.3-Updating a Classic

[peeblesj]

Hello All, been on this awesome site just about daily for the past year or so. Figured I would start my build thread so others could possibly find something to help them since I myself have found so much great information on here.

So to start, three years ago my father bought a 1969 C10 at the Iola Old Car show in Iola, WI. Long story short, the project ended up sitting around while we collected parts/part trucks for over a year. I eventually ended up buying the truck from him in March or April of 2015. This is my first classic vehicle. My father has/had many different old cars when I was growing up so it is only natural that I ended up with a project as well.

The truck is a 1969 C10 long bed. When I bought it, it had a 350 with the original 4 speed on the floor with the 3.08 open rear end. It was an original 350 truck, but after some research, I found that the motor was replaced at one point. Other than that, it was pretty much original. Original colors were the light blue with white roof. The farmer that had it before us decided to "repaint" it with what looks to be house paint and a paint brush. Here are a few pictures of what it looked like the day I bought it.

I will try to upload more pictures later today and keep up with the tread as much as possible.

Also, as the title says, this is my first project and I am learning as I go. Please feel free to correct me if something doesn't look/sound right and I am very open to suggestions. Thanks for looking!!

[peeblesj]

Not sure what happened but accidentally posted in the Suburban and panels thread.....Can somebody tell me how to move this to the 67-72 pickup build thread? Thank you!

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by peeblesj

Not sure what happened but accidentally posted in the Suburban and panels thread.....Can somebody tell me how to move this to the 67-72 pickup build thread? Thank you!

I'll move it for you....

LockDoc

[peeblesj]

Here are a few more pictures.... Added a Jegs 4bbl intake and a Holley carb that I rebuilt at the start of the summer. Also, the clutch was slipping pretty bad when I bought it so I decided to drop the transmission and put in a new one. Well, my dad had a Saginaw 4 speed sitting in the shop waiting for a new home.... so I couldn't resist a snappier transmission so I bought that from him. Had the flywheel resurfaced, bought a new carrier bearing and shortened the drive shaft. What a difference the Saginaw was over the old SM465.

The tires that came on the truck were cracking and weather checked. Didn't really trust them driving on the highway at 70 mph. We had some tires laying around for the stock 16" rims. Decided to put them on for the summer so I was able to drive it. They were a bit small as seen in the pics, but they were safe....

Here are a few more pictures. The engine bay and the Saginaw as well as the tires before and after.

[Odaroloc]

Very nice, ill be watching this one!

[tucker69]

Nice start buddy, those 67's are harder to get your hands on. You are right, there is tons of info on this site, and most everyone is very helpful. Good luck with your build.... Casey

[peeblesj]

A few more pictures of some things that I have done already earlier this summer. So as I was driving the truck, I could hear a pretty loud rattling coming from somewhere in the front. Couldn't figure it out for a long time. Finally, I took some time and shook and rocked the truck in the garage. I found that the front driver side shock mount was "replaced" at some point. Check out the wear from the shock bouncing around in the mount hole.

Ended up fabricating a piece of plate steel to fill in the hole and welding it in. Didn't take a picture of it all cleaned up but here are a few that I did take. Installed new KYB Gas Adjust shocks on both sides in the front.

[peeblesj]

Got some time tonight to upload a few more pictures. Here are some of the 6 bolt 15x8 rallies that I bought at the end of summer. I decided to sandblast them and repaint. I used Rustoleum Ultra Automotive primer and I believe it was VHT Wheel Paint-Argent Silver, VHT Wheel Paint-Black, and then Rustoleum Crystal Clear Clearcoat. I think they turned out pretty good for using spray paint.

Also bought the 6 bolt 2.5" drop spindle/disk brake conversion kit from Auto City Classic out of Isanti, MN at the Fall Jefferson Car show in Jefferson, WI.

I am waiting to complete the 5.3 swap before I start with the brake install. I have to decide how low to go. I am leaning toward the 2.5" drop spindles in front and going with a 2" drop spring as well. With the rear leafs, I am planning on doing the 2" drop shackles, relocating the front perches, and removing a leave or two to get about 5-6 inch drop in the rear. Anybody have tips for lowering the rear of a leaf spring truck?

[peeblesj]

Some pictures of removing the old 350 back in early December. Went pretty smooth. First time removing an engine so it was quite interesting.

[peeblesj]

Sorry, pictures didnt rotate right.

[AKC]

Good show so far...

[peeblesj]

Sorry guys, I have been super busy trying to get the truck ready to drive to the Iola car show this weekend. I finished the LS swap as well as the drop and disk brake install. I have a bunch of pictures that I will try to post as soon as I can after the show. Just wanted to upload a quick shot of the progress so far.

[peeblesj]

Quick updated of some progress so far. Had to install a C notch kit (CPP CLP-6372CNK) because I was bottoming out over bumps after the rear flip (DJM FK10125). Also bought a rear end out of a 1968 coil spring truck. It is a 3.73 posi. Was planning on welding on new perches and swapping the whole rear end in, but now am leaning towards just swapping the internal from the posi into my leaf spring rear end housing. Here are a few quick pictures.

[peeblesj]

Got the internals swapped this last weekend. Overall, it went well. Backlash is good and there is full mating of the gear teeth. Can't wait to get the exhaust and interior finished this winter and go take a ride in it.

First three pics are the 3.08 open gears, the last is the 3.73 posi installed.

[peeblesj]

This winter the focus is completing the interior. I got some of the best gifts from my wife New carpet, sound deadener, and Borla Pro-Xs mufflers. Also, have a dash pad from a while ago. Then I bought a new seat cover from Southwest Classics in Texas as well as a new GPS speedometer from SpeedHut.

So far I have been able to replace the floor under the driver side feet area. Rockers are next on the list as well as three of the for corner cab supports. New fenders and rust free southern drivers door are going on as well. While doing the floor panel replacement, I put on new cab mounts and core support mounts. Gotta get everything all lined up so that the rockers are nice and straight when installed. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the progress so far this winter.

As you can see the bottom seat foam was pretty gross. Pretty much a mouse house haha. Safe to say, new foam was purchased.

[peeblesj]

Then I got the seat frames wire wheeled clean and the tracks were glass beaded. Painted everything black again and put it back together.

[peeblesj]

Now I have thoroughly read many posts on here about buying foam and cutting it to fit. Figured I might as well give it a try since the precut stuff is crazy expensive. I did not get nearly as detailed as others did when cutting the profile of the bottom cushion, but so far I am more than happy with how the seat is turning out.

I bought the foam from www.foambymail.com. I bought a 6" thick x 22" wide x 62" long piece of Lux Foam-High Quality for the bottom as well as a 1" x 22" x 62" piece of Lux Foam for the back. The bottom piece was about $70 and the back piece was about $17. Shipping was free with a $75+ order. Was at my door within a week.

I chose this foam because of the research that user bollybib did.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=456911&page=9

I went with the foam that was closest to his findings for the density and firmness. I am very pleased with the foam that I bought and would recommend www.foambymail.com to anybody.

Anyway, like I said, I did not cut my foam to near the perfection that others have. I cut the side reliefs for the seat springs as well as chamfered around the top and back of the bottom seat cushion. The back cushion was just trimmed to fit. I also bought batting from JoAnn Fabric as well as the burlap. I went with black burlap just as a personal preference.

I used 3M super 77 to glue the burlap to the back of the foam. Then laid the batting on top of the foam. This helped position the cover. I bought hog rings from Amazon which were super cheap and worked great. Then for the listing wire in the cover, I used 12 ga hanger wire for drop ceilings. Worked very well in my opinion.

I have the back of the seat completed as well as 80% of the bottom. Here are a few pictures.

[peeblesj]

I am currently working on the bottom cushion. Here are some pictures of the trimming that I did. Again, not very precise, but is working very well. Literally just using a paring knife and scissors.

[projectking]

Looking good! What bellhousing did you use with the Saginaw 4 speed?

[peeblesj]

projectking, I actually used the bellhousing that came with the SM465 4 speed that was original to the truck. Bolted right up to the Saginaw. Had to shorten the drive shaft though since the Saginaw 4 speed was a tick longer. I would recommend the swap. I really enjoyed it before swapping the 5.3/4l60e in.

[peeblesj]

Here is a shot of the almost finished bench seat. I just have the back sitting on the bottom, not bolted in so it looks a little off center. Hopefully after bolting them together and getting it in the truck it is centered nicely.