It's my turn, 47 S10 build

[Cautrell05]

From there came painting and detailing before I put the motor in. I have painted a lot of motors in my life, while I'm partial to the orange and black classic Chevy pattern depending on the build, orange is normally the hardest color to cover. They make engine paint in primer and normally I'm too cheap for this stuff but this time around I figured why not. Couple good heavy coats of Gray to get the color All uniform, let that dry over the weekend and then one and a half cans of VHT brand Chevy orange. The primer made a big difference in coverage with the orange. The pulleys, brackets and anything that's black was done in DupliColor semi-gloss black. The oil filler pipe was just a $10 Chrome one from speedway. But the Chrome wouldn't look right so I sandblasted it that way it had some texture because if anybody's ever tried painting Chrome before you know it usually flakes off sooner or later.
Probably the best thing that I didn't want to spend money on but I'm glad I did was the stencils for the valve covers. I got those off of eBay, I think they were around 15 bucks. There's basically three ways you could do the lettering on that. You can freehand it which I absolutely do not have the skills for. You can paint the valve cover black and then put a coat of orange paint over top of it and then very lightly sand through the orange on top of the letters just enough to get into the black but that's really sketchy if you're not experienced. Or you just order stickers. But, those stickers are not fun to put on. The ones I got did not come with transfer paper on them that is absolutely a must for something like this so they stay lined up. It's easy to put them on, but kinda hard to get them lined up straight on the raised letters. Some transparent low tack transfer paper is required. The end result was well worth it though.

[Cautrell05]

For exhaust manifolds I was originally going to use one of the original GM ones on the driver's side that has the alternator mount cast into the end of it. I had picked up a 2.5" one a couple years ago and was waiting to see what I needed for the passenger side for my AC compressor mount. Then it became a problem trying to find a passenger side only without any extra mounts car in it. The cheaper and easier way was to just order a set of the smoothie rams from speedway. I think it was $150 for the pair with hardware. I had used a set on a customers build and was really happy with them. Now I just need to eBay the original GM manifold I have.
The outside is then look really nice. The insides though were about what you could expect from today's casting standards. Think I spent about an hour and a half porting the insides until I was happy. After that it was several costs of VHT cast iron manifold paint.

A standard HEI took care of the ignition and I used a set of black Taylor cut to fit wires. I though for sure I got as picture of it on the stand before I put it in but evidently I didn't. The motor with the red wires is one I did on a customers build but it's the exact same way I ran them on mine.

[Cautrell05]

You can't have a vintage small block without a fuel pump. It just wouldn't look right. And because I planned on running an in tank electric pump regardless I needed something to hold the fuel line. Here's a something I used on a previous build that turned out really slick.
Take the cheapest small block fuel pump you can find that has a nice finish on it whether it's the aluminum and the gold or aluminum and silver or whatever look you want. Take the underside of it and cut the nipple off where the rubber hose goes, drill a 3/8 hole through the fitting directly in line with where the steel line would have originally went. I keep forgetting to get a picture of that part. and then carefully notch straight down on the 3/8 fitting area so the fuel line will go up in the same place but you can still thread the nut in. The idea is that the metal line will come in the front side of the pump where you can see it and then curl around the back side and become the inlet while the standard 3/8 fuel line nut holds it to the pump. I did the inlet fitting different on this one because, well to be honest I forgot to go look at my pictures of how I did the first one and tried going off of memory. Ended up being more work and kind of a pain in the butt. I would recommend version one, it's just a - 6 male and fitting on one side and a 5/8 thread female, 3/8 inverted fitting on the other. You take the inverted flare nut from the top end of the line at the car when you just turn it around and put it on the line and that's what screws into the pump. And from there I'm not going to say how long it took me because when it comes to fuel lines I have OCD and I spend way longer than I should to make sure they're what I feel is perfect. I think the line we used we got from Napa cuz it does not come zinc plated or have that green plastic crap they put on a lot of them. Went over the whole thing when I was done with a rag and some brake cleaner and just went lengthwise like you would with a Scotch-Brite pad and it polished it up to where it had a nice steel look and then I hit that with some clear coat.

[6DoF]

took me a second to see just how much you ported out of the manifolds, good win. and the cosmetic pump is awesome, well played!

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

took me a second to see just how much you ported out of the manifolds, good win. and the cosmetic pump is awesome, well played!

They didn't photograph very well unfortunately. It was needed though.

Thanks

[joedoh]

love the bed floor!

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by joedoh

love the bed floor!

Thanks. I do too. Really blends in with the rest of the truck. Now I just got to figure out something different for tail lights. Those were just temporary to make it legal for cruise nights.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Cautrell05

Thanks. I do too. Really blends in with the rest of the truck. Now I just got to figure out something different for tail lights. Those were just temporary to make it legal for cruise nights.

if you dont mind a suggestion, my all time fav is 36 truck housings with 36 car LED lenses. I did it once and if it wasnt so expensive I would do it every time, its a great look! next time I think I will try to get chrome originals though.

[Cautrell05]

Those aren't bad at all.

[joedoh]

somehow i posted twice. so i will edit this post to just say again how innovative some of your mods are.

[HAULIN' IT]

Just stumbled on your build...you've done some REAL creative things there! Keep us posted on the progress, Lorne

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by HAULIN' IT

Just stumbled on your build...you've done some REAL creative things there! Keep us posted on the progress, Lorne

Thanks.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by joedoh

somehow i posted twice. so i will edit this post to just say again how innovative some of your mods are.

I saw that lol. Thanks. I'm not done yet.

[Cautrell05]

Evidently I didn't get many decent pictures of the torque arm but this one shows it pretty good.

[Father&son56project]

Nice descriptions and pics to show how you dealt with issues. That yoke trick is clever (I can't say for sure from the pics, but it looks like you didn't have to remove very much material at all to get a perfect fit).

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by Father&son56project

Nice descriptions and pics to show how you dealt with issues. That yoke trick is clever (I can't say for sure from the pics, but it looks like you didn't have to remove very much material at all to get a perfect fit).

Thanks It's not much at all that's why I said go slow and measure. It's easy to take to much and then you have to throw a tack on it and regring. Been there did that. Sometimes depending on the yoke and joint it will fit without cutting anything. If it's too tight though it will squeeze the bearing caps to tight.

[6DoF]

i'm a huge personal fan of this style of torque arm for leaf's, i run the same basic thing on my YJ off road and it's been doing great work while being BEAT on for years. only difference in mine is that the bushing welded to the crossmember on the jeep is a JohnyJoint style spherical ball to allow more articulation. but that's obviously not a problem for your truck.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

i'm a huge personal fan of this style of torque arm for leaf's, i run the same basic thing on my YJ off road and it's been doing great work while being BEAT on for years. only difference in mine is that the bushing welded to the crossmember on the jeep is a JohnyJoint style spherical ball to allow more articulation. but that's obviously not a problem for your truck.

I think the kit initially planned on the heim being on the front end of the arm for just that reason. Ya, articulation isn't really a concern. It does it's job though. It surprisingly hooks up really well. I want to get it on scales at some point just to see how I did but regardless of how hard I wail on it there is no sign of wheel hop. It just launches straight and goes.
Also, the transmission isn't happy about that fact lol

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by Cautrell05

Also, the transmission isn't happy about that fact lol

[HAULIN' IT]

As I mentioned in my previous post, Im real impressed with some of the ways you worked around & made things work (Frame spread, Rack, gas & brake linkage, ect. ect.) Love it!

As has been mentioned, there is in many cases: "No such thing as overbuilt" so Id like to bring up a couple items that would greatly improve your rack installation.
First, The tabs you have made that the rack is mounted to. There is a great deal of opposite force (with a fair amount of leverage) going on every time you turn the wheel...working on those bolts 6" or so back. A single plate made (even out of 1/4") that profiled the shape, straight out, then around the inboard area of the bushing say at a 30* angle with a big inboard radius back to the crossmember, out at 30* to the other bushing & then straight back...making like a reinforced "C" would eliminate the Two independent "sticks" working hard on the back bolts. If one of those back bolts gets tired of the force & snaps, things could get NOT good in a hurry. This couldnt happen with a single plate. Same mounting system, same bolts but a MUCH better outcome. With a bit of creativity (which you sure have), you could add a couple more bolts/nuts in the center up through the crossmember as well. Maybe now cut a smaller plate (even out of 3/16") to "fill in" the area Im talking about between your existing brackets?

Likewise, the rack mounted in single shear on the bolts looks like it could be improved on rather easily. If you profiled a 3 sided "gusset" & welded those to the frame sticking out (I realize the Left side looks to be a bit of a challenge with the tubes there) with a hole in it would keep the saw motion from happening vertically in the bolts. Again, rather light material, say 1/8" (think about all thicker the original Ranger/Explorer tabs/ears were) would make a huge difference & wouldnt get in the way of your needed "down & out" on the rack to remove/install. The bolts could even be dropped down through then for even more added safety. Just thought Id bring up a couple things rolling around in my head. Do with it as you see fit. Take Care & Keep us posted on the progress, Lorne

[joedoh]

ahh there is something about wide BFG 15s, just says hot rod.

[Cautrell05]

It is currently licensed and I have probably put probably 5 0 mi on it just around Town driving cruise nights and whatnot. Both rear axles are bent bad enough I don't trust them at highway speed so till I get the rear end out and gone through it it's not going to be seeing any extended driving. Right now it's pretty much in Mobile mock-up mode. It's roadworthy enough I can test things out and make sure it's going to work before I fully finish everything in.

I could write a chapter book on everything I've done to that front crossmember. Some of it was worth it some of it I'd maybe do different in the future. The biggest and hardest modification was making a tunnel through it for the steering shaft. I roughed in my original hole enough to get the rack mounted and steering shaft run a while back but then it came time to close up the excess holes and make it to where I trusted it. What I ended up doing after looking at it for half an afternoon trying to figure out how to piece it together was just cut most of it out, and make a big scary hole and then fill it back in. The front edge / radius of the crossmember is a piece of 3/4 in solid round bar that runs all the way from the outer frame rail to the bottom center of the crossmember just inside of the control arm bolt. I took a piece of ready bolt at home bent it to the pattern I needed and then brought it into work and used the torch to heat the round bar and then bend it right where I needed. Once the front edge was where I liked it all the missing sections were cut out of 3/16 plate and weld it in. There are several pieces inside boxing the crossmember, basically making a channel. It's not just the top in the front piece that you see. There's enough material there welded in that I'm pretty sure it will never fail. It is also a metric crap load of work that I don't know if I would do that part exactly the same again just because the amount of work involved.

[Cautrell05]

And one more.

[Father&son56project]

Originally Posted by Cautrell05

It is also a metric crap load of work that I don't know if I would do that part exactly the same again just because the amount of work involved.

Agreed, that was a metric crap load of work, but the end result is quite slick! But if you were faced with a similar problem in the future, you could repeat what you did in a fraction of the time, as you have already figured out how to do it (and you showed it to the rest of us so that we can do something similar). I also will spend the better part of a day staring at a problem before attacking it and sometimes I wonder if I actually spend more time staring than working, but then when I have to do it again I fly through it.

Keep posting those great pics and descriptions of how you overcome problems!

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by Father&son56project

I also will spend the better part of a day staring at a problem before attacking it and sometimes I wonder if I actually spend more time staring than working,

Figuring out what you need to do and then plan how to get it done is a daily thing for me. Most of the time I enjoy the challenge but it still frustrates me at how long that stage takes.

This is on a customers build at work that I'm doing. That was at least 3 days of planning and fabbing. Probably closer to 4. I definitely felt like I spent more time planning than I did actually building. 65 mustang, Ford Coyote motor, Schwartz chassis, fully loaded. I definitely enjoy my work.