1965 LWB Stepside Build

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Blimp - reminds me of when I was in Lakehurst NJ inside the Hindenburg blimp hangar. They had the Met Life blimp in there tied down, as I was walking across the hangar I jumped up and grabbed one of the ropes holding it down. Well the thing wasn't as stable as I thought and bounced around. Unknown to me there were people on the other side painting it, I ran off Fast with them screaming and cursing. Thank goodness everyone else was wearing the same uniform.

HAHAHA That is hysterical! Love it!

[roll_the_dice]

Here are a few more shots of putting the engine in...Couldn't have done it without Carl! Used my son for grunt work and muscle...why else do you have kids? Even having to wait out the rain, it was a great day.

The pictures:
1. Waiting out the storm
2. Trying to get it in place
3. Discussing how the engine needs to be moved.
4. A dad's watchful eye as my son tightens the bolts

[made2drag]

nice build man!

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by made2drag

nice build man!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[roll_the_dice]

OK, so hurricane Dorian skirted us last night...thankfully all we got was some rain and a little wind...35-45 gusts where I live in Savannah. My area was under a "mandatory" evacuation, but I grew up here and this time I decided not to leave. As I was preparing the house and yard for the storm, I found out my truck will not fit in my garage and be able to close the garage!...

Since I just put the engine in I was worried about water...so we put a tarp over the engine and secured it with bungee cords at all places. We also closed part of the tarp into the doors. Put bungees at the top of the tarp over the roof and secured to the frame. Thankfully the tarp didn't move. Here is the bed of the truck in the garage along with other items in the bed and the truck before the storm hit with the tarp and this morning after. Other than the ground being wet, can't tell much difference.

[350TacoZilla]

Glad to hear you guys made it through ok. Also glad the truck made it through lol

[straight6chevyguy]

It's Great to see the engine go in!
Glad the storm did not hit You to hard!

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

It's Great to see the engine go in!
Glad the storm did not hit You to hard!

Thanks...was a great thing the engine going in!...Greater that the hurricane didn't hit us also.

[roll_the_dice]

Got the transmission crossmember installed this week....so the engine and trans are nice and tight. I bought a new crossmember made for our trucks on ebay since the original wouldn't work with my transmission. Here is a link if anyone is interested...it is built very solidly and looks great too! I painted it black. For $175 it was cheaper and less aggravation that trying to make something myself.

Here is a picture from the ad...I will get some pictures later this weekend of it installed.

Next on the agenda is installing the starter and wiring the engine, then running the fuel lines...hopefully I can do those this weekend.
Getting closer!

[roll_the_dice]

Here are a couple of pictures as I was finishing up.

[Johns 66]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Here are a couple of pictures as I was finishing up.

Looking REALLY Good Andy

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by Johns 66

Looking REALLY Good Andy

Thanks John....Glad to have you back. It wasn't the same with you not on the board!

[roll_the_dice]

Got my vintage air serpentine drive system installed today....starting to look like an engine.

[roll_the_dice]

Getting closer to firing it up...by the end of the month for sure....Rained today so I couldn't really do much. I did get the rams horn exhaust manifolds painted with high heat primer and paint.

I think they are going to look great on the engine. Hopefully will get them installed tomorrow. Just went with a cast iron gray color. Hopefully they won't rust..

[88Stanger]

Damn fine work!! I went through the entire post, good stuff!! Love the tranny!!

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Getting closer to firing it up...by the end of the month for sure....Rained today so I couldn't really do much. I did get the rams horn exhaust manifolds painted with high heat primer and paint.

I think they are going to look great on the engine. Hopefully will get them installed tomorrow. Just went with a cast iron gray color. Hopefully they won't rust..

Anxiously waiting...

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

Damn fine work!! I went through the entire post, good stuff!! Love the tranny!!

Thank you very much! I can't wait to shift gears with this tranny...should be smooth!

Originally Posted by LostMy65

Anxiously waiting...

You and me both brother!

[roll_the_dice]

Finished running the fuel lines to the FiTech. I have an in tank fuel pump, so I had to run the return line back to the tank. I need to torque the fittings on the fuel filter tomorrow. The picture reminded me I didn't torque them! I also need get the clamps to clamp the lines to the frame rail. The zip ties are just temporary.

I also sat the batwing air cleaner on just to see what it was going to look like. It looks better than I imagined. I love the old school look!

[nsulacountry]

Awaiting results on the FITECH.

Saw a car at a car show recently. Had FITECH on a GM 502 Crate with a cam. Sounded mean. He was using a mechanical fuel pump to feed the FITECH fuel canister and high pressure pump. Mechanical was a lift pump to avoid having to modify a stock fuel tank. Though he did have to add a return line.

CT

[pdxhall]

Nice work. I like your choices. I am also going with the Ram horns and the bat wing air cleaner. The ram horns sound awesome. I don't know what your clearances are but I had to go with a mini high torque starter for the exhaust to fit correctly.

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by nsulacountry

Awaiting results on the FITECH.

Saw a car at a car show recently. Had FITECH on a GM 502 Crate with a cam. Sounded mean. He was using a mechanical fuel pump to feed the FITECH fuel canister and high pressure pump. Mechanical was a lift pump to avoid having to modify a stock fuel tank. Though he did have to add a return line.

CT

I am getting closer...only a few weeks and I think I will fire it up. I think it is going to be nice with the EFI...no more cold starts!

Originally Posted by pdxhall

Nice work. I like your choices. I am also going with the Ram horns and the bat wing air cleaner. The ram horns sound awesome. I don't know what your clearances are but I had to go with a mini high torque starter for the exhaust to fit correctly.

Good choices, I love the batwing cleaner.

Right now, I can't get my rams horn to fit. They hit the firewall...since my distributor is real close to the firewall too, I am going to move the engine to the front mounts. I am deciding between 2 different mounting perches...

CPP confirmed that I don't have to notch the frame to make them fit. I heard on the western ones I do, but I am trying to confirm.

CPP
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/CPP-6...nt,268489.html

Western Chassis
https://www.performanceonline.com/19...-Brackets-V-8/

[roll_the_dice]

Moving the engine forward 2 1/2" so I have more clearance for the HEI distributor and my rams horn exhaust. Right now the exhaust hit the firewall...not good. I didn't really like how close the distributor is to the firewall either.

So I did research and bought the POL motor perches for 63-67 C10's on their ebay site. It was a better price than ordering direct from their website. I read where these perches had to have the frame notched to fit. I talked to POL directly and they said that was not the case anymore. These are for the wide frame trucks. The "newer" trucks had the frame already notched. You can see the wide mounting bracket at the bottom of the picture and on their web page. Unfortunately all their installed pictures show the narrow frame rail...which is why I was nervous.

I received the perches and motor mounts along with hardware this week and will be moving the engine tomorrow (weather permitting).

Here is a picture of the perches, mounts and hardware. I decided to go with rubber mounts for now...I may swap to polyurethane mounts down the road.

I've already loosened bolts on the current perches so it will be easier to get off in the morning. I hand tightened them back so they aren't too loose. Will update more tomorrow as we do the install.

[roll_the_dice]

I also bought a lot of other things this week:

Earls power steering hose and fittings
New repop of the high hump transmission cover front section
ARP Stainless bolts for my Rams Horn Exhaust
Finned aluminum radiator cap

I am also thinking of painting my valve covers alpine green. Just to give the engine a little pop of color. I eventually want to get PML SBC Valve Covers. I love the old school look and think they are gorgeous.

Getting closer to firing up the engine...hopefully next week.

[roll_the_dice]

Hopefully the writeup below will help someone in the future. If you have questions, ask here or send me a PM and I would be more than happy to help. Pictures are below also if you want to skip the semi DIY...

Also as an FYI, this worked for me because I have to get my drive shaft shortened anyway...so it was no big deal.

Got the perches installed and the engine moved this morning. Was not as hard as I had anticipated. We supported the engine from underneath with a jack and a 2x6 and the transmission with another jack and 2x6.

I removed the bolts for the trans crossmember to the frame and the engine mount and perch on one side only...kind of did it like a motor mount swap except we had to get the perches and trans crossmember bolts out.

I took the perch and mount out of the drivers side and installed the new motor mount to the engine, then slid the perch in and loosely bolted it to the mount. Then did the same to the other side.

I had originally thought we would roll the engine and trans forward with the jacks, but my friend Carl had a brilliant idea. While both trans crossmember and engine perches were supported above the frame, we rolled the frame back the 2 1/2". Was so easy and worked great.

The bolt holes lined up easily and we dropped the bolts and washer down into the frame and put the nuts on the underside so it wouldn't move...then did the same to the other side. Torqued everything up and was good to go.

The engine looks so much better moved 2 1/2" forward...not close to the firewall at all anymore. The rams horn will fit easily now and I don't have to worry about the HEI distributor touching the firewall.

I still need to drill new holes for the trans crossmember and bolt it back in place. I also want to clean up the frame where the OEM perches were and paint, but that is easy. All in all not a bad swap and looks great IMO.

[roll_the_dice]

Test fit the exhaust manifolds today...look good...just ned to run the plug wires a little better.