68 K-10 SWB build thread - project Money Pit...pics galore!

[msgross]

PM returned, I don't know the difference in forward or back positions on the cab mounts? I just put it back where it was,

Before the floor install the HEI was very close, now it's just a little closer... Not bad for having the entire floor ripped out and being back within 1/8" I bet...

[jaros44sr]

Nice job Mike, glad it went well for you. I liked the factory green for a work truck, but black would be cool too! I think what Laird was saying is the location of the motor mount bolts, you can move them forward 2"...

[ChaseDale3and8]

Mike I was wondering what you are going to be using for nuts on your cab floor center section. I bought a 2wd low hump for mine and will have to change it into a bolt in high hump 4x4 center. ...Joe

[67ChevyRedneck]

Are your cab mounts a "lift kit" or did GM raise the 4x4 body's off the frame more from the factory (I've never owned a 4x4)? My 2wd cab mounts are half that height or less.

I'll bet it felt real good to have the baby back on the frame!

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Nice job Mike, glad it went well for you. I liked the factory green for a work truck, but black would be cool too! I think what Laird was saying is the location of the motor mount bolts, you can move them forward 2"...

correct, motor mount position, not cab mount.

[msgross]

Originally Posted by ChaseDale3and8

Mike I was wondering what you are going to be using for nuts on your cab floor center section. I bought a 2wd low hump for mine and will have to change it into a bolt in high hump 4x4 center. ...Joe

The original floor had a metal strip with nuts welded to it, and I think it was all tacked to the floor. I'm just gonna tack weld some nuts on the bottom of the holes. Probably get some non-coated square ones.. The entire bottom will get primed and undercoated anyway. Also have to run a piece of foam/rubber weatherstrip under the hump.

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Are your cab mounts a "lift kit" or did GM raise the 4x4 body's off the frame more from the factory (I've never owned a 4x4)? My 2wd cab mounts are half that height or less.

I'll bet it felt real good to have the baby back on the frame!

These are the $150 LMC full truck kit that they sell (anyone need bed mounting bolts?) Should be original height, I know the 4WD rubber mounts are different than 2WD.

Originally Posted by 71cadc10

great looking build going man. I'm located in Harrisburg just south of the turnpike. We should get together sometime. I have a genIII motor being machined at Trim's over in Lebanon right now, should be picking up soon. I'm going to start my build thread to summarize what I been doing the last 2 years.

I had the same issues with the lower Apillar pieces. Bolt holes don't line up.....the one set of rockers I had didn't fit for crap (won't name names). The ones I bought from GMC pauls fit like a glove.

Keep up the good work.

Andy

Cool, give me a buzz if you are coming in town then, i'll PM you my number. I have a fridge full of Yuengling in the garage.

Originally Posted by jlaird

correct, motor mount position, not cab mount.

Then i'll have to change the tranny and T-Case mounts.. I'll make a hump in the firewall or just get a smaller distributer.

[msgross]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Nice job Mike, glad it went well for you. I liked the factory green for a work truck, but black would be cool too! I think what Laird was saying is the location of the motor mount bolts, you can move them forward 2"...

I was looking at paint chips at the chevy dealer today while the Tahoe had some tranny work. (Damn electronic controlled T/C's! 3rd time in the shop with 39K miles! atleast GM covered it since it's technically outside the warranty now).

I noticed that no 2008 trucks, tahoes or avalanches come in green right now! Only a few cars and vans or Kodiaks... The dark green metallic for vans looked really nice. We have a 15pax painted like that at work, i'll try to snap a pic next time it's washed... I gotta go some kind of green though. All about paying respect/tribute to the original truck.. err, what's left of it now!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by msgross

I was looking at paint chips at the chevy dealer today while the Tahoe had some tranny work. (Damn electronic controlled T/C's! 3rd time in the shop with 39K miles! atleast GM covered it since it's technically outside the warranty now).

If you don't mind me asking, just exactly what was it doing?

Reason I ask is that the TC in new vehicles is "funny." I learned the hard way (felt stupid after) with my silverado. The first week I started driving it in really cold weather the TC was acting up. It wouldn't lock in OD. It turns out that the computer won't let the TC lock until the transmission has reached a certain operating temp (I think 160 degrees) so it will feel like the TC is slipping or not engaging in 4th gear. It will do this until the trans is warm. To "fix" this slight annoyance, I drive in 3rd in the winter until she gets up to temp, not usually more than 5 or 6 minutes.

Truck is coming along great

[msgross]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

If you don't mind me asking, just exactly what was it doing?

Reason I ask is that the TC in new vehicles is "funny." I learned the hard way (felt stupid after) with my silverado. The first week I started driving it in really cold weather the TC was acting up. It wouldn't lock in OD. It turns out that the computer won't let the TC lock until the transmission has reached a certain operating temp (I think 160 degrees) so it will feel like the TC is slipping or not engaging in 4th gear. It will do this until the trans is warm. To "fix" this slight annoyance, I drive in 3rd in the winter until she gets up to temp, not usually more than 5 or 6 minutes.

Truck is coming along great

Every time mine acts up it dings at me and says "SERVICE 4WD" in the window. Then it won't shift into 4WD HI or LO or AUTO 4WD until I turn the truck off and restart it. Usually acts fine then. Did it at 9K, 29K and 39K every time being a different part or program update. I was happy that they covered it this last time but don't expect them to anymore. This truck sees 12K a year and most of that is to preschool or the grocery store and the 4WD barely gets used....

thanks on the truck though. no computers on this one!

[71cadc10]

great looking build going man. I'm located in Harrisburg just south of the turnpike. We should get together sometime. I have a genIII motor being machined at Trim's over in Lebanon right now, should be picking up soon. I'm going to start my build thread to summarize what I been doing the last 2 years.

I had the same issues with the lower Apillar pieces. Bolt holes don't line up.....the one set of rockers I had didn't fit for crap (won't name names). The ones I bought from GMC pauls fit like a glove.

Keep up the good work.

Andy

[67-72crazy]

keep up the good work.

[msgross]

Originally Posted by 67-72crazy

keep up the good work.

Thanks, I use to live in Morristown, IN and fly out of Shelbyville... small world! We have a few board members in your area...

[Rack Man]

Those body mounts look about right....here's what my original ones looked like off my 70 K-10:



Dan

[msgross]

I should have kept pics of mine, the rubber was actually so rotted that rust chips were inside them...
If you remeber, here was my mount...

[msgross]

For Veterans Day I had breakfast with my daughter at school and then spoke to her class about helicopters...


In between that excitement I took a little time to work on the radiator support. I had it blasted last year and am still working on a little rot that was uncovered. Here are a few pics of the progress... I wish my TSC had 18ga steel. I bought this small piece of 22GA and it's almost to thin for me to weld. Then they have 16GA which is closer to armor plating and hard to bend...

[msgross]

I also bought this cheap spot weld cutter from Harbor Freight, $3. And was suprised how well it works. I should have gotten one earlier...

THis picture shows why I should have scraped my cab and found another from AZ. The hidden rust might come back to haunt me in 10 years, we'll see...

[drivethechevy]

im really envious of where you are with your truck, i am in highschool still so money is tight for me, and i am off to college next fall so my truck is getting a real cheap resto, and im going to have to redo it all once i have the time and money

[msgross]

Originally Posted by drivethechevy

im really envious of where you are with your truck, i am in highschool still so money is tight for me, and i am off to college next fall so my truck is getting a real cheap resto, and im going to have to redo it all once i have the time and money

hey brother, do what you can when you can... keep it driving as long as you can...

THis is my first resto and I admit that I got over my head (my wife still reminds that it "only needed brakes when I bought it")

As far as money, well, I do make a nice living but only put $100 a month towards this build right now. I have made some money with a few junkyard parts and usually get a bonus once a year to keep it moving. But you can do a budget build, I only have about $8K total in this now. Of course I lost track for awhile!

Good luck and keep up on it... THis is far from a "high end" resto but there are some things that I don't want to ever redo...

Do you own all of those trucks in your sig? I sold my new truck and have an old Camry to avoid car payments... The wife gets the new Tahoe so drive 200 yards to pre-school...go figure.

[jlaird]

funny you say that, I just went to TSC looking for 18 ga and found the same as you. The 16 is pretty darn close to the cab sheetmetal though. I've been using it for a couple patches. Its nice to weld too, less chance to blow through.

[CARZ1968]

Great Build thread! Was just browsing for ideas on what to do with my recently acquired 68 k10 burb and switching over to disc brakes, when I came across your thread.I bought it for the wonderful Pennsy winters.The rest in the stable are fair weather vehicles.I'm still a year or two away from teardown,especially after seeing the work involved that you do not consider until you see someone else tear into theirs.Keep up the good work.I'll expect to see it at Carlisle one of these days!I like the idea of staying true to the color even if it is not the most popular these days.My cousin just recently finished his son's 68 and painted it black w/ghost rally stripes!(it was originally green too)I will post pics if I can figure out how to do it.

[msgross]

Originally Posted by jlaird

funny you say that, I just went to TSC looking for 18 ga and found the same as you. The 16 is pretty darn close to the cab sheetmetal though. I've been using it for a couple patches. Its nice to weld too, less chance to blow through.

I picked some up now but used that 22 for my firewall patch. I might end up pulling it back out. Very touchy welding that... I'm still trying to seal up all the small holes, i'm afraid it's to thin after grinding though...

Originally Posted by CARZ1968

Great Build thread! Was just browsing for ideas on what to do with my recently acquired 68 k10 burb and switching over to disc brakes, when I came across your thread.I bought it for the wonderful Pennsy winters.The rest in the stable are fair weather vehicles.I'm still a year or two away from teardown,especially after seeing the work involved that you do not consider until you see someone else tear into theirs.Keep up the good work.I'll expect to see it at Carlisle one of these days!I like the idea of staying true to the color even if it is not the most popular these days.My cousin just recently finished his son's 68 and painted it black w/ghost rally stripes!(it was originally green too)I will post pics if I can figure out how to do it.

welcome, jaross44sr is in your area. I know where a complete dana 44 is right now for $50 if you need one. the faq section tells how to post pictures. THey need to be resized... easiest way is to open a photobucket.com account and upload there, then copy the IMG link to your text here....

[msgross]

Got to work on the cab again this weekend. Sourkraut (John) came over to check out the project and peek at a tailgate that I have. Nice guy and his kids were very well behaved. John, you son is pretty smart on cars for a 9 year old... heck he knows more than my wife does (no comment).....

Worked on the driver side rot that is under the vent area....

[sourkraut]

Originally Posted by msgross

Got to work on the cab again this weekend. Sourkraut (John) came over to check out the project and peek at a tailgate that I have. Nice guy and his kids were very well behaved. John, you son is pretty smart on cars for a 9 year old... heck he knows more than my wife does (no comment).....

Worked on the driver side rot that is under the vent area....

Thanks for the compliment! I had just read this post to Jr. and he is all braces! You made his day, Mike!
You got more work done on your truck today than I was able to dream about mine! I really like that whole floor deal and think that is the way Iam going to go! More money but lots less work! Thanks again. Keep up the good work!

[msgross]

Also got to do some initial grinding and I finally have a B-pillar!

After the PO hacked the old stuff out and relied on rockers for support i'm glad to see how nice this pieces went in... I wish that they had the contour to fit the rocker like originals....

What's the best thing to seal up weld seam that are difficult to get 100% tight? Ins't there some kind of "metal bondo" type stuff to skim? Just wondering... I need to weld a few more holes closed then grind it all smooth again...

Also started initial fitting of my Tabco cab corners. I'm gonna try to leave the original body line and weld the cab corner below that area...

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by msgross

Also got to do some initial grinding and I finally have a B-pillar!

After the PO hacked the old stuff out and relied on rockers for support I'm glad to see how nice this pieces went in... I wish that they had the contour to fit the rocker like originals....

What's the best thing to seal up weld seam that are difficult to get 100% tight? Ins't there some kind of "metal bondo" type stuff to skim? Just wondering... I need to weld a few more holes closed then grind it all smooth again...

Also started initial fitting of my Tabco cab corners. I'm gonna try to leave the original body line and weld the cab corner below that area...

Nice work on the "B" post Mike! Your welding has improved with practice...I bought so Lab metal, 20 bucks a pint, with the same thoughts of filling in the little holes. I haven't tried it yet, but you can, and LMK.

I agree with you on keeping the cab patch below the body line, start at the back of the door, as this gap will be the most obvious. Rest is hidden by the bed...Thanks for posting up pics. to entertain me