1965 Stepside, The LST Challenge

[aggie91]

After getting the floor cleaned up, I needed to do some rust repair to the floor so I can drive it on the street without getting wet or cold from the holes in the floor...

So, since I don't have the time right now to do a proper patch and replace job, I thought of other ways to take care of the problem. Here is my solution. Korbin has challenged me to not be so detailed and do it the full blown expensive way (which I would normally do because of my OCD ways) but instead do it more the way of Matt Hapel's Sloppy Mechanics style...

So, here it is, Sloppy Style Rust Repair:

Before:


After:


It my be a bit getto, but I think it will work for now...

[Low Elco]

To cover your bare metal fast, AZ sells a rust-oleum etching primer that works great! I use it a lot on bare repaired surfaces. best part, dry in like 10 min.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

To cover your bare metal fast, AZ sells a rust-oleum etching primer that works great! I use it a lot on bare repaired surfaces. best part, dry in like 10 min.

Yeah, I probably should do that...

[aggie91]

I think I made good progress this weekend. I got the last brake line made up and installed, got the M/C painted, bench bled, and mounted to the firewall and brake pedal. System is now ready to bleed.




Also got the heater box mounted to the firewall, the plug for the rear light harness install, and the gas pedal linkage at the firewall install.


Must have installed the gas pedal linkage after I took that picture...sorry about that...

Added a little reflective insulation to the inside of the firewall. Just need to finish up the wiring for the heater and the hoses to the dash vents.




Finished the day by putting the seat back in the cab. Looks like I need to lower it a bit, but will live with it for now. I can still squeeze my fat a$$ between the seat and steering wheel.



__________________

[aggie91]

Progress has been slow the last few days. Mostly just wiring stuff for the truck and not much else.

I got the wires for the engine harness under the dash repaired for now. Not really the best way, but it will work good for now until the time comes to replace the wires all the way back to the fuse block. Sorry about the bad picture, best I could get it under the dash.


I made a new wire to add to the plug for the main harness next to the Master Cylinder. This will give me a 12V+ Key hot wire in the main harness that runs along the inner fender up to the core support. This will be for the PCM turn on, I will mount the PCM on that side. One end to the Fuse Block to a Key Hot terminal, the other end into an open cavity in the plug on the firewall.


For the connector to that plug, I made up all new wires for those circuits. This is crimped (not my best work), but before I soldered them to the terminal.


Here is how it looks connected to the firewall plug. The wires are: RED - 12V+ Battery to the fuse block; Lt. Green - High Beam Circuit; Tan - Low Beam Circuit; Black - Horn Signal from Horn Button to Relay; Black/White Stripe - Gen Light on Dash, connects to terminal on Alternator.


Lastly, I started on the engine harness wires. The wires are: Lt Green - Temperature Sensor; Dk Green - Temperature Sensor (I have the dash lights, not gauges); Dk BLue - Oil Pressure Sensor; Purple - Starter

[Low Elco]

Looks good, very tidy!

[aggie91]

Well another week has past and still no engine for this project. I continued to work on parts of the truck that don't require the engine and trans to be available.

I worked on getting the front clip mocked up and started the front wiring and PCM placement. I used some Riv-Nuts to mount the PCM and to anchor the wire harness to the inner fenderwells. I was able to borrow a pneumatic riv-nut tool from work, and boy is that that way to put them in! Here are some pics of what has been done. The last one is how I walked out of the shop last night.





This week I will get the brakes bleed, the taillights mounted, the tailgate mounted, mount the fuel tank and get the wheels mounted up. If I do one item a night that will get me to next weekend...

[aggie91]

Well last night was a no go on shop time. By the time I finally got home to stay for awhile it was after 10pm. I'm old and I need my sleep.

I did get a few parts ordered during my lunch break. I was going to use a battery mount I had from an old build, but I did not like the way it looked, so I ordered stock replacement parts from Classic Parts.

The aluminum radiator I had at one time, was MIA. After searching the WHOLE shop, Korbin and I believe that I sold it at the Pate Swap Meet last year. Like I said I'm old...So, I got on ebay and found one for a 60-62 C10 that will work and mount the way I want. It was $179 + free shipping or Best Offer. I made an offer that was accepted and it should be on its way here.
Here is the one I bought:
3 ROW ALL ALUMINUM RADIATOR 60 61 62 CHEVY TRUCK

Hope it works out the way it does in my head...

[scoot_mcgrute]

I've been keeping an eye on this build as I was planning on an LS swap in mine before too long. My buddy surprised me with the motor last weekend so now I'm getting ready for a full tilt swap very soon. You've got a great thread going, can't wait to see when it's done!

[aggie91]

LOL, I can't wait either. This version was to get it running/driving for LST. That is now 16 days away...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by aggie91

LOL, I can't wait either. This version was to get it running/driving for LST. That is now 16 days away...

Big bite right there. I'm crossing my fingers for 'ya though!

[aggie91]

My plans for this week went straight out the window on Monday night.

I finally got out to the shop at about 9 something last night. Since some of my wiring parts I have been waiting on came in yesterday, I worked on the front main harness.

Here is what I got done:
Mounted a power distribution block to the core support. This will serve as a main feed of Battery Power.


When the truck is all together, it is covered with a panel, it is easily removed for access to the block.


On the inside of the core support I mounted a 4 place terminal block. The four wires feeding it are: Pink - 12V Key On; Black - Horn Signal from Column; Tan - Low Beam Headlights from Switch; Green - High Beam Headlights from Switch.


From that block, I will run each circuit as needed to a relay for the lights and horn, the 12V Key power turns on the relay below that turns on the PCM.

Another view of that area:


In that last picture, you can see that I branched out the 12ga Red wire that provides Battery Power to the trucks fuse block. You can see the pick wire connected to the terminal strip that feeds the fuse/relay block below it.

Here you can see that I branched out the GEN light feed wire, this will go to the alternator, you can also see how I am attaching the harness to the inner fender.


Not sure what I will work on tonight, I made a list to keep track of what needs to be done. I guess I will pick something off of that to complete and get marked off...

[aggie91]

Got two items crossed off my list. I hooked up some taillights along with a license plate bracket. I don't like these lights, but do to time and money and the fact that I had these brand new for a trailer, I used them for now.

I also installed a tailgate that was reclaimed from Sunburn after its unfortunate end. Now part of that project will live on for now on my truck. I will sport the red paint for now since exterior cosmetics are being avoided for LST. The tailgate has link supports from Mar-K that support it like a fleetside tailgate in the down position. I just need to come up with a better solution for keeping it shut while in the up position.



I also working on the PCM wiring that goes into the cab. I extended the Tach, MIL, and Serial Data wires and put them in loom to run into the cab. I started on the wires for the Fuel Pump Relay Control and the Fan 1 & 2 wires, but did not have enough wire to finish those. I will get what I need today and finish up that section tonight.

[aggie91]

Feels like no body is watching, at least not commenting, but I will still keep posting.

I finished up the 2 wires that needed extending and got them in braided loom. Planned out the routing, but waiting on some parts that should show up today to finish that section.

Moved on to mounting the gas tank. I am using the tank from a 2004 1500HD and will use the pump and the mounting straps. I cut down the filler neck hose, but I still need to work on that part of the install. I have it where I can live with it for now so that I can meet my goal of LST. Did not have enough of the correct hardware to finish up the mounting, but the fab part is done. I had a couple of extra short bed cross braces that I could use on the underside of the floor to improve the strength of the mounts. The cool thing is the 2 holes for the bolts for the bed trips lined up with where I needed to drill holes for the fuel tank straps. I going to use 5/16" diameter hardware to mount it all, so I did not even have to make the holes larger in the cross braces. I will get a picture underneath once its all mounted up.

[DakotaKid]

please do keep posting. I am following this! great build!

[Paul Y]

I'm watching from the side lines. Please continue.

P.

[66Project]

Were all watching. Nothing to comment on other than to say good job and keep on keeping on.

[doublebeetx]

You know we're lurking out here. Keep up the good work !

[aggie91]

Weekend progress was pretty good even though my time was limited more than I had hoped. Korbin brought a block, oil pan, and two heads over. That gave me something to work on. So, Owen and I mated it up to the transmission and worked on getting it mocked up. Got it in and the mounts all tacked up in a position that I like. after getting that in, I added the heads, intake and headers. Crap, the driver's header hits the frame stand...

So, I move on to the wire routing and connector repairs. Got the wires where I like them, so now I need to splice in the injector harnesses that I made up since this OEM harness was missing those. Its all laid out how I want it, but I don't have enough of the loom that I want to use. I will pick up about 3 feet of it today for the injector harnesses so that maybe I can finish those up today. I think that for time constraints, I will leave the rest out of loom for now to get to LST.

Here are pics from this weekend. Mostly after I got all the work done, no in progress shots..








While I worked on the wiring, Owen wire wheel the core support and got a coat of satin black paint on it. Turned out good for what he started with. I really should replace it, its kinda beat up, but it works for now.

Here is a link to the loom I am using on this. The first on is a expandable sleeve that is not split. I use this one on the wires that I have to terminate at least one end of the wires. I can slide it over before terminating and looks better in my opinion. The second on is the same look, but has a split and an overlap that allows it the be put on bundles of wires that already exist.

While I worked on the wiring, Owen wire wheel the core support and got a coat of satin black paint on it. Turned out good for what he started with. I really should replace it, its kinda beat up, but it works for now.

Here is a link to the loom I am using on this. The first on is a expandable sleeve that is not split. I use this one on the wires that I have to terminate at least one end of the wires. I can slide it over before terminating and looks better in my opinion. The second on is the same look, but has a split and an overlap that allows it the be put on bundles of wires that already exist.

TechFlex 1/2" Braided Cable Sleeve

TechFlex 1-1/4" Split Braided Cable Sleeve


It comes in many sizes, so far for the first type, I have used 3/8" and 3/4". For the split stuff, I will need a bit of 1-1/4", 3/4", 1/2", and 3/8 or 1/4" stuff. It gets a bit expensive when you have to buy 10' and only need 3' of it...Amazon seems to have the best pricing if you have a Prime account.

[Low Elco]

Keep it up! Looks good!

[65Gregg]

I've never seen a wooden crankshaft keep marking things off the list.

[aggie91]

Last night I was rocking along getting some small items knocked out. Got the transmission crossmember finished up and ready to go back in. Got the battery tray bolted to the core support, marked the flanges of the radiator to drill the needed mounting holes and got two of the bed mounts repaired.

Moved on to soldering wires together for the injectors. Got Injectors 1, 3, 5, & 7 done and heat shrink applied. Tie wrapped that section together and moved the harness around to get to the other 4 sets of wires.




I had unplugged my soldering iron to plug in my heat gun for the heat shrink. So while I was moving the harness around, I had plugged in the iron to let it heat up. I got the first set of wire ready to solder with the control wire twisted together, grabbed the iron and it was still not hot. Looks like my soldering iron died on me...well crap. So much for finishing that part of my project.




Well, I moved on to fuel lines. I had bent up the two metal lines that go thru the bed floor and got those installed. Measured out the line length to cut the supply line to length. But my idea of pushing in the fittings did not work, so I called it a night. I found a thread on a homemade way of pressing the fittings into the line, so I will copy that and get some pics of what I'm doing with the fuel lines...It kinda took the wind out of my sail...maybe tonight will go better.

[aggie91]

Got a replacement soldering iron yesterday, so I completed the wires that I could last night. I also worked on routing the harness a bit more.





After the wiring, I mounted the radiator to the core support and mocked it back up to check a few things. I also mounted the power distribution block and the power wire from the battery into the core support. Since the CS has to come back out, I did not mount the terminal block or run the wires thru it yet. Getting closer...




After that, I laid under the truck to study the drive line. I believe that I can make a 3" dia. one piece driveshaft work and clear the trailing arm cross member. I will get a couple more measurements and mock ups this weekend, but plan to get the DS local and have them build it Monday or Tuesday.

After I called in a night in the shop, Korbin came home and surprised me with a load of engine parts. I have almost everything I need to get the engine together this weekend. Plans now are to get the mock up done and finalize my DS layout on Saturday so that I can pull out the engine mock up Saturday night. Korbin and I hope to get the short block together on Sunday. Maybe even the long block if everything falls into place.

7 days left...

[aggie91]

I wish I could pull some all nighters, but I have a job and 3 kids so that's not going to happen...lol.

I still think I can make my goal. This weekend was productive...and expensive...

This weekend, I got the block all cleaned up and installed new cam bearings with my homemade bearing installer for LS engines. Worked pretty good.




Got the short block all together, some of you might not agree with this, but I am trying Mat Hapel's way of Sloppy Mechanics. Reused all the 240k mile bearings on this assembly. I won't call it a rebuild since we just cleaned and reassembled with the old parts...I think the bearings look pretty good for that many miles, another reason that I am sold on LS engines.

Here are the main bearings:



Could not put on the heads, because the dowel pins in the deck are MIA. So, maybe I can find some today and get the long block finished up tonight. After that, I just need my new gaskets to put all the cover's back on. They should be here tomorrow. Korbin and Owen both helped me out putting it all together and we had a bit of father/son time and had some fun doing it. Hard to believe that this is my FIRST V8 I have put together...In the past I was the detail, paint and body and general mechanic work guy and had others do my engine work if involved more than external gaskets and cleaning.

Short Block:




Since I am waiting on my seals for the rest of the engine, I will finish up the trans seals, flex plate modifications, and some other small items that need attention during tonight's shop time.

The expensive part of the weekend, was late yesterday. I had to go buy a new refrigerator. Ours died some time during the night before. I cleaned the coils and that seamed to help, but by 6:30 last night it was running, but not cooling at all. So I had to run the Lowe's and drop a cool grand on a new one for the house. Oh Well that's life.


I have 4 shop days left...

[scoot_mcgrute]

I was talking to my dad about your build while we pulled the 292 out of mine this afternoon. I'm rootin for ya bud!