My latest, a 68 short step

[68Stepbed]

Let me figure what my hourly rate is.

[jablack]

I think I have found an engine. Now I have to figure out the little stuff for the LS conversion like fuel pump, motor mounts, which intake and carb, will my radiator work and so forth. It's a 4.8L but I am fine with that. Backed with a 700r4 and I should get pretty good mpg's out of it.

[68Stepbed]

What are your plans for it? Just a driver/cruiser? Street beast/boulevard bruiser?

The Edelbrock 7118 dual plane will help with low end grunt, which the 4.8 will slightly lack in. A 650 double pumper should feed it just right, and for a fuel pump, THIS should do fine.

[jablack]

That's a good question. I would really like to have a good driver. I use to over build things and as I get older I want things more comfortable. So using a 4.8L will be plenty of power for me. If not I can always upgrade and all the hard work is done.
I've been looking at the Edelbrock intake. I'm thinking an Edelbrock 1405 carb which is a 600 cfm. I looked at that fuel pump today, after checking out your swap thread 68stepbed, nice work.

[dhaymaker]

Nice truck! Due to some recent issues, I've been reducing my "inventory" and I have an engine/trans combination setting on my garage floor you might be interested in. I'll PM you some information! don

[jablack]

I'm supposed to get the 4.8L tomorrow and I come across a 350/350 combo for pretty cheap. I go check it out and it sounds nice with an intake and carb already. I looked at the trans and it was not a 350 short tail, it was a 700r4. I paid the man and brought it all to the garage. Maybe in a couple of days I'll have them in the truck.
Now that I will be able to drive it I can take that 4.8L and build it into something nice.

[68Stepbed]

Cool beans, man!! Are you sure it's a 700R4? The reason I ask is we got took on that a few years back. It turned out my dad got a TH350C with the lockup converter. That was a bit of a disappointment.

Either way, it sounds like you got a pretty sweet deal.

[jablack]

I'm sure. I use to sell transmission cores in Florida, and engine cores in Alabama when I was in the military. I came back from Korea in 04 and we had Pullaparts all over the place and killed that side business.
I've built several old Chevys through the years and have always gone 350/700r4 combo. There was nothing like having a stout small block and getting over 20 mpgs out of it. You can't do that now with this ethanol gas.

[jablack]

I did a little work Saturday then that night I took my kids camping. Yesterday we spent all day together. The kids were swimming and I got to do all the cooking. After that was smores, more swimming, then fireworks.
I ordered a camshaft and roller rockers today so I want to have everything ready to go when I get them in so I can slam it in the truck. I still need to go buy all the little odds and ends but I'm sure I can get that stuff locally.

[jablack]

What are a good set of headers at a descent price? I have a set but not sure if they will work. This engine came with manifolds that I think will choke the engine down to much.

[68Stepbed]

For the price, I had a set of Hedman Elite headers on my old small block. They had a thermal(not ceramic) coating, 3/8" flanges, ball and socket collectors, and a 5 year warranty for under $300. I had to notch a section in the frame and clearance just a tad on the lower control arm nut for them to fit, but other than that, they worked great.

[jablack]

You would think after 40 plus years someone would have built a header for these trucks that would just sit right in.

[68Stepbed]

Hooker SuperComps do, but they're $400 for painted and $700 for ceramic coated.

[jablack]

Sounds a little rich for me. Hopefully the set I have will work, if not I'll keep looking. I put a set of the 88-95 mid length headers in a 67, but I had to do a lot of trimming. I just want to bolt some in and go.
I got most everything painted up but my cam and rocker arms didn't come in so looks like I have to wait. I didn't take any before pics but I will definitely take some after pics.

[68Stepbed]

Looking forward to the pics.

[jablack]

Here's some of the engine after some paint, cam and roller rocker swap. I painted a 350 this color a couple of years ago and liked how it came out. I think I need something to contrast on this one though. It had a xe268 Comp Cam in it so I'm selling it to a guy today for a little extra project money.

[Jimbabwe]

What paint did you use for that? Brand...color...I like the medium gray color, and have some stuff I'm looking to paint like that. Ceramic Cast Iron coat grey by Duplicolor is cool, but too dark for some stuff.

[68Stepbed]

Judging by the fourth pic, I'd say he used RustOleum brand engine paint. Look on the bed rails in the background.

Engine looks good like that.

[jablack]

You are correct 68Stepbed. It's rustoleum and I got it from auto zone.
I got it in the truck last night but it looks like I'm going to have to use the V8 engine stands. All my driveshafts for short beds are about 3 inches to long. The sad thing is the truck didn't sit down in the front ( even after rolling it around) so I'm going to adjust the front ride height. I had to change the fuel line to 3/8 because it had 5/16 in it. Looks like I'll have to change the sending unit as well so it will all be 3/8.
Slowly but surely coming along. I just wish my garage wasn't an hour away from home.

[Jimbabwe]

Damn, I missed that!!
But what is that warm gray color on the motor called?

[jablack]

It looks like charcoal grey on the cap.

[jablack]

Where do you get sway bar brackets for the front end, the stock ones that are riveted to the frame? Every truck I've ever had before already had them on there. I have been searching for them but no luck. I think this ol' girl is going to need a little extra stability.

[68C10HotRod]

I usually get most suspension stuff from these guys. Good stuff at good prices. They have lower profile mounts if you plan on lowering the truck & helps keep you from bending them on curbs.

http://earlyclassic.com/

Cool stepper btw!!

[jablack]

Thanks 68C10HotRod

I was looking on there today. $50 for the stock set, but only $20 for the lowered. I might see if I can grab a set from the junk yard. If they are riveted on I'll be there a while..

[jablack]

I ordered some headers today. I think they'll work. They are the mid length style in chrome so they will look nice for a little while. I used the 88-95 chevy truck headers once but I had to cut on the frame and I do not want to do that again. Makes me cringe cutting the frame.