87 R10 SWB - Low, Slow, and Full of Holes

[hobbz]

Long time no updates:

picked up a free e-fan


got an edelbrock performer eps intake and a free edelbrock 600cfm carb


decided on flat black for now


took the bed apart painted and filled holes, then put it back together


picked up this 350. It has 601 305 heads on it. great compression only about 10k miles on it.


In the frame and tore apart for new parts


All the new parts on it and ready to test fire tomorrow after I get a battery cable



I hope to make a trip to summit or jegs in the next month or so to get a transmission... As long as the engine fires good tomorrow, I am going to start putting the front back together...

[hobbz]

I finally got to start it!!!

First start on the new engine - YouTube

[hobbz]

Got my wiring harness in the mail today... Going to be fun putting it in.


My core support mounts will be in tomorrow, and my other front fender will be here Tuesday. I am running up to Jegs in Ohio to pick up my transmission and a few other odds and ends week after next.

Here is the latest pic of the engine bay

[hobbz]

More progress today. Got the bed on. Tailgate hinges came in so tailgate is now on. Got the core support on and fender back on. Also test fit my grill that was a freebie.





The headlights and turns are just resting there, that is why they look goofy...

[hobbz]

Got a bunch of the wiring done today. Ran into a little issue, the wiring kit I ordered was short a couple terminals, and nowhere local carry them, so I have to wait for them to arrive from online.

So now I am back in the hold pattern...

No pics today.

[hobbz]

Started the truck today off of the key and gas pedal. Guess my wiring job is ok...lol Now I am on hold until I can make the trip up to jegs to get my transmission.

[y5mgisi]

Good progress! Should be a real fun truck!

[hobbz]

Got some more done the last couple days.

Yesterday I pushed the truck out of the garage and cleaned the garage up.



Then today I got all of the water lines hooked up and got it filled with water. I also hooked up the alternator today. Check out my sweet overflow tank.


I also sanded and painted the hood and cowl piece today. Sorry no pics of that.



Question: I don't want to use the original springs to hold the hood open. Does anyone have a strut setup they care to share how they did it???

[hobbz]

Today's progress: Wire up headlights and front turn signals, put grill on, seat cover, new door seals, put door panels on. Going to wire the tail lights tomorrow and then start on the dash. My aluminum bezel will be here today and I am going with autometer phantom gauges.

[hobbz]

Got the rear fenders on to test fit. I hope to pull them and paint them soon.



Here is wheel I have decided to go with in 17x8

[hobbz]

Straps finally came in for the gas tank. Got them on, plumbed the lines, put some gas in the tank and started it. No leaks.



I'll be working a lot of overtime for the next 30-60 days at work for an outage, so I probably won't get much done besides ordering parts...

Here is a video of it running.

http://youtu.be/f1N_W3uLAt4

[hobbz]

Finally got a day off work and got to work on the truck again.

Today I revisited the fuel tank. I took it back off and added foam to the straps to keep the wear down and make the fit better.




My rear roll pan came in today as well, so I threw it on while I was at it.




My front roll pan should be here tomorrow, and I will hopefully cut the frame and install it.

[hobbz]

So today's progress.

I woke up early and ran to Lowes to pick up the wood for my bed as I am going to my dad's tomorrow and he has a wood shop and is going to help my cut them down and groove them.



When I got back home, FedEx had dropped off my front roll pan. I took it up to my garage and proceeded to cut my frame so it would fit, and fit it into place roughly. I really don't want to weld it to the fenders, but not sure it will look right otherwise.

[hobbz]

Today my dad and I cut the wood for the bed, then I came back home and got the first layer of poly on them.

Half covered:


First coat:


Tomorrow I will get the 2nd coat on the top and after that dries, flip it over and get the back. Hopefully I will have my stainless strips in sometime this week, and can get it all installed.

[hobbz]

My last day off work for a while. I finished the stain/poly on the boards.



Then I had to do the test to see how they will look



Then I started on another project, my electronics panel. This panel will replace the climate controls. This one was just a test to see how it would look.

[82ZZZR]

Nice work. I like the electronics panel.

[hobbz]

Originally Posted by 82ZZZR

Nice work. I like the electronics panel.

Thanks.


Made a little more progress today. Over the last few days, my bed strips came in, and also my battery box/tray came in. It is one that I can mount on the firewall.

I can't attach the middle board till I figure out what fuel door I want to install and cut the hole for it.

[hobbz]

Little more work today.

I installed my new firewall mount battery box/tray and shortened and cleaned up the battery wires.

Installed with lost of extra and ugly wires.


Cleaned up

[hobbz]

2nd update for today. UPS delivered my gas door, and it was still early enough that I decided to install it. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I need to pick up some longer bolts for it still though. I also need to decide if I want to cut the strips or the door base. I am thinking just trim the lip on the strips...




Here you can see why I think I need to trim the lip of the strips

[hobbz]

I got my electronics panel done.

[82ZZZR]

Nice, I've seen set ups like that on Amazon.

[silverbear]

I like what you have going on here. Just a question for you about your HVAC. You removed your blower motor box from the engine bay and now the controls are gone. What are your plans for replacing these? I am exploring options for upgrades or custom components for my truck.

[hobbz]

Originally Posted by silverbear

I like what you have going on here. Just a question for you about your HVAC. You removed your blower motor box from the engine bay and now the controls are gone. What are your plans for replacing these? I am exploring options for upgrades or custom components for my truck.

Not going to have any hvac...

[hobbz]

The weather finally broke enough to work on the truck some more.

I am starting to get a lot of the small stuff finished up. Got the bed steps on, bed bolted to frame, brake and fuel lines attached to frame rail, brakes bled, and a lot more.

The big news is, I was finally able to take the truck out of the garage under its own power for the first time in over a year!!!

I still have quite a bit to do like install the locker and sway bar, but I am on the home stretch.

Here are some pics from when I had it out of the garage...