And so it begins.... 65 shortbed, lay frame, LT engine build

[HSRACER]

The Boyd tank came in last week as well and I got that mounted up.

We built a good size plate to go across the back of the notch to mount the CVT assembly from Accuair onto. It turned out great and helped to brace the rear of the frame as well!

[HSRACER]

As you may or may not know, the LT engines do not have any provisions for hydraulic power steering. There is no power steering pump mounted to the engine.

That is one big down side of the LT install. There are a few options out there now that can help you get a pump mounted up. The coolest one is a replacement pump designed to mount where the factory vacuum pump is located and even uses the factory belt.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t use that nice system as the rack and pinion was right in the way.

Next there is a cool relocate bracket from ICT that uses a corvette pump and relocates the alternator slightly and can be run on the original harmonic balancer. That is what I chose to use.

Also, dirty dingo makes an LS accessory kit that moves everything to an LS configuration. I wanted the LT look and that was one reason I didn’t choose that route.

[HSRACER]

I figured that worst case senario, was that I would run the stock exhaust manifolds if I couldn’t find headers to fit my needs.

Luckily the speed engineering LT headers for a c10 fit quite well and the were actually tucked in closer to the engine making them easier to work my steering angles around than the stockers.

Check our these beautiful works of art! They are under 400 bucks and worth every penny as far as I can tell. Stainless steel too.

[HSRACER]

At some point in its life, the frame was cut to accommodate some headers.

I had plenty of room with the new headers, so we filled in the missing metal and strengthened it back up. It looks much cleaner now.

Also will be filling a bunch of drilled holes that have no use to me on the frame. Not going for a smoothed out look just don’t want the Swiss cheese look either.

[HSRACER]

This is the beginning of the bracing piece that will be used to modify the trailing arm cross member so I can get my one piece driveshaft made up and installed.

[HSRACER]

That’s as far as I have come in the last week or so. I hope you all are enjoying the build, I know I am!

[HSRACER]

The first step in lowering the height of the cross member is to brace it up so it won’t flex. Got the plate attached and will be able to cut the top off of the mount so I can run a one piece drive shaft.

[HSRACER]

Now we cut the top off of the mount and stuck an extra driveshaft in to see the range of travel when aired up and down. Next it was determined that we had plenty of clearance so we could flip around the top brace and reweld it upside down for extra strength.

After a little bracing I went ahead and painted it up.

[HSRACER]

I had some raised bed mounts made by GSI fabricators that were 13 inches higher than the stock supports. They are very nice pieces and in the long run were cheaper than I could make them myself given how much time they would have taken me.

I called them and gave some measurements and 10 days later they were on my front porch. Very happy with the price, quality, and speed of delivery.

Chech them out.

The 13 inches really gives me an idea of just how much lower we will be getting this truck!

[HSRACER]

I pulled the engine for about the 5th time yesterday so we could go ahead and paint the front half of the frame and suspension. I hope it will be the last time this engine is separated from the chassis as long as I own the truck!

I learned a neat trick from my buddy, we used tin foil to cover the air bags and brake rotors. It is cheap, conforms well to different shapes, and is easy to work with.

Anyway, the frame is very nice to look at now.

[Clyde65]

Nicely done!
We went with the DD front accessory drive on my dad’s crewcab. That’s all we had for options 18 months ago so..

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

Nicely done!
We went with the DD front accessory drive on my dad’s crewcab. That’s all we had for options 18 months ago so..

That’s true, the aftermarket is finally catching up on these engines. My friend put his in over 3 years ago and had to build his own headers, figure out the wiring, build his own fuel pump into an aftermarket tank, control the ac compressor, and he sourced an electric steering system off of a aircraft moving tractor.

He is helping me now and thinks I have it easy, compared to what he went through I do have it easy!!!

[HSRACER]

Started on the engine wiring today and got most of it laid out the way I wanted. I will be using the vintage air control to cycle the compressor, the Dakota digital gauges will run off the BIM module connected to the OBD port, and the fuel system will be controlled by the main computer and the fuel control module.

Also took the measurements I needed to get the one piece driveshaft built at a local place. They called me at 4:15 today and said it was done. I just dropped off the yoke at 10am this morning!

Also put the front shocks back on and tomorrow I will reinstall the rack and pinion steering.

I will order a Tahoe fuel pump tonight so I can mock it up in the Boyd’s tank.

[HSRACER]

So for mother’s day I went over to my wife’s work and hung 12 full size pictures of our hot rods so she can get them off the floor. She just moved offices a few months ago and none of the guys there wanted to mess with them.

Each picture was taken at a national car show (usually a good guys show, but there are a couple from the hot rod power tour and the frog follies in Indiana).

All of them brought back cool memories of the trips and the vehicles we had at that time. She was thrilled to get them up.

She is an HR manager and half of the hot rods in the pictures are hers! Needless to say, she can get on common ground with the oil field workers fast when they come into her office. Quite the conversation starter.

[SCOTI]

I'm in & following. Seen a couple l83/6l80e's on C-list lately @ good prices because of the pwr steer & fuel delivery swap difficulty.
I'm betting as parts become more available their prices will trend higher.

Nice stuff so far!

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I'm in & following. Seen a couple l83/6l80e's on C-list lately @ good prices because of the pwr steer & fuel delivery swap difficulty.
I'm betting as parts become more available their prices will trend higher.

Nice stuff so far!

Thank you. I am getting an education on the new gen 5 engines as I go.

[HSRACER]

So this week was very slow on the 65 build. I did get a new driveshaft built for it and installed but not much else.

The main reason for the lack of progress was I took Tuesday through Thursday off and finished the installation of my blown dart block 383 stroker in my wife’s 54 pickup.

I blew up the old engine 2.5 years ago and it sat neglected in the garage for that long until this week. I was really mad at myself for the engine failure and then figured out the cost for my stupidity! That was the main reason for not making much headway on her truck.

She has been pretty patient and finally asked if we could get it going again!

[HSRACER]

Worked on the fuel delivery system today. Got a factory 2017 Tahoe pump and modified it to work in the new Boyd’s tank.

First we had to switch up the bottom assembly so it was lined up with the top of the unit and not offset like factory. That was not hard at all as we bent the holding tabs and rotated it 180 degrees and reset the tabs to hold it in place.

Tahoe pumps are spring loaded with the ability to be 8 to 9.5 inches deep. My Boyd’s tank is 8.5 and it worked perfectly.

Next I had to take the jigsaw to the new tank and expand the opening to for the custom made mounting ring my friend had made for his project. The bolts come up from inside the tank and the pump is held on by nuts on the same bolts.

Here are a few pictures, please enjoy the process!

[HSRACER]

Continued to work on the fuel delivery system today. Got a lot done but it sure doesn’t look like much in the pictures!

Ran a hard fuel line from the tank over the step notch and connected it to the Tahoe pump.

Wired up the fuel control module and also mounted the module to the cross plate I built for the accu-air tank. Seemed like a great place to locate it. The wiring was then fitted to the module and connected it to the pump as well.

Then plumbed in a summit rebuildable fuel filter with some 6an to compression fittings.

Next it was on to the E85 sensor plumbing. The stock LT1 has 355hp on premium fuel and 385 on the Alcohol blend so you never know I might try it one day.

I also secured the main wiring harness under and across the engine with what looks like the factory support plastics. Nice to have the stock stuff from the donor engine harness.

As always, enjoy a few pictures from today’s progress.

[HSRACER]

The loose sensor is the fuel pressure sensor that tells the computer what voltage to send to the fuel pump through the fuel control module. I need to figure out the best way to plumb it in the line. It will be a bit tough as I think it has some metric threads and I will need a “T” with AN 6 on both ends and a metric thread for the sensor. That will be tomorrow’s adventure.

The last picture is of the factory support plastics for the main harness and it includes the area where the factory vacuum pump was removed and plugged with fittings. Just thought you may want to see both things.

I hope that someone is actually watching my progress as I seem to be talking to myself on here. I guess maybe I should be doing twitter or something like all the modern people.

[hank scorpio]

You could probably get a short section of fuel rail, run it inline and drill and tap the center for the sensor.

[SkinnyG]

Originally Posted by HSRACER

I hope that someone is actually watching my progress as I seem to be talking to myself on here. I guess maybe I should be doing twitter or something like all the modern people.

Don't you dare.

There are lots of people watching, many of whom don't say anything.

I'm watching what you do; I'm starting my truck soon, and I'm in "information gathering stage."

Keep going!!

[vet57air]

Originally Posted by HSRACER

The loose sensor is the fuel pressure sensor that tells the computer what voltage to send to the fuel pump through the fuel control module. I need to figure out the best way to plumb it in the line. It will be a bit tough as I think it has some metric threads and I will need a “T” with AN 6 on both ends and a metric thread for the sensor. That will be tomorrow’s adventure.

The last picture is of the factory support plastics for the main harness and it includes the area where the factory vacuum pump was removed and plugged with fittings. Just thought you may want to see both things.

I hope that someone is actually watching my progress as I seem to be talking to myself on here. I guess maybe I should be doing twitter or something like all the modern people.

No worries you are not alone. I am doing the same thing on my 66. Although I will likely go the crate LT engine route. I am presently finishing mounting the body on a custom frame, but likely won't get a lot more done until fall. To nice to be in garage. I want to cruise and ride when it is nice out.

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Don't you dare.

There are lots of people watching, many of whom don't say anything.

I'm watching what you do; I'm starting my truck soon, and I'm in "information gathering stage."

Keep going!!

I will always be loyal to this site as it has helped me many times in the past. It is good to know someone is actually watching. Thanks for the encouraging words!

[HSRACER]

Originally Posted by vet57air

No worries you are not alone. I am doing the same thing on my 66. Although I will likely go the crate LT engine route. I am presently finishing mounting the body on a custom frame, but likely won't get a lot more done until fall. To nice to be in garage. I want to cruise and ride when it is nice out.

I know how you feel about having fun while the weather is good. It is getting crazy hot and humid down here in southern Texas. My temp gauge said 100 yesterday!

I just retired a few months ago so the 65 is kind of my daily activity unless one of the other trucks is in need of work.

Thanks for letting g me know you are watching!