81 C10 Rebuild

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by STOCKISH

The good ole carburetor on the 305 started acting crazy the other day...

Well that escalated quickly, haha.

[STOCKISH]

Yep. I told my wife I was going to go work on the truck for a bit, she came out around lunch time and was like "what in the".... lol. I figured I was planning the swap at some point anyway, didnt make sense to buy a nice intake and carburator. May as well tear into it now!

[rodstored-72]

ddooohhh!!!! too funny

[tinydb84]

Great color combo on it.

[STOCKISH]

Thanks guys. Little more progress today. Getting everything blasted and painted. New upper and lower LCA bushings and ball joints. Rest of steering stuff is new already. Going to be using a manual brake master cylinder with the factory disc/drum combo. Will I need to keep the proportioning valve? I’ve seen some people use them and some not. Just curious. Want everything to to be as clean and neat as possible. Also, has anyone used this front frame stiffening kit? I need to put a brace off the steering box to prevent the common frame cracking issue. I have one very small crack now that I fixed, DONT want more coming back. Thanks for the help.

[tinydb84]

I haven't seen anyone use that specific kit but I have seen people use from Off Road Design without any issues.

[STOCKISH]

Super productive day today. Got the frame completely sanded down, cleaned with acetone, and painted with VHT Satin Chassis black. Also got the upper control arms blasted, painted and rebuilt with Energy Suspension bushings and Moog ball joints. Hope to have the lower control arms done tomorrow and the McGaughy spindles, and backing plates blasted and painted as well. Here’s a couple Pics!

[STOCKISH]

Little more time n the garage today so I rebuilt the lower control arms with Energy Suspension bushings and Moog ball joints. Got the Beltech shocks and McGaughys coil springs installed. Blasted, primed, painted and installed the fuel tank brackets and the new 87 EFI tank with EP381 Delco fuel pump and Corvette filter/regulator. Will repaint the drop spindles and install them tomorrow hopefully. Hoping to have it back on it’s feet this coming week sometime!

[Hart_Rod]

Yeah, that escalated really quickly.... Looking forward to seeing it finished, maybe next week sometime???

[STOCKISH]

Yeah man probably! Naw honestly I,m surprised its gone this quickly. The weekends without driving up and down the east coast for my sons baseball has provided me with tons of extra time. Although I miss watching him play, its definitely been productive in the garage. Today I got the McGaughys drop spindles stripped and painted, and reinstalled along with the McGaughys drop springs and BelTech shocks. Got the body mount cups stripped and painted and installed new Energy Suspension body mount bushings. Hope to have the bottom of the cab stripped and spray on bedliner sprayed on this week so I can get the cab back on the chassis.

[STOCKISH]

Had some good time in the shop yesterday. Finished cleaning painting and installing the rear suspension and rear axle. Got the backing plates and engine mount perches blasted primed and painted. Flipped the cab over on its back and spent a couple hours cleaning and sanding the bottom of the cab and then coating it in spray on bedliner. Turned out fantastic and should protect it for years to come!

[STOCKISH]

All the suspension, steering and brakes are put back together and I got the cab mounted back on the chassis. Got the c-notch installed on the driver’s side and hopefully will get the passenger side done tonight. Hope to have it to the body shop this week so I can install the firewall fillers and get the firewall body worked and painted. Need to order a manual brake master cylinder so I can get the brake lines ran as well.

[rodstored-72]

Originally Posted by STOCKISH

.... and installed the fuel tank brackets and the new 87 EFI tank with EP381 Delco fuel pump and Corvette filter/regulator.

I have the same fuel setup I am looking foward to the install ONCE! I can get this wiring figured out on my LS swap. hopefully we can share install tips/tricks! good luck with the build!!

[STOCKISH]

Originally Posted by rodstored-72

I have the same fuel setup I am looking foward to the install ONCE! I can get this wiring figured out on my LS swap. hopefully we can share install tips/tricks! good luck with the build!!

Thanks man, be happy to help in any way. I have the chassis finished and sitting on its wheels again. starting to look like a truck again!

[STOCKISH]

Started mock up of these sweet Slosh Tubz firewall fillers. Great product from Mike Losh! Going to look killer! Thanks Mike!

[rodstored-72]

stockish, that does look nice!! i didn't know he made those! the chassis looks very nice! good job! keep up the solid progress

[STOCKISH]

Made a little more progress on the 81 today. Got the drivers side firewall filler panel fitted to the cab. Will get the passenger side done tomorrow and hopefully get them at least partially welded in. Excited to see this coming together!

[STOCKISH]

Got the passenger side panel mocked up today. Should have everything welded up at least partially tomorrow. Awesome product Mike Losh!

[tinydb84]

Looks great. How are you planishing the welds? Got a helper or is there not that much distortion?

[STOCKISH]

So far there hasn't been much distortion, I have only had a little time after work each day this week so just spacing the welds out and going slowly. I also use a blow gun to help keep the area cooler to help with that as much as I can. I'm far from a pro so those methods may not be best but seem to work OK for me.

[STOCKISH]

Both sides welded in, and ground down. Hope to be able to get back on it tonight with a little hammer and dolly work before starting the filler and blocking to make sure its nice and straight.

[STOCKISH]

Firewall bodywork roughed in, starting to come together nicely. Got the 6.0 torn down for reseal, timing chain set, and paint. still debating the cam swap but leaning towards replacing with something similar to the Elgin Sloppy Stage 2. What cams are you guys running and what are your thoughts? Worth the time and $$ to swap for a weekend driver? Will still be EFI and running the 4l80e.

[aggie91]

Just went through the thread. Great work so far. I like how the frame turned out. Following as you progress.

[evan]

Those firewall filler panels look great. How does it work getting the master cylinder and steering back on? Is it strong enough with those panels or will modifications be needed to strengthen it?

[STOCKISH]

Originally Posted by evan

Those firewall filler panels look great. How does it work getting the master cylinder and steering back on? Is it strong enough with those panels or will modifications be needed to strengthen it?

The steering just goes through the panel and ill add a brace on the inside. as far as the brakes go they master cylinder will still bolt to the under dash brace just as it did originally. I also got a brake master cylinder brace through SloshTubz that will reinforce from the inside to make it stronger than original. Ill try to get some pics ASAP!