American in Austria 83 Build

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by Kainedogg

I can't picture LS motors being anymore plentiful in Austria than the ubiquitous 350sbc...lol.

Seriously though, great build OP and if you do swing the ls way you are in for quite a treat. From the lowly 4.8 to the might 7.0 they all fit.

Haha, I am going engine hunting this summer. Gonna try to find as many cores as possible for future builds. I can pretty much forget about finding a used LS over here.

You guys have any thoughts on having bends before the mufflers versus after? My guess is it will create more back pressure, not sure how much it hurts the overall flow.

Thanks

Paul

[44boggers]

Hey guys,

I got bit of the mock up of the exhaust done, the only thing left is how I will exit the exhaust. Originally I wanted to go straight out the back but I think it will be to tight between my fuel tank and my rear shocks. So I might have to dump it down just before the tank or turn them out at a 45* angle at the side of the tank.
Anyway, here are some pics. And yes I will be going with mandrel bends on the finished exhaust.

Paul

[44boggers]

Hey guys,

I have some pricing questions for you. So I want to recover my orignal dash. Needs to be completely redone, its cracked, missing foam the whole nine yards. I want to have it done in black leather. He said he would completely tear it apart and put in new dash padding and make it look like the original (well better since it will be stitched leather.

I also need to have my bench seat also completely redone, it needs new foam as well. I want to have it done in leather.


I was wondering what people generally pay to have seats completely redone in leather with new foam.

An upholster shop here in Austria run by an Italian guy quoted me 2-3K for the seats!! And 1500-1700k to redo the dash.


I understand you get what you pay for and this guy for sure cares about his work, he said he wont do it if i wanted to half ass it haha. Which I appreciate his enthusiasm and ideals. But I was pretty surprised about how much he quoted me.

So I would be looking at around 3500-4500 for the dash and seats. I havent talked to any other shops yet to compare prices.

Here is his website with some examples of his work - http://autosattler-romulus.at/autosattler/de/gallery/

Thanks

Paul

[TurboLS]

That sounds like some insane pricing! I work on a Airport, I had my dash recovered in black leather and red stitching at an Aircraft Interior shop, $250. They also cut out the cracks, filled them in, recovered in foam and leather. Very high quality, shop owned by an old Italian man.

They also did my headliner, Black foam material, $100. Even has Burn Certification!

I asked about them covering my bench seat, new two tone leather, padding, $750.

So just sayin, keep shopping!

[44boggers]

Hey Turbo, thanks for your reply. I am going to visit a couple more upholsters and see what they can give me for a price. I just dont think I can afford to have an 5-8k interior when its all said and done, still need to do the headliner, carpet and doors.

Thanks

Paul

[44boggers]

Hey guys,

Few more updates as well as a question. I just got back from the US with 4 bags full of parts, just about finished with parts buying. I ended up going with an aeromotive intank fuel pump, got my fuel filter and lines all installed. I found some nice hose clamps that bolt through the frame that give it a clean look. I had Coan build me a torque converter which was installed, so the trans is in for good. I ditched the shocks that came with my suspension kit and upgraded to double adjustable Vari shocks front and rear. As much as I am building this truck to look nice, I want it to perform as well as it can, so the bouncy bounce shocks had to go. Last thing I got done was bending up some rear brake lines. So nothing major with the build, just some small detail work.

Actually before I left for the US last month I began some body work. I removed all of the small dents and dings from the PO, as well as welding up the drill rail holes and a bunch of random holes on the front side of the bed.

I will be away for the next two weeks but when I get back I am going to finish up the motor. All that is left is to measure for pushrod length, then silicon and bolt down the intake.

So the one question I have has to do with my front shock alignment, it has nothing to do with my new shocks, because the ones that came with the CPP kit had the same issue. You will be able to see the problem more clear in the pictures. But basically the shock will not sit straight using the mounting tab on the lower control arm and the frame stud. You can see in the picture that even without the upper bot tighten down the eyelid sits crooked and is forcing the bushing out of place. What could this misalignment be from? Have any of you guys experienced this before?

Thanks and some pics down below.

Paul

[44boggers]

Also thought I would throw in some pics of our trip down to Rausch Creek to go wheeling. Since I live in Austria now we only go once a year, 3 day trip. But we beat the hell out of our rigs I dont think we could do more than 3 days haha.

[44boggers]

Bumpiddy bump. Does anyone have any thoughts on my front shock alignment issue?

Thanks

Paul

[44boggers]

Hey guys, quick update on the build. I have not had much time to work on the truck until the last two days. I got the exhaust completely built. Once the engine is up and running and there are not any leaks at my welds (all of the welds have been ground down smooth), I will take the exhaust to get ceramic coated.

Also if anyone has any ideas about my shock alignment I would like to hear them.

Thanks
Paul

[44boggers]

Small update on the build. I finally got my pushrods from the US, Straub Technologies. I also had to get custom length rocker arms from Harland Sharp. With my Scorpion rockers I could not get proper valve train geometry (where the roller tip lays on the valve with correct pattern) I could adjust the adjustable pushrod until the patter was right, but it put rocker arm to valve geometry way off. So Harland Sharp made a .070 longer rocker for me and now it is dead on.

Just waiting for the silicon to dry on the intake and I will prime the engine tomorrow, finish the wiring on the FITECH system and fire it up.

Also no one answered my question about why my front shock would not line up properly with the mounts. I did a bit of research and I found they make a new upper shock mount for lowered suspension. So maybe my lowered suspension is causing the shock to no longer line up with the upper mount. Could this be?

Thanks

Paul

[LT7A]

Hey boggers, you are building one heck of a truck man, no matter where you live. But especially impressive that it's in Austria. Just about building it to show quality, it looks like. Then undercarriage would be nicer than most cars at the neighborhood level shows, for sure. I think you are going to be just fine with the exhaust. You've got good diameter tubing, especially considering its a 305. Glad to see you ran it all the way out the back. Personally I like that better, and I think it cuts down on the droning. Sounds like you may have got your shock situation figured out. Only thing I thought of was if all those shims on the control arm pushed it out too far. Good luck, keep us updated, this is fun to watch.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Hey boggers, you are building one heck of a truck man, no matter where you live. But especially impressive that it's in Austria. Just about building it to show quality, it looks like. Then undercarriage would be nicer than most cars at the neighborhood level shows, for sure. I think you are going to be just fine with the exhaust. You've got good diameter tubing, especially considering its a 305. Glad to see you ran it all the way out the back. Personally I like that better, and I think it cuts down on the droning. Sounds like you may have got your shock situation figured out. Only thing I thought of was if all those shims on the control arm pushed it out too far. Good luck, keep us updated, this is fun to watch.

Thanks bud,
I havent really sorted out my shock situation yet, just spit balling ideas. In regards to the shims on the control arms, it is actually few shims than was on it originally. But it is a completely different suspension set up now. I can take them all out just to see if that helps the alignment with the shocks.

I dont have much time to work on the truck these days, but I have the weekend off so I will hopefully finish all the electronics for the motor. I primed the motor the other day, 83 lbs of oil pressure.

I am getting a power steering pump and box from Lee, I am looking forward to seeing the difference with the steering.

[TurboLS]

Looking Good! I'm in the same boat. Funny how we are still in the same stages of our builds even months later. I'm shooting for my cab being back on before the end of the year. We shall see. I've found that putting a time limit on each stage helps to keep me moving forward on my Decade + long build.

[LT7A]

I checked back in and really like looking thru your build. And living in Austria, being a ski instructor, having an Austrian girlfriend, and building a Chevy truck all sounds pretty good. I'm envious of your 305. I ended up with one and want to help it perform it's best. Yours is the most built one I've seen. Merry Christmas in Euroland and watch out for Krampus!

[tucsonjwt]

You no longer have a stock truck, so I would consider getting seats for safety and comfort instead of the stock seats. Recaro seats are, of course, the best (IMHO) but the cheapest ones they sell in the US are now $1000+ per seat. (I had the same seats in my Hondas which I paid $425 for a set of two about 15 years ago.)

I am going to put Chrysler Sebring convertible seats in my truck eventually. They are not very big and have integral seat belts, plus a power driver's seat. If you get the seats out of a 2001 and up you don't have to deal with an electronic seat belt module which prevents the seat belts from working when the ignition is turned off. I got a pair in leather from a local pick and pull and they are serviceable as is (just one small seam separation in the driver's seat.)

You could get them recovered in the US then shipped over to you. I doubt that you would spend more than $250 to get them recovered - maybe less if you furnished the leather. (I had the Recaro seats recovered locally in Hirsch Leather I furnished - about $250, but that was years ago.) You can get custom seat covers for the Sebring convertible seats on Ebay for not much money and recover them yourself.

I like the headrests on the Sebring seats because I am 6'2" and need some vertical support. You won't get that with stock seats.

[moneyeater]

Hey Paul,
your shock issues look bad!
I´ll try to find some pics of my build where one can see how they sit.
I have lowered spindles/springs and nitro drop shocks in my truck.
Maybe the shock sits more inward on the stock control arm!?
I´ll get back to you soon!
Volker

[44boggers]

Hey bud,

yeah something is not right. I was thinking of cutting the lower tab off and rewelding it, but wanted to wait and see what others had to say. I appreciate you taking a look. But it is pretty far off right now. I was going to throw the stock springs back on just to see if lowering the truck this much threw off the shock angle, but you would think that CPP would consider this when putting a kit together, considering all the suspension parts are from them. I sent them a couple emails but no reply.

We will see

Thanks

Paul

Originally Posted by moneyeater

Hey Paul,
your shock issues look bad!
I´ll try to find some pics of my build where one can see how they sit.
I have lowered spindles/springs and nitro drop shocks in my truck.
Maybe the shock sits more inward on the stock control arm!?
I´ll get back to you soon!
Volker

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

Small update on the build. I finally got my pushrods from the US, Straub Technologies. I also had to get custom length rocker arms from Harland Sharp. With my Scorpion rockers I could not get proper valve train geometry (where the roller tip lays on the valve with correct pattern) I could adjust the adjustable pushrod until the patter was right, but it put rocker arm to valve geometry way off. So Harland Sharp made a .070 longer rocker for me and now it is dead on.

Just making sure you checked geometry using a solid lifter with the same overall base-to-plunger height as a pre-loaded hydraulic lifter.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

But basically the shock will not sit straight using the mounting tab on the lower control arm and the frame stud. You can see in the picture that even without the upper bot tighten down the eyelid sits crooked and is forcing the bushing out of place. What could this misalignment be from? Have any of you guys experienced this before?
l

Gotta say that's similar to how both front shocks on my 69 C10 fit with 1"-2" drop springs, only they were slightly cocked top and bottom, as I recall. I had to install them on the control arm first, them pull them outwards at the top and tap the eye onto the frame stud.

What does it look like when sitting on the ground with engine installed?

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

You guys have any thoughts on having bends before the mufflers versus after? My guess is it will create more back pressure, not sure how much it hurts the overall flow.

Exhaust gas gives up energy (in the form of heat) just travelling down a pipe, and quite a lot more on its trip through a muffler. That's why it was common to see new cars and trucks with, for example, 2-1/2" pipe before a muffler, and 2-1/4" after.

So, yes, bends would be best after mufflers, but the power difference is probably close to immeasurable.

[moneyeater]

Hey Paul,
these are the best pics i could find in my archive!
The upper mount is just a little off but not that much and the lower mounts sits nice and straight!

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Just making sure you checked geometry using a solid lifter with the same overall base-to-plunger height as a pre-loaded hydraulic lifter.

Hi mike

I had the hydraulic lifter pumped up with oil as well as using a check spring. So the lifter never collapsed when I checked the geometry. After sometime driving the truck I'll pull some rockers and see how everything is wearing. But I feel confident with how I set up the geometry.

Thanks for your reply.

Paul

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Gotta say that's similar to how both front shocks on my 69 C10 fit with 1"-2" drop springs, only they were slightly cocked top and bottom, as I recall. I had to install them on the control arm first, them pull them outwards at the top and tap the eye onto the frame stud.

What does it look like when sitting on the ground with engine installed?

Hi mike.

Right now with the motor in and the weight resting on the rotors the angle has not changed. It just seems like the lower shock tab is not located properly. I am going to clean up the stock springs and throw them in to see if it changes the geometry at all. Not sure if this is also a problem. But even with the motor weight on the chassis the springs are still a bit loose. I figured adding another 500 lbs or more from the motor it would compress everything enough to tighten up the spring clearance.

Do you guys think it still neeeds the weight of the body to tighten the clearance of the springs?

Thanks

Paul

[esbstuff]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

Some pics of the frame fix:

Thats the only 2nd steering box crack on a 4x2 I think I have ever seen.... Interesting for sure. BTW the first had a frame that was in a pretzel shape... check for straightness for sure!

[44boggers]

Not to much to update right now. But I have a short video of the motor firing up. The FITECH system seems to work perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DPMFuyejUA

Thanks
Paul