1965 Stepside, The LST Challenge

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by scoot_mcgrute

I was talking to my dad about your build while we pulled the 292 out of mine this afternoon. I'm rootin for ya bud!

Thanks Scoot, I need all the support I can get at this time....

[aggie91]

I have always heard that bad things happen in threes.

On my way home, my wife calls and tells me that the clothes washer keeps showing an error code and that she just left the vet with our dog, Daisy. Well Daisy has a torn ligament in her hind leg and being a young working breed, she is very active and would rather chase a ball you through then have you pet her most of the time. She has to have surgery to repair it and has to stay off her leg for 2 weeks after the surgery. We love our dogs and treat them like family. So, she will have surgery next week.

I get home and start checking on the washer. The error is for an unbalanced load. I go thru the normal steps for that code and start it again. The basket is not turning... I pull the rear cover off and the motor is turning, but the basket does not. Get on the phone with a service tech and decide it is what they call the "spider assembly", I call it a coupling between the motor and the shaft that turns the basket. Get that on order, over $100 shipped to the house, it will be here Wednesday....


Ok, while I am diagnosing the washer, Korbin come over with the dowel pins for the heads/block. So him and Owen head out to the shop and start getting head bolts and part rounded up. I head out there between calls and give them some other parts that I picked up yesterday. Owen takes and installs the front shocks while Korbin and I go over the heads/bolts/block that we plan to get done tonight. He needs to go help a buddy with his truck that is scheduled to go to LST also, so he leaves and I go back in the house to update my wife on the washer, we also discuss me skipping LST for financial reasons, but she urges me to keep my promise to the boys and get my truck together and go to the show, got to lover her for that! I grab a bite to eat and after that I head out to the shop. Damn, I am already worn out....

SO, out to the shop I go. I get the heads scrapped down to remove the old head gasket and clean them up the best I can. Put the dowels in the block, wipe down the deck, the MLS gaskets and get the heads on. Get all the bolts in the correct holes and torque them down. Next, I go gather up all the push rods, the rocker stands, bolts and the rockers. Put a drop of lube on the end of the push rods and drop them in place. Cleaned up the stands and placed them on the heads. Get the rockers out of the box and they are nasty, and I only have 12... So, I drop them in some solvent to soak them over night, Korbin says he has 4 more. I primed and installed the oil pump before calling it a night. Little earlier than I planned, but that's life.

Engine at my stopping point for the night:



Owen got the shocks on:


While I was looking for the rockers and parts, Owen pulled out the rear shock crossmember and got it cleaned up to put in. We will do that tonight.

My gasket set and the new knock sensors should arrive today, so the plan is to work a bit latter tonight and get the engine all put together and possibly mated to the trans and put back in the truck. Stay tuned!

[Bagged63KneeKnocker]

Sounds like a good plan.after my truck gets on the road id like to get an ls in there. Nice that ur kids like to get involved and having a supportive wife is great!

[scoot_mcgrute]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Engine at my stopping point for the night:

What oil pressure sending unit are you using and what did you use to get it in the block?

[aggie91]

The one in that pic is the stock style sending unit for the stock dash with lights, no gauges. The "adapter" is the OE Oil Pressure Sender with the top cut off and the guts removed, then drilled and tapped for 1/8" NPT. There are plenty of adapters on the market, but I had the means to make this one out of parts I had.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Ah, cool! I did a similar thing on my Land Rover a few years back and it worked great! Thanks for the tip

[aggie91]

I just need one more bad thing to get to 6 for the week...

Found out our oldest dog has an issue to and went to the vet today, no real answer as to what's wrong and I get a bill for $264...

The part for the washer is the wrong one that the tech over the phone said it was, got the correct one on order now and now have to go thru the hassle of returns and refunds of the wrong one. Hope it comes in tomorrow as scheduled, I need to wash underwear...

OK, shop time update:

I picked up the new drive shaft on the way home and painted it before getting Owen from baseball practice. Last night had some help from both of my boys and Korbin's buddy, Drew. Korbin and Drew worked on the rear shock cross member and shock mounting, Owen worked on mounting up the front wheels and helped me with the assembly of the long block. Time did not cooperate with us last night, but I should have the engine mated up with the trans and sitting in the truck. I would really like get to the point of firing it up, but that might be a stretch...either way I am still shooting to make it to LST!

Here is the competed short block:

[Gary V]

Looking great Karl! Lots of wires... not looking forward to that

[aggie91]

This might be the last update before LST...

Last night was a good night in the shop. We got a lot accomplished.

Engine, trans, and drive shaft are all in and bolted down. Shift linkage is hooked up, the engine wiring is hooked up less the MAF and the two Oxygen sensors. Need to install water pump and fan, the alternator and bracket, the belt, install the trans dip stick and a new pan gasket, and add all the fluids. I should be able to fire it up this afternoon. IF that goes well, then put on the front clip, drive around the block to check it out and then load it up for LST...

Again Korbin and Owen where out there helping the old man out, Owen has school and two baseball games today, so he headed to bed about 10:30 last night, Korbin stayed out with me till about midnight, and I called it quits at 1am. I had to come to work for 1/2 a day today.

Here are pics from last night. I meant to get some of the parts used to mate up the TH350, but I forgot...


Sloppy Style engine stand modifications. Turns out it did not need this much clearance, but it worked out..


Finished up the harness that goes to the Temp Sender and Oil Sender for the dash lights and to the starter...Purple wire to the starter, block plug to the Temp Sensor, and the blue wire to the Oil Pressure Sender.




Shortly before I called it a night. I added the plug wires after this pic and the alternator and bracket are not bolted in yet, its just to mock up...


Look at this forecast for the LST weekend. I can't wait!

[aggie91]

BTW, sorry my shop is a wreck, I have not done a good job with house keeping these last two weeks. I'll be glad to have the truck mobile under its own power so that I can move it in and out to get this mess cleaned up after LST.

[scoot_mcgrute]

Looking good, bud! Looking forward to the morning update tomorrow

[Low Elco]

Keep 'er rollin'!

[The1960APE]

Looking good! I love the LS swapped trucks!

[doublebeetx]

Karl , will y'all be parking the truck in the area C10 club Texas is marking off ?

[Low Elco]

Well? We're dyyyyyin' over here!

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by doublebeetx

Karl , will y'all be parking the truck in the area C10 club Texas is marking off ?

I wish I could have. We ended up with my son's buddy bringing his ford too...

[aggie91]

Well, I did not make the goal of getting the truck to LST. We stopped at about 3:30am on Friday morning, got a bit of sleep then got back at it around 8:30 to try to start it. No luck, we trouble shot it for about 3.5 hours and not progress except to find a few wiring issues with the trucks wiring and the ignition switch. Fixed or bypassed those to crank and try to start it again. NOTHING. We have spark and fuel to the rails, the air is there too.

I gave up and decided to just head down to the show and enjoy the weekend and hangout. We headed out at about 2 and got down there about 5 that afternoon to check out the show and find our hotel. Got set up the next morning and had a great time. I will post a few pics later after I get them downloaded off my phone.

Here is what it looks like now:



During the weekend, I talked to a few people and brainstormed ideas as to what could be wrong. I think the first step it to check that the PCM is firing the injectors, and to clean the injectors since they have been sitting for who knows how long. One idea is that they are stuck closed and that is keeping it from firing up. This makes some sense to me, since while we are cranking it over, we don't smell any gas fumes at all.

I am going to step away from it a bit and get a few home issues taken care of and watch a few of my son's baseball games, and attend one of my daughter's gym competitions.

Stay tuned as I work to fire this pig up...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Well, I did not make the goal of getting the truck to LST. We stopped at about 3:30am on Friday morning, got a bit of sleep then got back at it around 8:30 to try to start it. No luck, we trouble shot it for about 3.5 hours and not progress except to find a few wiring issues with the trucks wiring and the ignition switch. Fixed or bypassed those to crank and try to start it again. NOTHING. We have spark and fuel to the rails, the air is there too.

I gave up and decided to just head down to the show and enjoy the weekend and hangout. We headed out at about 2 and got down there about 5 that afternoon to check out the show and find our hotel. Got set up the next morning and had a great time. I will post a few pics later after I get them downloaded off my phone.

During the weekend, I talked to a few people and brainstormed ideas as to what could be wrong. I think the first step it to check that the PCM is firing the injectors, and to clean the injectors since they have been sitting for who knows how long. One idea is that they are stuck closed and that is keeping it from firing up. This makes some sense to me, since while we are cranking it over, we don't smell any gas fumes at all.

I am going to step away from it a bit and get a few home issues taken care of and watch a few of my son's baseball games, and attend one of my daughter's gym competitions.

Stay tuned as I work to fire this pig up...

You put forth quite the effort so I'm sorry it didn't work out for you guys.

[greg65]

Subscribed.

[Low Elco]

Sorry you didn't make it. Just for giggles- check the ground in the harness at the pan rail on the drivers side. We were dead as a stone, had a tech 2 scanner saying all was well, tried different computers, etc. and I had missed putting it on. Screwed it in, fired right up like nothing ever happened.

[scoot_mcgrute]

I just had a dumb thought, I saw your facebook post over the weekend about it and it seems that you have overturned every rock you can to diagnose the no start deal.

I have heard on some newer cars, if the computer doesn't get an oil pressure signal, it will not start the car. I have no idea if this is the case here at all but it's a thought that came to mind. On those systems, I don't know if it cuts fuel or spark, or even if it's a real system put in place. Just thinking outside the box a bit.

[aggie91]

Scoot - I thought about that too. On the LS with the PCM that I am using, the OE oil pressure sender does not even go to the PCM, so I doubt that's the problem. Good thought anyway...

This is the 3rd one that I have done with this year model PCM and engine set up. I really think it is the stuck injectors or the wiring that I had to add to this cut up harness, which was the injectors and the Oxygen sensors. Once I get shop time again, I am going to verify that its firing the injectors, if it is, then I will pull the injectors and clean them and verify that they open and close when hit with 12V.

[BEK&TBKinNC]

Karl,
Could you tell me about the master cylinder you used?
Is it a disc/disc master?
Are you using a porportioning valve?
Did you modify the pedal pushrod or use as is?
Where did you get it from?( part number)

Thanks for you time,
Brian

[aggie91]

I got it from RockAuto, it is a RAYBESTOS MC36367.

It is a disc/disc manual master cylinder for a 1969 Corvette. I have used it before without a proportioning valve and will try that again on this truck. I used the stock '65 manual brake pushrod and did not make any adjustments to it. If I end of needing a proportioning valve, I will add an adjustable one to the rear line only.

[BEK&TBKinNC]

Thanks for the reply and the information.
Hope you get the bugs figured out soon and get to drive that truck.

Brian