Uncle Loyd's 72' C-10

[cornerstone]

Part of the rear end built that had me leery about my work was the getting the pinion depth right while being sure to not 'over crush' the crush sleeve. I feel like I got it right based on the grease pattern. It's also important to have the proper amount of force needed to turn the pinion. Here again, time will tell.

[cornerstone]

When it came to buying my fuel tank, I just bought the non efi tank, since I wasn't sure what the fuel requirements would be with the direct injection motor. The factory set up uses a PWM (Pulse Width Module) that determines the demand for fuel and delivers the correct psi to the second fuel pump thats mechanically driven located at the back of the intake manifold. From that pump the pressures are incredibly high, like 2300 psi. This first in line electric fuel pump turned out to not be critical for providing exact pressures to the mechanical pump. Board member Mitch Vannatta who owns Swaptime, (check out his Youtube channel!) helped me in many regards and this was one of the areas he gave me answers. He ran his own personal Tahoe with a standard 58 psi corvette style regulator with a basic walbro pump controlled by a relay. Ignition on provides power to the pump that constantly runs.

These pictures are how I handled getting the power wires into the fuel tank. I bought a stainless bolt and drilled a hole through the middle of it to run the wires through. I simply drilled a hole it the cover plate, ran the bolt through, used fuel safe teflon washers and tightened it up with a stainless nut. I plan to use a fuel safe epoxy to seal the wiring into the bolt center. I have to also give thanks to Vic1947 for assisting me with answering questions about how he did the fuel system in his previous build, "Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67" which totally raised the bar on build quality as far as I'm concerned. You may have noticed if you followed his build, I hung my fuel pump from the cover plate the same way he did.

[cornerstone]

The L83 motor that I got from a rolled 2014 Z71 did not come with a power steering pump, in fact none of them do. The newer trucks only use electric power steering racks. In order to add a power steering pump I chose to go with a kit from Wayne at Kwik Performance. I met him at one of the shows and he was so helpful and just a very cool dude and seemed interested in my project. A few months later I bought his kit and the kindness continued. I needed to get power steering hoses for my truck, so I asked him for information on what fitting sizes would be needed on the pump provided in his kit. He made me a deal that I couldn't pass up. He asked me to take several pictures and measurements of my situation and he offered to make me a set of hoses at his cost, asked me to test fit them and report back with pictures and results. He wanted me to do this so that he would be able to sell kits for the guys that come along in the future with my exact set up. So if anyone orders a power steering hose kit from Kwik Performance for an L83 into a 67-72 C10, I was part of the "R and D" team that developed the kit.

[72 tigger]

Very nice project Brian! You’re doing things right, should look and run well for years. Following along

[TA_C10]

I'm loving the handmade fuel pump assembly. Wish I thought of that one. Do you have a rollover valve in it and do you have any kind of baffling tray or baffling in tank?

[MDPotter]

Very clean power steering setup. I'm glad to see you have the tight 90's on the gear so you don't have to trim the inner fender.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Very nice project Brian! You’re doing things right, should look and run well for years. Following along

Thank you! I'm sure there will be some kinks to iron out, but that's what I'm hoping for.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

I'm loving the handmade fuel pump assembly. Wish I thought of that one. Do you have a rollover valve in it and do you have any kind of baffling tray or baffling in tank?

All credit for that design goes to the incredible Vic1947, check out his current build "57 Chevy Wagon- California Dreamin" if you want to see a master craftsman at work. The Boyds tank came with baffles, fact is it's the same tank they sell when you buy the efi version, minus the pump. I think the tank came with a rollover valve, but I'm not 100% sure so I'll look into that. Thanks.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Very clean power steering setup. I'm glad to see you have the tight 90's on the gear so you don't have to trim the inner fender.

Thanks! Here again I can't take any credit, Wayne at Kwik performance came up with it. I like it too!

[cornerstone]

For the bed floor, I again went with 65standards method... drill out the spotwelds that hold the rear most cross sill to the floor, remove 8 inches of the beds length, then flatten out the last 1/2" and "tip" it over like it was done from The General. I've made the cuts but have yet to re attach the rear sill.

My floor does have some heavy pitting so I may end up covering it with some sort of rhino liner. Truthfully, I want a wood floor. I've come so close to ordering the needed parts to convert to a wood floor many times. I guess the reason I haven't pulled the trigger is it won't help the truck get back on the road any faster. In fact, I would probably add another few months to the project while I play with my new wood floor. I'm going to really try and hold off on that.

The third pic shows the diamond tipped cutoff wheel I used. I recommend it for making thinner cuts than using a standard grinding wheel. It helps you keep a straight line also.

[TA_C10]

If you do go wood floor, check out gringos truck thread. First thing he does prep bed for lowering suspension and shows how he installed wood over metal bed. Good info if you haven't already seen it. But it's such a popular thread I'm betting you've seen it...

[sprint_9]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Part of the rear end built that had me leery about my work was the getting the pinion depth right while being sure to not 'over crush' the crush sleeve. I feel like I got it right based on the grease pattern. It's also important to have the proper amount of force needed to turn the pinion. Here again, time will tell.

The crush sleeve sets the preload, and the shims set the depth. If you didnt, I would really advise to check the preload with a dial type inch pound torque wrench.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

If you do go wood floor, check out gringos truck thread. First thing he does prep bed for lowering suspension and shows how he installed wood over metal bed. Good info if you haven't already seen it. But it's such a popular thread I'm betting you've seen it...

Oh yeah, another one of my favorites. Although I can't say that I remember that part. I'll check it out again, thanks.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

The crush sleeve sets the preload, and the shims set the depth. If you didnt, I would really advise to check the preload with a dial type inch pound torque wrench.

Yes, I had to buy a new torque wrench just for that actually, since the one I've always used was ft. lbs. If my memory serves me correctly, it called for 22-25 inch lbs. Thanks for asking... this is one of the reasons I went ahead and started this thread, for an extra eyeball over my shoulder.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

If you do go wood floor, check out gringos truck thread. First thing he does prep bed for lowering suspension and shows how he installed wood over metal bed. Good info if you haven't already seen it. But it's such a popular thread I'm betting you've seen it...

Well that was another 3 hours logged on his thread. I like his method a LOT. At this point I'm on the fence as to whether or not to raise the bed floor. Up til now I would have said no because I fully intend to use my truck as a truck, and I assumed the raised floor was a deal breaker...but.... The way Chris handled it is very tempting! Have you seen any custom hinges out there that would allow the tailgate to be flush when opened? If that's possible I'm all in.

[cornerstone]

The battery side of the core support wasn't up to snuff and neither was the wheel well. I just did a "make it strong and don't worry about making it perfect" repair... mainly because these areas will not be visible. It was good enough for me.

[cornerstone]

a couple more pics... Of course I had to set them in place for a pic.

[cornerstone]

Initially I bought an exhaust kit designed for C10's from Summit but took it back since it hung below the crossmember. I ended up with a builder kit in 2.5 inch diameter. The headers are from Speed Engineering and are surprisingly good quality for the cost. There are some swap headers for the Gen 5 that are over $1200. and these were 1/4 the price.

I also changed out the factory cross member that the driveshaft passes through the middle. The driveshaft angles were needing quite a bit of correction, and this cossmember raises the mounting points of the trailing arms, thereby lessening the angle correction needed to have everything in balance. The stock member was the lowest point of the trucks frame that would possibly scrape a speed bump.

[TA_C10]

Money shots right there. Love that exhaust. Great work. And the core support and inners look good to me! I'm reshaping the heck out of my driver's side door all my mods so I know how those are a pain with all their crazy curves and structure. Digging your updates man

And the middle crossmember is the lowest? Hmm. I'm gonna have to go measure all my members in the morning...

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Well that was another 3 hours logged on his thread. I like his method a LOT. At this point I'm on the fence as to whether or not to raise the bed floor. Up til now I would have said no because I fully intend to use my truck as a truck, and I assumed the raised floor was a deal breaker...but.... The way Chris handled it is very tempting! Have you seen any custom hinges out there that would allow the tailgate to be flush when opened? If that's possible I'm all in.

If you look on page 2 of MetalDocs 1967 long box build, you can see how he was able to get his tailgate to open flush with a raised bed floor. The guys got some serious skills.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

If you look on page 2 of MetalDocs 1967 long box build, you can see how he was able to get his tailgate to open flush with a raised bed floor. The guys got some serious skills.

Yes he does! Thanks for that, I'll check it out now.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Yes he does! Thanks for that, I'll check it out now.

Your quite welcome. I was just reading through that thread about 2 weeks ago.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

Your quite welcome. I was just reading through that thread about 2 weeks ago.

Well, I went through his thread and reviewed all the work he put into making it work and look right. I believe I can live with a 2-3 inch higher floor! Derek is a craftsman on a higher level then me. Really, I'm not sure I'll need the raised floor, but I do want the wood floor. Who knows what'll happen...

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Well, I went through his thread and reviewed all the work he put into making it work and look right. I believe I can live with a 2-3 inch higher floor! Derek is a craftsman on a higher level then me. Really, I'm not sure I'll need the raised floor, but I do want the wood floor. Who knows what'll happen...

And there is another example of just how amazing this forum really is.

[cornerstone]

When Loyd's truck was only a few months old, his wife Laura parked it on the side of the road. He apparently didn't trust her parking it in parking lots for fear of her backing into someone, and she honored his request. Someone sideswiped the truck on the drivers side while she was in a store shopping. The bedside was destroyed and the cab suffered a hefty crinkle to the upper body line.

Loyd took the truck to a local body shop where they replaced the bedside (from a green truck) and "repaired" the back corner of the cab. I use the term repaired lightly... the metal prep clearly wasn't done right since there was rust under the slathered on bondo that came off in chunks when I poked it with a screwdriver. I've debated whether or not to get a clean section from a donor cab instead of dealing with this mess, still on the fence...