How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10

[mcbassin]

Nice parts, your truck just keeps getting better.
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[raull]

wohooo !!! road racing time

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice parts, your truck just keeps getting better.
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Thanks! Chipping away at it...

Originally Posted by raull

wohooo !!! road racing time

Maybe not quite to that level, but I hope it's more stable and confidence inspiring on the streets--and the occasional on-ramp
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[thor]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

... including bushings that require NO GREASE

What? No more squeeky, squeeky over bumps? Say it ain't so!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by thor

What? No more squeeky, squeeky over bumps? Say it ain't so!

I'm a bit skeptical, but I'm willing to try anything twice! Worst case, I put some poly bushings on and slather 'em in goo...

[gringoloco]

Mo' parts! RedHead Steering Gear 'quick' ratio steering box and CaptainFab's D52 caliper rear disc brake brackets arrived today. At first inspection, both are high quality parts. The brackets were packaged nicely and will get sent out for satin black powdercoat with my control arms, Camaro rear sway bar, and some other misc pieces. Also received a set of C5 Hawk HPS pads for the front to match the current fronts that will be moved to the rear...

Parts in the house pics:




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[Slick67]

Does look awesome, absolutely a huge improvement!!! Hope there are no fitment issues with the pads installed. Laughed at the Men in Black II quote!!!!

[67cheby]

great looking parts collection, cant wait to see it all on !

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Slick67

Does look awesome, absolutely a huge improvement!!! Hope there are no fitment issues with the pads installed. Laughed at the Men in Black II quote!!!!

Thanks! Should stop MUCH better when I'm done.

Originally Posted by 67cheby

great looking parts collection, cant wait to see it all on !

Thanks- you and me both- the pile is growing...


The Bilsteins arrived today! Can't say enough good things about my experience with eShocks.com- best price I could find on the Billys and FAST, FREE shipping. These shocks just exude quality. Worked 'em through their range of motion a couple of times and they are SO smooth and quiet. Impressed with the welds, paint, decals, boots--everything is just very well done--guess I've never had 'nice' shocks before

Also fairly happy with rockauto.com these days--they sent me the wrong parts twice, but both times ended up in my favor. First, they sent me what were supposed to be Moog tie-rods, but ended up just being Federal Moguls. Gave me a FULL refund and told me just to keep 'em!

Second- these rear brake rotors (AWD Astro fronts for the captainfab brackets) that were sent instead of the clearance items I ordered. They both emailed and called to tell me they were out of the items I ordered, but would send me a premium rotor at no additional charge. They are ATE (pronounced Ah-Tay) PremiumOne with 'elliptical slots' and 'MetaCote'. Not sure what to think about the 'wave' grooves, but I do like that they are rust-inhibitor coated and for the price, I can't complain too much...

[darkhorse970]

Thats a great looking parts pile you've got going there! These mods are really going to make a difference in the performance of your truck. Cool stuff!

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

I'm a bit skeptical, but I'm willing to try anything twice! Worst case, I put some poly bushings on and slather 'em in goo...

I dunno man thats one of those I will believe it when I see it type deals.
Ive got Poly bushings in mine and they have grease zerks built in for ease of lubrication, because lets be real here you have to get under the front end to lube suspension and steering parts anyway so whats two more zerks?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by darkhorse970

Thats a great looking parts pile you've got going there! These mods are really going to make a difference in the performance of your truck. Cool stuff!

Thanks- still waiting on a few parts (including PB tube arms) and have to order 6" rear coils, braided brake lines, and a few misc items, just need to sell a few more parts--I'm running out of 'mod money'

I hope the handling and braking improves- I want it to be fun to drive, not scary It's sad when my '05 Yukon handles/brakes better than my truck- I aim to change that.

Originally Posted by Xeen

I dunno man thats one of those I will believe it when I see it type deals.
Ive got Poly bushings in mine and they have grease zerks built in for ease of lubrication, because lets be real here you have to get under the front end to lube suspension and steering parts anyway so whats two more zerks?

I'm with ya on that. The bushings feel stiffer than poly though- maybe delrin? If so, their claim may have some merit.
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[Lolyin58]

Your truck is taking shape nicely. The fleetside box was a big improvement. Your Blazer was really nice as well. It is taking shape quite well up here in Calgary, Canada. So what are your plans for the truck?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Lolyin58

Your truck is taking shape nicely. The fleetside box was a big improvement. Your Blazer was really nice as well. It is taking shape quite well up here in Calgary, Canada. So what are your plans for the truck?

Thanks! Currently, it has a bed full of suspension/braking parts that will hopefully make it more fun/safe to drive. Then, back to working on getting the 6.0 ready to drop in. I'd like to install a t56 and a nice seat cover, then be done with it for a bit. My wife wants a 67-68 Mustang fastback, so that will be taking the project money from the truck for a while...

Man, I miss that Blazer. Glad he's finally making some progress

[gringoloco]

Started some front-end tear-down today. Pulled the steering box to send back to RedHead as a core and the last pic is the 1.25 front sway bar, poly bushings, and ECE mounts for sale here to help recoup some more mod money. Also had a heck of a time removing the power steering pump- seems the pulley didn't want to separate from the shaft, but I finally won the battle...

Last time we'll see it look like this--shame, I feel like I just rebuilt all of this stuff not too long ago

[thor]

I think George Jetson sent you those "Astro" rotors. Can't wait to see all the parts move from the living room to the truck!

[69gmcc10]

It is good to read allot of progress is going on here and that it looks to be going awesome! I cant wait to hear the feedback from all of this work!

[Bennett68C10]

Nice progress, bet you can't wait for those porterbuilt arms to show up so you can get everything back together. Interested in seeing how that Redhead steering box works out for you, I want to upgrade mine as well.
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[Xeen]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Thanks! Currently, it has a bed full of suspension/braking parts that will hopefully make it more fun/safe to drive. Then, back to working on getting the 6.0 ready to drop in. I'd like to install a t56 and a nice seat cover, then be done with it for a bit. My wife wants a 67-68 Mustang fastback, so that will be taking the project money from the truck for a while...

Man, I miss that Blazer. Glad he's finally making some progress

Oh man a 67' Fastback Mustang, that might be one of the sexiest cars ever.
Big Thumbs up on that one!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by thor

I think George Jetson sent you those "Astro" rotors. Can't wait to see all the parts move from the living room to the truck!

Haha- now, that is funny. They do have a certain 'look' to them. I will end up with a more traditional blank rotor when I final assemble- meanwhile, those are up for sale on the parts board... The parts have moved to the truck- they're piled in the bed

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

It is good to read allot of progress is going on here and that it looks to be going awesome! I cant wait to hear the feedback from all of this work!

Thaks! I'm excited to see how much better it is when 'complete', too.

Originally Posted by Bennett--G4L

Nice progress, bet you can't wait for those porterbuilt arms to show up so you can get everything back together. Interested in seeing how that Redhead steering box works out for you, I want to upgrade mine as well.
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That's the last 'big' piece of the puzzle for the front suspension. Gotta order the Kore3 braided lines soon, too. I will definitely report on the steering gear- saw way too many bad reviews on AGR and ZERO complaints, nothing put praise for the RedHead- not to mention, they're only $215 compared to AGR's $350...

Originally Posted by Xeen

Oh man a 67' Fastback Mustang, that might be one of the sexiest cars ever.
Big Thumbs up on that one!

Funny, when I first met my wife, we were walking along when a Porsche drove by and someone in our group commented on how nice it looked. My wife, without even thinking about it replies, "Yeah, it's nice, but I'd rather have a Shelby." I thought to myself, I'm totally marrying this chick!

Fast-forward to post wedding and we're walking around GoodGuys comparing 65-66 and 67-68 fastbacks to see which body style she likes better. We are standing near the back of a particularly nice '67 when she raises her hands, visually framing the rear of the car and says "Now, that's a nice ass." Needless to say, we're set on the 67-68 body style

[Bennett68C10]

Wow $215, now I am really interested
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[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Bennett--G4L

Wow $215, now I am really interested
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Yeah, $216 plus $85 core, plus $32 shipping, netted me a $333 initial outlay--but subtract the $70 core return (after paying $15 to ship it back) and it's roughly $260. Still ~$100 cheaper than the AGR ($350 plus shipping) when it's all said and done. Those that live close to them can walk in with their old box and $216 and walk out with new. Another cool thing is that they will do custom requests, i.e; variable or quick ratio, different paint, etc, for no charge and with only a 24 hour turnaround. May get it mounted soon, pending available time...

[CC69Rat]

Remind me again on your drop specs please? I'm eyeballing your shocks. Would they work on a 4.5/ 6 in static? I'm thinking those same part numbers for the ole GMC..

The specs are probably in the 33 pages somewhere and I looked, I promise I just didn't see it. I may just do the same shocks for mine.

[mcbassin]

I hope you are making a complete parts list for me. I know when I get to the point of driving my truck I will want to upgrade everything like you are doing. I also know you are always looking for the most economical solution to get it done. Keep up the good work.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Remind me again on your drop specs please? I'm eyeballing your shocks. Would they work on a 4.5/ 6 in static? I'm thinking those same part numbers for the ole GMC..

The specs are probably in the 33 pages somewhere and I looked, I promise I just didn't see it. I may just do the same shocks for mine.

I'm probably near a 4.5/6 or a 5/7, with 3" spindles and trimmed 1" coils up front and bags/2" blocks out back. The new Bilsteins are stock length replacements, which is exactly what I'm running with my current 'blue' Monroe-Matics. The trick is in how you attain the drop and what supporting components are used to determine if they will work.

In the front, the stock replacement 33033 Monroes are good until aired-out, in my experience, while using the stock lower control arms and stock style frame mounted studs. This is also the exact same shock that ART ships with their basic bag kits. The Bilsteins should have similar extended/compressed dimensions, but I will need to measure to verify and set mounts and/or bumpstops to accomodate.

Out back, stock replacement 32301 'blue' Monroes again, with the aforementioned 2" blocks, which effectively give you 2" more shock travel plus ECE shock relocators. I have aired-out completely into the CPP bolt-in notches to the bumpstops without bottoming the shocks out. The Bilsteins are a few tenths shorter by my guesstimates- again, I need to verify compressed/extended lengths.

All of this to say: They might work for you, depending on your setup. I will post more information on what I have to do to make them work as I get to that point.

.....Just remembered--you're running the Hotchkis springs, right? These are the exact part# they ship with the TVS, but with their relocation brackets.....

Originally Posted by mcbassin

I hope you are making a complete parts list for me. I know when I get to the point of driving my truck I will want to upgrade everything like you are doing. I also know you are always looking for the most economical solution to get it done. Keep up the good work.

You've got a pretty good grasp of the concept, but I'm definitely not going 'cheap' this time. Definitely could be spending a LOT more money, though. As always, looking for the best way to do things on a budget--makes it more fun than just throwing money at it I'll try to do a better job of documenting what I'm using as I go...