How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10

[54Caddy]

WOW!! I just went threw your whole 38 pages. Nice truck man. Been wondering what you were building when i bought those parts off of you. Nice truck for sure.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Don't remove the rear axles unless you need to replace seals and bearings.
I have seen alot of people just cut the backing plates in half and remove them,... without taking the axles out.
(what are you going to do with the old backing plates anyway?)

Good point, thanks. The bearings/seals are good in this axle and the backing plates will just get tossed in the green monster--just gotta figure a way to do it cleanly without damaging anything else in the process...

Originally Posted by Painter D

Good job keep at it.

Thanks! Plugging away...

Originally Posted by big_al_71

That's great thinking out of the box I learn from guys like you every day
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Thanks! Just doing what I can to make these out-of-the-ordinary and not intended to be done together mods work in harmony--all while doing it 'right' and saving some coin in the process. The planning/figuring is half of the fun

Originally Posted by 54Caddy

WOW!! I just went threw your whole 38 pages. Nice truck man. Been wondering what you were building when i bought those parts off of you. Nice truck for sure.

Hey, thanks, man Glad you were able to use the tie-rods

[gringoloco]

Got one side of the front brakes done today--the drop spindles require much less material to be removed than the stockers.


Last look at the D52 'ears'




Carnage! Sawzall and a grinder made quick work of it. Also drilled out the backing plate bolts and tapped them to 1/2-13




Painted the cuts and installed the mounting bracket and hub





...and complete. The paint will wipe from the rotor face at first application.




Also installed one of the braided lines I got from Kore3. They are nice pieces, custom made to my specs for length and fittings, and are a matching set of 5 with the rear drop and caliper lines...




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[68GMCCustom]

I guess I missed it. What rotors/hubs/brackets are you using there?

[gringoloco]

The hubs and brackets are from Kore3--they adapt 13" C5 rotors and calipers. Paired with the CaptainFab rear discs, I hope this thing will STOP
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[68GMCCustom]

cool....and thanks!

[gringoloco]

Also cut up a poly bushing to fit the front of the upper shocks to the CPP extenders. Lopped them in half and took about 1/8" off and they fit perfectly








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[gringoloco]

Wheel on--it's coming together...


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[Bennett68C10]

Brakes look really good, I don't think you will have any problems stopping now.
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[raull]

nice mods bud !!!

[67cheby]

Sweet !
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[Madmartigan]

I am patiently waiting on the 1" forward lower a-arm install. Want to see how much they actually move the wheel before I pull the trigger. Great truck and write up!

[gringoloco]

Coming soon! I figure the wheel will move forward around a half inch or so, due to the position of the spindle between the balljoints--would probably be a little more with stock height spindles... I'm excited to get to that part as well, for not only the looks, but also the driveability. Thanks for the kind words and welcome to the forum

[CC69Rat]

Looks killer brother! Great job. I'm hoping my McGaughys turn out half this nice.

[big_al_71]

Great job it looks great!!!!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Looks killer brother! Great job. I'm hoping my McGaughys turn out half this nice.

Thanks! With your attention to detail, I'm sure they will turn out great.

Originally Posted by big_al_71

Great job it looks great!!!!

Thanks! The first one took a few hours longer than anticipated--hopefully have the pass side wrapped up soon...
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[69gmcc10]

Nice to see you back at it, those brakes look good! You almost have me convinced to do it.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

Nice to see you back at it, those brakes look good! You almost have me convinced to do it.

They do look nice--hoping they perform as well. Should know in the next day or two...
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[shearjs]

I love this truck! I'm glad I re-stumbled upon this thread again. Awesome progress!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by shearjs

I love this truck! I'm glad I re-stumbled upon this thread again. Awesome progress!

Hey, thanks man! We love it, too


Update: WHOLLY SHNIKEYS! This. Thing. STOPS.

After assembling the passenger side, I took her out to rub the paint off the rotors and bed the Hawk HPS pads. The initial impression was a bit lackluster, but I continued with the recommended break-in, then let them cool. Went back out for a follow-up and WOW! These things have some serious bite and the firmness and responsiveness of the pedal feel reminds me of my old C5 'Vette. I may need shoulder harnesses to keep from bouncing my passengers' faces off the dash

Amazingly, this is with basically no rear brakes at all--when I went to bleed the fronts, I found the rear reservoir empty--I've known for some time that I had a leaky wheel cylinder, but was putting it off until I got the rear discs swapped in. I dumped a little fluid in, but did not bleed the rears, so their contribution to braking is questionable at best.

No matter, the fronts lock up with ease. It has gone from 'push-and-pray' to 'don't push too hard' Can't wait to see what four-wheel discs feel like

Pic, 'cause you can't have an update without one...


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[lolife99]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

I think your truck deserves some fender emblems.
Maybe a set of Custom emblems.
Not Custom/10,... just Custom,... cause it is so cool.

Love the brake upgrades.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I think your truck deserves some fender emblems.
Maybe a set of Custom emblems.
Not Custom/10,... just Custom,... cause it is so cool.

Love the brake upgrades.

Haha- thanks! I've thought about adding some, but also like the 'slick' look--notice the truck has no side mirrors? I have a hard time deciding what to add that doesn't subtract...
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[Low68]

I have a couple of quick questions. I checked on Kore3's site and those appear to be the hubs for the GM tall spindle? Is that correct? Forgive me if I missed it in a previous post, but what spindle are you using? Is that 5x5 or 5x4.75 bolt pattern? Thanks

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Low68

I have a couple of quick questions. I checked on Kore3's site and those appear to be the hubs for the GM tall spindle? Is that correct? Forgive me if I missed it in a previous post, but what spindle are you using? Is that 5x5 or 5x4.75 bolt pattern? Thanks

Hey, sorry I missed this before. They are technically made for the B-body cars, specifically Impala SS. The spindle shaft is the same on the 'tall' spindle, late '70s F-bodies, big cars, and light trucks, which is the spindles I have (1" thick rotor Belltech 3" drop). The hubs can be had in 5 or 4.75--mine are 5, just 'cause I already had wheels. Kore3 also offers hubs for the 1.25" thick HD truck rotor spindles, though not on their website. Member Scoti has this setup somewhere in his pile o' parts...

[gringoloco]

Minor progress today--started assembling the CaptainFab D52 rear disc brakes. QUALITY components. Putting them together was pretty straight-forward, so I'll save you guys the gory details.

Of note: I cut off the backing plate on the driver's side and found that it is not a whole lot easier than just pulling the axles--oh well, live and learn Also found my massive wheel cylinder leak that had everything inside the drum soaked; the brake shoes literally fell apart when I pulled the drum...

Before, carnage, and tear-down pics: