Greg's 50 Build

[Root2812]

No progress has been made on the alternator/electrical work lately but I did make some progress on the seat.

I originally just had the van seat sitting in the truck but since I am getting closer to the road its time to make it more stable. I took the van seat uprights off so I can trim them later. I didn't have an original seat but I did have the tubular frame. I put the frame in the truck and have been using wood blocks to get the seat where I wanted it to be. I'll trim the uprights later and get it all welded together. It will all bolt in to the truck using the factory seat frame. I did have to cut the top crossbar off the frame to get the seat back far enough.

I'm not sure if I like how it looks on the sides. What do you all think? Oh and I scored a Mexican blanket for $2 at the thrift shop, I think it makes the van seat look more in place.

[99 to Life]

looks good, looks high up though, but if your tall, that would make sense. You could also get different colors and bigger though not as thick, serape blankets off ebay. Mine was like 50 bucks, but it stretches over the seat really tight. Check em out, had to beat 2 bucks but if your aiming for a certain color, thats the way to go.

[Root2812]

99, Its actually lower than the buckets were. I think it might be the angle I took the picture at. I am kinda tall at 6'1 but it feels good for me there. I only have the blanket because I saw it for $2 and figured it would look good there, better than the gray fabric. I don't plan on running a blanket forever. Someday I want to get the seat reupholstered. For not the blanket and some safety pins will do the trick. I do wish it was a little bigger though.

[99 to Life]

cool, yeah I hear ya on the upholstery. I'm got two I want done up. Gonna be a mint for sure.

[Root2812]

This time I know I have success. I redesigned my bracket for the second time and it didn't work. But the 3rd idea I had was more promising. I decided to look at brackets people were selling and I found one that matched my idea. It looked like this.


The guy wanted something like $70-80 for it. I knew I could make it. I cut my original bracket in half so I could use a short grade 8 bolt and welded it all up. I also left some room for adjustment by using washers as shims. I know my welding sucks but this was the first time I ever welded anything. It looks bad but its pretty strong. I welded most of the parameter of the bracket and welded inside the factory hole. The front bolt hole is slotted incase I needed more adjustment.


Using a hammer I flattened out the other bracket and added just enough bend to meet my needs.


Its all installed and works great. There is no wiggle anymore and the belt lines up. I just need to swap the bulbs and wire up the alternator.

[Atommik]

Check another thing off the list!!

[Root2812]

Originally Posted by Atommik

Check another thing off the list!!

Yeah! And soon I will be diving it again. I think I'll try and make it to at least one more Anoka River Run Show.

I've almost got the old stuff running again to play with and my savings is adding up. I'm close to being able to afford the Fatman IFS I want.

[Atommik]

Give me a day's notice or so, and maybe I could meet you there.

[Root2812]

Originally Posted by Atommik

Give me a day's notice or so, and maybe I could meet you there.

I looked today and the last one is this weekend and I can't go because my wife's co-worker is having a party and I was told I need to go. Maybe next year. We can always get together and chat trucks sometime.

[Atommik]

There is another show in Anoka hosted by the Frankensteiners car club. It's the weekend before Halloween. If it's not too cold by then I may go to that one...

[Root2812]

Ok. If the weather is good and no family stuff comes up I'd go to that too. I'll check it out.

[Root2812]

Woooo!

All done with the conversion. The bracket was the hardest part but today was bulbs and finishing the wiring. I finished swapping all the bulbs except the headlights. The headlights don't work because of the wires. If I wiggle some wires they will come on. This weeks project will be to fix that and put in the new headlights.


Pretty much everything is temporary until I do the major build and swap out all the wiring but I still tried to keep things clean looking. I went to radio shack and got a red LED to serve as an idiot light. When the alternator isn't charging it lights up bright. Hopefully this will save me from being stranded again with a dead battery.




I only have to bleed the brakes and swap a tire and its back on the road!

[av8tr33337]

All that time and effort is paying off. I am using the same seat as you and I also questioned how much space there was left on the sides. I got rid of the tubular seat frame but still have the stock seat slides. Not sure yet just what I'm going to do. Hope to get back out in the shop in 3 weeks or so. When I get this damn cast off my foot. I will be looking at the seat, steering, getting the engine and cab in place. Lots I can do without breaking the bank.

[Root2812]

Unfortunately all I had was the tubular seat frame. No slides or anything. The seat is sitting on the frame and the frame is just sitting on the riser. I want to make something that will work but the more and more I see them on here I just really want an original seat to get reupholstered. I know of a secret place with a mint COE sitting in a field. I'm tempted to go try and buy the seat but that guy will want a fortune.

[99 to Life]

like the idiot light idea alot.

[Root2812]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

like the idiot light idea alot.

Thanks. I found the idea on a few other forums while searching for how to wire up the 3-wire alternator. You just run it inline on the exciter wire. When the alternator isn't charging it acts as a ground so you have a positive on one side of the light (key on) and a negative on the other so it lights up. When the alternator is charging it feeds a positive back up the exciter wire making a positive on both sides of the light so the light doesn't light up. If my alternator fails my bright red light will let me know.

[Root2812]

Well I sold the Impala seats for $300 to a guy. I'm pretty happy about that. I then turned around and bought this complete take out 5.3L engine out of a 2000 Silverado for $300. A good trade




I've got my work cut out for me now. I am excited though. The plan is to clean the engine up and check the compression. Once I determine the engine is good I'll start getting parts. I plan on going to the LS6 intake with fuel rail covers, F-body exhaust manifolds, and the F-body oil pan. I'm also going to paint the engine and accessories to match the paint scheme of the truck.

[99 to Life]

root, great trade for sure. The LS's are def becoming more abundant and affordable. I got one for 300 as well. They have a lot of potential for HP and fuel economy. But it can def be a little more pricey and time consuming than earlier stuff. I think what I might do is go with a carb and an ignition control box with mine, either that or keep stock intake and throttle body and have a custom harness made, or heck bite the bullet and spend 1500 plus and get an EFI kit for it. Def alot options. Great score.

[Root2812]

Those carb conversions can be just as expensive as using the stock fuel injection. I know those aftermarket fuel injection kits are expensive.

150tunes.com will flash the pcm for $150 and then modify the harness for $250. I think I might go that route. $400 isn't bad to be able to run fuel injection. I am going to end up spending a bunch of money just for looks... But I think we all do that on our trucks.

I want the LS6 intake for looks ($450) + fuel rail covers ($100) + the adapters and such for the accessories to run the LS6 intake ($250) = an estimated $800 just to make the motor look the way I want. I'll have about $1000 in the motor, tune, and the oil pan I need.

[99 to Life]

Root, yeah either way is gonna cost money. Honestly though, 1,000 bucks aint bad seeings every basic, medium or on the higher side performance engine is gonna cost well more than that. I guess its the shelling out 1500 or 2k for the aftermarket efi that just sounds like a hit to the wallet for one thing. I like to split my expenses up. Going with carb and ignition box seems like the less headache with wiring and sensors etc. I have checked out 150tunes before, cool site. Can't wait to see yours come together. I'll take notes from you!!!

[Root2812]

Today I got the motor out of the trailer and onto an engine cart. I just picked up the $50 cart and northern tool because I'll take it to my dad's shop to do most of the work to the motor. I just needed something so I could move it around in my garage. I took the wiring harness off so I think that is where I will spend my winter. I spent most of my savings on the motor and the intake I got today.

I purchased an LS6 intake off of a ZO6 Corvette. It was complete with throttle body, fuel rails, and injectors for $400. I'm happy. I can't wait to get it on the motor but I want to replace all the seals and all the gaskets in the motor first. This is exciting. I'm so far away but I see these small glimpses of my dream coming to life.

[99 to Life]

nice scores, I feel yah. Some days it seems like things will come right together and the truck will be done in a month. Then reality hits you somedays and its like, WTF is everything taking so long for. Fortunately I'v been through alot on my 51' build and its nice to get it in it and enjoy the hard work, so I know the feeling of ups and downs and excitement. Envisioning the day of the first test drive is always surreal. I'm right back to that feeling on my 49' build, 52 build and 53' that is long awaiting. I can list too many more, so yeah I know your feeling man. But its one step at a time and its a learning curve. Its fun and hey, we are fortunate to be able to do any of this.

[Root2812]

I have a small update to share today. I wasn't able to make any progress on my brake issue this weekend because my daily driver S10 Jimmy decided that it needed a new injector spider. I spent a good part of Saturday doing that but now its running great. I also gave my 700r4 back to my dad for use in his 57 chevy bel-air. I'm going to find a 4l60e now.

Today was pretty exciting since I ordered my IFS. Finally! I called up Fatman Fabrications and ordered their stage 2 kit. Its the basic coil spring set up but I like what they offered. I got a complete hub to hub kit with power steering for $2084 delivered. I'm excited to share the install with all of you. I'm pretty sure you guys are ready to see some real progress on this thread instead of the tiny bits I've been posting.

[oldman3]

As I posted on the other thread, looking forward to your review of the installation, and how well everything fits, etc.. Have a friend that likes Fatman setup...Jim

[Root2812]

Originally Posted by oldman3

As I posted on the other thread, looking forward to your review of the installation, and how well everything fits, etc.. Have a friend that likes Fatman setup...Jim

Yeah I'll give you as much detail as I can about the installation and the product quality. I spent time at their booth at the Back to the 50's show this summer and it all seemed like quality parts. The customer service was good both at the show and over the phone while ordering.