71 Cheyenne Rooftop Build

[renegade6]

What vehicle did you get the fuel filler off of?

[cebra]

Originally Posted by renegade6

What vehicle did you get the fuel filler off of?

The filler I got off the same model Jeep Wrangler from the junkyard. I put mine in an ammo can cut down inside the bed as I didn't want to put a filler door on or mess with hiding it behind a taillight or anything. It looks fine to me as this bed will see some use.

[cebra]

No real progress on the truck, still sitting out at the shop looking sad. They are supposed to start on it this Monday but it hasn't moved in 3 months. I did pull the cluster and started on the S10 speedo conversion so I have a functional speedo once the swap is done; I am almost done, just need to power it up and install the needle. I made my OP light my CEL and ran the wiring needed for the standalone harness. I also undercoated the inside of my new bedsides and painted my firewall red where the motor is going in.

[cebra]

I almost forgot, I got new wheels as well 20x10 rear and 20x8.5 fronts. I plan to lower 5" in rear and 4.5" in the front to keep the stock rake and put the modern wheels on while keeping the interior/exterior looking very stock. Sort of a sport truck look I guess.

[cornerstone]

Glad to see some progress even though it’s not as much as you’d like. Your truck is gonna look great with those wheels.

[cebra]

Exciting update, I just got the call from the shop to go there tomorrow and walk them through what I need done so they can get started. It has been sitting now for almost 3 months and the timing is good as my DD (Audi Q5) has a boatload of miles and the trans is slipping, blow off valve scares people when it pops off, and I have a CV joint that is going to explode any day now. When the sideshaft goes or the tires run bare, she will be put to rest at the boneyard as I won't even put a few hours of labor and $200 into it at this point. The truck I am building as my DD because I don't like anything new less the CTS-V but it is way more than I would pay for a car.

I am going for a very stock looking Silverado engine bay (stock airbox, stock radiator hose, stock starter cable with the little battery box hanging of the alternator/ps bracket, flipped battery box to DS, etc). The only thing that won't appear stock on the truck is the lowered suspension, wheels, and my generic aftermarket gauges that I love for some reason.

[cornerstone]

Very cool! What do they estimate on turn around time?
Brian

[cebra]

They estimated 5-6 days of work. The engine needs to be started by 4/30 due to the warranty on it from the junkyard so he promised they would at least start it by then. Depending on what the cost is I may have them do my front suspension while it is in the shop too as that would be a stretch of a day project for me using a friends garage. I am going with 2" coils and 2.5" spindles and replacing the wear items.

Large items left to do are: front suspension, rear suspension, both door bottoms, finishing up the bed floor, vintage air, polishing all the trim, and finally paint. The end is almost in sight.

[cebra]

Still (im)patiently waiting. Here is my finished speedo and my wheels just hanging out. I have been accumulating parts so my apartment looks like a car parts warehouse...ready to get some of this stuff installed.

[62chevy302]

I assume they didnt start the engine before 4/30?

[cebra]

Originally Posted by 62chevy302

I assume they didnt start the engine before 4/30?

Of course not, started out we can get it in the shop in a month, then 2 weeks, then next week, now tomorrow always. A bit frustrating but I don't have any other viable options at this point but to wait it out. Fingers crossed the motor is ok.

[TA_C10]

Dang dude, your killin it. In an apartment....

[cebra]

I stopped by the shop today and my truck is in 2 pieces...work has officially begun now and from what I have seen they tend to stay on 1 project at a time; hence the delay with mine as they were trying to finish other projects that ran over their original estimate. They are now doing frame shortening, installing LS/NV3500, front suspension, and rear suspension. They gave me a deal on the suspension I couldn't pass up so I went ahead and gave them the greenlight on that as well. It is a bit painful to have someone else work on my truck but it will be so much more closer to completion when it comes out and I won't have to bum Saturday garage space off my friends as much which has been the struggle this whole build not having a garage.

[cornerstone]

Better late than never!

[62chevy302]

Umm. . .

Wheres the pics?

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by 62chevy302

Umm. . .

Wheres the pics?

Agree^^^ I wanna see. ....

[cebra]

Some pics y'all. They let me come up to the shop and turn a couple wrenches myself. I oiled up the valvetrain and cylinders and turned the motor over a couple times. I also installed a new clutch. It is a proper short bed now and they went plum crazy on frame reinforcement but overkill will make me rest easy. I need to adjust my bed a bit but I will have it off at least 2 more times for some repairs and paint.

[62chevy302]

Nice. What flywheel and clutch did you use?

[cebra]

Sachs NFW1050 flywheel and LuK 04205 Clutch Kit (for a 2001-2006 Silverado). I did a lot of research and I think this will work for me, the 99-00 4.8L Manuals had a unique crankshaft that took some workaround since both my motor and trans are from 2000 but the trans is out of a Tahoe (came on an AT vehicle) so it has the crank design for AT which is the same as the 01-06 MT engines.

[cornerstone]

Hooray for progress! I'm interested in seeing the reinforcements they added to the frame if you get the chance.

[cebra]

The LS has been dropped into place. My fingers are crossed that I don't need a high hump or I would have considered an automatic especially since I spent 5x more (and months of searching and 100's of miles on road trips) for a NV3500 than I could have got a 4L60E for my 4.8L.

[cebra]

I am fairly sure I will not need a high hump but will need to massage the hump a bit to fit. We struggled with the Dingo sliders for a long time and decided to go to the I6 mounting holes so the shifter would come back far enough. The engine was 3" away from the firewall with the sliders all the way back and I would prefer it much closer anyways. In hindsight I guess I don't understand the point of the Dingo sliders in this application (3" away from firewall and 6" away from firewall are both too far for my taste) and would go with setback mounts if I were to do it again.

[a.c.ward]

move your motor mounts to the remost hole, redrill the crossmember for the lower bolt.

I have done lots of LS swaps in 67-72's. I always use the dingo sliders, move the engine perches, adjust the location for the coils to clear, move trans crossmember where it lines up, go!

[62chevy302]

Originally Posted by a.c.ward

move your motor mounts to the remost hole, redrill the crossmember for the lower bolt.

I have done lots of LS swaps in 67-72's. I always use the dingo sliders, move the engine perches, adjust the location for the coils to clear, move trans crossmember where it lines up, go!

Which dirty dingo sliders do you use?

[cebra]

Originally Posted by a.c.ward

move your motor mounts to the remost hole, redrill the crossmember for the lower bolt.

I have done lots of LS swaps in 67-72's. I always use the dingo sliders, move the engine perches, adjust the location for the coils to clear, move trans crossmember where it lines up, go!

Yes, this is what we ended up doing. I didn't read anywhere that the perches need moved to the rearmost hole so we left them in the stock V8 configuration and had to pull the motor back out. They work fine but I could have used normal mounts as we are all the way back on the sliders.