Over 25 Years Later, Finally My 71 C-10 Truck Build

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Glad to see you back at it on this one.

Back on this one, still working on the Jimmy, fixing odds and ends on my daughters new beater (94 LeSabre), etc. etc.

Its good to stay busy right?

Summit shipped parts today.

[hgs_notes]

Another very brief update. One of the new parts was a flat bottom for the 14" air filter. The one I had was about a 1" drop, and I had about a 2" stack on the throttle body. But I think the throttle body is a bit shorter than the holley carb I used to have because the bottom of the air filter was resting on the distributor after the EFI swap. So the flat bottom raised the filter just enough for me to have to replace the all-thread that holds it in place. A quick run to the hardware store and I fixed that. So now the air filter is about an inch higher and no longer pushing into the plug wires.

I got the fender for my daughters beater painted (hope like hell it matches ok) tonight. Once I swap that out, get it wet sanded and polished, I think I'm about done fixing her car up for a while. Put a stereo in it the other day. Total pain because the old stereo was stolen (before we bought it) but the plugs were cut out and I had to do a bunch of splicing, and then the main power lead was dead, requiring another splice. But she loves it and that makes me happy.

Before, it was white...


After, now light blue metallic (good practice for me with the Jimmy)

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I got the fender for my daughters beater painted (hope like hell it matches ok) tonight. Once I swap that out, get it wet sanded and polished, I think I'm about done fixing her car up for a while. Put a stereo in it the other day. Total pain because the old stereo was stolen (before we bought it) but the plugs were cut out and I had to do a bunch of splicing, and then the main power lead was dead, requiring another splice. But she loves it and that makes me happy.

Sounds like Dejavu .. I just put a stereo in my daughters car and also have a fender I have to paint to go on it. haha.

I was considering the magnaflows for mine, usually go with flowmaster 40's on my stuff but I have heard a lot of people talk really good of the magnaflows and have been wanting to try them out. I did try a set of the flowmaster 44's on my truck, but I took them off and sold them.. too much drone sound in the cab. I'm sure it's going to sound awesome! Let us know how you like those magnaflows when you fire it up! Truck looks great!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by ~Whitey~

Sounds like Dejavu .. I just put a stereo in my daughters car and also have a fender I have to paint to go on it. haha.

I was considering the magnaflows for mine, usually go with flowmaster 40's on my stuff but I have heard a lot of people talk really good of the magnaflows and have been wanting to try them out. I did try a set of the flowmaster 44's on my truck, but I took them off and sold them.. too much drone sound in the cab. I'm sure it's going to sound awesome! Let us know how you like those magnaflows when you fire it up! Truck looks great!

Quite the coincidence.

I hope it sounds right. The drone is terrible now. Unfortunately I might not get to work on it for a little while yet. Too many brands in the fire right now. I want to get the paint on my Jimmy first, and have a few home improvement projects going on also. Also have to work a few more weekends coming up. Eventually the weather will improve and I can get more progress done on some of this load.

[hgs_notes]

Hey Whitey, pics of the fender installed. I know the color is off. Better than busted and better than white (no offence ).

Before...


After...

[hgs_notes]

Made a trip today to get the new (to me) seat. Its the middle row from a 97 tahoe.


The bottoms flip forward. Dont know for sure if that will work in the cab but I think it will for the passenger side, maybe not all the way with the steering wheel on the driver side. Doesn't matter too much, I will still get it to move enough to grab stuff under or behind it.


Then the backs fold forward. The seats do not have adjustment slides or anything. I will cut and weld the brackets for the fit I want.


Another bonus is the fold down arm rest with cup holders and even a tissue box, with tissues (double bonus).


So I paid $100 for an arm rest, cup holders and better access under and behind the seat, and it will fit my recovering plans better. And I have a seat to sell (or 2). Any one looking for an early 90's suburban split bench in great condition or a 67-68 OEM bench (seat back folds forward) that needs a new cover just ask.

[Low Elco]

Looks good, glad it's home.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Bomp]

Nice work. You gotta keep the young ones happy.

[Roninwolf]

WOW! What a job you did on this truck took me hours to read through it and it all and it started from me seeing the wheels on the truck when you started and they are the same as mine. Couple of questions did you get the new center caps from summit when you ordered the bumper bolts and are those 275/60's on front and rear?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Roninwolf

WOW! What a job you did on this truck took me hours to read through it and it all and it started from me seeing the wheels on the truck when you started and they are the same as mine. Couple of questions did you get the new center caps from summit when you ordered the bumper bolts and are those 275/60's on front and rear?

Thanks for the kind words. Its a long read isn't it? I did buy the center caps from summit, but don't remember if it was with the bumper bolts, doesn't matter. There are a surprising number of options on the wheel center caps. Mine have a small flare on the back side that fits into a chamfer cut into the back of the wheel, and you have to be a precise as possible measuring the inside diameter of the hole or the outside diameter of an existing cap if you have one. There are caps that are within thousands of an inch, order the wrong ones and it wont fit in the hole or will be too loose.

The rear tires are 275/60-15 and the front are 235/70-15, which makes them very close to the same diameter. My wheels are different widths front and rear, I think 8.5 rear and 7.5 front but I don't remember exactly. Bought them about 1987.

I haven't worked on it lately. Our weather has been crap, snowing right now again as a matter of fact. Just so I can call this an update though I will talk about my interior plans. After I had the upholstery lady look at what I had and told her what I wanted she said no problem but that to make my seat look right the frame where the 2 sides come together would need built up to square them off more. So I told her that I would either plan on doing that when the covers were removed or look for another seat that would be an easier job.

For work last week I had to stop by a junkyard, and once my job there was done I asked to look around at some seats, they said no problem. After about 5 minutes I found a tahoe with a with leather seats, front buckets and a split bench middle row. The bottom flips forward and the back will fold down flat like on my wifes Denali, the middle position has a fold down arm rest, which my current seat does not have and that I kind of miss having. So that's what I'm getting, maybe today. For $100 I think it will probably save that much in labor on the recover job and I get an arm rest, and a seat that will fold forward very easily. Also, it doesn't have head rests built in and is a low back style so it should fit perfect at the rear window. I was going to remove the head rests on my current seat.

One issue I have with my current seat is that it is pushed into the forward position, but it pretty tight against the back of the cab. I cant get it to fold forward to gain access behind it. Its stuck. And if I do get it to fold, I have a hell of a time getting it back up and catching the latch.

So now I will have 2 seats to get rid of, my current one and a 67 original bench that I was also going to try. I'll post pics of the seat once I get it home. Its about 75-80 miles away from here.

[Low Elco]

Looks tight! Nice work!

[Bomp]

Nice work on the exhaust and have fun on your trip.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Looks tight! Nice work!

Thanks, but it's better in the picture.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Nice work on the exhaust and have fun on your trip.

Acceptable at best. My welding skills have deteriorated from back in the day when I really could weld. Too much tacking sheetmetal and not enough good solid bead runs. Maybe by the time I get this tubing welded the welds will look better.

As for the trip, looks like things will work out and it will happen. Just need to make sure the truck is as well prepped as it can be. If there are members viewing this thread between south central MN and about an hour east of St Louis and are interested in meeting to talk about trucks and draining a cold one, please PM me. I haven't decided on a route yet. Will probably avoid interstate and stick to more back routes. Probably will not go there and come back on the same route. I'd like to run down along the Mississippi river valley for a leg of the trip, but I'm open for alternatives. Good scenery and fun roads is the key. Its about 600 miles for the most direct route and I'm planning for 2 days travel each way, but know I could do it in 1 if needed. Hell, I put on 330 today for work and will do another 350 or more tomorrow and about 250 thursday. Its what I do.

[hgs_notes]

I should plan on adding the capability for music for the road trip. To that end I contacted Bigblock73 for a pair of his steel cab corner speaker mount brackets last night and he came through on short notice to meet me near his work in Minneapolis today to pick them up. Saved some shipping and dont have to wait. Bonus. Can be found here...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=476976

Look like this...


Didn't get to work on any of my own stuff today though. Got home and needed to replace a rear brake line on my youngest ones car cause she ruptured a rusty line tuesday. And then needed to find out why the boy childs blazer was stalling out at random times. Brought it to napa for their electrical system tester because I was suspecting something with the voltage regulator and one of the guys there noticed sparks from under the engine when I revved it. Found the negative battery cable rubbed the insulation off against a piece of suspension and was shorting out. Didn't have time to replace the cable so I just put a piece of rubber fuel line over the wounded wire and tied it with a zip tie. Runs fine now. Spent a total of $25 for new brake line parts to fix to beaters in one evening. Kinda proud of myself.

Got a couple ideas bouncing around the cranium for stereo mounting. None of them in or around the dash. We'll see which idea sticks or if another one comes up.

[Low Elco]

Don't ya love Cheap Fixes! I'm a fan of that Kicker I-pod hidden hookup deal. Have fun on the trip!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Don't ya love Cheap Fixes! I'm a fan of that Kicker I-pod hidden hookup deal. Have fun on the trip!

Yes I do. Just glad we found that electrical one cause those can be a real ***** to track down when they are intermittent. Here's the head unit I'm looking at...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/JVC+-+50...specifications

And found an awesome deal on some quality speakers...
Amazon.com: Infinity Reference 9633cf 6 x 9-Inch...

[hgs_notes]

Got some welding done and the further along I get the better the welds are looking. Still not pretty, but it'll hold together. The stainless wire with the regular gas mix for mild steel is working fine. A little spatter, but not bad at all. I like the way it welds better than .023 wire on the sheetmetal. I got the front section welded up to the cross-over. Might take a break for the evening, but if my time opens up I might just head back out and fry a few more joints together.

Pic...


Thats 6 welds already and I have a long ways to go.

[hgs_notes]

Date night fell through, so I went out and made more sparks.


Here are pics taken from about the same level as the pipes. It's tucked up pretty good. I don't have a low rider, so not really an issue. I have it welded out all the way to the rear cab mounts.





Next step is the little joggle upward and back into the muffler inlets. Hopefully I will get the mufflers in by the end of the weekend. Gotta work tomorrow though. Yippee!

[Mike Bradbury]

Looking good, I like the X pipe.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Mike Bradbury

Looking good, I like the X pipe.

Thanks Mike. I used to have the standard H pipe balance tube. When I added that in to my existing exhaust it made it quieter, not sure why. I had cheap sonic turbos on at the time. I've been running this X-type the past year and with the sort pipes and the flowmaster 40's this thing was LOUD. Made the windows rattle in the truck and the surrounding neighborhood. My neighbor half a block away told me he could hear every time I was going for a drive. My wife could hear me coming a block or 2 away.

[hgs_notes]

Ordered a head unit, JVC KD-X200. One of the new digital media receivers, which basically means it doesn't do CD's or cassettes, which I haven't listened to in a few years anyway. Has a remote control. Sub woofer output, etc.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-q2RQe2N...l#overview-tab

Did some welding on the exhaust this morning. Couple more welds to do for the inlet to the mufflers. Also need to pick up some of these...
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-33240

Going to use them as a break between the front section and the muffler inlets. Once the welding is done it will be a 3 piece exhaust system, front and 2 rear sections which will have the mufflers attached. I will need a few more pipe hangers also.

The nozzle connection into the muffler was way bigger than the 2.5" pipe I'm using, which made it tricky to center the tube in it for fit up. I used a few pieces of wire as spacers, then tacked it. Pulled out the wires and welded them up.



So the inlets are welded to the mufflers. Just have to weld 45's onto the ends of my front section with a stub pipe to butt up to these. Then it's just tail pipes after that. Should have it done by the end of the week if I can get my hands on the clamps and hangers I need.


This will be the rear hangers for the front section. All stainless pieces. That body mount bracket was in a good spot for this.

[hgs_notes]

Got a little more of the exhaust done tonight. The front section is all welded out and installed with new collector gaskets. I may pull it apart some other time to clean up the welds and make it look prettier, but for now I just don't have the time to do it.

The clamps and hangers I ordered came in today so I could actually hang the mufflers and hook them up. Will finish the tailpipes some time over the next few days.


This one kinda shows how the muffler is tucked up in there...

[hgs_notes]

Straight pipes...

1971 Chevy C-10 283 Exhaust straight pipes -...

[hgs_notes]

With mufflers, no tailpipes...

1971 Chevy C-10 283 exhaust with magnaflows no...

[hgs_notes]

With the flowmaster 40's...

Chevy running ok - YouTube