1963 C-10 in NC

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Looks really good in there. The blue looks great!

Thanks a bunch!!!!

[siggyfreud]

Love that blue engine. Looks great. Valve covers came out nice too!

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

Love that blue engine. Looks great. Valve covers came out nice too!

Thanks for the comments. Its actually a F*rd color, but that really doesn't bother me. It's the closest color I could find that I liked and so far the colors have all matched nicely.

[siggyfreud]

No worries I think my engine yellow is a dodge color.

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

No worries I think my engine yellow is a dodge color.

I don't care what the colors were originally personally. I say if you like it....then go with it. Colors are colors and nobody owns them. I've seen tons of Fords painted chevy orange.....hell, I have a buddy who loves mustangs but only runs SBC motors in them.

And I used a Jaguar grommet on the spare tire carrier....

[bj383ss]

Install looks really good. Can't wait to hear it when you fire it up. What kind of carb are you going to be running? I agree on the colors as well. The 383 in my Caprice is painted F%^d Engine Blue. It looks much crisper than the GM blue to me. HA

Bret

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Install looks really good. Can't wait to hear it when you fire it up. What kind of carb are you going to be running? I agree on the colors as well. The 383 in my Caprice is painted F%^d Engine Blue. It looks much crisper than the GM blue to me. HA

Bret

thanks bret. got the pass side header in yesterday. had to dimple the tube for cyl 2 just a hair, but slid right in. will work on driver side today or tomorrow. have family in from dc area until tomorrow.

[C@rnut001]

Man, your engine is looking great in there and you are coming along so well. Thanks for all the update pictures you have been posting. Keep up the awesome work!

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by C@rnut001

Man, your engine is looking great in there and you are coming along so well. Thanks for all the update pictures you have been posting. Keep up the awesome work!

Thanks a bunch for the kind comments. Some days are better than others. Been pretty straight forward so far, but I knew at some point I'd run into more fab work. Everything has panned out pretty good so far. Exhaust clearance issue on driver side, but its not too bad.

[1963c-10]

Got home Friday and decided to tackle the pass side header. Didn't take long to figure out I'd need to modify cyl 2 tube just a hair. Pulled out the 1 1/2" steel pipe and 3-4 carefully placed whacks took care of the issue. The headers are 1 3/4" primarys and there is not much intrusion, so I think we're good on this side. clearance at the frame is good, mount is a tad tight, but it'll be fine. The pics help, but don't show depth very well, so it looks a lot tighter than it is.

The mount being square on the ends seems to be the issue, and it could be overcome with new mounts. I don't mind fab work though, and I will work the exhaust clearance out and leave the mounts as is.

[1963c-10]

Couple more of the pass side. Came out real nice in my opinion.

[pdxhall]

That's a tight squeeze but well worth it 'cause it looks fantastic sitting in there.

[1963c-10]

Driver side was a little tighter...again on forward most cyl (cyl 1). After looking at it for around 20min to figure best plan of attack. I knew it would not bolt in even with dimpling the tube. At this point a few phone calls went out and a half hour later I was in tough with an exhaust man who is a friend of a friend. I'm satisfied with the way the rest of the build has gone, and am not changing mounts or going backwards....so easiest fix it to modify cyl 1 tube. I cut the tube long and mounted header. I have 3 routes that I can go to fix.

1st would be drop the tube down in front of the perch and go between the perch and the frame. As you can see in the pic...tons of room. Really leaning towards this option as it keeps the exhaust tucked under the frame rails.

2nd is take the tube over top of tubes 3, 5 & 7.

3rd is to run it down the outside of 3, 5 & 7 and down the frame. See the next post for this mock up.

I haven't decided which route to go, although option 1 keeps it the cleanest...only issue being removal of driver side mount to install, which really isn't to big of an issue. Option 2 would allow install from the bottom, and not interfere with the mount at all. And option 3 would be install from the top, raising the engine to install.....so I have some decisions to make in the next few days. I'll go out with some coat hanger and make some mock tube lines to see which route I'd like to go. Had family on from DC all weekend, so not much time on the truck.

[1963c-10]

Couple more....The driver side header was quite different in design. Install was good minus issue at cyl 1. Did have to drop the hydraulic clutch slave to install, but clearance is good on everything else. I meet with the exhaust guy today to cover the options. they have plenty of 1 3/4 OD tube in stock. If I had a bender I'd weld it myself, but no bender so it'll end up in a shop for this fix.

[1963c-10]

[QUOTE=pdxhall;6769526]That's a tight squeeze but well worth it 'cause it looks fantastic sitting in there.
[/Q

Yeah, its tight, but there is at least 1/4" clearance from all tubes to frame. Tightest spot is cyl 2 and 1 at the mounts. But one has been overcome and the driver side will be the same. Its nothing that some 1 3/4" tube and a welder can't fix. But I agree....its looking good.

Walked by yesterday and saw all those long tubes hanging down behind the tires.....it looks tough, that's for sure. I knew it wouldn't be easy...as there aren't a ton of big block manual trucks in our body style to use as templates and for parts comparison. I'd rather modify the one header than deal with the firewall issues and keep pulling perches, mounts etc. Its just part of the project and will pan out ok.

[TJ's Chevy]

Looks right at home.

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

Looks right at home.

Getting there. The exhaust is actually an easy fix. Just going through all my options before I finalize which option to go with. Have to consider all options.....removal for maintenance or repairs....etc.

[siggyfreud]

I like how you've mocked up the solution in that last set of photos. I think it would look fine. Will you have any lines running along that frame rail that would be exposed to heat if you ran it on the low side?

[Ta2Don]

Oh the FUN!!!

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by siggyfreud

I like how you've mocked up the solution in that last set of photos. I think it would look fine. Will you have any lines running along that frame rail that would be exposed to heat if you ran it on the low side?

no line issues. alternator is on other side so no wiring either. if i run the tube a little higher up, it would drop in from the bottom. if i go down the frame how i mocked it up above, install will be fun.

fuel runs on the other side and plenty of room for brake lines. hydraulic clutch line is an an- braided stainless line and ill heat wrap the portion near the headers.

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Oh the FUN!!!

haha...yea, the fun. i can't complain actually. its gone pretty smooth so far and its really the last hurdle. trans mount is good, i'll order or modify existing driveshaft. fuels good, cooling looking good so far off mockup.

done alot of research on the exhaust modification and all of it said i'd be ok. most of the research agreed that primary length is not super critical and the lenghts im playing with are minimal. so here in the next day or so i'll finalize exhaust route and have it tigged in.

did get the starter i cleaned up and painted installed.

carb linkage came in, so maybe tomorrow i can get some more of the top end installed.

[1963c-10]

Not much new to add today. Had a hunny do list last night. Did have enough time to go out and install carb and throttle return bracket and tighten down the water bypass lines. I'll get the fuel lines buttoned up tonight and install the heater lines and water bypass for the intake to the water pump. Took some more looks at my options on driver side header and think I'll have my answer narrowed down tonight, so maybe I'll pull the header back off.

Also go the correct bolt for the big block starter nose bracket. I had a 5/16" bolt, but it was 1/4" longer than I wanted. So went through my boxes of bolts and found a nice ARP bolt that matches the rest of the engine. Overkill, but it matches. Also used ARP bolts on the flywheel pans....

[1963c-10]

Couple of pics.

one of the big block starter nose mount, an under side view of the pans and transmission and one showing how the headers hang.

Forgot to get pics of the top end work last night. I'll get some tonight when I go out there.

[WhippinSaw]

Nice work getting the big block set up, I didn't know you had to engineer everything to make it work/fit. Looking good, I like it.

[62 Barnfind]

Great job on the engine!