1975 Chevy SWB Fleetside

[79shortbed]

I believe GM went from points ignition to HEI in either '73 or '74, so you should be able to wire it into the stock harness just fine, but my word is not gospel. Looks great man, good progress. I'm ready to get mine together. I don't have a 'shop' per say that can do my work, I'm having to do mine whenever I can get home from school and have time. All by myself, no help. But I think I'll appreciate it that much more when I'm done. Again, great job so far!

[RPOZ11]

Ya my job is killing my available extra time to do most of this myself.
Just lucky to have an experienced mechanic who is flexible to work with me.
We brainstorm then assemble.
Its kinda fun when 2 people have similar ideas about a project and how it should go together.

[RPOZ11]

Strange 1350 TH400 Yoke

[RPOZ11]

B&M 20234 TH400 Adjustable Modulator

[RPOZ11]

Been kind of a hectic week or so...

Took in all the PS, Alt, & some misc brackets along with the fan blade for semi gloss powder coating.

Hope to have all of that back by Monday.

Progress has slowed only due to making small parts ready to install.

[RPOZ11]

More stuff prepared for assembly...
Ceramic coated Black Exhaust Manifolds
Hughes HD Flexplate, 454
Cast Iron EGR Intake; Sending this in for ceramic coating
Lots of Black Powder Coating to the fan blade, pulleys etc on the front of the motor

[96twodoor]

looking good ,slowly getting there .

[slam59]

Originally Posted by RPOZ11

Just picked this one up tonite.
Foam is in very good condition!
Tops of the velour are sorta sun damaged; will need to re-dye it.

I will have to slightly modify the floor frame for it.
Maybe some simple strap and weld in a bolt for stud mounting.

It was a bit wider than my factory seat's bracket mounting dimensions.
But, being that it's longer, I can narrow it to fit the GM mounting positions.

Will need to make a center console cup holder for it.

otherwise, its all in very good condition.
Got it all for $80.00!

Man where did you get the seats at for $80?

[RPOZ11]

Originally Posted by slam59

Man where did you get the seats at for $80?

Surfing Craigslist loacally.
I got lucky finding that one.
I talked him down becuase the floor frame was not the same width as my 75.
However, It is wider than what I need so I can shorten it down to fit.
The foam is in excellent condition.
I was thinking of recovering the upper backs.
They are slightly faded from the sun.
Tinting the rear window will help prevent this after I have it recovered.
I want to come up with a very simple floor bracket to mount to the GM seat mounting holes.
Was thinking of one that hugs the shape of the floor and standing just slightly above the carpet.
Weld in some bolts to that floor frame and see what we get.

IN time.
Gotta get this running first.

[RPOZ11]

I had no intention of taking this long, honestly!
It has allowed me to do some extra custom things, like ceramic coating, powder coating, etc etc...
The prices to do these the way I like them start to add up rather quickly.

I dropped off the Intake manifold today.
His statements on powder coating vs. ceramic were this :
On exhaust pieces the heat breakdown rate of powder coating would make that finish melt off, or bake off away from the cast iron.
Ceramic coating has a 1400* breakdown pointe.
He bakes the ceramic to 400* for a set period of time to cure it.
The ceramic will help deflect engine bay heat as well as keep the heat inside the manifolds more. Aluminized exhaust piping, and wrapping it with thermal fabric should help keep the cab cooler.

On the Intake manifold, I wanted to see if the same heat deflection would help for the fuel temperatures.
My old 82 crew cab, as well as my 73 C/20 454 vapor locks at times.
I fixed part of that by installing a better fuel pump.
But back to the ceramic coating,
While coating the top side of this intake,
I wanted to see if ceramic coating the underside of this manifold woud help.
I spoke with the shop owner about this.
Apparently there is a special coating in a ceramic type available but it was a special order.
SO with time limitations, we decided to give this thing a shot with the regular ceramic to see if it will work.
The Intake was already chem stripped; so all oil is gone.
The oil splash pan I removed, chem stripped, and will be ceramic coated as well.

I also purchased a used GM carb plate for a Quadrajet.
It is one of those old aluminum heat deflection plates they used to install.
About the only other thing I could do to keep the fuel temperatures down would be to install a fuel cool can just before the fuel pump.

Purchased a new set of FelPro intake gaskets for the reinstall.

The 800 cfm is being built right now.
My guy is busy so I had to wait my turn for bench time.

Here is his work on restoring my 73 Quadrajet:

[RPOZ11]

The 350/TH350 is coming out this week.
I installed the Stainless Steel exhaust manifold studs today onto both manifolds along with the smog pipe plugs.

Intake Manifold Porcelain Coated...
I installed it onto the 496 this afternoon.
Will go back and seal the front & rear seals with some silicone.
Now we can start bolting it all up.

[RPOZ11]

Tach Dash for the SWB.
Need to add the gear indicator piece.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

So why run the stock intake?
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[RPOZ11]

My whole intentions with building this was to develope as much bottom end torque as possible.
In California, we have Oxygenated gasoline.
It breaks down quicker.
I believe that the fuel will become hotter more quickly.
I do worry a little bit about the engine temperatures using the cast iron intake.
I may have to use an aluminum radiator if necessary; but we'll see.
I could use the aluminum Edelbrock 2-0 Performer and gain on port volume, but sacrifice I think some off of the line; and risk more pinging.
Using the stock manifold creats a more torquier throttle response.
I didnt try to build this 496 past 6000 rpms.
I can use the EGR to assist in the fuel/ignition sense; or block it off.
I will block it off for now and see how it runs without the EGR.
The porcelain process, in theory, is an attempt to deflect heat away.
The stock Intake will allow me to assemble much easier all of the accessory brackets as well.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Hmm we have the same oxygen junk here in wash and my truck has a single plane and a 400. In the summer heat I don't even get an ounce of vapor lock or such. I just remember seeing tests of aluminum intakes doing better across the board than the cast iron ones

I would think aluminum would shed the heat faster as well. And the egr is supposed to slow the flame front of the combustion process to reduce emmisions. Usually I slide a beer can side down the side of the intake to block off egr tubes and keep the intake cooler.

Maybe try an earlier factory intake from the hi output big blocks?
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[RPOZ11]

Its a test for this combination and for me.
I will agree with you that the Aluminum is a better heat sink.
That's why I chose to plate the top & bottom surfaces of this.
I can't determine the actual outcome of this with the EGR until I can break in the motor to betweem 500-1000 miles.
Then we can play around with this set-up.
I still have yet to add the 800 CFM Quadrajet.
It's getting a bunch of tweaks done to it before its reassembled.
This along with the electronic ignition should really get this thing moving...

What compression and chamber sizing are you running and what ignition are you using?

[INSIDIOUS '86]

I'm running hei pro billet with an accel coil and a Mallory 6al box to sim Taylor thunderbolt wires I have 9:71 compression and 76cc chambers. I have the timing controled to a t with 36 total advance and 40 with vac advance and 14 initial and vac advance locked out
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[RPOZ11]

Little things done.
Got my MSD distributors back from being rebuilt and recurved.
Will rum my DUI HEI for now until I can replace the whole wiring harness back to '75. Then I can install the MSD unit.
Got the 800 CFM Quadrajets back; I had 2 rebuilt and modified.
Pics posted later this evening.
Doing the finish assault of the motor an will install it sometime before Saturday.
Then install the TH400.

I'll have pics up later as the week progresses.
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[RPOZ11]

PICS....

800 CFM QuadraJet Rebuilt, Modified, & Restored.

[RPOZ11]

More Pics...
upload issue

800 CFM QuadraJet Rebuilt, Modified, & Restored.

[RPOZ11]

Engine Bay after removing the 350/TH350.
I got $350.00 for the combo.
That $$$ is going towards the 2-1/2" dual exhaust with FlowMaster 50 mufflers and an H pipe.

[RPOZ11]

Things that I bought for the 496 today were :

Reproduction metal fuel line from the fuel pump to the Quadrajet carb.
This line was kinda tricky to find as my local warehouse didnt list it in their truck section, but it was listed in their car section of their Catalogue.
Remember, as you see in my images posted, I am using the factory GM low plane cast iron intake.
So, this fuel line is unique to those.

Two 3/8" Metal Fuel Filters to be installed prior to the manual Gas Tank Switching Valve.

Brass fuel inlet filter for the carb.

NOS GM Oil Dip Stick & Dip Stick Tube.

GM 160* Thermostadt.

Aside from belts, hoses, clamps, air filter, Fuel Pump, oil, water, spark plugs, motor mounts, trans mount, etc etc...

We should be ready to complete the engine accessory installs onto the 496 and "HOPEFULLY" have the engine ready to install into the frame by this weekend.

I have a Muffler shop ready to take the truck in via a tow truck slider.
They were kind enough to deal with it not running and doing the new system.

The driveshaft we can order once we have the trans installed and secured into the frame.

Getting closer....

[RPOZ11]

Well...
as time flys by, I keep working and working.
60 hour weeks are a killer in making free time.
Sold one 408 SBC motor, have 3 more to sell, and awaiting that money to finish off a 454 at .030 over and do another 496 build.
As I await my mechanics available time,
Ive since been getting the whole front clip of my 69 Camaro finished and ready to be based in color.
All front fender issues have been resolved.
No more rust and fixed the prior shops' attempt at sectioning them.

I pick up my door shells from the chem stripper in the early morning.
Have received my GoodMark door skins to bring the doors back to new again.

So, as it goes...
The C10 496 motor gets onto the engine stand for some pre-install tweaks.

It has since been installed between the frame rails.

Is there really a 454 BB only frame stand motor mount for these?

My guy had the local supply warehouse show up with some different mounts.

I assumed that they were 72 issue BBC 402 frame stands mounts.

Anyways, they returned back with some 350 SB mounts that he says worked perfectly.

I can only guess at the frame stand motor mounts being the same between small block and big block applications.

Can someone chime in with some EXACT conclusions for this?

Below is the 496 installed; and have since mated the TH400 to it.

The transmission image is a bit blurry.
Sorry for this as it came from the mechanic's flip phone camera.

We shoud be ready to measure for the driveshaft length dimensions now.

Power bleed the brake system and install the exhaust.
More to come...

[RPOZ11]

Help needed here...

Is there anything BBC 454 only to these that I need to resolve as I am finishing this up?

I was wondering about the transmission crossmember :
Is it the same between SBC & BBC ?

I think I have all of the BB motor parts.
Obtained the TH400 kickdown wiring to the pedal switch...
Where is the correct hole position on the firewall for this wiring's rubber boot supposed to be properly positioned?

Do all of the cabs come with an exhaust heat deflector plate on the passenger's side of the floor;
bottom side of where your feet are under the heater core area?

So far the transmission linkage worked from the TH350 to the TH400.
Any differences there?

Any & all suggestions are welcomed and needed....
Thanx

[INSIDIOUS '86]

I would suggest you find a factory big block radiator. From what I see your truck has the smallest optioned radiator
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