"BUILD: 1970 C10 LWB--->SWB “Jumping Cholla”

[Chaparralman1974]

Hey Scott, it was great seeing you again yesterday. The truck looks awesome! Thank you for the pointers as well. :-) The offer of beer and pizza still stands if you wanna come and paint mine!


Clay

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by Stickman

Awesome job, very nice color.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

Hey Scott, it was great seeing you again yesterday. The truck looks awesome! Thank you for the pointers as well. :-) The offer of beer and pizza still stands if you wanna come and paint mine!

Clay

It was great seeing you again, thanks for stopping by the sauna and looking at the truck.

[loudchevy]

Continued painting progress... Friday night I started to tape off all the white on the top cab and top door frames.

Saturday was an early start @ 5am to finish off taping the bottom of the cab so my raptor liner didn't get over sprayed. I lifted my cab dolly off the ground an extra 10" with some blocks to help me get good coverage on the bottom sections of the cab, which helped out a ton. I finally started shooting some paint around 7am. 2 hours later I had 3 color coats on the cab/doors and 4 coats on the hood. After things dried a little bit more, I pulled off all the tape/paper and was really happy how things turned out.

I let everything bake in the garage the rest of the day.

[loudchevy]

This morning I started sprayed the cowl with some color. It was nice to not have to tape anything! I had a couple of small runs on the vertical side of the cowl that will need to be wet sanded down, but it turned out good.

Once the cowl dried for a bit I moved it out of the garage and started to clean up from the last 4 days of painting. I got the cab dolly off the blocks and moved the doors and hood to inside the house. I have C10 body parts all over my house now

I really wanted to see the cab sitting in the sun. I think it turned out fantastic. I'm really pleased how it came out being my first paint job and using an $80 gun for all the primer and color. The 2 tone cab looks awesome, the Championship White really pops. My favorite part might be the shaved firewall. I had countless hours of welding, grinding, sanding, and bodywork invested in that mini project and it was rewarding to see it in color. Really seeing everything in color just makes me smile.

I still need to chop the bed and do all the bodywork on it. I learned so much from doing the front half of the truck and I know it will help speed things along with a shorter learning curve to finish all the bodywork for bed.

I used almost a quart of the Championship White and have maybe 1-1/2" left in the Frost Green Metallic gallon. I used the whole quart of the UR85 Slow Urethane Reducer which was perfect for spraying in the garage where temps were easily over 90 degrees even at 7am. Grand total for paint on the front half of the truck was $432

[Getter-Done]

Very Nice

If you have any Gearhead neighbors?

I know they were Impressed.

[Shifty One]

Dang, that's sharp!

[Chaparralman1974]

It looks even better in the sun Scott!

Clay

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Very Nice

If you have any Gearhead neighbors?

I know they were Impressed.

Thanks, most of my neighbors keep to themselves, I always have people giving thumbs up as they walk past the driveway. A couple have stopped as they drive by to chat.

Originally Posted by Shifty One

Dang, that's sharp!

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

It looks even better in the sun Scott!

Clay

Thanks guys!

[SRU1436]

Looks awesome!

[rodstored-72]

agree Scott. the truck is looking FANTASTIC!! nice color choice too

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by rodstored-72

agree Scott. the truck is looking FANTASTIC!! nice color choice too

Thanks!

[loudchevy]

Yesterday I cleaned up the cab floor and scuffed it up, and taped the crap out of the door jambs/dash to get it ready for a coat of Raptor liner. I will still probably put down a layer of insulation between the carpet/rubber mat but I wanted to get the epoxy sealed up. I'm happy to have this last part of the cab done. I have all the pieces for the exhaust and brake lines that I want to get installed before the cab makes it to it's final home sitting on frame rails.

[nicklear36]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Yesterday I cleaned up the cab floor and scuffed it up, and taped the crap out of the door jambs/dash to get it ready for a coat of Raptor liner. I will still probably put down a layer of insulation between the carpet/rubber mat but I wanted to get the epoxy sealed up. I'm happy to have this last part of the cab done. I have all the pieces for the exhaust and brake lines that I want to get installed before the cab makes it to it's final home sitting on frame rails.

That looks so awesome!! Did you raptorline the kick panel area?

[Chaparralman1974]

I like the Raptor Liner in the cab Scott! I was going to do dynamat in mine, but I may do this instead.

Clay

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by nicklear36

That looks so awesome!! Did you raptorline the kick panel area?

Thanks, yes I sprayed the kick panel area as well. I figured I'd save some filler/sanding time by just raptoring those areas that will get beat up by shoes anyways.

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

I like the Raptor Liner in the cab Scott! I was going to do dynamat in mine, but I may do this instead.

Clay

Thanks, I might still do some kind of stick-on insulation over the raptor but that will be farther down the road. Until I get to that crossroad, I can enjoy the clean look of this.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Turned out really good.

[chewychevy67]

That is a real nice color you chose.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Turned out really good.

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

That is a real nice color you chose.

Thanks!

[loudchevy]

Small progress weekend. Friday evening the boy and I got the TC pushed in the 700R4 and then got the trans bolted and torqued down to the engine. Then we fit the 454/700 between the frame rails for I hope, the last time. I needed a new transmission xmember so the exhaust would clear and not hang down below the frame rails. Speedway Motors had a decent one with some adjustability so I went and picked it up last week. Bolted it in between the rails and set the 700 on it with a poly mount.

On Sat I got an early start and started work on the trailing arm xmember. I used AZ Pro Performance's Dead End Exhaust Cut Outs so I could continue the exhaust between the height of the frame rails. I could've made the (2) pieces but for 100 bucks, they were worth saving time and just buying them. In hindsight, I should've bought their Trailing Arm xmemeber when I first was cleaning the frame up months ago. It looks like a nice peice.

Once the Dead End brackets were installed, I started to visually layout the mufflers and 3" exhaust in the rear to fit around the shocks and 12b rear. I think I should be able to get the exhaust kit I bought to work. I was going to try and re-use an old Flowmaster 40 that I had on the blazer but the offset needs to be wider and I only had 1, so would've had to buy one anyways.

I need to get some new header gaskets this week anyways so I'll pick out some new mufflers along with a number of other little pieces to keep progress moving. The garage was pretty warm in Phx, Fri/Sat worm me out. I took off today (Sun) from the garage to stay cooler and hang with the fam. More work to be done in the evenings for the week.

[clay68c10]

That color really pops in the sun, I love it with the white. Very classic.

Speedway has really stepped into the truck world lately. That x-member looks like a solid piece.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

That color really pops in the sun, I love it with the white. Very classic.

Speedway has really stepped into the truck world lately. That x-member looks like a solid piece.

Thanks! Ya the Speedway x-member is pretty nice. It has a lot of adjustability built into it so the install was super easy.

[loudchevy]

Before I went and started on the exhaust, I wanted to confirm a radiator/fan setup would have enough room in front of the 454. I ordered a new aluminum from Champion and it showed up a few days later. I was going back and forth between a 2 & 3 row unit. I ended up buying the upgraded 2 row with 1" tubes to keep the depth of the radiator to a min. The 2 row should be more efficient than the 3 from what I have read and watched others speak about. Simple google calculator for pipe surface area to help confirm, 2 row with 1.0" tubes was around 178 inches squared as opposed to a 3 row with 0.63" that came to 168 inches squared. I also got the dual 14" electric fans, wiring, and relays, and 185 thermostat switch. 20 something bucks in stainless steel hardware, everything was bolted together and temporality set inside the core support.

There is a lot of play front to back with the mounts/bolts in the core holding it to the frame. I didn't mark where I bolted it down months ago when I had all the front pieces bolted to the cab on the frame, so I just verified that with the core/radiator/fan pushed as close to the front serpentine accessories on the BBC that everything cleared (overhead picture), it's tight but everything clears. Then for fun I pushed the core as far forward that I could just to see the max distance I might have (side picture). I was pretty relieved that everything cleared. I'm guessing the true location is somewhere in the middle of both tests spots.

Next up is exhaust. I have (2) Flowmaster 50 series mufflers, (2) MagnaFlow cats , and a pile of 3" builder exhaust pieces sitting in the garage ready for some progress to be made.

[Chaparralman1974]

Nice work Scott! Are we going to hear that motor rumble before Halloween? :-)


Clay

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

Nice work Scott! Are we going to hear that motor rumble before Halloween? :-)

Clay

Maybe by Labor day..... We'll see what happens. The motivation is there to work on the truck even with heat of the garage these days. I'm enjoying this part of the build as I really like to fabricate and problem solve. I've been looking forward to building this exhaust for a while now.

[loudchevy]

Drivers side exhaust is mocked up. It took about 4 hours to get to this point yesterday afternoon.

I have a set of v-band clamps that I want to use between the cat and the exhaust cut outs in the x-member. They don't fit through the AZ performance dead-end cut outs, but I could unbolt the deadend's and the clamp will fit through the cut out section of x-member. These and the Flowmaster ball/socket flange at the header will make the exhaust totally removable from the truck, which is what I was shooting for.

Getting the header exit to line up with the deadend openings was a fun challenge going up and over in a short distance (the ball flange helped). The deadend to muffler was much easier since it was a straight shot with a little vertical rise. I think I will need to adjust where the bend is and move it closer to the muffler so the rear of the cab clears it. I wish I could've found some steel 3" pie cuts from a vendor to save some time, but I just cut my own with a porta band saw. All I was seeing online was stainless steel versions, which I didn't want to mix with the steel exhaust pipe I am using.

I think I have the rear layout figured out getting between the axle, shocks, trackbar, and rear mounted gas tank. I'm not sure where I want the exhaust to exit (either out the back or out the side) but it's going to have to wait until the bed gets cut down and set on the frame. I also have a O2 bung to throw in the line near the header. Might as well put them in now for future EFI projects

I hope to get to work on the passenger side mockup this afternoon.