68 shortbed frame up rebuild (dropping it) - pics

[68GMCCustom]

wow...looks like cork in the pics. I have the same 3970010 block, its .030 over and has the 2.02/1.60 iron heads (not sure of casting #) with a Melling cam. I recently pulled it (along with the turbo 350 behind it) and have set it aside to power my next project.
I'm finally putting a '08 6.0L LY6 LSx motor in my truck...after dreaming about it for like 3yrs.

[SATownChevy]

ohh nice.
yea getting new 2.02/1.60 valves and springs from jegs on tuesday. dropping a thumper comp cam in it. i like the sound a carb with a nice exhaust makes and since it will be my "looks like a nice day" driver, i dont mind paying for gas.
i guess in a way im glad that i broke it before gas went sky high, i wouldnt be able to afford all the parts i got for it. my little 4 banger gets me 350 miles/tank and tank holds about 13.5 gal.

[68GMCCustom]

nothing wrong with having a economical beater for commuting...and a toy for cruising!

[SATownChevy]

i hope to have the toy going in the next few weeks. Today, im going to paint the tranny and hook it back up to the short block and them mount on the frame. should have the long block all done by next weekend.

[Zylone]

Just out of curiosity, are you just re-ringing the pistons, etc?

[SATownChevy]

put some new wear and tear parts in
bearings, HV oil pump, felpro gasket set, cam, lifters, timing chain, timing cover, balancer, pulley, piston rings, freeze plugs, fuel plate,

still to be added,
new:
intake mainifold, electric water pump, electric fans, electric fuel pump
old:
msd hei distributor, taylor wires,

i had to clean it all out because i had water in the oil plus i never knew what was in the engine to begin with or how old it was, it was all done by the previous owner. I thought it was a good time to tear it all down.

[Zylone]

Awesome! I am trying to decide whether I want to do the same with my motor or convert to a 5.3 I have torn into it, it looks pretty good, 350 .030 over, but obviously has some miles on it. Got plenty of time to decide though LOL

[SATownChevy]

either way its all pricey, lol. going to do it yourself or take it to a shop? im doing everything myself except for the head work at my buddies shop on the southside.

tried looking at your project thread but you removed all your pics.

[Zylone]

Yeah, tell me about it! LOL I was thinking about trying it myself. I have never done more than swap a top end on a motor before. All my old car buddies are in Corpus where I am originally from too so I might end up just taking it to Mission or something.

Ah, not sure why my pictures aren't showing up, just loaded the page and I see them all. Hmm

[SATownChevy]

could be my work filter blocking them. Mission is pricey. One of the places i checked out was bi-right and they answered all my questions and pointed out a few things out as well.
This is my first time ever going this deep into an engine. just gotta keep track of all the bolts and have a torque wrench.

[Zylone]

Ah maybe so! Yeah, they are the only shop I know of locally. I will have to check out that other shop. I figured doing it myself, just replacing with basically stock parts.. (I have a decent set of vortec heads, and a dang near brand new edelbrock intake manifold), it shouldn't be too too much money invested so if it does blow, oh well. Just want to get it moving under its own power, then I can look into dropping what I really want into it! LOL

[SATownChevy]

it was pretty easy but getting all the stuff together took time and money. bi-right watned to charge me about $1,200 to get my engine worked on and more if i wanted the head worked on as well.

just bag it, its easier, lol

do you go to the southside much?

[Zylone]

Ouch, yeah.. That's a pretty penny! Some day I hope to bag my truck too. To start, I am just going with a static 4/6 drop. The frame is super clean, just covered in years of oil and nasty. I just about got the frame finished as far as cleaning and painting.

Got some money to spend on fixing things around the house before I can put more into the truck, but next step will be complete front end rebuild, bushings are all super worn out, and the 4/6 drop and then onto cab work etc.

I worked on the south side when I first moved here, and live and work on the N/E side now. I never head down there unless there is a reason like hitting a junk yard or when I have the urge for some GOOD mexican food! =)

[SATownChevy]

well if you want a place to hang out we got a shop on the southside where we work on our trucks, you can see some of the other truck in the background of my pics. i live on the southside but i work in the NE side off of austin hwy and 410, somewhat long commute.

[Zylone]

Sweet man, I will have to take you up on that offer! Would be cool to meet some new gear head friends that are local! I work off of austin hwy and 410 as well. When do you usually hang out down there at the shop?

[SATownChevy]

ok, got more pics

[SATownChevy]

and more....

[sgaylord]

Nice progress. What are your plans for the wire gutter?

Steve

[SATownChevy]

going to weld the two pieces back together, some areas started to separate because of the rust. but it will be filled in and smoothed out. we are going to have as little of the wires showing. going for that clean smoothed out look.

[sgaylord]

Sounds like it's going to be sweet. I am staying tuned in!

Steve

[SATownChevy]

got more work done on it, cleaned up some of the welds and plasma cuts

[Zylone]

Looking good man, you guys are making fast progress! It got me motivated to clean up my garage and build some more shelves and a peg board wall to hang random tools so I can start working on mine again (told the lady it gives me more room to work on my honey-do list this week while I am off LOL). BTW, forgot to ask you the other day.. are you going to sell the rear crossmember that holds the shock mount's? If so, I call first dibs! =)

[SATownChevy]

haha, yea gotta tell her something. its yours dude, i banged it up a bit "uninstalling" it since it didnt want to go nicely, but we can get it fixed up. next time you come to the shop go ahead and take a look at it and we will see what we can do.

[SATownChevy]

took the head in to get machined. installing manley 202 and 160 valves, comp cam springs to compliment my new thumper cam and roller rockers. should be done by this weekend.

also put more new metal on the cab.

[SATownChevy]

worked on the truck this holiday weekend and was able to get the motor on the frame. need to put the exhaust in and see where i want to run all my lines. also took care of the vent holes on the dash.