How to: Ruin a perfectly good C10

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Number98

What is your plan for hood hinges?

I have a set of cowl-mounted Porterbuilt hinges powder coated and ready to go, but I have to install a cowl first...

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

It has been a while since I've seen your truck my friend. It looks incredible, nice work.

Thanks a lot! Looks like a bunch of work left to me, haha

So, I removed the inner cowl today to get rid of the rust problems. Seems the rubber that PO used to fill the wire run collected water underneath and rotted the firewall. I’ll have a fair amount of repair to do before installing the new metal.

While I had the wire wheel on the grinder cleaning rust, I decided to start removing the undercoating or bedliner or whatever it is from the firewall. I ended the day looking like a coal miner, but glad to have made some progress.

[builtbyKane]

That is never any fun, but what a difference already. Great job.

[sprint_9]

Wow that looks like alot of work, it will all be worth it in the end, keep up the good work.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by builtbyKane

That is never any fun, but what a difference already. Great job.

Thanks for the kind words. Not fun, per se, but definitely gratifying. I am enjoying the opportunity to get in there and make it ‘right’. I was getting a little excited identifying all of the holes I want to weld up.

[SCOTI]

So...... more damage than expected?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Wow that looks like alot of work, it will all be worth it in the end, keep up the good work.

Thanks! I have a vision of the finished product that makes it all worth it

Originally Posted by SCOTI

So...... more damage than expected?

Meh, it’s about what I thought would be there. Lots of little holes along the wire run. I’ll have to do some interior disassembly before proceeding, to keep from starting a fire while welding

[gringoloco]

Took a break from the messy cowl/firewall to deal with the messy engine. She was nice and clean on the inside, though. Can’t wait to get to the no gloves required, re-assembly part...

[gringoloco]

Oh yeah, I’m digging this:

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Oh yeah, I’m digging this:

Who's VC adapters?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Who's VC adapters?

They’re from CFR Performance. They mount the coils under the VC, have provisions for PCV, and utilize the stock valve cover gaskets.

[sprint_9]

Thats gonna look good. I always toyed with the idea of making my LS look old school, Im excited to see it come together.

[BustedTruck]

Thank you for all the detailed post. I am in the same place with that inner cowl. Looking forward to your take on it.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Thats gonna look good. I always toyed with the idea of making my LS look old school, Im excited to see it come together.

Thanks, I dig it, too. Though, back when I first had this idea, not many people were doing LS swaps this way, now it seems everyone is. May have to change it up just a bit...

Originally Posted by BustedTruck

Thank you for all the detailed post. I am in the same place with that inner cowl. Looking forward to your take on it.

I like to give detail in hopes that it may benefit someone else. Can’t tell you how many times this forum has helped answer questions for me. Can’t say I’m looking forward to the cowl work, though. More like putting it off

[shearjs]

So cool! Everything looks great. Digging the engine ideas.

[mjensen]

Looking good!!

[Last_Paladin]

Along for the ride.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by shearjs

So cool! Everything looks great. Digging the engine ideas.

Originally Posted by mjensen

Looking good!!

Originally Posted by Last_Paladin

Along for the ride.

Thanks guys, and welcome to the circus.

After chasing the elusive 9/16” grade 8 hex and 7/16” grade 5 carriage bolts all over town because my normal bolt supplier was closed for the holiday, I managed to get the new cab mounts installed. The old rubber ones had been previously replaced with LMC units and weren’t that bad, actually, but the core support bushings were pretty well shot.

The cab has not been square on the frame since I’ve owned this truck, which caused misalignment issues with the bed, fenders, cowl, and hood. When I measured it, it was around 3/8” off side-to-side I figured while the truck is torn apart, it’s a good time to straighten it out and replace bushings. I greased the crap out of the Prothane mounts with Energy Suspension’s super gooey grease and torqued her down in the correct position. We'll see how much shimming it needs upon reassembly...

[gringoloco]

The valve cover adapters are for sale here, if anyone is interested:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=753953

They sell for $200 plus new, these were only used for mock-up. Nothing wrong with them, just decided to go a different route.

[gringoloco]

Worked on tearing down the interior so I can continue with the firewall and cowl repairs. Figured now was as good a time as any to get the high hump cut out...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

The valve cover adapters are for sale here, if anyone is interested:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=753953

They sell for $200 plus new, these were only used for mock-up. Nothing wrong with them, just decided to go a different route.

Hhmm......

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Hhmm......

Yeah, if I could just make up my damned mind, this project would go a lot faster (and cheaper)...

In other news, I got the majority of the upper firewall rust taken care of and mocked-up the new inner cowl panel. It is a surprisingly good fit, but will need some massaging and smoothing (along with the firewall) before final install.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Looking good! I like your attention to detail. Keep up the good work!

[knomadd]

Nice work! Keep it up. Curious what your different route is for the valve covers. I have a set of those CFR adapters that I have plans to use in the future. Haven't brought myself to put them on yet though.

[GAc10boy]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Worked on tearing down the interior so I can continue with the firewall and cowl repairs. Figured now was as good a time as any to get the high hump cut out...

About to tackle this on my '68. Can you give me a little more detail in what tool you used to cut the floor and any tips you have to make sure it's right. Yours turned out great! Were your high hump bolt holes already in your floor or did you drill before you cut out low-hump?

My first time going from low-to-high and I want to make sure I do it right the first time.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

About to tackle this on my '68. Can you give me a little more detail in what tool you used to cut the floor and any tips you have to make sure it's right. Yours turned out great! Were your high hump bolt holes already in your floor or did you drill before you cut out low-hump?

My first time going from low-to-high and I want to make sure I do it right the first time.

I did this on my 68 & my 64. The high humps are slightly different for each series but the install was the same. I set the high hump over the stock floor & used a sharpie to reference mark the hole locations.

The stock floor basically has a formed body line in the floor that pretty much can be used as the cutting guide. You want to leave enough material past the reference holes so there's a decent flange when bolting the hump.

Really was pretty straight forward for both models.