Lattimer's 1970 C-10 build

[mcbassin]

Congrats on the new engine. Sounds good in the vids too.
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[Lattimer]

Drove the truck a little to run some errands Saturday. Taking it easy during break in. Truck started stalling on the way to Home depot, wouldn't idle. Luckily I have a high idle solenoid on a switch. Got it home and parked it.

Tried to start it Sunday, no spark. Module in the HEI died. Only been in there 8 months, maybe 2500 miles.

Now I'm waiting for a complete new dizzy. Not putting another dime into the old one.

[Lattimer]

Brown truck showed up with a ton of goodies today.

New dizzy, slapped it in, so now the truck runs. Still have to change the oil pan gasket due to a leak.
New Autometer voltmeter and vacuum gauge for under the dash.

AND..............Tremec TKO 600.


Gonna be a few weeks before I can get to the trans.

[Bennett68C10]

Nice purchase on the trans, should be fun to drive
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[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Nice purchase on the trans, should be fun to drive
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Now I just need a decent engine in front of it. Got my new motor running (again), took it for a test drive, and the mother f$%&*@# started knocking

[El Campo]

You didn't get a drastic timing change that cause knocking did you? I have had that happen before with HEI. Wishing you the best of luck with the problem there
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[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by El Campo

You didn't get a drastic timing change that cause knocking did you? I have had that happen before with HEI. Wishing you the best of luck with the problem there
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Pretty certain this is a rod. No clue what I did wrong, I plastigauged everything and the specs were dead center.

[Lattimer]

OK, long time no posts. My rebuild on the 327 seems to have a thrust bearing issue. Crank float was good when I built the engine, now it seems excessive. Haven't torn into it to see what happened.

Anyways, that kind of pissed me off, so I bought a new crate engine. 355 Vortec. Hopefully its a good one.

Got the new engine in, and tonight I got the Tremec behind it. Still a bunch of work to do and I have to wait for the driveshaft yet. Probably another week or so before it runs.

[Lattimer]

American Powertrain says the driveshaft should be here Thursday or at the latest Friday, so next weekend i should have this running.

Spent yesterday getting the new crossmember in place and getting the clutch adjusted, plus installed my new gauges.

Tonight I made a new trim plate for around the shifter from diamond plate. Also ordered a Lokar shift boot today. I'll get some pics once its all installed.

Very impressed with American Powertrain. Good customer service and they have some cool stuff. Their adjustable crossmember fit great. They also sent a 3" offset shifter that is short throw and 360 degree adjustable. Even with my engine in the 6 cylinder position and the bench seat the shifter still fits well.

[Lattimer]

Ok, the rest of the parts for the shifter showed up, so that is all finished. All I need now is the driveshaft. Pics!!!!!!


new gauges

New engine



Shifter


Here it is in second gear, and it clears the bench seat pretty well. My engine is in the rear L-6 mounting position.


In neutral


First gear


Lots of photos of the trans and crossmember. I used the factory bellhousing and just had a machine shop make a spacer ring to properly center the trans in the larger hole. I decided to leave the original crossmember in place. It looks like a giant PITA to remove it, and once I removed the rubber mounts there is plenty of clearance to leave it there.

Also note the HUGE hole in the floor. That is the result of 3 different transmissions being in there.

I would also note that the low hump floor does clear the TREMEC with only some minor BFH modifications.

[mcbassin]

Very nice work on the tranny. Looks like you're so close to roasting some tires.

[Lattimer]

It lives!!!! Started right up on the first try. Did the cam break in. One small coolant leak to fix and tune the carb. Got something funky with the throttle linkage too, but thats minor.

[Bennett68C10]

Looks great, which crate motor is that? I know it's a 355 but what company.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Looks great, which crate motor is that? I know it's a 355 but what company.

Blueprint. Its a Vortec, one piece rear main. 385hp, 405 tq.

[Lattimer]

Got the hood back on, got the carb tuned, and after 3 tries I finally put an old water neck back on and got my only leak stopped.

Took it for about a 50 mile test drive, mix of in town, secondary roads, and a little highway.

Runs really nice, and has a very lumpy idle. Sounds BAD when idling. Definitely big power there, but I haven't spun it over 3500 yet and I won't until after 500 miles.

Trans is freaking awesome!!!!!!!! Gear ratios feel absolutely perfect. On the highway, 2100 rpm at 75mph. Truck is smooth as silk. I want to crawl back under the truck and hug the trans.

Only remaining thing is I need a little bit of adjustment on the clutch.

[Bennett68C10]

Awesome glad your getting to enjoy it finally after the engine troubles you had

[Lattimer]

Well, lots of carb adjustments, clutch adjustments, and 400 miles have gone by. Engine seems to run good and strong so far, awesome power. Clutch is very touchy, I guess because its kevlar. Hard to be smooth with it. TREMEC is freaking awesome. Had to fight with a couple of coolant leaks along the way, I have no luck with hoses and water necks....LOL.

At any rate, very happy I went this route. Now I have 2 327's to unload. One I pulled was an ok runner but needs head work, the other I rebuilt and it started knocking. Gotta get around to pull the pan on the one and see what I did wrong, and decide what to do with the other.

[Lattimer]

New project this weekend. The Classic Autosound radio I installed looks cool, but is a POS. Rotten radio reception, sound goes in and out, and now it wants to always go to mute instead of shutting off.

I debated for a long time on cutting the dash to put it a modern radio, then it hit me.

I ALREADY HAVE A HIGHLINER HEADLINER. Put the radio there dummy!!!!!!

So, last night and today I tore the interior to shreds to run a whole bunch of new wires. I already had replaced the Highliner speakers with Pioneer 2-ways, and I had added in a Hifonics amp and an 8" Pioneer slim sub under the seat. I had to pull a bunch of wires up the b-pillar, and install the new Pioneer deck in the headliner. Turned out pretty good.

Deck is this: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...H-X6500BT.html
Allows Bluetooth streaming and gives me hands free calling. I tested all the functions and it seems to work nice.

[Lattimer]

Had some time this afternoon, so I decided to swap in the grill I rehabbed. Not a showpiece, but way better than the dented one I had.

[Street Smart]

Wow, gettin a lot done! Looks good.

[mcbassin]

Awesome progress!

[Lattimer]

Actually used it as a truck today. My Tundra has a 5.5 foot bed, and the Chevy has more room. Picked up a Hammer Strength tricep machine for my buddy's home gym. Had it shipped to my job. Weighs about 400 pounds and was on a pallet that was just a hair under 6 feet. Made the truck ride nice and smooth.




Also a pic of the truck parked. I never seem to get any shots from the back, probably because the tailgate is so ugly

[mcbassin]

How cool is that? getting to actually use it as a truck! I love this truck

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

How cool is that? getting to actually use it as a truck! I love this truck

I refuse to let it be a garage queen, especially since the body isn't done yet.

When it is done its getting Line-X in the bed so I can always use it instead of just looking at it.

Also scheduled to go back for more rust repair on 11/25. Gonna get the other door done.

[Lattimer]

Couple of pics my wife had on her camera.


1st, my garage helper






Me barely fitting in the engine bay