Mr Green Jeans - the 69 (or not) chevy, er gmc, project

[OKGMC4]

Threw some primer on to see where I’m at. Also chopped all the mounting bosses off a valve cover. Filled the remaining holes with some 6mm bolts, cut them off, and sanded smooth. Thinking of building a bracket to mount the coils behind the intake.

[OKGMC4]

Live in Oklahoma they said. It’ll be fun they said.

[OKGMC4]

Building the pipe from turbo to intercooler. What you can’t really see is that I had to change motor mounts and stands. I had 73-87 mounts because of the Dougs headers I had. I am GOING to have a/c. The turbo lives where the Sanden 508 was supposed to live. I’ll need a low mount bracket and SD7 compressor. 73-87 mounts interfere because they are huge and far forward. I put the 67-72 mounts in and they were farther back but are taller and suddenly the turbo manifold hit where it once fit. I ended up with the Performance Online tubular stands and some 70 Camaro mounts. They sit low AND far back (in the rear holes) so I now have room for the Trick manifold AND a low mount compressor. Change one thing, change everything.

[OKGMC4]

My truck oil pan hangs about an inch below the crossmember. Almost bought the gm muscle car pan but it would have only got me to flush to the crossmember. I also wanted the port for an oil drain for the turbo. The pan I bought is from Top Street Performance, part number 81075. Looks like a knock off of the Holley pan with oil drain ports but it comes with all hardware and a gasket. Got mine on eBay for $100 cheaper than the Holley pan, too.

[OKGMC4]

Going to try to use the side exit exhaust hole I built in front of the rear tire. Notched the cab brace and will have to modify the inner fender to clear the pipe. There’s not enough space for the wastegate on the manifold now so it will have to go on the crossover. I think it will be easier to run the wastegate pipe separate from the main exhaust.

[OKGMC4]

Got the longest straight through bullet muffler I could find. All the pipe is 3” stuff I had in my shed to this point. Ordered an adapter, a piece of straight pipe, and a 90 in 3.5” and will kick the size up just after the muffler.

[Ctgry5]

Outstanding craftsmanship on all your mods and ideas

[MDPotter]

That turbo setup is going to be sweet. Turbos had never really been interesting to me until I started watching videos of C10's with turbos.

[OKGMC4]

Thanks guys. I hope it works. This is my first turbo and I’m going to try and run the Holly Terminator X system so it will also be my first attempt at tuning. Mostly I hope the system is smarter than me so I don’t blow anything up. I really want some power but I want it smooth and quiet-ish. That’s why I’m leaving the stock Camaro LS1 cam in my 5.3. When this engine was in my 56 gmc I got 18mpg and never used a drop of oil. If I can get that same reliability with a couple hundred extra horses on board it should be a blast. Been trimming the inner fender to clear my strange exhaust.

[OKGMC4]

Exhaust built. Wastegate next.

[OKGMC4]

Wastegate secured. Going to put a little Thrush straight through glass pack and a turndown on it instead of tying it back to the main exhaust.

[OKGMC4]

Like this!

[MDPotter]

Your neighbors are going to hate you haha

[cornerstone]

Yeah... I'd love to hear it decelerate from 5000 rpm. I bet you'll have a loud snap, crackle, pop sound before the rumble kicks in at idle.

[OKGMC4]

Sanded. Body filler. Sanded. Primer. Patch bottom of door. Patch no longer needed exhaust hole. Every time I feel like I’m catching up I find another part that needs work.

[OKGMC4]

1" angle iron. Cut bend tack. Repeat. Repeatedly. Window frame coming soon. Added clearance for a small gap.

[OKGMC4]

Worked the shape to fit the glass better. Almost ready to prime

[OKGMC4]

Frame for flush mounting made but fitting it to the cab is slooowwww.....

[OKGMC4]

Outside looking pretty good. Bottom fully attached inside. Trying to figure out the top and sides inside. I’m pretty sure I allowed too much space. Broke my back glass and not sure how tall it was but I have 14 3/8 “ height and I “think” the glass is around 14”. I’ll have to weld in some 1/8 “ bar stock to get that 1/8” gap I was trying for all the way around. I’m 98.9 percent sure I’ll never go this crazy on a roof again provided I can actually survive this one. And I may need to replace my worn out welder. And my wife says the smell of welding and grinding has officially become a permanent fragrance for me despite repeated attacks with industrial soap and a good scrubber pad. Told her that’s just how a real man smells. She just laughed and laughed.

[OKGMC4]

Welding 1/4“ rod all the way around and patching in the gap. I think it will look good but it’s slow. At least wire and gas are cheap.

[OKGMC4]

More patching...

[MDPotter]

The quantity of hours you've put into the body of your truck is unfathomable for me. I don't have the patience for all the one-off touches. You're going to have a unique truck!

[OKGMC4]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

The quantity of hours you've put into the body of your truck is unfathomable for me. I don't have the patience for all the one-off touches. You're going to have a unique truck!

If I had left the body stock I’d probably be driving it right now. The fabrication takes forever.

[OKGMC4]

Sometimes you have to put on a couple coats of primer to see if you’re doing any good.

[cornerstone]

Like my mom used to say....."Looks as smooth as a baby's bottom!"