72 C10 for my 25th wedding anniversary

[MDPotter]

Well this is exciting, the first startup! I can't wait to be where you're at with our project.

It's ironic, after months of waiting for our Terminator to show up it's still just sitting on a shelf in the shop as we wait for the Holley bellhousing.

[sfont66]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Well this is exciting, the first startup! I can't wait to be where you're at with our project.

It's ironic, after months of waiting for our Terminator to show up it's still just sitting on a shelf in the shop as we wait for the Holley bellhousing.

Yeah, it really is a good feeling! So many parts to blend together, and they all seem to be working well. I’m happy to be done with the electrical part, and all circuits are working.
So far I’m happy with the terminator x, and would definitely buy it again. It was easier than I had thought it would be, as I said before, I hate wiring, but it all turned out pretty good.

Waiting for key components to arrive is very frustrating! Many companies still are short staffed, and many more still claim supply chain issues. The same is true for the company I work for.
I feel your pain, hopefully you won’t have to wait too much longer.

[sfont66]

I have been driving the truck around for the last 5 or 6 weeks on nice days. It has been very reliable, starts instantly, idles great, goes down the road straight, no vibrations, no leaks or overheating. Everything is working as it should.

In 6th it will cruise at approximately 2300RPM at 80 mph on freeway, which is nice. I was only able to put maybe 20 miles on the fresh engine and transmission swap before this years Street machine nationals car show in St Paul MN. We try to go each year. This year we wanted to drive there each day. It’s approximately 80 miles one way, so I was a bit nervous about breaking down or overheating the first day. As it turns out, the truck made it without any issues. We drove to St.Paul and back home each day(Friday & Saturday) so I figured we put on over 320 miles in those 2 days alone. I probably have over 500 miles on the truck now. I checked the mileage twice and I averaged 16 miles per gallon with some city and freeway miles combined.

It was recommended to break in the clutch and transmission for 500-1000 miles, so I have been trying to take it easy on it for a while.
The truck is a blast to drive, but I seem to think I need more HP, and I’m wondering if ported heads with bigger valves, and a heathy cam , larger throttle body, will be enough?
I’ve been looking for a nice 6.0, but the prices are very close to the 6.2’s I find .
One good thing about a 6.0 is , I can use a lot of the stuff that I already have…..
For now though it’s running, and it’s fun!

[MDPotter]

Let's see some pictures!

As for more HP, a cam would wake it up a bit. I have a stage 2 truck cam from BTR in my 6.0 and it's a good cam. If I were to do another LS swap, I would look for a Gen V LT engine - either a 5.3 (355 HP) or a 6.2 (420 HP). Those engines are a little less friendly to swap, but they make great power and I've seen 5.3/6 or 8 spd trans combos going for $3500 plus shipping or 6.2/6 or 8 speeds going for $6500 plus shipping.

[sfont66]

A few pics…
My truck doesn’t compare well to some of the others at the show……..yet.
A few pics just after getting the truck back in one piece, and one at the show just to prove we made it. Actually I didn’t take the pic of my truck at the show, a friend saw it there, and sent me the pic
For a bunch of pics of trucks from the show, I shared them in a thread under General discussion: 2022 continental tire Street Machine Nationals, St.Paul Mn.
I deleted some photos, but I still have a bunch from this year and last year, some nice , some junk ….
I forget how to post a link at the moment

[MDPotter]

Looks pretty clean! If your bed was in the same condition as the cab and front clip, it would be ready to drive!

[sfont66]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

Looks pretty clean! If your bed was in the same condition as the cab and front clip, it would be ready to drive!

Yeah, the box sides and wheel tubs need some color. I will most likely spray them Medium bronze to match the rest of the truck this fall,or next spring.
I am probably a couple years away from being able to pull the entire truck back apart to do a color change to Hugger orange.

[sfont66]

I pulled the bed off the truck again, it’s cold outside, but warm in the shop. So , I thought I would get back to work on the truck again.
For many years I have had a hole in the floor of the bed where the gas filler neck is on the Boyd tank. Recently I decided to do something about it. Boyd Welding had a Black Friday sale, so I purchased their flush mount bed floor fill kit.
My truck came from California and was in pretty good shape as far as rust, but it was used hard on a ranch, so it has had its share of bumps , bangs and dents.
The bed floor shows the result of using a truck as a truck for many years prior to me owning it.
Anyway, I disassembled the bed again, so I could work on the floor. I started with the gas filler. I didn’t want the filler to sit on top of the ribs, but more recessed, I marked out a circle about 3/8” larger in diameter than the filler. I then cut the ribs along that line and hammered that portion flat. Then I welded the gaps between the ribs and the floor closed ( forgot to take a pic) most welding was done from the underside. A little grinding, and a skim of filler…..
more in a bit

[sfont66]

The area around the gas filler would need more work if I was going to paint the floor.
But after working on pounding dents and trying to pull some out with a stud gun, and flipping the floor over , pounding more dents, and flipping the floor back, I could see that I was not able to get at the dents where the cross sills were.
So now I am thinking I may sandblast, epoxy prime and then spray just the floor of the bed with Raptor liner or Line-X or something similar to hide some of the sin. I will still paint the other portions of the bed.

[88Stanger]

Awesome build!
I too am running the Terminator X Max kit. I started with a PSI kit, it was nice and work good, but I really am sold on the Holley kit! With that said, please note that I had a crazy issue this past month with mine Holley kit. I went to start it and it was running so damn rich and crazy idle issue. I tried and tried to figure it out. So I got ahold of the tuner I used (Andrew whom does the tune all while he is in a different state than i am via my laptop) and within 3 min he found an issue with a vacuum leak and was able to direct me to the vacuum line that is tied into the back of the Holley ECU. The little clear Vacuum connector that is attached to the little blue line just broke in Half, thus a massive vacuum leak. The only thing we can figure is that vibrations caused an issue because this is not the first time he has seen this. So, maybe take a look at this on yours. I called Holley and they do not have a part number for it, BUT they are shipping me a new one for free, Thank you Holley. My plan is to cut a larger diameter rubber hose in half long ways and cover the hoses and fitting with this. Anyways, just passing on info i have from mine. Otherwise, love the kit! great work on yours!!!

[sfont66]

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

Awesome build!
I too am running the Terminator X Max kit. I started with a PSI kit, it was nice and work good, but I really am sold on the Holley kit! With that said, please note that I had a crazy issue this past month with mine Holley kit. I went to start it and it was running so damn rich and crazy idle issue. I tried and tried to figure it out. So I got ahold of the tuner I used (Andrew whom does the tune all while he is in a different state than i am via my laptop) and within 3 min he found an issue with a vacuum leak and was able to direct me to the vacuum line that is tied into the back of the Holley ECU. The little clear Vacuum connector that is attached to the little blue line just broke in Half, thus a massive vacuum leak. The only thing we can figure is that vibrations caused an issue because this is not the first time he has seen this. So, maybe take a look at this on yours. I called Holley and they do not have a part number for it, BUT they are shipping me a new one for free, Thank you Holley. My plan is to cut a larger diameter rubber hose in half long ways and cover the hoses and fitting with this. Anyways, just passing on info i have from mine. Otherwise, love the kit! great work on yours!!!

Thanks for the kind words
And thanks for the heads up on the vacuum line connection. I do agree that Holley could have done a better job with that particular connector. I will keep an eye on it.
As for the rest of the Holley Terminator system, I think the quality is excellent for the price. I would buy it again .

[sfont66]

Small update:
Progress was slow this past winter, I had planned to send the 799 heads off to Texas Speed and have them ported, larger valves installed, better springs, etc…
I had also planned to install a larger cam and upgrade throttle body. But the company I worked for, for 12 years closed without notice or much explanation, very lousy deal. So I put any extra expenses on hold.

The Good news is the weather has warmed up enough to sandblast and epoxy prime the bed floor. I filled some of the larger dents with Duraglas fiberglass filler. I then wanted to protect the filler from the sandblasting process a bit, so I put a couple of layers of duct tape over the places with filler before I blasted the floor.
I did both sides, the underside actually blasted easier than the top. It took quite a while to blast everything with my little sandblasting pot. Used just over 200 pounds of sand.
I guess I forgot to take a pic of the underside, but it actually cleaned up better than the top.
Next I sprayed 2 coats of epoxy primer on both sides. Seeing the floor in black epoxy showed a lot of the little dents, and I had some reservations as to how well the Raptor liner I was planning to use would cover them.
I forgot a picture of the epoxy primer……

[sfont66]

After the epoxy cured, I sprayed on the Raptor liner. I had purchased a 1 gallon kit, but only used 2 quarts to cover the top of the floor. I thought it was a very easy process. Hopefully it is fairly durable, although it won’t see much abuse.
I was impressed with how well it covered the smaller dents, and am now debating on if I want to spray more than just the floor of the bed.
My rear lights were in rough shape, one backup lamp housing had wiring issues, and one taillight housing had a wood screw holding the lens in.(This was an old ranch truck and someone used what they had) anyway I ordered all new complete assemblies from GMCPAULS Truck Parts.
The gas filler previously purchased from Boyd Welding was originally intended to be used with a wood floor, but I think it worked out OK, the top of the nozzle on the tank, and the throat of the filler are extremely close, almost touching, just a small 3” section of rubber hose connects one to the other.

I had sprayed the bedsides and wheel tubs in my garage the week prior when the weather was nice, before all the bugs came out, and the cottonwood trees started dropping fluff. It was just the typical scuff, prime and shoot the same terrible matching color of paint. Wish it was Hugger orange, but that will be some time in the future when I can tear the truck apart and do it right.

[cornerstone]

Your work on recessing the fuel fill kit is top notch. I think I'll do the same thing with mine. I have the same Boyd's fuel tank you do since I was initially planning on a wood bed floor earlier on. I suppose the hose that comes with the flush mount fuel fill kit slides over the threads that were designed to hold the cap on that came with the tank, and then just use the provided hose clamp to hold the seal tight?

Good to know how much Raptor Liner you needed for the bed floor, I'll be doing the same thing soon. Do you think the 2 remaining quarts would be enough for the rest of the inside of the bed? I mean the front panel, the inside facing of the tailgate, and the inner bedsides and wheel tubs?

Your paint work looks great man. Personally I love the bronze color your truck has, but Hugger orange will also be very cool.

[loudchevy]

Nice build, sfont66! I love the recessed gas filler on the bed floor. I'm going to have to steal that.

[sfont66]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Nice build, sfont66! I love the recessed gas filler on the bed floor. I'm going to have to steal that.

Thank you
And
Thanks for taking the time to read through it. I’m glad you liked the gas filler, it’s really quite simple, relatively easy to do, just takes a little time . It’s worth it in the end in my opinion. It just doesn’t look right bolted on top of the ribs

[sfont66]

Over the past weeks I have been tearing the engine down to a short block, to get the block ready for heads, cam , lifters etc.
I wasn’t able to access the block drain plugs, but my shop vac is pretty strong, and was able to suck the remaining coolant out of the block, this worked good I thought. I don’t think I would bother removing the block plugs if / when I tear the engine apart again.

I need to finish cleaning up the block deck, a old gift card and lacquer thinner works good, carb cleaner works good as well. I am going to try some plastic razor blades to see if I can clean it up a bit better.

I still need to order pushrods, head bolts, head gaskets, timing set, trunnion upgrade kit, or new rockers and various other supplies.

[sfont66]

Heads arrived from Texas Speed and Performance. They look good, clean.
Ported with bigger valves, and better springs. Should flow a lot better than the old heads.
Hopefully they will make a big difference compared to the 799’s

[sfont66]

One more pic

[Randy S]

Nice work, thanks for sharing your progress.

Would a wrench adapter be useful for torquing those bolts where you can get a wrench on them but not a socket? Something like this one from Motion Pro.

[sfont66]

Originally Posted by Randy S

Nice work, thanks for sharing your progress.

Would a wrench adapter be useful for torquing those bolts where you can get a wrench on them but not a socket? Something like this one from Motion Pro.

Thanks for your reply and compliment.

It’s possible that adapter would have been useful in the circumstances I had ,with limited access to the pickup tube. Of course once you have a tool you can find more opportunities to put it to use. I will have to check those adapters out.

[sfont66]

The valve spring compressor arrived, and I was able to swap from the 660 springs to the lightweight checker springs. The compressor was inexpensive, but actually worked quite well, and it had better reviews than much more expensive models.
A lump of modeling clay proved I had plenty of piston to valve clearance. I threw a used head gasket in place and the new heads with a several head bolts. I had made a solid lifter by taking apart a old lifter, cleaned it with brake cleaner, filled it with RTV silicone and reassembled it. I then let it cure a few days. As it turns out I probably didn’t need a solid lifter, especially with the light checker springs. My numbers were very close between the solid lifter, and a new lifter when I assembled the rockers and used the adjustable pushrod to measure for pushrods.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…..
After turning the crank over a few times, I pulled the head back off and saw the depression in the clay that the valves had made.

[sfont66]

I cut a cross section out of the clay and measured the clearance very close to 1/4”(.0.2475) for the intake valve and 3/16 (0.1840)for the exhaust valve. Plenty of room. I really didn’t think this cam was going to have issues, but with exhaust duration in the 240’s and aftermarket heads, I thought it would give me peace of mind to double check.

I washed off the rust inhibitor on the lifters with mineral spirits, and then gently blew them dry with compressed air. After that I soaked them in oil, I know most people say you shouldn’t, or don’t have to, but I wanted to make certain there wasn’t any trace of mineral spirits left inside the lifter cavities. After the oil bath I let the lifters drain, plugged them into the trays, applied assembly lube to the lifters and lifter bores, and placed the lifters and trays into the engine.
I gave the block deck and head a final wipe with lacquer thinner and a clean cloth, set a new gasket in place and lowered the head onto the block.
The ARP bolts called for a 30#, 60#,90# torque spec , in sequence the 10 larger bolts and 25# on the 5 smaller bolts.

[sfont66]

For the passenger side head, I wanted to keep the mechanical temperature gauge, this required the head to be drilled and tapped a bit larger for the temperature gauge fitting.
I used a bit of grease to help catch the shavings, but I cleaned it up for the pics.
That’s all the further I was able to get yesterday

Back to the pushrod measurements. When I placed the adjustable pushrod into the lifter cup and adjusted it up to the rocker that was torqued down to 22ft# I adjusted to zero lash (no up and down against pushrod or valve stem, but a little side to side movement) I measured 7.3105, that plus the recommended lifter preload of .080 I come up with 7.3905. Very close to the 7.4 recommended by Texas Speed.
Stock pushrods measure 7.3970. When I install the rockers I will check again using another method by counting how far the rocker arm bolt turns before proper torque is reached. I don’t plan to use the stock push rods, but the length is very close, and should work well for a final check before ordering new ones.

[1972CheyenneSuper]

Great build! Read through it, alot of great info with the ls swap, appreciate the part numbers in the photos too!