A '54 named Busty

[Gregski]

Knock, knock...

Update:

PHASE I

Step 1. Get her running.
- it's a 350/400 how hard could it be? ha ha
Step 2. Knock the fugly off of her.

PHASE II

Step 1. Remove the ol' 350 SBC and the TH400 transmission.
Step 2. Install LM7 5.3L and a 4L60e transmission! aka LS Swap

TABLE OF CONTENTS by Thread Number (since your page numbers can vary)

70 - original steering wheel
122 - aftermarket steering wheel
145 - custom rear shock crossmember
263 - clutch pedal delete
273 - Camaro steering box
286 - inner front fenders
292 - front fenders
313 - modified radiator core support
317 - front fender brackets
335 - headlights
368 - Bed
389 - Highwood bed floor boards
417 - custom dual exhaust
444 - Heater Hose delete
462 - Stock Gauges
482 - heater core delete
513 - Chevy Blazer S10 bench seat
525 - 60/40 Bucket Seats
545 - Leaf Springs
548 - Drive Shaft
574 - Headlight Switch
575 - Steering Column
600 - Firewall
1729 - PCM wiring (not for the faint of heart)
1736 - glove box
1765 - horn button
1777 - aftermarket side mirror
1781 - LS Intake Manifold cover


MATERIALS
286, 406, 1693 - RUST-OLEUM Rusty Metal Primer (great product)
289 - RUST-OLEUM Matte Finish black paint (didn't like the greenish hue)
292 - Denatured Alcohol (great stuff)
295 - 805
356 - SEM Rubberized Undercoating
366 - SEM Zincweld 40773 primer
427 - Dupli-Color Wheel Coating


TOOLS purpose of listing these is to give Young Padawans an idear of how to slowly build up their toolboxes as they dive into this sport head first

306 - Media Tumbler (sucked)
364, 499, 597 - Shop Vac
376 - Harbor Freight Bauer Bandsaw (craptastic)
376 - SWAG bandsaw table (super)
425 - Bernzomatic TS8000T propane torch (Excellent)
440 - DeWalt cordless drill
478, 498, 612 - DeWalt corded 4.5" angle grinder (My Work Horse Power Tool)
584 - Lincoln 140c MIG welder (awesome machine)
624 - Face mask
626 - Milwaukee hole saw blades (junk, garbage)
1760 - Weller soldering iron

[8man]

I'll bite, who's there?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 8man

I'll bite, who's there?

ha ha, thanks... It's Busty! (aka My Dream Truck)

[Gregski]

I'm no expert but this must be the base model, cause I don't see any USB ports

... and act now if you want dibs on that authentic 4" steering wheel cause it won't last long

[Gregski]

no distributor is a clear sign this must be the LR4 4.8L with the 4L60e automagic gearmission - note the beltless power steering setup (truly ahead of it's time)

[Gregski]

the original leaf spring front end in the bed is a clear sign somebody grafted a second gen camaro front end, hence the five lug conversion with a matching 10 bolt pumpkin in the rear, probly a one wheel peel though?

[8man]

Nice start, what with all those upgrades already. I'm in for the build.

[mongocanfly]

New truck and a sense of humor....what could go wrong...

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 8man

Nice start, what with all those upgrades already. I'm in for the build.

oh most def, I was joking and being sarcastic that that POS engine already is an LS cause it had no dizzy so that makes it automatically an LS, ��

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

New truck and a sense of humor....what could go wrong...

this guy gets it, you gotta have a sense of humor, I just love that piece of junk

[Gregski]

man dat long distance relationship just wasn't working out, so just waitin' on My Bae to arrive

[Gregski]

and here she be, and she lookin' a'ight, turns out she's got a 350 SBC as advertised, but she sports a TH400 instead of the dime a dozen TH350, we'll call that "Wining" !

Yes that rad has to go as it doesn't have trans cooler in it, same goes for that decapitator mechanical fan - we like our fingers!

[Gregski]

them Vortecian rocker shafts might be just fine for a fire up, took the sparkulators out and shot some WD-40 down them holes and then chased it with some 10W-30 than she spun around smoothly like a hot knife through butter

[Gregski]

the madness comences

[Gregski]

after fartin' around with the old style power steering pump I decided to ditch the old bracketry and go with the Vortec serpentine belt pulley system since that's what this engine is anyway and I had all the brackets already laying around from a 1999 Suburban

[Gregski]

one of the first things that caught my eye was this engine came with a small 6" harmonica balancer and the 1999 setup has an 8" one

[Gregski]

aint that sexy

Update: that stupid timing tab sticks out too far, once I pressed on the Vortec 8" harmonic balancer the teeth on this thing stick out in front of it, must cut it and modify it, it's these pesky little things that are getting annoying, I thought this was going to be an easy fire up, not mad or anything just sharing what I am going through and what you may be going through with your projects from time to time, it's the two steps forward one step back phase

[Gregski]

honestly this truck came with everything and was only missing a couple things, the fuel pump being one of them, so I splurged $17 bucks on a pump for a second gen camaro

[Gregski]

progress was slow but steady today, got the harmonic balancer and crank pulley on, got the alternator bracket on, as well as the power steering bracket, and the AC delete pulley

[Gregski]

then it was time to ditch the radiator mechanical fan in favor of an electric one, this is dictated by the lack of space

I didn't have a belt so I had to improvise

[Gregski]

got one valve cover on and got my 600 CFM Holley carburetor on, I thought only the AC compressor got in the way of the driver side valve cover but I was wrong it's actually the bracket itself, epic fail GM epic fail

[Gregski]

I believe I have a Second Gen Camaro front clip so I thought let's order up a TH400 transmission cross member and it should bolt right up, since I was missing a transmission bracket/cross member

well this bracket don't fit it wants to bolt up 3" too much forward of the mounting holes on the transmission tail shaft, what to do what to do?

I should have know better, after all no one in their right mind would cut up a First Gen Camaro to do this frame swap

[Gregski]

OK so the TH400 rubber mount showed up today, and as soon as it cools down 99*F still in September here in Cali I will mount it to that cross member which will help me center the transmission tailshaft and then I will go to work on fabricating extensions for that cross member to make it work as it is too narrow in it's current state of affairs

[Gregski]

I don't know about you, but when I hit a snag during my build / project I like to spend money on shinny things to make me feel better

had to limit myself to 15x7 rims because I needed the least backspacing possible and I think these run only 3 3/4" otherwise the tires rub against the emergency parking brake cables

FYI these aint steelies they are actually mags, tomato tomatoe

[Gregski]

I also bought these 1/2"-20 to -6AN hose adapters for the radiator transmission cooler lines as I will be making my own steel braided lines and ditching the impossible to bend a second time OEM hard lines, which was not meant to fit late 90s Vortec enjin into a '54 no how anyway

so got a brand new aluminum radiator and do to space constraints will run an electric fan as well, not a huge fan of electric fans but we do what we have to do to git her on the dirt road, know what I'm sayin' fellars?