Vintage Evil Build

[chevyguy_72]

Hey guys... I have been on this board for a long time... I have owned my current 72 C10 SWB 2wd since 1996.

History:

I was a junior in high school at the time. So my budget was tight. It came to me as a typical 2wd at stock height, rusted cab (rockers mainly), straight six with a 5 spd trans from a Camaro(actually from a Monza), a six lug 67-68 rear end, stock front 5 lug disc suspension with manual steering. It had 2 different bolt patterns of wheels (that matched). It ran and drove but the engine burned oil like no other... like huge clouds of oil just sitting at a stop light... I am sure I have some pics of it somewhere but they would be real pics not digital ones.. will add them at a later time if I come across them...

I didn't really care because I fully intended to put a small block v8 in it in very short order...

I did just that... I had a older small block 350 rebuilt by a local builder. Sonic cleaned, painted, RV Cam, high rise Edelbrock valve covers, High rise Edelbrock intake, and matching Edelbrock 600 cfm carb. I also had a good relationship with a local scrap yard that was full of exclusively trucks. I think I was out there 3 days a week at least... looking at what had come in... looking for random parts... etc.

So I tore this poor thing clear apart... No idea what I was doing really but I was bound and determined to learn. added junkyard power steering and a 3.73posi 72 rear end as well as other random parts like small block perches etc... Got my new small block installed... then put it all back together and drove it for a couple of days... power was unreal compared to straight six choking on oil ... well it was so unreal that I blew that Camaro (Monza) 5spd up almost immediately...

Didn't know anything about transmissions so I took it to a local shop for repair... they said it would be cheaper to get another... Me still thinking this was a Camaro V8 trans (and the shop not correcting this thought) I opted for another thinking it was just a weak older trans that was the issue... They found a low mileage one from a salvage yard... went through it and said I would be good... WELL.... I proceeded to grenade that one after a couple weeks as well... took it back to them and they asked what I expected putting a Monza transmission behind a V8... *Ding*

Front end came back off... pulled the motor and POS Monza trans removed the manual trans bell housing crossmember and purchased a turbo 350 from a guy locally... After a few more trips to the salvage yard pulling crossmembers, transmission coolers, transmission yolks etc. I purchased a Hurst Indy floor shifter. I started to piece it back together again... and back to life it came... I then started on paint and body... I had a friend that had a shop and did a lot of the work for me for a reasonable price... I spent lots of times at the salvage yard yet again... cutting pieces off cabs, pulling fenders, etc... finally we pieced together a decent body... I picked up a tailgate (which I never had) and the body guy found me a 72 inner and outer grille that was in good shape.

He was quite the artist and came up with a very unique blue and white paint job. We used a 96 Viper blue and a 96 Silverado white both with extra pearls/metallic etc mixed in... We also did front and rear roll pans, shaved marker lights, and shaved antenna hole. He painted it up and I got it back... Added a set of 15in billet wheels with way too short BFG tires... (there was no such thing as 20s back then(at least not in my price range))

I went off to college not too much after and it was rearended when I was a freshman destroying the roll pan, ripping off exhaust hangers but that was about it... fixed the exhaust and drove it for a bit... then ended up buying a car so I had a more "reliable" source of transportation. It stayed like that for a year or so... then I ended up working in a body shop myself for a while and decided I would work on it again... cut out the wreckage that used to be a roll pan and worked (with others guidance) at straightening the bottom parts of the bed and back of the cab that were also beat up from the wreck as well as the rust bubbles in the bottom of the doors that were poking through from the not so great body work it had received from the original body guy... I ended up flipping the tailgate handle inside the bed and shaving the stake pockets... then as fast as I started a body shop job I ended up relocating before I could finish the rest of it... the body work was done... but not painted... so there it sat in primer.

I ended up finishing college then went on to attempt to find a job after... which never proved very profitable... got married and divorced... truck was driven but never really improved... Finally after divorce I got a wild hair to work on it again... bought a full phantom front grille and installed it, added a remote hood opener in the cab, a set of 20in wheels/tires, a new set of Hedman headers, and a f*^% 9in rear end from a Lincoln that is the correct width and bolt pattern for our trucks (never installed)... I finally end up find a decent job and relocate again and then no more progress which brings us up to the summer of 2013.

[chevyguy_72]

Pics from Summer 2013

[chevyguy_72]

In the summer of 2013 I had been dumping money into my other vehicles as far as upgrades and was about the pull the trigger on a huge coil-over upgrade for the Camaro when it hit me... I will prob drive this car another couple years and then move on to something else... While my 72 is sitting in the garage collecting dust. The steering components all shot, the transmission slipping and leaking fluid all over the floor, half done body/paint work, rear-end clunking every time I drive it and on and on etc...

So I decided to nix the suspension upgrade on the Camaro and start over on this truck... I pulled it out of the garage and took the pics you see in the post above... I backed it back into the garage and started the tear down...

I made a list of upgrades I would like to do...
Lowering
Handling
Update Engine(LS preferably) with electronic transmission - Horsepower/TQ/reliability/fuel mileage
Rust repair
Updating electronics
Basically a nice pro touring truck...
Overall starting over from the ground up... so I started tearing it all the way back down the frame...

While this was happening I started to decide the order of upgrades... First would be suspension/steering/etc. Next Drive train. and last body and paint. I started watching classifieds on several boards as well as checking in at local salvage yards just trying to keep an ear/eye out for a good deal... but was not in a rush since I was going to do suspension first. Original goal was to find a 6.0 steel block LQ4 or LQ9 with a 4L80. Not seeing too much... Then it happens...
I see a post for a L92 with 6L80 trans... 63k miles out of a 2010 Denali. Aluminum 6.2L 376 with an AWD 6L80 and transfer case. This was a VVT motor but did not have DOD.
Price was reasonable to I snatched it up...



All the while thinking that I still needed to start on steering, frame, and suspension. I was in process of tear down still and was about the pull the motor so I decided it was best to test fit this new one while the cab was still on so I could possibly head off any fitment issues before I got back to the rebuild stage...

Time to make the jump and pull off the hood, front clip, and old motor... (did the bed while I had a friend over to help with the other stuff...

[chevyguy_72]

After much research I ordered the CPP sheet metal LS perches, Dirty Dingo slider motor mounts, and Doug Thorley THY-323Y-C 1-7/8 primary headers. I put it all together and slid it into the now empty engine compartment.
Parts:

https://www.dougthorleyheaders.com/p...productID/1079

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...7&postcount=27

http://dirtydingo.com/store/product_...oducts_id=1372

[chevyguy_72]

As you can see it fits fine...

From there I went on to research lots of different suspension options... ranging anywhere from Scotts and Porterbuilt drop members and rear kits to Ridetech and Hotchkis TVS kits... I decided I wanted to go with a Static drop that handled the best... Scotts and Porterbuilt both offered Coil over kits that I looked at but couldn't really find much for performance reviews/testing at that time on either kit... Ridetech was just releasing there coil over kit so I didn't want to be the first and then there was the Hotchkis TVS kit... Which I had read several magazine articles as well as articles on this board and other places online. I didn't read nor am I saying the other kits performed any better or worse... just that I saw the most positive feed back on this one... And this was about as close to a bolt-on kit as you could get... the instructions looked good and they were just improving on what was already there...
So I picked it up from Summit Racing as that was the best price and they had free shipping on it as well.

While I waited for the suspension to arrive I pulled the motor back out and started the tear down on that as I wanted to remove the VVT and put a little bigger cam in it... also just wanted to get an eye on the inside to make sure there was nothing questionable going on in there...(glad I did) when we pulled the heads they were all full of fuel just sitting in them but luckily there was no scaring or damage of any kind we could see... so I took the heads into the machine shop for them to machine and install new valve springs etc in. My friend and I continued to tear down the motor and pull the cam and inspect all the parts we planning on reusing thoroughly. All looked good. We cleaned all the fuel sludge out of they cylinders and started reassembly.



This included a new CTS-V low profile oil pan, a high volume melling oil pump, new push rods and cam, as well as the new timing chain, timing chain guide and front cover since they are different for VVT motors.
Once I got the heads back we reassembled the motor using new head gaskets and bolts.

I have since decided it would not be the best idea to reuse the stock lifters and there has been an increasing number of failures with them. I decided to purchase new LS7 lifters as those are suppose to be solid with no issues... I have yet to install them so that will come at a later time.

In the mean time my Hotchkis kit arrived and I had also been continuing the tear down on the truck itself removing the cab and other misc parts and piece.

[chevyguy_72]

After removing everything from the top of the frame and getting it down to a rolling chassis I started inspecting the frame as there was no point in building on something that had issues...
During this inspection I discovered something in the front was tweaked... the driver side lower a-arm was slid back and the alignment pin was sheared nearly all the way off... someone had also manually cut a chunk out of the crossmember to frame support trying to get the upper a-arm to slide in farther. The front end measurements also appeared to be about a half inch off from side to side and back was tweaked slightly as well possibly from getting rearended which I talked about farther up this thread... I decided the best approach would be to get a new frame... and luckily I came across one that met my needs. I went through this new frame and removed the small rear crossmember to make room for a relocated fuel tank. I then started installing the Hotchkis rear trac bar setup which uses the stock pan hard mount as well as a new bracket added on the passenger frame.

The also connects to a bracket that bolts up under the passenger trailing arm.

Then I installed the sway bar mounts to the frame rails... you need to remove a rivet out of each bed mount and then drill a new hole for the second mounting hole.

Upon inspection of the both sets of trailing arms I currently owned and wasn't thrilled with either set... So I looked around and saw tubular ones from CPP and porterbuilt and then rectangular ones from ECE. I was having a hard time figuring out how I would attach the rear blade style hotchkis sway bar to a round trailing arm.. so I went with ECE. I worked with Stan and he even offered to drill and sleeve the hole I needed for the sway bar.

[JointTech]

nice build.

[chevyguy_72]

Originally Posted by JointTech

nice build.

Thanks I am not quite caught up with where I am currently... hopefully I can get this caught up in the next couple days.

[Hart_Rod]

Cool build

[chevyguy_72]

I had quite of bit of rear install to go so I decided to get the rear end setup... upon measuring the Lincoln 9" I decided it was about the same width as the 72 rear end... but I really wanted something a little more narrow closer to 67 width. Upon researching the options to narrow my current 9" purchase new flanges that would have to be welded on and buying new 31 spline axles I decided to look at other options. After seeing the Moser trailer at Daytona Turkey Rod Run and discussing the options with them I decided I really like the look and HP capability of the Moser M9 unit...

I decided to research this option some more and started putting together the front end... I ordered the CPP 73-87 Modular drop spindles. Note if using this option you will need to switch the drop spring out. Hotchkis has a 4/6 in drop set and then they also have a 2/6 in drop set for use with drop spindles. Summit will switch out the different springs with the TVS kit for no additional cost. I am sure Hotchkis would do the same if you ordered from them.

Summit is only about 5 hours away from me so pretty much anything I order I get the next day.

The next day my CPP drop spindles, Wilwood Front Brakes, Moog Inner and Outer Tie Rods, Pitman, and Idler Arms arrived and I went to work putting together the front over the weekend.

First attached control arms, drop springs and spindles:


Then I assembled and attached the hubs (came with the brakes next post):


Install new Tie Rods and Idler Arm:


Finished product minus brakes:


Both sides all put together and sitting back on their own weight:

[chevyguy_72]

At the same time I also ended up ordering the Wilwood 6 Piston brakes with 14" black e-coated rotors.
Wilwood makes a specific kit for CPP 73-87 drop spindles. This kit includes hubs, bearings, wheel studs, and all other pieces/parts to get the brakes and wheels bolted up to CPP spindles.
Calipers:

Rotors:


At this time I went ahead and ordered the Moserr M9 9" and had them add the back brace figuring it would stand up to just about anything I could throw at it. I worked with Travis from Pro Performance and he was able to get me the best price I could find on the rearend. I ordered it up at the beginning of the week and it was on my step before the weekend... very impressed. This unit was built for our trucks. Correct width for 67, 5 Lug axles, and axle saddles already welded in place... Note: Moser was one of the only place that had all info necessary to build this unit. Everyone else wanted measurements and other info. At this time I also ordered the rear 14" Wilwood 4 piston brakes to match the front, Stainless brake lines and the Black Wilwood master cylinder.

That weekend I removed the entire rear of the truck.(Rearend, springs, trailing arms, etc.
I quickly threw all the new parts in place. All fit together very easily.

Completed pics of all except for brakes:

[chevyguy_72]

Last step for the rear was to remove the trailing arm mounts from the cross member and install the Hotchkis adjustable trailing arm mounts. I actually skipped this step because I had been follow the "Make it handle" thread and there was a lot of talk about stiffening the frame. At this point I decided I liked the look of the Porterbuilt frame brace. This incorporates and stiffens adding a plate at the front cab mount, the trans mount, and replaces the trailing arm mount with an adjustable mount and also get a space to run exhaust through the frame. I went ahead and order the brace as well as the tubular cross members. Turn around on this order is closer to 9 weeks so I had some time to wait. I went ahead and order my 6L90 transmission from GM which was delivered within a week... I mounted it up the motor and set it on the frame. This gave me some measurements needed to see if the frame brace would fit. The 6L90 is absolutely huge and would not fit in the frame brace so it was determined I would have to either change direction or trim the brace... Decided I would trim it and just reinforce anything trimmed.

Transmission pics:
On the floor:


Couple of shots of it in the frame:

[chevyguy_72]

9 Weeks later....
My Porterbuilt parts arrived.
Most exciting being the frame brace
This thing is a beast... very solid... beautiful welds. should help a ton.

[chevyguy_72]

so as most of you can guess... couldn't wait to get in the garage that weekend. I started my detaching the rear suspension and cross member... Then removed the trans cross member...



I then bolted the frame reinforcement/brace mount pieces in place:


then lifted the frame brace into place:


After trimming etc this is the fit:


By the way I am not sure if anyone noticed but I have a craftsman aluminum motorcycle jack that is for my motorcycle... BUT... That thing works great for just about everything... I have used it as a transmission jack, to help me lift the front brake cross member into place, to lift the frame brace, to lift the and hold the rear end into place... The way its setup it has a nice wide surface to set stuff on. I would suggest picking one up if they are on sale or you come across one cheap at a swap meet.


I have not decided on the final reinforcement method for the areas that had to be trimmed... I currently have some 2 in square tube I split in half and compressed in the vice until it was tight against the tube... I tacked it in for now... thinking I might do the same with some 2in pipe. Might look a little more appropriate and be solid... Open to suggestions if anyone has any?

[chevyguy_72]

Ok now that the frame brace is in place I pulled out all the rear cross members and replaced them with the porterbuilt pieces... more factory rivets had to go. I ended up removing all factory rivets and replacing all with Grade 8 bolts.

Porterbuilt piece:


Coil Spring and forward rear cross member removed:


All rear cross members removed:


Coil spring cross member bolted in:


Completed and rear suspension bolted back on:

[chevyguy_72]

This has pretty much caught us up to present day.
I have a boyd welding A1000 fuel tank I bought on a group buy.
I am getting ready to install this and start plumbing the tank.
I would like to finish all plumbing/wiring before I disassemble for powder coat so I don't have to drill any holes through fresh powder coat.

[chevyguy_72]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Cool build

Thanks

[RenoKeene]

Nice work! Going to be a very cool truck.

[cobra_4]

Holy cow! That thing is gonna be awesome!!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Nice work! I wish that center brace was available when I was at that point on my build, would have made a nice addition. Keep it up!

[chevyguy_72]

Thanks guys... sorry I am so late on my reply... about time to get out there and start at it again...