Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Just checked out your thread. Cool truck. I dig the Army vibe. I kinda miss my old 6 banger from years ago. I bet the 5 speed was a great upgrade.

You are gonna love the power of the 5.3, it has great power for a stock engine.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Thanks! The 5 speed was awesome. While I never drove it outside of the neighborhood with the 3 speed, I can only imagine that it would be not nearly as fun. I'm so excited for the 5.3 to go in, parts should start arriving soon :metal:


I don't think I ever posted this here, I got a GoPro for Christmas so I took a little video on the way to my buddy's place around New Years. It so fun to drive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryDZ2UCNh-o

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Parts are starting to roll in for the 5.3. To say I'm excited is an understatement! :metal:

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Awesome truck. Glad to see your V-8 moving ahead.

When you mentioned rough running with your 6 after getting warmed up and missing grounding straps, it reminded me about a Jeep vapor lock story.

We had a 1954 Willys M38-A1 that had that warm running vapor lock issue even on cold days. I had done some work myself and ignored those "dumb" grounding straps because they didn't look cool. As it turned out a mechanic friend diagnosed it and said the *fuel line* was acting as the ground and getting hot and boiling the fuel. When he reinstalled them the problem went away. Embarrassing for me.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Tinkered on the old truck yesterday. Not sure why but after lowering the truck down, the brake pedal got really soft. I've re-bled, replaced parts and even checked how the brake lines are routed and it's better but still not what it was. I'm still plugging away on that, my next thing to check is to get some shorter brake lines for it.

Before bed last night, I went and got the 5.3 on the engine stand and took the intake off so I could start sizing up what I needed for the car intake. Good and bad things happened. It turns out that before the guy sold the engine, he decided to wash it but not plug any of the holes. Bad to see water in it but good that it's at this stage. Everything is still in great shape, it just came with a little extra water :lol:

It sure has a great stance now!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3876/3...a9e7474e_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2442/3...3c821e0a_b.jpg

First thing I saw when I pulled the intake, this is looking down the head
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3956/3...e31b0c7c_b.jpg

Oil pan was cracked, I'm glad I don't need this one
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2722/3...1d64af8f_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2470/3...3db2f87b_b.jpg

It sure made a mess when I turned it over!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2031/3...8c08a84b_b.jpg

All in all, it looked scary and disappointing but things really aren't all that bad inside. Run it and see what happens :metal:

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Your truck looks great! It does have a great stance. I'll keep watching your progress. Thanks for your input on the instrument questions I had.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Got quite a bit done yesterday. My buddy and his nephew stopped by and helped get the motor back together and the front clip off the truck. The 5.3 was super dirty but it's like new now! It's surprising what a few minutes and a little elbow grease will do. I yard ed the heads off when I found some loose head bolts on the intake manifold side, turns out those aren't critical to keeping the head on and I could've just retorqued em. Oh well, new LS9 head gaskets are on and will last a while. A few other friends stopped by throughout the day, at one point there was 6 of us tinkering!

Tomorrow dad and I will get the motor and tranny out of the truck and even the bed off if the weather plays nice.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

No turning back now, I can't wait! :metal:

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Do you know the history on the engine? Willing to part with power steering?

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

A little progress tonight! Got the engine and tranny put together and dropped it all in the frame. A few little things popped up but nothing is a show stopper. I'll need some new exhaust manifolds, likely going with the Hooker block hugger manifolds and I'll need a new accessory bracket because my rack and power steering pump want to share the same space. I'm really happy with it!

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Did you have any difficulties mating the T5 to the 5.3?

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

None at all. I'm only running 5 bellhousing bolts since the 5.3 has a slightly different hole pattern but that's not a big deal at all.

For the flywheel, I picked up a Sachs NFW1050 flywheel and was able to bolt my existing 11" clutch right to it. It's a metric flywheel so I had to get new pressure plate and flywheel bolts as well as open up the holes in the pressure plate for the larger M10 bolts.

It all went together super easy and looks to be working like it should.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Looking good Scott!

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Thanks dad!

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

When are we doing an LS in the '69?? :lol:

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

LS in that would be sweet! Sean and I will have it figured out by the time you're ready ;)

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Lovely no the second to last pic in post 232.


Progress is always progress.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Here's the weekend update. Friday night, the pushrods and rocker arms showed up so I got those installed. I was a little apprehensive about this job because I had found 3 different methods to install them and horror stories from each method. I took my time and everything turned out just fine.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3823/3...eb7269bf_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2865/3...c3f5d8e4_b.jpg

After that, I went and picked up the fuel filter setup and headed over to a friends house, he wasn't home but his neighbor was so I stopped in and ended up helping get a motorcycle motor in the frame. Went pretty well until we had it all bolted in and he realized he forgot to install the rear drive coupler and it won't go on after the motor is in :banghead:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3887/3...8b67900b_b.jpg

Saturday, I dropped my harness and computer off to get reworked and had lunch with my mom before I loaded my welder up and brought it back home. When I got home, the ICT accessory brackets were waiting for me so I got those installed. They are pretty slick and look like they'll work perfect!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2911/3...a9507318_b.jpg

After that, I remade my transmission crossmember, this one doesn't hang under the frame at all and is pretty simple like the last one. It works great!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/705/33...236e77ed_b.jpg

I also cleaned up the gauge bezel that I'll be using, I'm converting from warning lights to gauges. I used aluminum colored paint and it looks pretty shiny when it's wet but it mellowed out and looks pretty good after it dried.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3752/3...53e5d08b_b.jpg

Sunday, I was working pretty hard to find some motivation to get in the garage. I started cleaning up a bit from Saturday and doing some small tinkering. I got my electric fan setup on Saturday and mocked it up on the radiator. Northern does a great job, I'm impressed with the quality of work for sure!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3804/3...f362c4a0_b.jpg

After that, I had a buddy swing by to check up on the progress and BS for a bit. When I put the truck throttle body on the car intake, the PCV hose barb was in the way of the throttle cable bracket. I was able to heat it up with my heat gun and rotate it down out of the way like it is on the LS1 throttle bodies. Had nothing to lose and it turned out perfect.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2892/3...c5f1e037_b.jpg

That was about it for progress, I should have the remaining parts show up this week, maybe next weekend I can get the fuel system and harness figured out and fire this bad boy up :metal:

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Just plugging away at the old girl. I'm not really in a rush to get it done so I'm taking my time and making sure it's all done right.

The factory exhaust manifolds didn't fit like I had hoped so I picked up the Hooker exhaust manifolds and they fit way better. I have to massage the brake lines and the frame towers a little bit but I'm happy with them.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/573/33...f8565793_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2813/3...6b7c694e_b.jpg

Last night, I got my Bosch tachometer in the mail so I put the gauges together. The bracket from rideblue00 makes the install nice and seamless. I'm happy with how the gauges turned out!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/652/33...825e46e2_b.jpg

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Looking Good Scoot!

Is that a 2010 and up Camaro water pump? Does it use the truck spacing on the accessory brackets?

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Looking good Scott :metal:

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Yep, it's a 2010 Camaro pump, it does use the truck spacing. Only downside, well not really a downside, but it doesn't have provisions for the mechanical fan so you'll have to run an electric fan setup.

Thanks man!

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Would love to come check out the project sometime! I'm not too far from you in the Hillsboro area. I'll eventually be doing an LS setup in my project.

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Cool, I'm always down for visitors. I'll shoot you a PM :metal:

On Friday, I decided to play hookie and tinker around on the old truck. Wasn't planning on it but it worked out. My exhaust manifolds hit the frame towers for the engine mount so I needed to clearance them. I was able to use some scrap tubing I have laying around and it turned out pretty well.

Making the marks, you can see the scratches on the left side where it was hitting
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3816/3...3c812b81_b.jpg

No turning back now
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/740/33...7f5cb9a7_b.jpg

I used some 1.75" tubing and welded it on both sides. It turned out really well once I ground it all smooth.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/745/33...403e52af_b.jpg

Hard to see but there's a bunch of room around the exhaust manifolds now. Perfect!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/772/33...2c77f05b_b.jpg

I also got the power steering pump on. I picked up a kit to reduce the pressure for the Mustang II rack. That was an easy install and so was putting the pump in the brackets. ICT has really done their homework with their LS swap components.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3771/3...a8c3d452_b.jpg

I didn't do a whole lot on Saturday, I picked up the engine harness and sold the 292. Found out that the injector plugs didn't get swapped over for the LS1 injectors so I'm working through that right now. No biggie but a little bit of a setback.

Sunday, my dad came over for a little bit and helped me get the CaptainFab clutch pedal linkage on. The install went smooth and the clutch operates a lot smoother now too. I can't wait to see the difference when I actually drive it.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3854/3...2aa09e87_b.jpg

Last night, I tackled the rear tank install. In lieu of pulling the bed, I took the bod wood out. Seemed to work great and way easier for one guy to do it. I was pretty surprised that it was a no-drill install, I kept asking myself why I didn't do this a year ago.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/590/33...2ba1bac1_b.jpg

Tucks up nicely, I won't be worried about it hanging down too low.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3712/3...086b9312_b.jpg

That's what I've got for the weekend progress. I need to get a winch put back together for a buddy this week and pick up a couple more parts. Stay tuned!

Re: 1966 C10 Project Truck
 

Motivation has been on the low side the last couple of weeks but I'm still plugging away on the pickup. Last night, I bolted the intake back on after I had my buddy fix a mistake that I did, buttoned up the new under dash harness and just had to see what the gauges will look like. The gauges look awesome and I can't stop sitting in the truck and looking at them!

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3812/3...61ca8139_b.jpg

Since I was here, I tied the parking light wire in with the running lights. Super easy thing to do and should help the other people on the road see the truck at night. I hope.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2873/3...4dd6a0da_b.jpg

Here's what the gauges look like. They turned out nicer than I was expecting :metal:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2903/3...6e0ba910_b.jpg

Later this week, my buddy is coming over to help me get the truck wire harness setup for the car intake. It'll look 110% better once we are done!