Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Great job! Can't go wrong with your motor/tranny swap. Your making great progress. Keep up the great work!!! Can't wait to see her up and running!! Good luck :metal:

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Gents, I am at a crossroads. I am about to have the rearend sent out to get rebuilt -- Well honestly, to see if its worth rebuilding or to get a new one -- I am split between going with 3.42s or 3.73s. At this moment I do not have ambitions for this to be a race truck however, i'd like it to have some gettup. Will I be okay with 3.42s? I also already have those gears by Richmond. I had bought them a while back. Anyway, input is gladly appreciated.

I’d do 3:73 personally. I have the same setup in my truck with LS swap. I can cruise the interstate all day long without any issues and also geared nicely for getting off the line!
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Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

I got the headers installed as well as the front end accessory drive. I went with Holley's setup.

Attachment 2039487

Attachment 2039488

I then started on the wiring setup. As much as I was going to critique how the wiring is looking and is going to probably look a good friend said it best, "wire management is a future problem. Gotta hear it run first." That said, I am not going to neglect wires getting burnt. Just the topside may not be as clean as i'd like it.

Attachment 2039489

Need to torque down the Harmonic balancer, but otherwise, this is how the front end looks.
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Did some last-minute brake line bending and flaring before sending the rear end off to the shop. Anyone ever look back at the pictures they took and think to themselves, "Huh, I remember that area looking a lot better than that... oh well, f'it." That was my thought once I saw this picture. I really can't wait to have my garage back. Anyway, till next time.
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Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

I was thinking you'd say that. No worries. I appreciate you chiming in. I was hoping to use the 3.42's I already have. Oh well, what differential are you running?

12 bolt, Eaton trutrac posi. I’m sure your 3:42 would be fine with your 400+ HP motor. I’m sure she will scoot down the road with no problems.
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Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Hahaha oh man, you can't go back on what you said. I'm hoping to have this rearend rebuilt by the end of the week so I can get it back on the truck. I'll probably be running 27" or 28" tires. How are you liking that Eaton Posi?

Haha! I love the Eaton rear end. I’ve abused the snot out of it with no issues at all!
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Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Get some! Looks good!

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Sweet!!!! keep on truckin'' :metal:

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Well, Gents, there is lots to cover here. I've done a lot of things since the last time I posted. I get caught up with life and don't set aside anytime to sit down and put up pictures. So I am going to drop a bunch of pictures now.

First, while I waited to get the rear axle back from the shop, I tackled some cooling. I was almost tempted to buy an aftermarket setup and getting other fans. That would have been totally wasteful as I already have two 12" fans from my previous Be Cool setup. In trying to salvage those and make them more effective in pulling air. I went and purchased a 1/8" sheet of aluminum for ~$50, and made a very sturdy fan shroud and mount.

Here is the sheet of metal, fans, and the radiator. You can see the old setup that came with the Be Cool kit, from almost 15 years ago. It left a lot of open space.
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The tentative layout.
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This is the sketch of what needed to be cut out.
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The fans covered a lot, and if I had cut out the full circles, I would have basically cut the metal sheet in half with an "M" and "w" upper and lower pieces. I felt i would have lost the rigidity
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With the protective sheet removed and the end result.
Attachment 2051526

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Lastly, put the fans on.
Attachment 2051529


I then mounted the setup to the radiator, using some of the old brackets.
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Finally, test fitted the whole setup in the radiator core support. The radiator is not supported. The sheet on top is just a cover and doesn't do any support to the radiator. I am working on cutting out 1/8 metal radiator supports. It will be rudimentary, but It will work well, I think. It will work for now, and I can't be picky for the fact that it only cost me $60 bucks, for the sheet and stainless steel hardware. I tested the fans, and it pulls wayyyyy more than enough air. Each fan is rated at 1700 CFMs.
Attachment 2051531

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

The other thing I tackled was the exhaust. This is one of those things that I wish I had planned out and done with the body off, but it is what it is. I'm really not happy with overall look of it mais, c'est la vie.

Passenger side, I got tacked up. I purchased an Evolution metal chop saw, really glad I did, and made the pie cuts you see. The resonators are by Vibrant. I wanted a some what quiet interior will little resonance inside.
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Driver side.
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Avvert your eyes if bad welds are like nails on a chalkboard for you. I didn't clean the coating off the exhaust pipes so it made for some bad welds. This is not a sign of my welding talent but feel free to judge, i'll own it. :smoke:
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And here is the nails on the chalkboard. Again, I am not happy with the welds. I definitely rushed however, I know it will work, and there won't be any leaks.
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One thing I am really happy about is the fact that I got it all tucked up above the frame rails. SOoooo, all the bad welds can't be seen.
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I imagine I will be asked, I used 1 3/4" Scofield Headers, Dirty Dingo's Trans crossmember, 3 inch exhaust, Vibrant Bottle style resonator, and Flowmaster Hushpower Pro Series exhaust.

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

One of the other things I got done were the wheels and tires. I went with American Racing Wheels, the Rodder series. 18x8 for the front and 18x9.5 for the rear.

I tried them on to see the contrast.
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Up close. The front brake setup is a Baer Track4 setup, with a custom powdercoat color. This purchase was made some years ago, and I am just now able to get them installed.
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Tires mounted and balanced, Nitto NT555 G2, 245/45R18 for the front and 285/40r18 for the rear.
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The tires were mounted and balanced for a bit. I finally got my rearend back from the shop and was able to get that installed and put my wheels on, for some much needed motivation.
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I love this view, the width of the rear tire is perfect, and will probably be much needed. For the rear brakes, its a relatively inexpensive setup from Streetrod Manufacturing INC.
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Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

I did this awhile ago but one other thing i got done was the powersteering lines.
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The Evolution metal saw. It works great, cuts easily through metal. I definitely cut the metal outside in the driveway because it sends shavings everywhere.
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The width of the rear tire.
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Well that's finally it gents. I am waiting on a few parts here and there to finish up the rear brakes. Need to bench bleed the master cylinder so I can finally bleed the whole brake system.

Did some measurements for the driveshaft. Waiting on a friend to see if it's possible for an aluminum driveshaft, otherwise I will be going with a Denny's driveshaft.

Finishing up the plumbing for the transmisison.

I am also trying to get the wiring sorted out. Will not be pretty, but at least so i can get the engine primed, and ready for a break in.

Till next time.

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Nice progress. Wheel/tire set-up & placement does look good.

Well done on the paint & body as well. It's much more time consuming for a novice than many think it is.

Thank you. I debated on powdercoating them completely black but friends talked me out of it and I’m glad I didn’t.

Appreciate the comments on the paint. Its not the best but it meets my intent. Absolutely, it's definitely time consuming. Thanks for following.
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Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Gents,

I know it has been a while and I've made a lot of progress, totally nearing being able to drive the truck around.

I am going to fast forward and just show you where I am right now. I will show more pics of what I did to get me here. Later, in the meantime here is a small video of how she sounds.

http://streamable.com/abz21w

Enjoy.

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

hi,Greg here.great looking truck you've built.maybe i'm late to the party but i read what you said about getting the truck with you dad and how much it means to you.i get it and know what you're exactly what you're talking about.my dad is gone as well,i miss him alot.he taught me alot about cars,trucks and being a man.how to work hard and on and on.i bought a 67 impala wagon in Georgia in 1999 and he was with me,we worked on the old thing for 3 days as it hadn't run in 10 years and then drove it home,1600 miles.then i took it apart to restore it,worked hard everyday on it and then we found out he had lung cancer.he didn't make it to see the car finished.i have a personalized plate on the car that says "THX DAD" people assume he gave me the car but that's not the case.i'll be starting on a 72 c-20 big block truck hopefully by summer if the covid mess dies down.i just bought the truck and it's in Utah so i can't go get it yet,but hopefully soon.i'm sure your dad is proud of the truck you've built.she's a beauty.cheers.http://7960

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Nice sounding idle.

I'm going to have to go back through & look up the swap motor specs again :metal:

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

The engine is pretty easy as specs, I went with the GMPP LS3/480. The exhaust is where I think it makes it: 1 3/4” headers with 3” collector, H-pipe, bullet resonators, 16” Flowmaster Pro Series, 3” exhaust pipe, and it all dumps behind the axle.

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Thanks you sir.

Dads have a major influence on all of us. I’m sorry for your loss, it’s never easy. I’m sure the car was a beaut. The C-20 I’m sure will be great. What size of a big block are you going for? When we started we put in a 396 big block, it was fun but the truck wasn’t nimble... that may have been because of the suspension.

Good luck, on the build.

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

Awesome job. That color looks very familiar, I think I painted my Camaro that color.

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

nice to hear from you and sorry about your loss.the wagon i built with my dad's help is still here,21 years now.there's a couple pictures i put on the welcome page,of my cars and the new shop we've just built.the truck in Utah is a 74,000 mile 72 c-20 with a 402/turbo 400,original paint,original everything and in storage since 1997 when the original owner stopped travelling and did pass away.i haven't decided on how i'll built it yet.once i can go get whenever the covid mess dies down,i'll take inventory and it'll either come apart to be restored or stay as a survivor type truck.either way,it'll be stock.take care,all the best.Greg

Re: Rebuild...(pending a name)
 

That's what I thought. LS3 w/a cam upgrade. Nothing sounds sweeter than a nice cam rumpity-rump.