Project "You thought yours was bad!" '78 C10 Stepside

[Shucks]

My headers hang down like that and it scares me to death driving somewhere . No problems yet! Truck is looking good!

[Nick_R_23]

That's good to hear. How low is your truck and how many miles are on your setup?

[Shucks]

Just a couple hundred. It's still being built. But I've driven gravel and some shaky roads and it works out alright. 5/6 drop.

[jott_06]

yep. that just seems to be how most long tube headers are for these trucks. I had the same issues on my old 68 with Summit brand headers.

[Nick_R_23]

Wow Shucks, I think yours hangs down almost twice as far as mine does! I think (mostly) everywhere I go is paved now, but our roads are not stellar by far.

I guess if that's just how they are I shouldn't have any issues. Not getting too crazy with it.

I also called Holley and got a status update on the Sniper kits. Looks like stock is being pushed out even farther until about mid February. Grrr. I was told 6 weeks (end of January) back in December, but now it's 8 or 9. Hopefully there won't be more delays. I think the remaining fuel tank and exhaust parts should also be here mid to late sometime this week, and the rear bumper can also go on next!

[Shucks]

Yeah they're low. But my headers are a headman brand for my truck specifically and they're that low which I don't understand. Luckily they were cheap at a swap meet but I think it kinda looks cool. But that's just me.

[Nick_R_23]

Same boat, I got mine for "free" (traded a tach gauge cluster for them out of the old cab), although I'm unsure of the brand. The passenger side I'm really happy with and overall the drivers side one is great other than the weird outlet angle. But they clear everything very nicely and no reason to spend $7-800 on a higher end set if I have these ones.

I'm toying with the idea of having the whole exhaust ceramic coated. I'd imagine that would be EXPENSIVE though!

[jott_06]

they do have high temp powdercoat that might work for the exhaust. My boss had some black put on the generator exhaust on his RV and it has held up great.

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks. I'm okay with it, but I've ran turndowns on other vehicles before so I guess I know what to expect. Nothing stays clean in Alaska so kicking up some dust isn't a big deal. But no windows would make that tough!

I started putting the fuel lines together now that I have nearly all of the fuel system in. I won't know the length or what angles I'll need on the EFI end of things until I actually have the system bolted in, but I can get the fuel tank ends taken care of now.



I also picked up some carriage bolts for the rear bumper from the hardware store. They were longer than I liked, but it was what was in stock. It's pretty amazing how having a bumper mounted on there changes the look of the truck. This one looks just right with them IMO.

Brackets mounted



Did a quick cleanup on the bumper, mounted, and license plate on



There's even less room to walk now! Also hard to see, but the filler plates are in too.



It looks mean even off the ground!

[Nick_R_23]

I also built a mini-crossmember for underneath the truck, that will be a mounting point for the rear section of my exhaust. I wasn't happy with mounting it any other place so I decided to just make my own out of a few pieces of scrap metal.

First arm





Second arm, test fitting



Both sides are fitting well



Cross brace tacked on



More weld porn. Not too bad for a little 110v welder running on a 15A outlet



All fabbed up, and mounting tabs welded on



And going in for paint!

[Nick_R_23]

The paint is dry on the crossmember, so I slid it up under there last night and got it bolted in.



And how the hangers will attach. I need to trim them down a bit, but otherwise they lined up perfectly!

[Nick_R_23]

Minor update, I've been super busy with other things going on, so I haven't had much time to tinker on the truck. I did however get the 86 fuel tank cleaned up and painted, and it is outside drying the in the garage now. I should be able to get the old tank out, brackets touched up, fuel sending unit installed, and the new tank mounted up hopefully by the end of the weekend!

[Nick_R_23]

Finally some fuel system progress! Tank is painted and tape applied around the flange to prevent damage to the Hydramat



Be gentle, it's her first time



And here is an example of a homemade claw tool when you drop the float into the tank trying to install it.



O-ring, and then locking ring installed, the tank is completed



I also got the old tank pulled and a few spots on the frame touched up. This tank is still half full of gas! I wonder if it will even burn?

[Nick_R_23]

New tank is up and mounted inside the frame. Lots of fun trying to hold that sucker up with my knee while running wires and hoses over the frame and trying to get bolts started! Finally got it all in though.



I also mounted the fuel pump just inside the frame rail. It is nearly level with the bottom of the tank and has a pretty short pickup hose, so I think this is as good as I can get things for pump longevity. Hopefully it will last quite a while! I might also fab up some sort of heat shield for the pump and lines. It doesn't appear so in the picture, but the exhaust sits closer than I would like it to. It's far enough away where it likely wouldn't cause any problems, but it's always better to prevent them now!

[Chris.S]

I just went true your complete build Looks really good

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[Chris.S]

Looking good

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you!

I picked up a bag of cable clamps today and ran my fuel lines. I decided to run them along the frame and figured out a nice, clean way to run them up to the EFI without much hassle.

Starting at the fuel pump. You can see the extra small heat shield for the pump here too.



Tried to get as much light down here as I could. Lines are ran up the frame.



Here is the underside of the frame, looking up at the engine. I ran out of cable clamps here so only the one line is secured, but this is generally how they will come up and out of the frame. I'm going to run some conduit on the lines where they pass through the frame stands, as they pass through freely, but there's quite a few possible rub points in there.



And generally, how the routing will look from the top. They will be secured on the extra clip on the heater hose bracket. Now that I know how the lines are ran, I'm ordering the last two hose end fittings that I need, as well as a few other small parts to finish a couple of things up!

[lowbrow454]

Good work! Glad you ended up with the Sniper kit. Looking forward to seeing how it works out.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you! I'm excited too, hopefully there won't be any major issues with it. So far my only complaint is that the throttle bracket is kind of cheesy...it has a little room to rotate, and when the trans cable bracket is bolted to it, the bolt interferes with the throttle cable. It works, but could be better. Everything else I'm happy with though.

I spent most of the weekend doing nothing but wiring, wiring, and more wiring. Mostly trying to get things routed to make it look as clean as possible while keeping things from rubbing on each other. It's always surprising how many things still need to be hooked up, even with a "barebones" build!

I started off with cleaning the harness and applying new conduit. I left a few of the small wires uncovered because I wanted to be able to lay the harness in and see where the best place to bring them out would be.



Also got the rest of my P-clips and ran the fuel lines up to the throttle body. This is the best way I could run them so they won't rub anywhere. I still need to get a separator for the lower side though. Coming up from the frame, plenty of radius for engine movement:



As they come up onto the engine (notice my high tech spacer):



And up over the valve cover. This bracket I robbed off the old Vortec intake, I have a clamp to go here, it should show up today.



Wires coming from the battery:



Harness coming up onto the valve cover (will be secured later on):



You can also spot a few of the vacuum lines running to the back of the throttle body:



Out the other side. I also installed the transmission harness at this time too, as well as the brake booster line.



And finally, wires for the alternator, and a general lookover:



Hey look at that, something actually works!



I also picked up a fitting for the PCV inlet



Finally, I picked up some light duty battery clamps. These will be used strictly for the EFI main power wires, as Holley is very specific about running those wires directly to the battery. This will guarantee me a good connection as well as prevent me from having to cut up the stock battery cables.



One final note, I hooked up the charcoal canister from the TBI truck I pulled it from. I did a lot of research and as best as I could tell, it simply plugs directly into a vacuum port with no solenoids at all. I ran this line to ported vacuum on the EFI kit, so it will only be pulling fumes when the throttle is open. I also installed a one-way valve inline so nothing can go back to the canister. I assume this is the correct way to install this style? There was not a lot of information out there concerning these.

[Nick_R_23]

Oops, almost forgot the last one!

[Nick_R_23]

I received my last two hose fittings as well as my separators in the mail today, so the fuel system is finished, minus my filler neck.

First clamp mounted on the bracket. You can also see a better view of my PCV valve routing from here.



Second clamp and return line



Main feed line

[LT7A]

Good attention to detail, and I like how the truck sits. You'll have a lot of fun with it this summer. Also, good job working toward a budget. You'll have a nice truck at a good cost when you are done. BTW, you're killin me with the the pics of the '67 Camaro workbench. I really like that car, even just as it sits now.

[Nick_R_23]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Good attention to detail, and I like how the truck sits. You'll have a lot of fun with it this summer. Also, good job working toward a budget. You'll have a nice truck at a good cost when you are done. BTW, you're killin me with the the pics of the '67 Camaro workbench. I really like that car, even just as it sits now.

Thank you! I'm currently a little over the planned $5000 budget with the Sniper EFI, but I really wanted to try one out, and plus, it's always nice to have something to splurge a little on. Overall though, the EFI kit added about $2000 to the cost of the build. The kit was $1100 (with shipping), and I had the distributor for timing control, the new sending unit, Hydramat, pump, fuel lines, and all the fittings, all which added about another $1000 on top of the kit itself. If I would have stuck to a carb and stock style distributor, I would have had about $3500 into the build at this point. It's definitely still a moderate chunk of change, even for a "budget build"!

And thanks as well on the Camaro! I actually used to drive that car just as it looks. It had a later year 350 small block with a '62 corvette T10 4 speed, and wide Rally wheels. Open headers as well! I pulled and sold the engine and transmission to a guy a year or so ago, who planned to put it in a 38(?) Plymouth I believe, and I was planning on doing an LS swap (6.0L/4L80E) on it along with a full Ridetech suspension. But now I'm more interested in getting the last bit of my house paid off so I can invest in a place with a bigger shop. I'm considering selling off the engine, trans, and other LS swap parts I've collected for it, and getting the brakes and suspension set up a bit better. I have a TH350 that will fit it, and SBC 350's are a dime a dozen. It would be fun to have it back together and on the road again!

I made a bit more progress tonight, I got all the taillights, turn signals, and brake and reverse lights wired in. I've always liked the lights since I put them on, but seeing them all lit up, I'm in love with them! I feel like they give the truck a very old hot rod look in the back. I wish my phone would capture the light better, but here's how they look!

Wiring was pretty simple...not much to look at here!



Taillights/running lights



Brake lights



Reverse lights



Ready for takeoff!

[moregrip]

looking awesome bro! looking forward to your impressions on the Sniper set up!