71 C10 LB: Code Name Sloth

[TA_C10]

Subbed. Great progress so far. Looking good. Long Beds rock

[rechinca]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Subbed. Great progress so far. Looking good. Long Beds rock

Thanks TA, I have been following your build as well.

[rechinca]

Alright, valve lash set, transmission picked up from the shop (bearings and seals only!), booster and bracket installed, emergency brake pedal assembly (had to unbolt the drivers side of the dash) and new cable, and brake lines on the crossmember installed.

My take on "pre-bent" front line set from In-line: quality is good, but they sucked in the fact they should have put the set in a larger box and not folded those complex lines. On top of that, none are labled and due to the facts mine were destroyed and rotted when I took them apart and no labels it was a HUGE problem installing them. They could have easily put them in the same size box as the front to rear line, not folded them and I would have gladly paid the extra shipping. I let them know my disappointment and was met with we will try to do better. I'd also pay a few dollars more for simple labels and an instruction sheet with vehicle specific pics.

[rechinca]

Almost forgot the (drive) shaft in a condom pic. The carrier bearing was junk and the middle u-joint was not seated correctly (snap rings were not seated either) causing the middle yoke to be junk. And to think I almost tackled this myself. It was out of balance and in piss poor shape overall. Cost me some money, but this should stop it from tearing itself apart and cure the vibration issue.

[rechinca]

Man it’s the littles that get you slowed down on projects! Finished up with the front brakes. I had put it off as I was worried about the reality of the stock calipers and rotors fitting with the modular spindles/brackets. All for not. Great figment once I realized I had the brackets facing the wrong way. Any rate they fit great.

Heater boxes in and out are in. Let’s just say, some seals are made WAY better than others. I had two sets, one was way better. NO comparison.

And for those that don’t have one yet, BUY A DAMNED ASSEMBLY MANUAL! It saved my bacon on the steering column. Flashback to the main reason to park this truck for extensive work 18 months or so ago, went to replace the turn signal switch and found I had been driving it around with no nut holding the steering wheel on and the column together. PO said his “mechanic” had rebuilt the column for him and yet it shifted horrible. I pulled the wheel off with zero effort. So it got blown apart, all new bearings, cleaned, lubed and repainted. It is a pain but that assembly manual was a necessity as I don’t trust anything the previous mechanic did. All back together and installed.

Tomorrow going to finish off the last of the brake system, get the PS pump installed in the brackets and hopefully clutch/flywheel installed. Lots to do!

[Ol Blue K20]

You might get it back together before the rain starts.

[88Stanger]

Nice Progress so far! Great work, keep it up!

PS Really like the American flag and the Blue Line flag in the background!

[TA_C10]

I agree on the assembly manual, doing great work here man. I do wish however the assembly manual wasn't missing all the bed floor assembly pages.... But Mar-k has some of those and with the help of others on this site we can figure that stuff out.

[rechinca]

TA since I haven’t messed with that portion of the truck, I didn’t even notice that!

[rechinca]

I posted some stuff on the main thread page due to issues with braking system. In short, this truck had a piss poor PB conversion with a cheap bracket and the rod from the booster to the Vesak was cut and welded to another rod at an angle. I wanted to put it back as close to factory correct as possible with the correct bracket and booster/MC set up. Put in the first reman’d booster and pedal was barely off the floor. A lot of folks posted in the past of similar issue with no resolve. It was so far out of adjustment, you could not get enough out of the adjustment at the pedal.

After 2-3 weeks of parts swapping (3 of 4 boosters that were reman units from NAPA were all wrong) and some investigation, I found the rods put in the BACK of the booster to the swing arm were wrong. About 1 3/8” too short! I only figured that out when I started looking at threads with pictures of brackets and boosters. Once I got that resolved, my pedal is at “normal” height off the floor. If you look at the pics, you will see how much of a difference there was in the rod. Shout out to the page outintheshop.com, he had the measurements on how long the rod should be with excellent pics and measurement documentation of units he has removed from trucks.

I did have some issue bleeding initially, but it was a dry system facing uphill on the driveway. I finally just cracked the rear bleeders and used 35 psi on the compressor to force the fluid down. Left the bleeders cracked a bit and got them bleed good. Also added Russell Speed Bleeders to help out down the road.

[rechinca]

Took a pic before I covered it til next week. Now that the boy is home from school for a few weeks I can used that lineman strength to help set the motor and transmission in place next week!

[rechinca]

Been a lot of starts and stops, waiting on parts, finding more stuff broken, and if you saw my post on the main forum page, wrestling with an engine/manual trans going down hill on sloped driveway while trying to have all the mounts line up. Got to say I felt a lot like Charlie Brown kicking field goals!

But finally, today it aligned and the engine is in! And the fan clutch is leaking, BAD! Back to work tomorrow so I have a couple of days to get one ordered up. But it’s getting closer. I am aiming for Tuesday or Wednesday start-up and breaking it in. It sure looks pretty.

[cornerstone]

You've got a ton of work done man! It really does look great.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking very good.....

[rechinca]

Lots of starts and stops and picking up small items. But, today we got the radiator support, radiator, hoses and some priming of interior parts (glove box door and ash tray) done. Battery tray and battery installed. Have to heat up the wiring gutter for the headlight harness and straighten it out. It was curled up for a long time and put a bad curl in it. Heat gun should fix that tomorrow. Trying really hard to fire it up before I go back to work on the 31st!

[rechinca]

Yeah buddy, the Sloth is alive! Got it broke in yesterday at noon. A bit of work next Wednesday and she just might make a trip around the corner to see Blue! Needs tires in a bad way. Break-in oil came out good, no concerns so maiden voyage next week.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by rechinca

Yeah buddy, the Sloth is alive! Got it broke in yesterday at noon. A bit of work next Wednesday and she just might make a trip around the corner to see Blue! Needs tires in a bad way. Break-in oil came out good, no concerns so maiden voyage next week.

Yeah buddy!!! Congrats!!

[rechinca]

Couple updates then going for a drive. Going to paint my rally wheels body color 516 Orange and ordered up my Cooper Cobras. Got the new/used grille shell installed with the new insert. She’ll courtesy of Vintage Chevy Trucks in Fremont, CA. All new shocks installed and the exhaust done. Then it wouldn’t start but had power...ah, the 50 years ignition switch fell apart into a bunch of pieces when I went to pull it out. NAPA had a new one so that is fixed!

[LT7A]

This thing is cool. I enjoy the fix what's broke mentality and getting it back on the road.

[rechinca]

Originally Posted by LT7A

This thing is cool. I enjoy the fix what's broke mentality and getting it back on the road.

Thanks LT, it’s been a fun challenge since I started. I’ve spent countless hours in research and learning how to do the work. I prefer to take care of wear and tear and not repeat jobs. I’ll say it again though, in the 50 years this truck has been around, some people put wrenches to it that should stay away from them!

[Ol Blue K20]

Congratulations! Have fun at work. Hear ya when you get back.....lol

[rechinca]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Congratulations! Have fun at work. Hear ya when you get back.....lol

No doubt! I’ll swing by. Tires are shot so not too much running around until I get them replaced hopefully this week.

[rechinca]

Pulled the rear diff cover a couple of days ago to drain and refill it. Wow that was some nasty stuff. Not real happy with the look of it, so it will get run for a couple of months and then cleaned out again. Best guess, due to bad stamping location on the ring gear, makes me believe this is a 3.08 open rear. Should be just fine for my 350/3 speed combo.

Man it sure looks goofy without that rear drop! But it’s on the way now, so today we run it down for a front end alignment and new tires. Due to some issues, they will have to get blasted and painted at the house with the tires on. Not optimal, but that’s what is going to have to happen. Still have to address the inner fenders, window felts and a couple of small things. But it’s getting closer every day.

[rechinca]

Both of the 6.5” rally’s are on the fronts now with the new Coopers. Took it out today for about a 25 mile drive before the rain hits to shake it down a bit more. Temp doesn’t climb over 1/3 and the oil pressure is up on the top end during driving. Yep, still happy I kept my 3OTT! And if you look close, you can see the shorty exhaust ending right about the back of the cab. Made a lot of people turn their heads and smile on an early Sunday drive.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by rechinca

Both of the 6.5” rally’s are on the fronts now with the new Coopers. Took it out today for about a 25 mile drive before the rain hits to shake it down a bit more. Temp doesn’t climb over 1/3 and the oil pressure is up on the top end during driving. Yep, still happy I kept my 3OTT! And if you look close, you can see the shorty exhaust ending right about the back of the cab. Made a lot of people turn their heads and smile on an early Sunday drive.

You didn't pick me up?.....