Love this project!

Did I miss the details on the engine? Any upgrades planned?

I understand exactly what you mean. Get this thing driving in short order, and let the rest fall into place.
In fact since I've gotten mine up and driving (comfortably) I've been skimping on the little things like interior, oh and build thread updates .

I wish I could've done Power Tour last year when it came through Texas....oh well.

Have you looked into the "Cruisin' the Coast"? I was really interested in it, but I keep hearing from people who have done it, and the sheer size of it is kinda a turn-off.

Maybe the thing to do is just go and see how it turns out.

Good choices, the camaro manifolds will make turbo(s) fitment easier later than the long tubes would have.

Phase 2.

I know everyone who looks @ this thread is already following on IG, but some things are so pretty they just have to be shared again. Very pleased with the wheels after painting, can't wait to get some casings on 'em!

https://instagr.am/p/BU4jzv2DVLW

So before I left for the field this morning I couldn't help it. I had to slip one of the wheels on the axle just to see dat lip in action.

Wheel just does contact lugs and won't go farther.
Wut?
Take off drum and boom, wheel fits right up.
Replace drum.
Go back to step 1.

So. The 1984 drums are just a little too meaty to fit in this 15" wheel. I'm trying to remember what sorts of steel wheels came on trucks when I was in HS and best I can remember all the 15s were rallies. I know we had some C/K 20s that vintage with heavy steel wheels, but they were all 16" and half tons would have been rallies that must have a little different profile.

I've got my iPad and I'm going to poke in the deepest corners of the inter web and find a solution. Maybe this is just he challenge I need to push me over the edge and just convert the rear to discs (which come with fitment issues of their own).

This is the fun and frustrating part of working on a restomod. Even when staying in the same brand and with model that has an EXCELLENT interchangeability through the years (chevy trucks) there are still going to be issues. Some I knew about and anticipated, some sneak up - like this one. Insert cliche' saying like built not bought, if it was easy.. and all that other stuff. So after the joy of getting my wheels back yesterday,

John Deere paint is pretty awesome. When I was in high school in the 1980s my dad assigned me a project on the farm to build a 6-row bedder. I built it over a week or so in my afternoons when I got home from class. The toolbar was a piece of 4x6 box beam steel my dad bought from the local steel supplier. I painted it JD green with a JD paint bought at the dealer. I dont remember if I bothered to strip the metal or even put down a primer.

That plow has spent the as 30+ years in the Texas sun and other than normal oxidation, it has held up pretty damn well.

Discount. Y u no haz my tires yet.

Centerpole90 said:

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Discount. Y u no haz my tires yet.

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They heard your wheels won't fit anyway...

If your drums are too big, just leave them off. Let the shoes push right on the ID of the wheel!

Less roatating mass = more power.

Centerpole90 said:

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Discount. Y u no haz my tires yet.

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They're not the smartest. I took my truck in for balance and rotate the other day and they balanced but didn't rotate.

aggieforester05 said:

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Centerpole90 said:

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Discount. Y u no haz my tires yet.

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They're not the smartest. I took my truck in for balance and rotate the other day and they balanced but didn't rotate.

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Duuuuh. Didn't dey have to wotate them to balance dem.?

Crazy, I know.

On the wheels, here's the deal. Where the punch outs are on the wheels hits the face of the drum. It was suggested I chuck the drums up in the lathe and make some relief but I don't like that because it's the area of the drum where all the pressure is. This would not have been such a deal if some dumb*ss hadn't painted the wheels before he trial fitted them. A spacer will work but the axle is already an inch wider than factory (71-later are 1" wider than <71) AND the 10" wheels have 4.5" backspace - so I might already be pushed out flush with the fender. Plus, I don't think I can get a full 0.5" of relief grinding on the wheels.

I'm trying to get enough alone time to get on the phone and talk to someone; I am seriously thinking of upgrading to discs. Whatever grinding/repainting necessary is definitely worth it for that kind of whoa power.

Burdizzo said:

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John Deere paint is pretty awesome.

That plow has spent the as 30+ years in the Texas sun and other than normal oxidation, it has held up pretty damn well.

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Completely with everything you said. On top of that, I've seen very few paints that match JD green to suit me at the time the paint is sprayed; and none of them that suit me with a little age. When it's cold in the winter and I have the guys scraping implements in the barn I suck it up and buy JD paint for the reasons you stated.

The red on our engine is JD paint. That's JD's red, which IH's red. The truck is chevy's 514 Med red that's more orangy - they'll clash under the hood but this is me not caring when the hoonage starts.

Centerpole90 said:

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I'm going to post a CL ad in Corpus area attempting to find a similar vintage bumper stamped Jennings Chevrolet, Robstown, Texas - my late uncle's dealership.

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My grandpa was a farmer and lived between Robstown and Annaville. I know I've seen the kind of bumper you're looking for in his barn but I'm not sure of the dealership stamped on it. I'll give it a look next time I'm down there.

Much appreciated!

Centerpole90 said:

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Crazy, I know.

On the wheels, here's the deal. Where the punch outs are on the wheels hits the face of the drum. It was suggested I chuck the drums up in the lathe and make some relief but I don't like that because it's the area of the drum where all the pressure is. This would not have been such a deal if some dumb*ss hadn't painted the wheels before he trial fitted them. A spacer will work but the axle is already an inch wider than factory (71-later are 1" wider than <71) AND the 10" wheels have 4.5" backspace - so I might already be pushed out flush with the fender. Plus, I don't think I can get a full 0.5" of relief grinding on the wheels.

I'm trying to get enough alone time to get on the phone and talk to someone; I am seriously thinking of upgrading to discs. Whatever grinding/repainting necessary is definitely worth it for that kind of whoa power.

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I few things to consider when swapping to discs (pardon the thoughts if you already know):

• You most likely will have to swap out your prop valve for one designed for rear discs.
• Depending on the master cylinder you have, it may work with rear discs, may not. Some stories I've read about reservoirs being too small to supply enough fluid to some of the bigger calipers. That's probably only for guys doing road racing, etc.
• I pieced together my rear stuff from a 4th Gen F-Body, which mostly bolts up to the standard GM 4 bolt flange on rear ends. But little stuff like metric brake hoses and e-brake solutions have to be addressed.
• Inline Tube https://www.inlinetube.com/ is a great source for brake stuff.
• Tobin at Kore3 http://www.kore3.com/index.php is also a great asset. Give him a call and he can get you whatever you need. I'd seriously consider one of his kits if I was starting over.

If I could do it again, I probably would just get an entire kit, but I had bought a front disc kit early on, so I already had that sunk cost.

Thank you for the advice. It is well received and you are right on all counts. So far my saving grace is at the very least, I am working the brakes from the outside in. The OEM was 4 drums with no power so I knew before I stuck CPjr in there behind the wheel we were going to make brake improvements commiserate with the LS. What I didn't anticipate was our decision to use the 15" steelies would fight us at every turn. I am holding off on purchasing a booter/MC until I get the cab trial fitted to check clearance for the booster. I see some boosters marketed as 'Will work for C10 LS swaps' which leads me to believe I want to see how close thing are before I purchase that. I also want to see all our wheels on and rolling so I know what our final disc/drum combo will be - then we will decide on what to power them with. I just have to make sure everything is turning free first.

On a brake related note... CPjr was asking for the Amazon password recently and a couple days later this shows up. Anyone know what he intends to do with this?

Pretty sure you'll be replacing that one tire pretty often.

He's gonna do it for Dale.

I love the 15s.

Easy for me to say, since I'm not the guy fighting the associated fitment issues.

But in the end I think it will be worth it. It's going to look so sweet!

Those problems were so easily solved I felt stupid.

The front rotors were clearly the '84 LIGHT duty brakes: 1" rotors vs the 1.25" heavy ones. It never dawned on me the rear might be light or heavy duty or that the donor truck could have been mismatched!! I went to Oreilley and asked for a new drum just to see if it made a difference and when he asked "light or heavy duty drum" I knew what was up.

2 light duty drum and 2" shoes - $120 and we are good on the rears. I will update more over the weekend. We actually made some progress last couple days.

Excellent

The last few days we've made progress, even if it doesn't look like it. I don't remember if I announced it here, but I just could not satisfy myself with the jeep tank that I was installing back on page 2. Everything I did seemed kinda Rube Goldberg to me and one day my dad walked by and asked me how big I thought the fireball was going to be when it fell out. I told him why I'd gone that route ($) and he gave me the fatherly look that said this wan't the best place to cut a corner. Of course I could have mounted it safely, but to take full advantage of the opening available and for a few $$ more I went ahead and ordered the Boyd Welding tank that is the standard for C-10 EFI conversions. CPjr and I bolted in it's spot this weekend. The tank is in there straight; that crossmember is not perpendicular (it is where the panhard bar connects).



I love putting stuff together to take it back apart. It's how I get the threads on everything in good shape. After fixing the rear axle brake issues we rolled it back out and took the truck arms off to mount some new shock brackets. The truck is going to be lower than stock (and on air, in case I haven't mentioned that) so relocating the shock brackets gets their angle better for the stance. Drilled 'em out this afternoon -

https://instagr.am/p/BWDzaYwjHc4

Then we painted the brackets as well as the adjustable panhard bar from DeadEnd Garage. They make a few cool C-10 suspension components.



Now that we are closing in on ROLLING - my attention turned to the front. About the time CPjr and I started talking about a long road trip in this ride I started rethinking a couple components I planned on using. I've know from research that front control arms could be an issue with the suspension/wheel combination I wanted to use. To simplify that I got on the horn with a respected C-10 chassis outfit and ordered some tubular upper and lower control arms that should alleviate binding issues. They will be built and shipped the week of the 10th, so I have at least another 2 weeks before I can push the frame out of the shop to sweep instead of sweeping around it.

Every time I park my pickup in the barn I wonder which I'll be pulling out first: the Red Baron's front clip/bed or the Gig 'Em Bus for Aggie football. Either way, I wish there was a cold keg hooked up to the tap, it sure looks inviting.

This is why I suck at 'hey, it's good enough' thing - I am not happy until I have boiled whatever it is I'm doing to the final nut and bolt. I have put this axle under the truck twice and found a reason to pull it back each time. I think now it was all self-inflicted knowing I wasn't going to be happy until I tore it apart. Sure enough when I got the brakes all set up and could roll the tires with it on the jack stands I convinced myself that the rear end was rough; so I took it apart. The axle bearings seemed fine, the ring gear was okay, but finally I got the front pinion bearing (after consuming a 2x6 and wearing out a hammer) to let go of the pinion and it just doesn't seem right.

So, while I'm here, may as well put an Eaton locker and change the gear to 3.73, right? Anyone have experience setting the backlash on a 12 bolt?


current ring gear/pinion ratio is 3.40:1

Anyone prefer a certain brand components here without the really high end racing stuff?? I've read Eaton lockers are preferable to Auburn but I don't know about gear brands: Yukon, SVL, Motive...

I can look at my invoice from my rear end work when I get home if you are interested in the posi brand. I think they may have put Yukon gears in.

I had the following installed:

• New "KA Axles", supposed to be quite a bit stronger than stock
• 3.73 gears
• "Eaton style" posi-unit
• All new Timken bearings and seals.

I'm tracking on comparable components - although I'll likely reuse my axles. Thank you!

I'd go ahead and do 4.10 since it's a weekend vehicle. I'm not sure of their pricing for 12 bolts, but a Detroit Truetrac is pretty affordable for the 10 bolt.

This site supposedly has good deals on ring & pinion / carrier packages.

Classic example of my poor strategy.

I removed a 10 bolt 3:73 because I didn't want to buy the $350 worth of axles to convert to 5x5 bolt pattern. (10 bolts this vintage are 6 lug). Now I'm rethinking that - maybe spend the $ and change the axles (it had serviceable brakes) and roll: put this 12 bolt up for later project if LS smokes the 10 bolt.

Makes me look silly for reworking the brakes on this axle does t it? Oh well -eating $120 in drums and pads might be better than bogging down in a rear end build @ this stage.

The 10 bolt would be fine. If it's currently an open diff, throw a lunchbox locker in it.