63 C10 Revitalization

[silver63c10]

This was the first father/son project my dad and I undertook, way back when I was in middle school. Now seems like a good time to finally start a thread here as we're giving it a bit of a makeover, from the inside out.

We've had it for close to 13 years, and got it on the road in 2002, a few months after my 16th birthday. *It was meant to be my daily driver, but after our painter got the first few pieces done (including ~15 hours tapping the dents out of the tailgate) we decided it would be a weekend toy. *

It was kind of neglected while we built then started thrashing on our Camaro the past few years, but Camaro is pretty well squared away and the bug for a bigger and faster truck has hit so here we are.

Basics of the original setup -
9.0:1 1991 model 350
Not much cam, little porting on the heads
Early 80's 700-R4
3.73s
Homebrew mid-70's disc and 5 lug conversion
Lowered 2" front and rear, original springs, no swaybars
Vinyl wrapped console, B&M Hammer shifter, AutoMeter street rod gauges
1999 Hyundai Tiburon Seats
1998 Dodge Driftwood paint

The ongoing rebuild includes -
Stock block 406, Renegade CNC ported aluminum heads, Comp solid roller (~.570/.580 lift)
Thoroughly reworked 91 model 700R4 and Edge converter
Ford 9" rear, posi with 4.11s
Secondary 5 gal. fuel cell for 100 octane
Possibly a hydraboost setup, depending on how much vacuum it makes
Air conditioning that works (we had an underdash unit that just never worked out)
Swaybars, and possibly new springs/weight jacks down the line. I have wild notions of autocrossing it, eventually, but it will primarily be bracket raced alongside the Camaro

So, with that out of the way, on to the pictures:

Where we started..




Custom floor shifter!


And what we had 4 years later..I need to scan some of the progress pics I guess


Power Tour 03 at Shreveport (I lost..)








And, the teardown..






Love that giant hood opening, was not looking forward to pulling that thing off


New motor is going together, should be making some good progress the next couple weeks. Can't wait to get it back together and start thrashing.

[ccracin]

Very Nice! Love those trucks. Keep the pictures coming.

[silver63c10]

Delayed update time! Thanks ccracin, I'm quite partial to the early 60's trucks myself after looking at this one for the past 13 years

So, this seemingly simple update has turned into the project from hell.

New motor is in and running, has been for quite some time, but we've been trying to slay transmission dragons for the past several months. Looks like as of last night our many problems might be solved, after having it in and out more times than I care to remember..upside is we can drop it in less than an hour, and have it back up there in just over an hour at this point.

Anyway, here are more pics, plans, etc..

Engine went together..


Got it ran in on the test stand..


Changed heads, ran it on the stand some more..


Finally got it dropped in the truck (hooray for wide-open hoods)


Fired it up..no pressure in the trans..but at least it sounded cool through the open x-pipe


Fixed the pressure issue, no reverse. Gave up, took it to a PRO, still no pressure. Trashed the modified separator plate and it looks like things are good to go now..maybe..

Other detail things, glovebox by day...


MSD funtime holder by night


Scrapped the old 2.5" lead pipes for a 3" Pypes X-pipe kit




Ditched the B&M Hammer shifter for a Pro Ratchet


Annnnnnd finally, made some plans for a little outside makeover once it's done. Every shop needs a shop truck, and it's been our unofficial one since we got it together. Time to make it a little more official - Wheel Vintiques Rallyes and a little lettering to help it pay for itself.



Seems like we should have been able to get more done than this in 7 months

[street3285]

Nice looking truck!

[silver63c10]

Thanks street!

Been a while since I've updated this, and, thankfully, we've managed to get a lot done, and got to take it to the track and play the weekend before last.

Some of the highlights:

Dash-mounted shift light continues the interior mods




Got everything wrapped up under the hood, including new manual Wilwood master cylinder and adjustable prop. valve for the new rear discs


Took it to a 'Run-what-ya-brung' drag race held at an air strip. Had a lot of fun doing 1/8th mile burnouts on the old asphalt - and thankfully didn't break the 12 bolt rear


WWII era asphalt isn't kind


Took advantage of the long Thanksgiving weekend to perform surgery yet again




Got the exhaust painted, and did some clearancing on the trans crossmember to tuck it up nice and neat




9" with 4.10s and Yukon locker nestled into its new home


Made peace with multiple deities, then trimmed the lip on both sides to fit 28x10.5s


..which was totally worth the stress


Annnnnd finally, took it to the track and flogged it - managed a 7.749 at 86 mph




It took a year but we're finally back on the schedule we wanted to be

[70rs]

I love that truck!

[silver63c10]

Originally Posted by 70rs

I love that truck!

Thanks!

Got a little more done over the long new years weekend, an Addco sway bar found it's way under the Christmas tree so we spent an afternoon getting it hung under the front end (not the easiest task on a vehicle that didn't come with one).

We built this shop intending to only have one hot rod - kinda foolish, in hindsight


Awaiting fitment, once the sparks settle


Annnnd success! Didn't get a shot after pulling the bubble wrap off


Also got a nice little system down using a Craftsman laser measure and some scrap steel to measure toe-in - turns out, +1/8" toe makes it drive like a boat! Ended up shifting both sides over a touch to re-center the wheel, and settled on 1/4" in. Drives like a, well, a truck now, instead of a log wagon

[ccracin]

Very nice! Keep the updates coming!

[66SuperSport]

Cool project.

[street3285]

Coming along nice and the rear tires look sweet tucked in there.

What coating or paint do you have on your headers? I used the some "High Heat" paint on my headers, that said up to 1200 degress, but it immediately flaked and now I have to re-do them. THinking about ceramic coated them, but it is kind of expensive, as paint is more in my budget.