Mods
Engine: Rebuilt 350 SBC, 0.030” over with flat top pistons, eBay aluminum heads (1.6/2.02 valves, 64cc chambers, 210cc runners), (now) Comp Cams 1.6 roller rockers, Howard’s 118001 rattler cam (227/235 @ 0.050", .512/.520 lift, 109 LSA), Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Brawler 650 carb, MSD Street Fire HEI.
Trans: TH350 with B&M shift kit, hardened sprag race (for the one wheel burnouts ya know), 2700RPM stall torque converter.
Exhaust: 1.625” long tube headers to 3” collectors, then dual 2.5” pipes to thrush turbo mufflers in the back with an H-Pipe. Now features axle dumps to clear the axle after lowering... because it was easier than bending pipe.
Suspension: CPP 3”/5” drop (coil springs and drop shocks). Adjustable track bar. New ball joints, tie rods, and bushings all around.
Brakes: Completely replaced all rear brake hardware and lines. New master cylinder. Replaced front soft lines as well as installed drilled/slotted rotors, new pads, and Timken wheel bearings (safety... who needs it).
Wheels: Factory 15” rally wheels painted black with Duplicolor engine enamel (figured it might be more durable, *shrugs*) and original center caps.
Electrical: Added eBay boat fuse block to driver’s side kick panel that is fed by a relay going to the battery when the key is turned on. Makes it convenient to add things. I like adding things.
Various: Aluminum radiator, Wal-Mart battree, Rock Auto chinese alternator, Brothers saddle cloth seat cover (now I have pockets for stuff!), eBay LED headlights, painted headlight bezels, low profile bed toolbox from Craigslist, eBay mirrors (bad choice), Bosch tach hose clamped to steering column, Union Pacific Sequential LED tail lights, a custom cut horse stall mat in the bed to combat the insane exhaust drone, and tons of other things that I’ll remember as soon as I click submit.
Next winter: Stereo and Sniper EFI???
Trans: TH350 with B&M shift kit, hardened sprag race (for the one wheel burnouts ya know), 2700RPM stall torque converter.
Exhaust: 1.625” long tube headers to 3” collectors, then dual 2.5” pipes to thrush turbo mufflers in the back with an H-Pipe. Now features axle dumps to clear the axle after lowering... because it was easier than bending pipe.
Suspension: CPP 3”/5” drop (coil springs and drop shocks). Adjustable track bar. New ball joints, tie rods, and bushings all around.
Brakes: Completely replaced all rear brake hardware and lines. New master cylinder. Replaced front soft lines as well as installed drilled/slotted rotors, new pads, and Timken wheel bearings (safety... who needs it).
Wheels: Factory 15” rally wheels painted black with Duplicolor engine enamel (figured it might be more durable, *shrugs*) and original center caps.
Electrical: Added eBay boat fuse block to driver’s side kick panel that is fed by a relay going to the battery when the key is turned on. Makes it convenient to add things. I like adding things.
Various: Aluminum radiator, Wal-Mart battree, Rock Auto chinese alternator, Brothers saddle cloth seat cover (now I have pockets for stuff!), eBay LED headlights, painted headlight bezels, low profile bed toolbox from Craigslist, eBay mirrors (bad choice), Bosch tach hose clamped to steering column, Union Pacific Sequential LED tail lights, a custom cut horse stall mat in the bed to combat the insane exhaust drone, and tons of other things that I’ll remember as soon as I click submit.
Next winter: Stereo and Sniper EFI???
Build story
I had a Porsche 944 that I was daily driving and I would pass this mossy, forgotten C10 on the side of the road twice a day. I’ve always wanted an old C10, and eventually I couldn’t take it anymore. I stopped in and inquired about it and it turns out I knew the owner. Before I even tried to negotiate, he knocked $3k off the price for me. Sold. Now I just had to figure out how to pay him!
With that sorted, I got some plates and a toolbox filled with oil, vice grips, and zip ties, and headed down there with my dad. I got the old girl started and she sounded okay, so I tried to do a burnout. All of a sudden, I had no oil pressure and the top end started clacking pretty bad. That’s fine. I drove it 30 minutes home like that, my dad following me for backup, parked it in the street outside my house, and then went on a fishing trip for a week.
When I came back, the work started. Using an engine hoist I borrowed from my uncle, I pulled the engine, calling up my Dad to come over for an extra set of hands, and we had the engine and trans yanked out in about a day. I covered the engine in simple green and tried to blast off as much crud as I could, but she was caked. I eventually had it torn down, brought the block to a local machine shop, and had them clean it/bore it out for me. Watching VGG’s “budget small block” video, I rebuilt the motor entirely by myself (had lots of small engine and some diesel experience, but never an entire car/truck engine). Following the advice of some random guy on an internet forum, I also tore down the TH350, hanging it from the ceiling of my garage with ratchet straps, and added some hardened internals to prevent it from blowing up.
Finally, the motor and trans went back into my truck. My dad was starting to enjoy my calls for help at this point. Turned out I didn’t chase the threads for the head bolts and thus I lost a head gasket after firing it up the first few times, but eventually I got that sorted out and drove it for the summer with basically no brakes, a super loud exhaust, no air, and no stereo. It was awesome. Towards the end of the summer, my evilBay fuel pump died and left me stranded, so I replaced it with an OEM one and haven’t had problems since (nope, shouldn’t have said that).
Now, this winter, I decided to make the truck actually drive better. Since I’m cheap, I bought and installed a CPP 3”/5” lowering kit (springs/shocks) from eBay, along with an adjustable track bar. I also redid most of the suspension I touched, which was a valuable learning experience and caused me to gain some new tools. I’ll need to have it aligned once I take it out this spring to make sure I don’t chew up my top-dollar “Nankang” eBay tires. On top of that, I also replaced a large percentage of the braking system. Turns out the rear brakes didn’t work even a little bit. Boy, you should’ve seen the brake fluid I bled out of the system at the end of that endeavor. Now, she’s sitting in my garage, sleeping, waiting for the salt to come off the road, and I can’t wait to take her for a rip.
With that sorted, I got some plates and a toolbox filled with oil, vice grips, and zip ties, and headed down there with my dad. I got the old girl started and she sounded okay, so I tried to do a burnout. All of a sudden, I had no oil pressure and the top end started clacking pretty bad. That’s fine. I drove it 30 minutes home like that, my dad following me for backup, parked it in the street outside my house, and then went on a fishing trip for a week.
When I came back, the work started. Using an engine hoist I borrowed from my uncle, I pulled the engine, calling up my Dad to come over for an extra set of hands, and we had the engine and trans yanked out in about a day. I covered the engine in simple green and tried to blast off as much crud as I could, but she was caked. I eventually had it torn down, brought the block to a local machine shop, and had them clean it/bore it out for me. Watching VGG’s “budget small block” video, I rebuilt the motor entirely by myself (had lots of small engine and some diesel experience, but never an entire car/truck engine). Following the advice of some random guy on an internet forum, I also tore down the TH350, hanging it from the ceiling of my garage with ratchet straps, and added some hardened internals to prevent it from blowing up.
Finally, the motor and trans went back into my truck. My dad was starting to enjoy my calls for help at this point. Turned out I didn’t chase the threads for the head bolts and thus I lost a head gasket after firing it up the first few times, but eventually I got that sorted out and drove it for the summer with basically no brakes, a super loud exhaust, no air, and no stereo. It was awesome. Towards the end of the summer, my evilBay fuel pump died and left me stranded, so I replaced it with an OEM one and haven’t had problems since (nope, shouldn’t have said that).
Now, this winter, I decided to make the truck actually drive better. Since I’m cheap, I bought and installed a CPP 3”/5” lowering kit (springs/shocks) from eBay, along with an adjustable track bar. I also redid most of the suspension I touched, which was a valuable learning experience and caused me to gain some new tools. I’ll need to have it aligned once I take it out this spring to make sure I don’t chew up my top-dollar “Nankang” eBay tires. On top of that, I also replaced a large percentage of the braking system. Turns out the rear brakes didn’t work even a little bit. Boy, you should’ve seen the brake fluid I bled out of the system at the end of that endeavor. Now, she’s sitting in my garage, sleeping, waiting for the salt to come off the road, and I can’t wait to take her for a rip.