1976 Sierra Classic big block

[bnoon]

I sold my '86 earlier this year because I didn't have room to store it, but I missed it too much. I'll put this one on the street and move it every few days to avoid tickets...

Just picked this up yesterday for $1,750. Factory 454 auto ac truck. I've seen cleaner trucks for less, but I had to have this one. When the restoration was done back in 1996, this truck sold for $6,995 as I found the sales sheet from the old dealership he bought it from. Obviously the metal wasn't prepped correctly as the paint is flaking off of rusted metal before the rust even really killed the metal itself, but I don't care. Original color was yellow, but it's now my favorite color combo of orange and white. Also, as bad as the rust looks, it's almost all from improper sheet metal prep. The frame and braces are perfect, as are the cab mounts and floor. If it were prepped right, there might have been a few spots around the wheelwells and that's about it.

The 454 is cammed and headers to dual Cherry Bombs and dumps. It runs well and the TH400 has a nice solid shift kit. The guy has the wrong cam in it however as he way over cammed those peanut port heads. I dug up several of my old magazine articles and I'm going to copy a certain build from Car Craft where they made about 465 horse and mid 500's tq with peanut ports. Should be enough for me for a little while at least, then step up to some Pro Comp heads maybe.

Rear brakes are shot and the fronts had been updated with new calipers and pads, but not bled. I shot through the first stop sign nearly hitting a white Lexus and gray pickup truck! After I pulled over in a parking lot and changed my drawers, I continued to Walmart to pickup new tires before the 100 mile drive home. Walmart guys were nice enough to help me bleed the brakes even though the aren't allowed to do brake work since it was a serious safety issue. Brakes worked good enough for a gingerly drive home, so off we went. New master cylinder from the auto parts store and I need to find a used right rear brake to pull a few parts from and then I can complete the rears. Should be a fun project and I needed another truck to do some hauling for a home I'm renovating. I'll post that house project up in an off topic forum or something.

[mooseknuckles]

sweet truck!

[bnoon]

First modification done. Mr Gasket 14" open element air cleaner and double stacked filters. Would have done a single 6", but since that's all I had left over from previous projects that's what I used. Too bad that's only thing I had laying around in my storage unit that will fit this truck. Every other hotrod I've had were SBC, so that's about all that will carry over, LOL! This is my first BBC. I can't wait to start making more powa!!!

I also hit the American Racing "Hammer" style wheels with steel wool to polish them up... and found one more center cap under the seat, so now I'm only missing one. Still some rust to clean off of them, but I need the next step up in steel wool pads as the ones I have are too fine. The did clean up pretty nice though.

[bnoon]

OMG, I HATE DRUM BRAKES! OK, more specific... I hate old rusted neglected worn out to paper thin drums no braking material left on the shoes frozen to the hubs leaking wheel cylinders lines won't pop free bleeders snap off drum brakes! From 4:30-10:15 last night I wrestled with those mothers, collected parts from two stores, and FINALLY I have reliable brake system. New master cylinder and bleed the system was the original plan, which would have taken maybe an hour, but inspection of the rear brakes lead down a scary dark path that at first didn't seem to end. We beat on those drums for quite a good while before any hardware finally broke, then we used pickle forks and pry bars to finally wriggle the drums off. The lip was so deep on the rotors that the back edge had to break off before it could come off!!! The wheel cylinders were so leaky it's a wonder I had any fluid left at all. The lines wouldn't come free from the nipple fitting, but they did break free from the wheel cylinders themselves... so we pulled the backing plates, unbolted the wheel cylinders, then spun the wheel cylinders around until they came off the end of the line. Starting the new wheel cylinders back on was very difficult since the fitting wouldn't spin on the line... So we finally had to add new shoes, drums, hardware kit and nearly 6 hours of our lives. Thank God dad was available to help me, or I'd probably still be there.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Looks like you have a nice little project man! I'll be staying tuned for it!

Gotta love it when something that should take shortly takes hours.

[ratty65]

Does it have power steering/ If so any chance you can take a pic of the drivers side around the a/c compressor and ps pump? I have a 454 in my 1971 suburban out of a newer truck and was trying to figure out the stock mounting on these so I knew what brackets to order.

[bnoon]

Yes, it has power steering as well. I'll go take a picture here in a sec.

[bnoon]

I have the original sized images too (4 times larger). Email 9512nv at gmail dot com if you need those.

[rusty76]

I like the color combo.

[ratty65]

Thanks for the pics!! That is exactly what I was looking for.

[DBLSPRT68]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I like the color combo.

Me too!

[bnoon]

No problem. I'm going to be pulling off the AC compressor (to rebuild it) and replacing the power steering pump, so the pictures will serve me well too! Ha!

[bnoon]

No pictures from the tune up, brake job, or fixing the speedometer, but at least those projects are out of the way and I can drive it anywhere I want.

Here's the newest addition to the truck though. Bud and Sissy. My girlfriend said she went out at 4AM to put them in so that I'd be surprised this morning. Love her!

Next up: Flip kit and spindles? Or more power?

[77ChevySharkBite]

That's awesome!!! she's a keeper man!

Well you do have a big block so that gives you a little power, so my vote it for flip kit and spindles!

[bnoon]

Yeah, it's more power than the basic truck on the street since it's got a cam and headers, but I just don't know. I'm thinking I want 3" spindles in the front, which means no more 15" wheels unless I feel like grinding/etc., so I should include the eventual 20" rims there as well. But, as far as power goes, I'm talking 450-550 horse upgrades, not just a little baby step singular bolt-on. Hard decisions.

[bnoon]

Pulled the trigger a few days ago on some parts and they arrived just before Christmas, though I just opened them today. 3200 10 inch stall, new flexplate, and many quarts of B&M Trick Shift. The TH400 is in good shape with a shift kit installed, but the shift points are currently too low by a few hundred RPM and I've noticed in the past that the Trick Shift can raise up the shift point by about the same amount that I think I need depending on how many quarts of it you add. We'll see I guess. I have a bad U-joint to replace at the same time but I'll just buy that from the Autozone around the corner from my house. Man I would LOVE to do a GV overdrive unit, but daaaaayum those parts are expensive!!!

[77ChevySharkBite]

Ooo pretty parts!!!

[bnoon]

I pulled the dash today to tighten up the loose center speaker setup. Also redid some of the vacuum lines and measured up the u-joints for replacement (clunk into gear go bye bye). I also did the PEX tubing for the door pins and MAN what a difference! Lubed up the locks and hinges on the doors as well as the hood hinges. Cleaned and detailed under the hood a little bit but no pictures until that's done tomorrow.

[bnoon]

So last night I was troubleshooting the TH400 not downshifting at all (and upshifting too soon) and messing with the gas pedal switch. No click from the relay inside the pan... I was going to grab the volt meter, but I thought: Before I do that, I want to check cold start choke adjustment while my hands are already dirty (I can't touch the volt meter with dirty hands). So I start pulling the air cleaner assembly and something catches my eye... two header pipes still have most of their shelf coating paint, one pretty much ALL of its shelf coating paint is still on... Did I have two dead cylinders?

So I pull the plugs on those two cylinders and one plug barely has any coloring and the other looks as if I had just pulled it out of the package. Compression tested: CHECK! Spark? CHECK! So what was wrong? I decided to pull the valve cover and thought I'd find a bent pushrod or something... NOPE! I found loose rockers on all four valves on those two cylinders! I can't believe they weren't clacking enough to hear it (I mean the headers to worn out Cherry Bombs to dumps is loud, but come on). I had to put about 4 full turns plus a quarter turn preload on the half dead cylinder and about 5 or 6 full turns on the totally dead cylinder plus preload. I had been running around on basically 6.5 cylinders this whole time!

Fired it up about 9:45 for a quick test drive (god the neighbors must love me), and those pipes instantly got hot, so I know they're firing now. Idles smoother, and now I don't think it's nearly as "cammed" as the guy who sold it to me was trying to make me believe. Off the line torque just spins the tires at will, once it's warm... I still have to mess with the cold choke setting (or maybe upgrade the carb to electric choke instead of that silly automatic coil), but it was totaly worth putting it off... and I still have to check for voltage at the trans too because the downshifting still ain't happening... but it was a fun night!

[Low Elco]

Congrats! Always gratifying to find and fix invisibile stupid stuff. "I never knew it could run this good!"

[Greenlee]

Cool truck! Glad you got it running right. Sounds like the previous owner was running it like that for a long time!

On the TH400, it has a vacuum modulator that controls the shift points. Check the vacuum hose for leaks or replace the modulator. Also, I believe most of the replacement modulators have an adjustable screw that allows you to adjust the shift points. The electrical connection only controls the kickdown for the passing gear. That wiring should run to the switch on the back of the gas pedal assembly.

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by Greenlee

Cool truck! Glad you got it running right. Sounds like the previous owner was running it like that for a long time!

On the TH400, it has a vacuum modulator that controls the shift points. Check the vacuum hose for leaks or replace the modulator. Also, I believe most of the replacement modulators have an adjustable screw that allows you to adjust the shift points. The electrical connection only controls the kickdown for the passing gear. That wiring should run to the switch on the back of the gas pedal assembly.

My understanding was that the modulator did the shift points, but was overridden by the switch, which then put the pressure path through the high side for higher rpm holding power and shift firmness. Under normal throttle it shifts fine and when it should, so I believe the modulator is good. The vacuum hose was bad when I first got it. One of the first things I replaced. Also, I have power at the switch, but didnt get a chance to check down below because I got on my tangent.

[Greenlee]

Originally Posted by bnoon

My understanding was that the modulator did the shift points, but was overridden by the switch, which then put the pressure path through the high side for higher rpm holding power and shift firmness. Under normal throttle it shifts fine and when it should, so I believe the modulator is good. The vacuum hose was bad when I first got it. One of the first things I replaced. Also, I have power at the switch, but didnt get a chance to check down below because I got on my tangent.

I'm no expert, but I recently swapped a TH400 in my truck and I probably read every thread on this forum about the TH400. I'm pretty sure the switch controls nothing but the passing gear. A lot of guys don't even have it hooked up.

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by Greenlee

I'm no expert, but I recently swapped a TH400 in my truck and I probably read every thread on this forum about the TH400. I'm pretty sure the switch controls nothing but the passing gear. A lot of guys don't even have it hooked up.

Gotcha. I think I have two issues then. The modulator doesn't hold off the upshifts at full throttle AND I'm not getting any downshifts from the detent switch/relay. Vacuum lines are brand new to the modulator... need to pull it off and check it out.

Another trip to the salvage yard yielded a cruise control cable today from an early 80's Pontiac Parisienne (might have been a Bonneville, didn't pay attention) with only 61,xxx miles on the clock. Dang clean car really. The cable was a good 8-10 inches longer than the original, but had the correct ends on it and works perfect. The old one was so rusty and dried out that it delayed reaction of the cruise control on both acceleration and deceleration. Now I just have to either clean up the engagement switch on the turn signal stalk or replace it because it doesn't work every time you hit it.

[Zane M]

Great truck. Can't wait to see watch this project progress.