Help with my build please. 70 C10 Short Stepper.

[bzblaine]

Intro
1st of all, I'm brand new to the forum. Hello all! Blaine here from San Antonio Texas. Just bought me a 70 C10 Short Stepper. I love it. Its always been a dream of mine to have one and my dream has come true. Granted, I don't know a ton about building a vehicle, I know enough to get by. I've been searching the forums for weeks learning stuff about my new truck. I have some question for those who don't mind helping me.
Truck Info
I have already purchased a 468 BBC and a built Turbo 400 trans. The truck was originally a V6. My buddy is building the engine for me. We are working on a budget. A tight one. But, he says he can get that motor into the 550 - 600 HP range. He has done it several times in the past, So, I trust him. This is going to be very fun Daily Driver. I'm aware of the terrible gas mileage, and I don't mind as I didn't get it for the mileage.
Questions
I'm assuming im going to need upgraded suspension and rear end. Being as we are on a tight budget, I would like to know what rear end would be easiest to swap into here and be sufficient for the power we will putting into it. Any suggestions for suspension? Diff? Posi, front end?? I am looking for the cheapest, easiest, and durable solution. Preferably a swap from a donor vehicle currently possessing the qualities I need. Any information would help a lot. Also, as a bonus, Im 6'4 320 LBS. I would like a split bench seat, with center arm rest/console. I need one with a thin back to allow for the most room possible. Again, Any info would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the lengthy post.

[panhandler62]

Welcome to the forums.

[chevy_mike]

Welcome to the forums.

We need a little more info on your truck. Is it trailing arm or leaf springs rear? Trailing arms, you really don't need to do anything. This works great and can take a lot of power. They don't suffer from wheel hop like a leaf spring truck will. The truck arm suspension is what NASCAR uses in all of their cars and trucks, so it works very well. You should have a truck 12 bolt rear end, which is more than strong enough. You can load it with whatever gears or posi you want. Might consider aftermarket axle shafts, like Tom's Axles. They are beefier than stock but stock is still fairly strong.

My suggestion it good brakes. You'll want to make sure you can stop that much power.

[bzblaine]

OK great! Thanks for the fast reply. I do indeed have trailing arms. This is great news for my budget. So just go with some new axle shafts and brakes and I should be good? Would I need to do anything with the front end or suspension to compensate for the additional weight of the engine? I haven't decided on tires yet, But I'm thinking fat ones. If I can get the thing to stick to the ground well, that rear end will be able to take it? Is there anything else that I might need to worry about when putting that much power in the truck?. My goal is a daily driver that will smoke a Mustang if it needed to. But I do want something reliable. Thanks in advance.

[chevy_mike]

Unless you are building a full race truck, almost all trucks you are going to have a hard time getting them to hook up. There is not much weight in the back, so you'll be smoking the tires a lot. LOL

As for front springs, if keeping stock height, these trucks had BBC as options so you can go with a BBC spring versus a SBC spring. If you're going to lower it, check the different companies as some specify drop with what engine.

As for upgrades for the power, you might want to look at U-joint and yoke upgrades to a heavier duty ones. The stock 1310 joints and yokes might be the week point.

Get the truck on the road and start feeling out what you might need to upgrade. These trucks are fairly strong to begin with.

[bzblaine]

I greatly appreciate all of your help. I love this forum. The replies are ridiculously fast. I'm glad to be apart of the Chevy Truck family. I'll get some pictures up soon.

[SCOTI]

The rear end will work /upgrades (posi, axles, etc). If you get 'serious' about putting the power/torque of that big-block to the ground vs the easily achieveable smoke show, there might be a need to upgrade the housing (the truck arms will still get the job done).

Set the motor back as far as possible in the chassis & utilize as much 'light' stuff as possible to help w/the weight of things. Fiberglass items, alum radiator/water pump/intake, gear reduction starter, wheels, relocating the batt to the rear of the truck can all make an impact.

For seating, look into 88-94 GM truck low back buckets (or split bench). the seat backs on these are fairly thin yet still comfortable.

[bzblaine]

Awesome! Looks like I'm hitting up the junkyard tomorrow and see what I can find as far as seats. We plan on hopefully 600 hp. When you say serious power, Are you talking 700+ hp? And thanks for the weight reduction and distribution tips! Will keep that in mind.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by bzblaine

Awesome! Looks like I'm hitting up the junkyard tomorrow and see what I can find as far as seats. We plan on hopefully 600 hp. When you say serious power, Are you talking 700+ hp? And thanks for the weight reduction and distribution tips! Will keep that in mind.

No offense intended, but people on the internet mention "600hp" like it's nothin to accomplish so it's hard to establish if it's the real deal (600hp @ the crank on a dyno or 600rwhp/chassis dyno etc). 600hp is no joke.

What are the specs on the motor your buddy is building? That might help us help you better. Knowing what parts are used helps establish how serious the remainder of the drivetrain might need to be. Again... not casting doubt on you or your buddy's abilities.

If you want to plant that 600hp (prepped track, slicks, good tune) there might be cause for concern & reason to spend a little more on an upgraded rear end.
What size wheels/tires are you considering?