Starting to start starting a C4 conversion on my 84 SWB GMC

[Tagg33]

Nothing exciting to update. I have raised some money selling some things thanks to craigslist! It's not much but it will help me move forward with some part of the project. I need to buy paint supplies so I can touch up the frame and then paint the firewall.

Nate is working on my front upper bag mounts this week. Since I am going with regular bags and shocks he has to make a different mount. His C4 DM kit is designed to work with the all-in-one Shockwaves. The upper mounts are the final thing I need to complete the front, well besides shock mounts.

Since my engine is out of the truck and on a stand, I have been cleaning it. I decided the block is going to get repainted red. I sanded off the casting slag from the block. I have removed the serpentine accessory brackets and pulleys. Yesterday I sanded the casting lines off of the aluminum acc brackets. These aluminum parts are all going to get bead blasted and cleared. I still need to pull the balancer so I can change the timing cover gasket and seal. I have a one-piece oil pan gasket to install. And I'm considering pulling the intake and replacing the head gaskets too. My engine is a ZZ1 from 1991, it only has 4k miles on it but as you can tell it has sat much of it's life. Do you think I should go as far as to replace the head gaskets now? I'm also looking into upgrading my TH400 trans to a 700R4, my brothers friend owns a trans shop and I'm hoping to work something out with him.

[moneyeater]

Changing all the seals on the motor is a good idea because they dry in when the engine stands for a long time!I experienced that myself! But changing the headgaskets shouldn´t be necessary if they worked fine the last time the motor ran!
Why aren´t you using the shockwaves? Seems like a good all in one solution!
Volker

[Tagg33]

I decided against the Shockwaves originally because of their cost but also because of the limited range of motion. With the bag setup I should have a total of 9-10 inches of lift. I've also heard that if your Shockwaves have any problems, ie. leaks you have to send them in for repair that creates a lot more downtime.

[Tagg33]

Just baby steps right now. Spent the day cleaning up the engine some more. Pulled the timing cover and change it's gasket and seal. Cleaned up the block for new paint (same color). Removed oil pan and replaced the gasket with a new one-piece. Hoping to have the small oil leaks under control now. As you can see on the block I sanded down some of the sharp edges of the block. Next I will paint the block. Then I will remove the TPI plenum and runners so they can be sanded smooth. I think they will get the same bead-blast and clear that I plan to do on the accessory brackets and corvette suspension parts.

[love my 72]

Looks good, cant wait to see more!

[Tagg33]

My brother finally had time to stop by and get me started on the firewall body work. After a little hammer & dolly time he smeared on some All Metal filler. I worked on sanding it for a while, it needs a lot more work but the improvement is very encouraging. I also got some new items for the engine, March billet pulleys and a polished 140 amp Alt.

I went to the Barrett Jackson auction today to look around. There were a lot of trucks and it was a good time. I hope to make more progress on the body work this weekend as I'm heading to Las Vegas for the next couple of days for work.

[Tagg33]

I recently bought a blast cabinet from Harbor Freight. My thinking was that $120 for the cabinet was a great deal compared to the cost of having a shop do this work for me. It does cost more than that when you realize the cabinet doesn't have a light or it's own air hose and you have to buy the blast media. I bought a cheap light fixture, a spiral air hose for flexibility and connected my shop vac. I started with glass beads but wasn't getting the result I wanted. So I emptied out the cabinet and put in 120 grit aluminum oxide. I had some of this aluminum oxide here at the house already because I sell it for sand blasting people's faces, I sell skin care equipment . I really like the result it creates the aluminum parts I am working on are left with a sparkly finish like metallic paint. In these pictures you can see my accessory brackets first just after blasting. And next with Duplicolor 500 degree clear coat.

[smashingchuck]

Coming along! Those bead blasters are handy, my dad built one about 15 years ago (from TiP plans) and I have used the hell out of it.

[Tagg33]

I spent the afternoon bolting these items on the front of the engine:
Edelbrock Water Pump with near chrome powder coat
Accessory brackets, blasted and cleared
Power Steering pump painted silver
Alternator, Power Master, Polished
March Pulleys
Stainless Allen Bolts that I polished now replace every visible bolt.
and a few other little things.
Here's the before and after.

[smbrouss70]

That came out looking really good!

[moneyeater]

Looks really good!
Volker

[SatisTraction]

nice build.

here is a c4 suspension that you may find interesting.
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65041

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by SatisTraction

nice build.

here is a c4 suspension that you may find interesting.
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65041

Someone needs to invite him to post that build here too! That is goining to be something nice...


Sorry Tagg33, not trying to highjack...

[Tagg33]

I agree that is a nice build and I'm going to watch it.

[Tagg33]

I've been working on the back of the truck for the last few weekends. I determined the Corvette IRS was not going to fit in my existing notch so I cut it off. I then welded new 2x4 tube straight back from the top of the notch and I dropped in a couple 2x2 cross pieces. Today I made a mount for the gas tank using 1x1 tube and 2 bolt-on straps on top to hold the tank down. I have placed my order with Porterbuilt for the batwing mounts and a front mount to get the C4 IRS in place. I should have these on Monday. Nate is also going to build me the trailing arms I mentioned previously. Tomorrow I will be taking some final measurements to give him so he can start the trailing arms. I should have some good progress happening in the next few weeks.

[menace121978]

nice progress looking good!!

[STOCKISH]

Great looking work man. Keep at it.

[79gmc5.3]

Watching some of these builds makes me feel like an amateur

[Tagg33]

Thanks guys, for the comments. It has been really satisfying to make some progress.

[moneyeater]

Looks great!
Volker

[Tagg33]

Starting to make some good progress on the rear. Lookie lookie, I got some more PB items. Batwing brackets and trailing arms. I'll post more pictures when I get a little farther along. I'm just test fitting and still have a few more pieces being made up by Nate.

[moneyeater]

Right on man!
Looks great!
Volker

[justpball]

man thats Hot!!! Nates stuff always looks so good!

[moneyeater]

I wonder if the batwingbrackets and parts would fit to an original frame?
I´m once more thinking about converting to C4 IRS!
Volker

[Tagg33]

Sure I think everything would still work on a stock frame. Nate can make the trailing arm mounts different for each application. Go back to my page 4, post 85 and the truck we discussed before with a stock setup still looks do-able.