1981/86 K10 Short-Bread

[Altec]

Been cleaning today, but have gotten a couple minutes to swap out the tie rod.

First I measured a common point on the tie rod (Center of the grease zirk) to the edge of the turn-buckle. Which believe it or not was exactly 6.5".

So after I knew that I put the old tie rod in the vice and loosened the clamps. Then took a flat blade driver to break the tube free. Using a chain wrench I spun the clamp off. Even the weight of a freaking firetruck brake drum I was moving the vice all over the place... Looked like I was dancing with it.


Got it though. Then the new one went on, set, and locked down.



Through some flat black on it. Gonna get Hammered paint when on the truck. Just didn't want to worry about rust...


PRETTY!!!!



edit,

Posting this as a note for myself. Decided on a course of action for the rear. Gonna hose the U-bolt on the donor for a week, then take a impact and try to get them off. After I get the axle out I am going to pull the cover and make sure it is good to go. Then I'm going to rip the brakes apart and clean everything up. I am going to replace the brake cylinders, and put a set of pads on. Then put the cover back on, fill it, and clean/paint it.

Need to order a set of leaf spring bushings as well. I want to have it all ready so when the axle is done I can transfer the leaf springs to it, and bolt it up for the final time.

I'm keeping the current front axle and pulling the gears from the donor truck. As well the donor has a nice set of WARN manual hubs. Do that and clean up the rotors. Top them with new calipers, and pads. Can you tell I'm worried about brakes? I don't want to build something I wouldn't feel comfortable having anyone drive...

[Altec]

I hit two pages! Woot!

Been cleaning all day, haven't had time for the truck. I looked out the window at the sun setting, and said screw it. Walked outside and put the link on! Got the steering arm coated in a bit of black, and stuck it on. The new rod tightened fine, but the back one just spun. So I just have to take a board a put pressure on the link and tighten it. That will have to happen later though.

The boots fit good. After getting crushed down they take a shape more like the factory and fit good. Hoping they hold up. I'll have to do a review later.



Also I priced the parts to do the rear brakes. $10 a piece for cylinders, and $20 for shoes.

[blackout]

good progress! i got excited when i got my second page haha.

[Altec]

The best part for me is not having all the pictures load lol.

Thanks! Sadly it is going to be cold, and rainy the rest of the week...


Was reading on Pirate and someone linked to a thread on colorado k5 about the use of 2002 F350 shocks to work with a 4" lift chevy! So I'm gonna try a set. At $22 a pop I think it's worth a shot.

[Altec]

Text update.

Been busy working, but fiddled with the truck a bit. Was able to get the steering arm side tightened down. Ended up replacing the nut. So now I have steering!

Back to the engine next! Using a pair of factory valve covers. Found a PCV in the spares. Need to dig up a fill cap, and drill the other valve cover out for the breather I have.

Still need to drill the head to mount the alternator bracket...And clean the alternator bracket... I have no idea where the mounting bolts went to for it, so I'm going to have to get a couple.

Then I need to unbolt the engine from the stand. Got to get a pilot bushing, and pop that in. Also need to get some flywheel bolts. All the ones I have are shorter flex plate bolts... Past that the flywheel needs to be hit with a scotchbrite wheel, and then it is ready to go together. I dug out the pressure plates, and discs I have. I have a brand new 11" pressure plate and disc, and a 12" pressure plate/disc that is probably about 75% left. Think I'm going to use the 12", but it is good to know I have a good back up as well. Then I gotta bell housing that needs degreased...

Got a lead on a 16g factory tank for zero dollars. So if that is the case, the cell might be ditched.

Got a yota that needs a o2 sensor and tires this week, after that my truck should be going in the shop for a engine install. After this the front clip is going on.

[Altec]

Hello all! Isn't it a beautiful day in the neighborhood? Over 80* today! Got quite a few things done! In between working on my junk, I was out with the battery charger jump starting some junk to move around. Was quite fun.

My main reason was I wanted to wrap up some loose ends on my engine. That means tapping some holes, replacing a water neck, and getting a pilot bushing. I also wanted to clean my bell housing.

Now first I started with drilling, and tapping the head. Found the tap, and the drill.First I realized my drill bit is to short to fit through the bracket. Crap... WAIT!!! I have a bracket from a '91 'burban that might work. So I dug that out and it was perfect! So I bolted that on and used it to mark the spot with the drill.


Marked.


I measured the depth of the hole on the other side, and used tape to mark the drill.


Done! Well, sorta. What you don't see is that I drilled into the water jacket... Guess the casting right there is thinner... After drilling the hole I used a larger bit to make the tap start easier. Then just tapped it using a 3/8"-16 tap.


Since I'm using a late model water pump, I had to drill and tap one of the ports. Sadly, a 1/8NPT tap was just slightly too small. So I had to drill it out, and use a 1/4NPT tap. No biggy.


Started cleaning the bell housing. Found blue paint under the grease. fudge. So instead of cleaning it up to something I'd eat cereal out of, I'm going going to clean it to DD status.


DIE!!!


And my very cool Dad picked me up flywheel bolts, and a pilot bushing on his way home from work today.


Edit,

Forgot something. I crawled under the truck while having my Fiancee watching the tire while I spun the pinion. Stuff not 100% sure, but I'm thinkin' the front might already have 3.42 gears. If that is the case, then that means I don't have to change the front gears!

[DirtyLarry]

Nice job on the serp brackets Altec. Looks like 1996-2000 V6/V8 brackets, which are the best of the serpentine brackets for small blocks. Scary drilling that hole in the head isn’t it? I swapped on serpentine brackets on my truck back in 1996 before it became the common thing to do. The scariest part of the serp swap was drilling that hole. Member Zoomad75 has my old engine with the swapped on serp brackets in is K5 now.

That one picture looks funny with two A/C compressors and no alternator! That could freak some people out.

Your truck is coming together nicely!

[Altec]

Thanks Larry! I appreciate the kind words!

The brackets are from a 2006 Silverado. 4.3 if it makes a difference in the bracket design. I do like the design a lot more then the 1991 set I have, or the set on my 6.5 Diesel.

Haha, yeah, it was a bit of a pucker moment drilling the hole. My main concern was the threading though. If I fudged the threads, and had to helicoil it I would have been kicking myself until the end of time...

Forgot to take a picture of the "Clean" bell housing. I use that word extremely loosely... But it is good enough that if I spring a leak I can tell.




Pulled the front cover. Turned out they were 3.08's. Bummer.

[MTCK]

Great looking build, I love the red trucks! Did you decide on rubber yet?
Posted via Mobile Device

[y5mgisi]

Digging it! Keep up with the pics!

[Altec]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Great looking build, I love the red trucks! Did you decide on rubber yet?
Posted via Mobile Device

To bad it isn't staying red. If I didn't paint it though, the truck would end up red, primer, and two shades of dark blue.

Well, I have a guy that might be able to get me tires, so if that is the case then the tires are going to be just about anything in a 35/12.5. Otherwise I plan to get these Treadwrights.

http://www.treadwright.com/p-77-315-...dog-m-t-d.aspx

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Digging it! Keep up with the pics!

Thank you!

Not sure what I'm going to do today. Cats, and dogs outside, and kinda cold... Might just wait for tomorrow. Supposed to be two good days after today.

[Altec]

Flywheel, and pressure plate cleaned up. Just knocked the junk off the flywheel face, and degunked the pressure plate. Then sat the pressure plate on top of the flywheel to cover the clutch contact areas, and coated them both with a rust treatment at the same time. Dug up some bolts, and washers for them as well. Only half dry in the picture if you are wondering...


I was also looking at the transmission figuring out how I am going to get it out from under the bench, and I saw a little pitcher. Grabbed it, and it had the tranny-bell housing bolts, flywheel-crank bolts, dust shield bolts, and flywheel pressure plate bolts. The key words here are flywheel-crank bolts... Guess I'll save the new ones...

One dust cover bolt is missing...

"GM P/N'S 12453934, 14047045, 15521863, 15616191, 384024 & 3906680............AFTERMARKET P/N'S 04-518, 04-064 & 04-064A"

[Altec]

I got the 350 off the stand, and the 6.5 on today. Plus knocked in the pilot bushing, and was going to assemble the entire clutch assembly and bell housing but I couldn't find any loctite, so I just gave up...

Rolled out so I could clean my work area.


On the floor.


No longer on the floor...


Bushing in.


Bell housing mocked into place because I felt like it...


At my Dad's work they were junking this. Some little CNC wood lathe.

[Altec]

Hoping to do two updates today.

Got the transmission drug out, and half cleaned up yesterday. Forgot to take a before picture. Ton of grease, none of it is from the transmission...



My Dad picked me up some shorty chrome valve covers yesterday!


And today my leaf spring bushings showed up! Won them on Ebay. The entire front set is there, and I think the others are the rears minus the shackles?




Part two of today will be this evening...

[y5mgisi]

Good updates! Now get that trans in the truck, valve covers on the motor, and springs in the bushings!

[Altec]

Well, I figured the transmission would work better bolted to the engine, so I did that. Hoping to drop the whole assembly in this weekend.

Together, and the engine mounts on. Also dug out the tranny crossmember, and the bushings for it.


gonna wait to put the new fancy valve covers on after the engine is in the truck. Don't want to scratch them up!

[Altec]

Update for today!

Truck in the shop...


Pulled the cover off the top of the master to drain the fluid that was stuck in it. I don't think it should look like that...


I took the motor mounts back off and painted them. Wasn't happy with the material chipped paint look...


After much hard ache the engine is in with the help of my Dad, and a friend of his, Shawn. The clam shell mounts put up a hell of a fight... I WILL be getting rid of those come time for the diesel...


Stuck the tranny mount in. Need to get a bushing.


Not pictured is I cleaned the threads for the bell crank ball-pivot-thing on the bell housing. Then installed the transfer case.

Dug through my Dad's drive shaft collection for the front, and rear. After getting burned on a front shaft for his K10 my Dad started to collect them... I lucked out and found a rear that would work with no mods!


Before de-rusting...


After de-rusting, and cleaning the surface I just just some gloss black on it.


The front is going to need a proper degreasing... All the oil, and grease on the front shaft I understand is from the vehicles built in anti-rust system...

Also looked at the bushings. I do believe they are the right ones. Wasn't sure if my lift springs were close enough to a Rancho to work...

[Altec]

Went back out for some messing around.

Here is the hole for the shifter. Was done quick with a cut off wheel...


The boot I plan to use. Just because it is cool... I have a factory one as well, but the Hurst one just adds more horsepower! Haha. Wouldn't mind getting this shift knob to go with it, but the only problem is I'm trying to get my Fiancee in a position where she can not complain about driving a manual, and not having the marks on the knob could be a excuse...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CUSTO...item3cb6de47a7


Put mah new valve covers on. Not bad!

[y5mgisi]

Lookin good man! Quick progress too!

[Altec]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Lookin good man! Quick progress too!

Todays update!

Did some work on the clutch.

Got the bell crank on. My engine, and transmission is cocked a bit so the ball isn't fully seated... Trying to take good pictures, since find mechanical clutch pedal conversion pictures on the internet is HELL.




I modded a transfer case shift linkage to act as the bell crank to clutch fork linkage.






Next step involved a little machine work. I turned a new set of pedal bushings on the lathe. Measuring the bore of the pedal, and measuring the OD of the rod I'm using. The pedal is roughly 11/16". i made it roughly .690" for a press fit. The hole for the rod is 29/64" I do believe.






Next step is the rod. I made it long enough to add some spacers, and maybe a brace. It is a simple 7/16" steel rod. I drilled a hole in each end, and has a pin going through it.


Girly painted the pedals for me! Thanks babe!


Mocked in the truck.



Next I painted the alternator bracket.


To get the power steering pump off you HAVE to remove the pulley. Which you need a special puller to do...


Off.


Painted, and on.


Plenty of clearance! Haha!


edit,

Couple videos of the bushing fit.

YouTube - Chevrolet K10 Custom Pedal...

YouTube - Chevrolet K10 Custom Pedal...

[Altec]

Slow day...

Changed the water neck.




Then I worked on the clutch some. Cut the hole for the linkage. The hole in the first picture was to smal FYI. I used a cut off wheel. Tried a hole saw and just made a fool out of myself...

[Altec]

Not much done today. Mainly because crappy weather.

Got the old front leaf bushings out. I used the technique of drilling a ton of holes, and ripping the outer pieces off. Then taking pliers on the inner tube and wrenched it out. The other half just fell off... Before I can install the new ones I need to get some sort of sanding bit for either my dremel, or die grinder to clean the inside of the holes of rust. To much crap doesn't allow the bushings to fit right...





Then picked up some gaskets, and bolts for the headers, along with ordering a tranny mount.

[Altec]

Got the AIR tubes cut off one of the headers. Need to grind them down now. Also cut the other one lol.


The tranny mount was in today.


And I cleaned the springs to install the front bushings. Need to get a couple mounting bolts...

[onebadbowtie]

keep up the good work and you will be done in no time! i wish i could work on mine everyday

[Altec]

Originally Posted by onebadbowtie

keep up the good work and you will be done in no time! i wish i could work on mine everyday

Thanks! It is without a doubt nice to be able to go out for a few hours each day. Keeps from having to burn my self out one, or two days a week. Although I have to admit, it makes my work log seem hectic as all get-out. I swear, there is a method to all this madness. All the pieces just haven't fallen into place yet...

I went out and dug the bolts out for the front drive shaft, and cleaned it. One of the holes on the axle yoke was fudged up, so I had to chase it...


Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the cursed brake booster hooked up... I swear I will never modify another pedal tunnel, or adapt a brake booster ever again. It just isn't worth the hassle... It would have been worth the money to buy a factory pedal assembly, and to dig up a hydro booster...

Also hoping to get the other header cut, and grind them both down. Think I might try and see if the headers will fit in the blasting cabinet. Also need to price some V band clamps. One of the flanges is bent, and it couldn't hurt to upgrade for the right price...