Creamsicle: My 70 K10 SWB is about to get sweeter

[First c10]

Looking good Dan! I have had so many weird things that never happen or things that no one has seen before happen to me during this adventure of building this truck. Things that get me are the things you think you shouldn't have to worry about!!!
Hang in there the truck looks great. It will be awesome to get it on the road.

[derotoreut]

Originally Posted by First c10

Looking good Dan! I have had so many weird things that never happen or things that no one has seen before happen to me during this adventure of building this truck. Things that get me are the things you think you shouldn't have to worry about!!!
Hang in there the truck looks great. It will be awesome to get it on the road.

Thanks man. I appreciate it.

[derotoreut]

So I found out today that I have another minor setback. My fabricator was sent the wrong tubing material for the exhaust system. It was supposed to be polished 304 stainless, but they sent aluminized steel. His supply company in Texas is paying to have it sent back. They will also pay expedited shipping to send out the correct material. This kind of problem I can live with. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime I thought I'd update you on some of the other stuff on the build... like my headlights. I decided to go with Dapper Lighting for my headlights. I bought their OE7 version with OE glass lens. They are LED projector headlights in a classic looking glass lens. They claim to give you three times more light then a traditional H4 type conversion while using less power. They also come with daytime running lights, which you can either use or not. I decided to tie the DTRL into my park lights. It's actually pretty bright. Check them out. I highly recommend them.

https://www.dapperlighting.com/colle...7/products/oe7

Here are the two OE7 headlights


This shows the daytime running light


You can see the DTRL at the bottom of the headlight


My headlight buckets did not require any modification. I rolled back the rubber sleeve and they fit right in. Once they were in, I rolled the rubber protective sleeve back.


I decided to add Weatherpacks to the DTRL.

[derotoreut]

Here are the different headlight beams. Kind of tough to tell, but I thought I'd post pictures anyway.

Here are the daytime running lights with my park lights.


Here are the low beams (DTRL stay on too)


Here are the high beams. I live in the country and there are a lot of deer. Hopefully this will help with late summer cruise nights.

[Richard]

Nice. Looking at a set of Dapper lights for my truck. I may try to shoehorn in the hid classic V2's

[57taskforce]

Nice! I need to get a set of dappers for mine too. The stock lights are really dim by today’s standards. I just run around with the highs on for now.

[Ol Blue K20]

I used to work in an exotic shop. I brought home a bunch of European Hella H4 lights without DOT numbers .That's what I'm running. But, those Dapper lights may be next. Do they have glass or plastic lenses?

[Richard]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Nice! I need to get a set of dappers for mine too. The stock lights are really dim by today’s standards. I just run around with the highs on for now.

Yep, like holding a match in front of a pie tin.

[jaros44sr]

truck looks great, thanks for the updates, since I cant work on my truck, at least I can get my fix by following along with your progress. good choice on the weather pacs, did you also use the wire seals? thanks for sharing, great thread and build

[Acregger]

Truck looks great, awesome job!

[derotoreut]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I used to work in an exotic shop. I brought home a bunch of European Hella H4 lights without DOT numbers .That's what I'm running. But, those Dapper lights may be next. Do they have glass or plastic lenses?

They do come with glass lenses, but that's an upgrade. I went with the glass and love it.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

truck looks great, thanks for the updates, since I cant work on my truck, at least I can get my fix by following along with your progress. good choice on the weather pacs, did you also use the wire seals? thanks for sharing, great thread and build

Not sure what you mean by wire seals. The weather packs have seals that go over the wire that get crimped as part of the connection process. I also used solder seal wire connectors made by Sopoby during my build. They are great little connectors. They are heat shrink connectors that already have solder built into them.

[derotoreut]

I got my truck back from my exhaust fabrication one week ago, on July-27. The system turned out pretty nice. He used polished stainless steel and fabricated his own hangers. I already had some new Corsa DB mufflers, which I got from a friend of mine, that were used on the system. They are a bit louder then I hoped, but I can always change them out since my exhaust guy welded V-band clamps to allow for removal. I didn't have him go to the extent of grinding and polishing the welds. I may do this some day, you never know.

Here is overall picture of the exhaust system



Welded V-band clamps on inlet and outlet muffler connections. There was no room to put an X or H-pipe, so that was not done. He said it would not be beneficial anyways too far back in the system.



Back of exhaust over the rear axle



Another picture by the front driveshaft. You can't really see the passenger side because of the drive shaft. He did a good job getting around the transfer case.

[derotoreut]

So I also had my fabricator make up a core support/radiator cover and an engine cover. They turned out good, but maybe too much for this truck. Let me know what you think. I plan to pull them off and prime, block and paint them satin black. That might be a winter project.

[derotoreut]

So now that the exhaust is completed the truck runs much better. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it would start fine and then seem to run rich and the want to stall out. The problem was the O2 sensors being so close to the ends of the collectors with no exhaust pipes downstream. Now that there is a complete system, it runs great!

I was also having an issue with my Check Engine light being on. I ended up having a MIL code P0650, which appeared to be a generic malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) issue. I found out that this could be caused by damaged, open, shorted or corroded wiring. It could also be caused by poor grounds or failed MIL bulb or LED. When I connected my Dakota Digital RTX gauges I used their BIM-01-02, which pulls data directly from the PCM through the OBDII port. In the meantime the wire connection for the check engine light was not used. The PCM was showing this as an Open Wire and therefore turned on the check engine light and P0650 code. DD suggested that I connect the check engine light wire to the main DD module and turn off reading it through the BIM-01-02 module. This seemed to work and I was able to clear the code.

After that I started having an issue with my Check Engine light flickering on my Dakota Digital RTX gauges. It seemed like when it was first started it was fine, but then shortly afterwards the light would blink maybe once every 30-seconds. The more it ran, the shorter the blink duration. The light never stayed on though. I checked the OBD2 port for any codes, but wasn't finding anything. Once again I got in touch with DD and they said that sometimes these gauges need a small electrical load to keep the MIL off. I wired a small 12V lamp to IGN Hot and the ground side to the DD check engine terminal on the main module. This definitely did the trick. So now when the key is first turned on, the check engine light comes on in the RTX display and the small 12V light also comes on. Once it's started both lights now go completely off.

Here you can see the DD gauge cluster when the key is in the ON position and engine not started. The check engine light is on along with a small light located just above the AC vent. There was already a small hole there from the PO, which fit the indicator light perfect. This seemed to do the trick!!!

[rsavage]

Exhaust looks very nice, Dan. The covers I think look good too. I would be a little concerned about painting them satin black though because I think they would get spotted up fairly easily. Maybe gloss? Truck is a work of art. Rick

[derotoreut]

Originally Posted by rsavage

Exhaust looks very nice, Dan. The covers I think look good too. I would be a little concerned about painting them satin black though because I think they would get spotted up fairly easily. Maybe gloss? Truck is a work of art. Rick

Thanks Rick, I'll keep your advice in mind. I always value your opinion. Looking at your signature I see you sold the Blazer. That was another fine job of yours. I imagine you made out well and somebody is quite happy with it. You did a great job on it.

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking great! Very clean!

[Richard]

Good to hear the exhaust cured the running issues. Looks like a great job. Really like the DD instrument cluster. Think they look awesome and are just the ticket for engine swaps. Wish they offered an option with the tach in the OEM location and no analog type clock. Core support cover is a nice touch. IMO satin/semi gloss would look nice.

[rsavage]

Originally Posted by derotoreut

Thanks Rick, I'll keep your advice in mind. I always value your opinion. Looking at your signature I see you sold the Blazer. That was another fine job of yours. I imagine you made out well and somebody is quite happy with it. You did a great job on it.

Dan, you don't need any advice from me. You are doing a fantastic job! You have made so many substantial improvements to that truck! Can't wait to see it in person.

[57taskforce]

Nice updates! The exhaust came out really nice! I like the vbands for the mufflers that’s the only way to do it in my opinion. Those Dakota digital gauges look awesome too. I plan to go this route eventually too.

[derotoreut]

Well the truck is finally done (for the most part). I have a few minor things that I want to do to it, but it's drivable now. I still want/need to:

1. Prime and paint the core support cover and engine cover.
2. Get the Vintage Air AC system charged. (Done 8/15/20)
3. Install new door weatherstrips, then put on my door sills.
4. Need to install front speakers. (Done 8/12/20)

I put about 70 miles on it now since I got it back from my exhaust guy. Taking a few short trips at a time just to make sure I have no issues. My water temp seems to run between 200-205 deg-F, which appears to be normal for a stock 5.3L engine. If anyone has any comments on this let me know.

I finally got it washed today. Boy was it dusty after sitting for about a year and a half, since starting this project.

[Richard]

Congratulations on getting the truck to this point. Must be an excellent feeling. Looks great!

[derotoreut]

Originally Posted by Richard

Congratulations on getting the truck to this point. Must be an excellent feeling. Looks great!

Thank you. It feels good to have it at this point. I'm looking forward to enjoying it for the remainder of our summer.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by richard

congratulations on getting the truck to this point. Must be an excellent feeling. Looks great!

x2!!

[1972CST]

What an incredible build! You really have something to be proud of!

How did you like the Advance Adapter kit for the 4L60E to NP205?
I have heard mixed reviews.