TCI to start new R&D Project with a C10!

[slow4dr]

My fears were confirmed. The Holley High-Ram intake will not clear the Astrovan Doghouse.





Realizing that the manifold would need to be changed I started grafting this Astrovan doghouse to the tunnel & floor.



Paper tamplate














You get the idea, so fast forward to all pieces in place.





I am not ready to close out the firewall yet. I've got a plan for up there but I need to mount Ed's wheels again and cycle the steering at full compression. I'm looking to gain some forward foot space without encroaching on tire clearance.

I mentioned that the Holley High-Ram won't clear. We ended up changing to the Sniper Race Series. The only problem there is the inlet is 90mm. So I spent some time opening it up to 102 to match the throttle body.







Halfway there


Quite the mess


Aaaaaannnnnd DONE

[l78vetteman]

That is a sweet manifold. Needs a clear top to show off the 8 little stacks!

[jocww]

i agree i want that manifold

[slow4dr]

I have every excuse in the world as to why this thing is taking so long. Lack of motivation isn't one of them. I am really trying to stick with one small project at a time. The biggest hurdle as of late has been the firewall. I wanted to remove the rain gutter and make a solid flat panel. I also wanted to change the angle of the toe boards at the same time. This was kind of an afterthought from mocking up a driver's seat and realizing the forward footwell space was limited. The problem of course is making sure there is plenty of tire clearance. My major hold up has been deciding the tire overall diameter. I finally just put a limit of 28" and moved forward.

Paper cutouts of the new firewall pieces. In order to make working with them easier I kept them in two pieces.



Initial mock up. Lots of trimming and fitting. I left a little extra because I figured after bead rolling it would shrink/warp in some areas.





Made a pretty simple design for the bead roll.



& spent some time at lunch today rolling some beads. This was my first time using one so I took a bunch of practice swipes with some spare pieces. The plan is to drill some holes about 1.5" in from the perimeter for rosette welds. The toe boards will just be bent up into place and welded/trimmed.



Here is a side view of the toe boards. IMO the old toe board angle is where the pedals should have been from the factory. With the new floor angle that shouldn't be a problem.



Our buddy Andy 'The Nova Guy' Mule found a LS7 oil pan & pump at the Pleasanton Goodguys. I hadn't planned on going dry sump for cost reasons but I couldn't pass this up knowing that Ed has a spare oil tank.



Since the beginning we had plans to run a Dakota Digital dash. I just kept hesitating because we also have a Holley dash. Once I realized that the Dakota harness is a pass thru and that I could stash the Holley somewhere else I pulled the trigger.



HDX-2200 will work out well in a universal situation. I also nabbed two 2000psi pressure sensors so we can monitor front/rear brake pressure and adjust accordingly via a prop valve mounted near the driver. We will also run twin widebands as well.

[slow4dr]

A little progress on the firewall. Also made some tabs for the tranny crossmember so it will unbolt and drop out from the bottom. Turns out the 4L80 I used for mock up had a different (more shallow) pan on it. The current pan hangs about .5" lower which means the engine had to go forward and up. Will be making the engine crossmember next.

[jocww]

why couldnt u just use the shallow pan? Or do you need it for cooling. Looks good J

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by jocww

why couldnt u just use the shallow pan? Or do you need it for cooling. Looks good J

Different transmission. Went from a 4L80E to a 6L90E.

[slow4dr]

Originally Posted by jocww

why couldnt u just use the shallow pan? Or do you need it for cooling. Looks good J

I think I will have to use a shallower pan. Even with moving it up the angle is off. The engine is currently at 4 degrees (with the chassis at zero) and the front of the pan hangs down more than the rear. I might just pie cut what I have and move it up.

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

Different transmission. Went from a 4L80E to a 6L90E.

The 6L is in the squarebody, Ctwin still has a 4L. This engine would scatter that 6L on the first hit.

[68Stepbed]

The 6L is in the squarebody, Ctwin still has a 4L. This engine would scatter that 6L on the first hit. [/QUOTE]

Too many projects!! I can't keep up!

[slow4dr]

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

Too many projects!! I can't keep up!

Right? Nevermind the personal projects taking the back seat.

[slow4dr]

Made dual battery trays, mounted the Derale tranny cooler, mounted both compressors & tanks. Wired up the Ridetech Pro-X controller so we could cycle the truck at the Brothers Show this past weekend.

This is Fred, he does all of our brake & air lines on our chassis. He's routing the 1/4" lines from the distribution block to the tanks.



Threw the fenders, intake and valve covers and stole the wheels off #projectreddawn for the show.







We received a lot of positive comments. Had a guy comment that the engine will be a pita to work on, so I reached inside, unlatched the doghouse and pulled it out of the way.



Next stop will be engine mounts, headers, mid pipes, and exhaust.

[slow4dr]

After the Brothers Truck show we dropped the truck off at Doug's Headers. They built us some easily removable 1.75" primary, mid length headers and 2.5" mid pipes for it. We kept the tubing smaller for better velocity.



We just started mocking up the Magnaflow 3.5" I/D mufflers yesterday. They will be tight up against the Derale coolers so we'll build a small heat shield there.





We also began mocking up the Wilwood tandem brake pedal assy. I wanted the pedal as high as possible so we could get the most ratio possible. As it sits we're at about 9:1. The dash will make servicing the master interesting. Will likely make the dash top pin on for easy removal. I'm still not sure what the gas pedal will look like and whether it will be pull or push yet. The throttle body will be rotated 180 degrees from normal so the cable can go right down the valley. The problem is that the valley is behind the pedal. So the cable will have to go back and around the Astrovan cover and up into the valley.



Once again, I got a little rambunctious and cut the inner roof structure out. The first two pics are dark so it's hard to see but the 3rd pic shows all that was removed. It was worth 30 lbs








We've had a few different sets of wheels on the truck to get it around the shop. These are some that we borrowed from Schott for another display chassis. They're 18's & 20's with way too tall of a tire so it doesn't lay frame with them.

[slow4dr]

Not really an update so much as a video version of the pics above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXK5LLlNq-w&t=