the cheap build thread

[cheap]

So, i managed to buy a very solid but ugly 77 C10 Custom Deluxe. I don't have any big plans, just a good lowering, panel patching, and somefresh baby blue paint. I will post progress pics soon.
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[cheap]

There it is pretty much as a bought it. I blacked out the wheels, when I got it it was virtually bone stock other than about 9 layers of variously materialed floormats that covered a rotten and disgusting floor matting crap. It all obviously got ripped out for race weight and such

[cheap]

Onto what happened next: Basically, a whole lot of stuff that didn't get documented. The cooling system was flushed many times to get gunk and such other nastys out of the radiator, but i ended up blowing it up so i just got an aftermarket one and mated it with a nice 6 blade fan to replace the garbage 4 blade on it. All fluids were changed, a triple gauge cluster was mounted, a radio was put in (solely to fill the awful hole the PO had cut in the dash), and exhaust was mounted. which was followed by the actual first step: Fixing floorboard holes. to stay cheap, patching was done as opposed to buying full new pans. Fun Fact: The metal i used to patch the boards came from a camaro truck pan.

[SkinnyG]

I love cheap builds. I am looking forward to this!

You can follow the cheap build of my '77 Silverado in the link below.

[cheap]

Progress will be made today! The bed is going to be pulled off, a new fuel sender to be added, and frame rails to be painted.

[77K10Silverado]

Kewl! Love the 77's Is that a 75 grill on her?

[cheap]

Originally Posted by 77K10Silverado

Kewl! Love the 77's Is that a 75 grill on her?

Definitely could be, I didn't get a lot of info from the PO but I don't think he did a lot to it.
Slow work got done, but nothing worthy of pictures. Me and a buddy pulled the bed (don't try it. 2 guys picking up a longbed was awful) and i more or less didn't figure out anything I didn't already know about my fuel gauge problem, but my sender was sending signal so i just drilled a small hole in the back of the cab (grometted and sealed) and wired directly to the gauge, and it seems to work now. The next step is ordering new cab corners, fender patches, and cab supports. I'd like to keep the most original metal as possible. Switching to tripod farm mirrors soon as well.

[cheap]

So, for my axle flip:
I need the doodads that go on the axle to attach to the u-bolts. they're the semicircular things, i don;t know how to describe them very well. what are these called and where can i buy them?

[SkinnyG]

Do you mean the "flip kit" itself?

[cheap]

no, i don't need the full flip kit. They're very pricey, i trust my own fab skills as much as theirs. I just need the semicircular piece that fits between the axle and the leaf spring, it's flat on one side (the one in contact with the leaf spring) and one side is curved (it fits with the axle).

[SkinnyG]

I made my own flip kit.



But I wasn't totally sold with the idea of the simple flip kit, so I bought leaf spring saddles from the local Chrysler dealer for $12 and welded them on.

[cheap]

perfect, that's exactly what i needed. I need the leaf spring saddles, I honestly had no idea what they were called and i didn't want to go into a store trying to describe what i need. you know how that goes

[SkinnyG]

Mopar Performance #P4120074

Drill a new 5/8" hole 1" forward of the center hole (I used a milling machine).

[UKNOWME]

You might also consider this
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=674969

[cheap]

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

You might also consider this
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=674969

I like the look of those, makes my life a little easier..and 40 shipped is cheap. I like it

[cheap]

Well, patch panels are on their way and so the big steps are coming soon...For paint, is there a good way to do it without a spray gun? any aerosols that are decent? I have a decent spray gun setup if i need to, but i"d like to go the easiest route with a decent result.

[rusty76]

I'm in on this one.

[SkinnyG]

I did Tremclad and a roller, un-thinned, three coats, scuffed but not wet-sanded between. Lots of orange peel, but I don't care. I use it as a truck, I just wanted it to look better than poo. Cost about $60 CDN.

[cheap]

patching has been postponed, performance is coming up now actually. it's being swapped to floor shift, and will soon be lowered. hopefully progress will begin soon

[cheap]

I know this thread is pretty useless without pics, but I also am out of a phone for a bit and have no other camera, so no progress pics. But progress was made! I managed to hustle my way into a Hurst Indy 3 speed. But it was just a shifter and I was much too cheep to buy an install kit, so I adapted various 4 speed and an automatic trans bracket with a bunch of heavily modified linkages from some sort of chevys. Anyways, I now have the custom-est 3 speed ever It sits at the drivers side of the trans tunnel though, so the shift boot bracket is not attached or done yet.

[cheap]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Mopar Performance #P4120074

Drill a new 5/8" hole 1" forward of the center hole (I used a milling machine).

When you say 'forward' you mean towards the cab right? what's the point of this hole? does it locate the axle farther back?

[SkinnyG]

Because the leaf spring mounts are actually angled front-to-rear, when you flip the axle the axle moves forward about an inch. Drilling a new hole 1" forward puts the axle back where it's supposed to be.

[cheap]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Because the leaf spring mounts are actually angled front-to-rear, when you flip the axle the axle moves forward about an inch. Drilling a new hole 1" forward puts the axle back where it's supposed to be.

Ah, okay. Thank you

[cheap]

Might as well update the thread.
Since the last update, the truck has been dropped:
Some sub-par axle welding



And lowered



Originally done by cutting coils, but it has drop spindles and lowering springs now



And the old engine coming out! Originally I had a 350 slated to go in the truck, but I had a rebuilt 6 cylinder to go in it so why not.



Still 6 cylinder, but at least it's running good.



and swap completed. I'm running Flowtech Headers to dual 2.5" exhaust to Summit super 40 knockoffs, it sounds pretty good, if a little overkill.

[cheap]

And how she looks today. I've added a toolbox and done some other minor work, such as adding the power steering setup. But currently, the truck is just being driven.