71 C20 gets a 5.3

[NorCalKid]

Drilled a bigass hole in the carrier bearing crossmember and ran the exhaust to a turn down just before the axle. Also got the driveshaft bolted in. Clutch is all blead. Oh yeah she runs too, fired up first time. Just a bunch of little stuff to clean up and she will be on the road.

 

[sweetk30]

like to make suggestion on exhaust .

tail pipe from under body please.

the harmonic drone from echoing under the body will drive you nuts over time and after driving it you will feel tired .

my plow truck stubby j.r. I use to run the way you had it . then muffler rusted out and I put new on with tail pipe to back . WOW what a difference that made .

 

[Stomis]

like to make suggestion on exhaust .

tail pipe from under body please.

the harmonic drone from echoing under the body will drive you nuts over time and after driving it you will feel tired .

my plow truck stubby j.r. I use to run the way you had it . then muffler rusted out and I put new on with tail pipe to back . WOW what a difference that made .

No doubt on this one. I just ran dumps out the side of my bed. Took me an hours time and the truck is half as loud and no ridiculous drone rattles in the truck. Also without all that noise I was able to hear my rear going bad and just how loud the syncros in my nv3500 really are! Time for more parts!

 

[NorCalKid]

I plan to eventually, even have all the parts I need. I want to figure out a plan for the rear axle/suspension first. Its got a 1.5" block in there now and I would like to swap the 60 for a late model 14 bolt with discs. I had to redo the exhaust 3 times on my k5 already and I know I will need to tweak it some more soon, trying to avoid that.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I was hoping to see some keystone cans.

 

[82355]

Can you even bring your self to drink a Keystone Light after working at a micro brewery?

Martin

 

[NorCalKid]

Can you even bring your self to drink a Keystone Light after working at a micro brewery?

Martin

There is a time and a place for any beer even keystone light Keystone is one of those drink all day and still function beers, most stuff out of micro breweries you cant do that. Sometimes you need a fizzy yellow watery beer... that said I havent had the stuff in years

The cans in my sig held for the 2 or 3 days I had left in moab. I think we had 3 or 4 layers on there to keep it from blowing through

 

[NorCalKid]

Got a few chances to work on the truck this week between work, school and all the other ****. Found another busbar from a mid 90's pickup as well as the plastic cover for the relays and stuff on the firewall. With a little cutoff wheel action it fit on the 71 fender, should keep it dry. Need to find something to cover the computer still. New plugs, o2 sensors and obd2 conector went in today too.

Got to mess with the clutch a bit, track down an electrical gremlin in my gauges and a few other small things then its drivable.

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

Do you still have drums up front?
And, I suggest a bit of weatherstripping for under the relay cover.

Edit: Also, Jeebus does that 5.3 look small, compared to a Big Block.

 

[NorCalKid]

It's a 71 so it has factory discs. I think 71 was the year every truck got discs?

Good call, I have some 1/4" fuel line I can split and run around the edge. That stuff should stay dry

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

Oh... I thought it was '72, in regards to the discs.

 

[NorCalKid]

I have had a few hours to work on this guy over the holiday. I've realized the in tank pump makes quite a racket so I threw some of the thickest sound mat I could find over it, think it's .75". Couldn't stand how shiny it was so I tucked some burlap over it too. It helped but you can still hear it whine.

While I had the seat out I filled the 50 some odd holes the po's had drilled in the cab over the years. Got some other little stuff done too, nothing picture worthy. All that's left till the test drive is fix the clutch pedal to master cylinder linkage, tweak the front suspension and put the seat back in

 

[Zane M]

Great job so far. I love the truck.

 

[NorCalKid]

Thanks. Its slowly but surely coming along.

Got the clutch stuff all worked out. I ended up having to raise the MC up about 6" to get enough leverage from the pedal. After about 20 or so different versions I finally made a pushrod that cleared everything. Then after a half hour of trying to bleed the line I realized I had a bad slave cylinder. Two trips to the parts house later it was up and running.

I also got a hair up my ass to swap out the seat for something nicer. Picked up a middle seat from a late 90's tahoe or burb. Stripped both the new and old seats down and started blending the two so I can use the old monts and slider.

Just mocked in with the 90's mount. The stock seat sat too high for my taste so I am going to try to get this one a little lower.

 

[Stomis]

O very cool

Why did you need to raise the clutch master up for leverage if its hydro?

 

[NorCalKid]

The pushrod was too low on the pedal so it was a damn workout to engage. By moving it up 5 or 6" it got closer to the pivot point and I gained enough leverage. I had to move the mc so I had a level shot from the pedal attachment point to the mc.

Now I just have a big ass hole in my firewall to patch from the old mounting spot

 

[Richcz28]

Awesome truck! I wish we still had trucks like that up here.

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

The pushrod was too low on the pedal so it was a damn workout to engage. By moving it up 5 or 6" it got closer to the pivot point and I gained enough leverage. I had to move the mc so I had a level shot from the pedal attachment point to the mc.

Now I just have a big ass hole in my firewall to patch from the old mounting spot

Gotta love those 8 hour jobs, just to move a pedal.

Stay on it, man!

 

[NorCalKid]

All stripped down. Ready to go back together

New mounts welded on and the seat is back in the truck. It's a little tight on the shifter, but I have 1 or 2 notches to go on the slider. For some reason it doesn't want to slide anymore. A project for tomorrow.

It sits a couple inches lower and I gained an arm rest/cup holder. I couldn't resist I had to take it for a test drive even with the messed up front suspension it drove nice. My gauge lights seem to have a wiring issue though so it was a short one. Didn't want to drive blind.

 

[NorCalKid]

I battled the vss today and won. If it's not too windy tomorrow then I am diving into the suspension.