79 C20 Silverado Camper Special-The do everything love affair

[CGT80]

Now that I pulled the masking plastic off the truck, I took a few pics of it. I wanted complete pics, but this further shows the depth of my dis-assembly, or destruction.

The dash pad is original and very cracked. The carpet hides it except for around the gauge cluster. I repainted it with SEM paint along with the other interior panels. I had to strip the door panels, prime with plastic primer, texture, prime, and repaint. The lower door panels are the POS LMC units. They look ok in the pic and looked nice when new, but they are wavy as hell from the heat and occasional rain in the winter.

The armrests are new and unpainted and the end caps on the pull straps are new. I also painted the interior of the truck (metal dash and behind the seat). The jambs were sprayed when macco painted the outside.

Here is a shot of the back of the aftermarket gauge cluster. I wired it with three main plugs so I can unplug them and remove the whole panel if needed.

I JB welded the vents into the open position and painted them krylon camouflage flat black because they looked like crap (originally chrome) and they flopped closed all the time or fell downward. I still need to do the other two vents that sit in the middle and on the right of the dash.

I love the very fine graduations on these autometer full sweep gauges. It beat the crap out of my old 0-30-60 oil gauge. The old 100mph speedo was not enough to keep up with even the 383 that I had, but I haven't had the truck past 80 or 85 since I put the gauges in a few years ago. It just isn't worth the risk to go that fast here. If I ever hit a track or closed road, at least I can see what it is capable of.

The LED's are not lined up perfectly. I should have used different drill bits to start the holes. The clear LED is for an alarm, I think the top one might be blue and is for my high beams, the bottom orange one is for the parking brake, the left red one shows the the gearvendors overdrive is set to shift on auto and the green one next to it light up when the gearvendors is shifted into overdrive. Of course I have my turn signals on the left and right.

The top aluminum section is the Lokar shift indicator it has red LED letters for PRND21 and only the current gear selection is lit.

The seat is higher in the middle. It feels more like bucket seats than a bench seat. The bowtie is not to scale, unfortunately. I can't believe the upholstery guy didn't know how to enlarge something to scale. I didn't see that until it was all done and back in the truck. I didn't have the heart to make him change it. Everything else is perfect. He had me sit in it when it was just foam. He actually put it back in the truck so I could get a feel for it. It fits my ass almost as well as yoga pants fit a hotties ass. The outside edges are bolstered upward as well just like the bucket seats in my K5. The back and sides of the seat are blue vinyl.

My best friend helped me build this box when we were just out of high school. It is thinner where it tucks behind the corners of the cab. It started with lower end components, but was covered in blue fabric and the wiring was covered by a panel in the middle that had a bow tie embroidered on it. I just went for basic black when I went to the Polk components. The old amp was blue and silver.

Those are 8" subs in a sealed box and the amp puts out 300w rms. It hits pretty good for being little 8's. I don't like my music super loud, but it has to have some bass that can be felt. The 4 coaxial speakers in the doors and dash are 4" each with tweeters built in and they are just a low to mid level series from Polk.

My K5 has the Polk Momo component speakers in the front. The 6.5's run a few hundred dollars per set. The top of the line Polks run $1,000 per set. My home theater is Polk as well. They have been great mid range systems for a decent price. I like Pioneer head units for trucks and Sony AV receivers for home audio. I don't like the sony head units or pioneer theaters.

That is enough updates for today. If I am lucky, I will get to shoot base/clear on my inner fenders and small parts in the morning and maybe some rattle can engine enamel on the brackets and pulleys. I am going to give the base/clear a week to cure before reassembling the parts, as I don't want to tear up the fresh paint.

 

[y5mgisi]

I really like the inner fender box. I want to do the same thing. ONe on both sides for straps, jumpers, tools, etc.

 

[CGT80]

I really like the inner fender box. I want to do the same thing. ONe on both sides for straps, jumpers, tools, etc.

Thanks, I'm hoping it looks like it belongs, once it is painted the same as the rest of the engine bay. The original jack used to be bolted to the passenger side fender, but I removed it. I should just put a bottle jack in one of my tool boxes, or the original.

 

[AntiBling]

nice build. i am going to build a electronic box for the inner wheel well very similar to yours. nicely done.

 

[CGT80]

I got a great phone call yesterday...........no it wasn't from some hot babe......I wish. It was from my engine guy. I went and picked up my engine this morning.

406 sbc
forged 4340 crank
HP grind with index and heat treatment on crank
premium moly rings
clevite H series bearings
Comp 12-412-8 roller cam
retro hyd. roller lifters
hex adjust roller chain set
torrington bearing and cam button installed under a cast aluminum timing cover
Rocker studs and adjustable guide plates
stainless roller rockers and new pushrods
SFI heavy duty flex plate

reused scatt forged rods and hyper flat top pistons
reused ported and thermal coated edelbrock performer heads and intake as well as 400 block

The engine was blue printed and balanced. Having the brand new forged crank tested for accuracy was the first step. It had to be turned 10/10 because parts of it were out of spec, and then it needed re heat treated. Now every piston sits 5 thousandths below the deck, rather than varying due to loose crank tolerances. I don't know the brand of the crank. The builder used a few major brands, but they all get checked out by the outside company that resurfaces the cranks. He said there are only a handful of companies who actually forge the cranks anyway, but everyone else does the final machining and slaps their name on them.

The CR came out to 10.2:1. The previous builder did not clearance the engine enough. The rods were tapping the block and possibly the cam, from what the new builder said. He had to assemble and then disassemble and hot tank the engine 3 times. He assumed it was clearanced and other details were right, but he kept finding issues. He should have just assumed it was all crap and checked everything from scratch.

I have the edelbrock elite aluminum valve covers. The builder had to run a very thick valve cover gasket (maybe a 1/4") to clear the roller rockers. The rockers are imported vs. big name American parts, but he is confident they will live 100-200k miles, as I said I needed some longevity out of the engine. I couldn't run tall covers with my AC bracket and tall covers are supposedly a no-no for smog, although that doesn't seem like it should matter. Even the bearings that the builder was using are now made in Mexico, as he found out when he started to have issues with the way they crushed down when the mains were tightened.

The engine guy even repainted the block in chevy orange. His best friend is the guy that builds my transmissions and works for my uncle (owns an auto/transmission shop). Von, the best friend, gave him **** for painting my engine, because he usually only does black paint in the shop, and has a customer paint it when they get it back, if they want a color. I guess the over spray floats around his shop and gets on his equipment and engines. He happened to have a can of orange left from another customer (I guess he made two exceptions) and he hadn't told me he doesn't use other colors, so he went ahead and sprayed it.

The engine guy and Von, both said this engine should run much quieter. It had all kinds of odd noises before. I am anxious to see how the roller cam sounds and the engine all together. I hope the cam doesn't sound smaller. The advertised duration is about the same as before.

I was told to run it 500 miles without towing and then change the oil, for break in. I think I will run my 795 qjet after I get it broke in and can romp on it. It should help with towing as well.

I still have to get the engine bay put back together and the wiring cleaned up so I can have it towed to my uncle's shop to reinstall the motor and rebuilt trans. Before I do that, I need to finish painting the outside of my grandmother's house (in the 103 degree heat with thunderstorms once in a while) and remodel a dog grooming trailer for a customer who is a mobile groomer. I also may have a 4 week job coming up in a month or so driving a 35 ton rock truck for my brother. He is an operating engineer for heavy equipment and is a job superintendent. He said the pay would be around $67 per hour because it is prevailing wage and non union. He is in the teamsters and operating engineers unions. Some of his jobs are union and some aren't. I have been doing the family sharpening and repair business, but I can't pass up $67 per hour and business is kind of slow anyway. My mom and dad will do the sharpening business on their own again while I'm away. I haven't worked a lot lately anyway, since I had a ton to do on my truck.

I hope to be able to give my mom some time off during the week once I get my truck running (so I can be better prepared for doing our mobile business) and get these other side jobs done. Sharpening should pick up more when we get closer to the holidays.

Well here are some pics:
I hope it runs like a million bucks..............or at least $8k, since I have that much into what is in the photo. It might have been cheaper to just have this builder do the engine from scratch, but I have been through 2 other engines with these heads and intake, and the porting work was not cheap. That doesn't include the money lost to the bad cast scatt crank, old cams, lifers, rockers, pushrods, oil pumps, bearings, rings, springs, seats, etc. That is $8 in parts and labor for what sits in the pic. It also doesn't include whatever the cost was to rebuild my TH400, that is waiting at the shop (half the parts and the case were toast), of which I don't have a price for yet. My uncle knew I was short on money, so he hasn't charged me yet, although he had the trans done the week after I pulled the engine.

This ****er better run like a raped ape!!!

 

[y5mgisi]

Dang thats a lot of dough! Should run great tho!

 

[Greg72]

It's always breathtaking to add up the "little costs" of doing an engine swap or rebuild.

Most guys see a crate motor price advertised in a magazine and assume that's the "all in" price for a new mill... Not even close.


-G

 

[CGT80]

I started to trace the underhood and under body wiring yesterday. I found that my fuel gauge wire was all beat up and it passes right by the starter. My electric brake line was also run down there. Everything else is on the driver's side frame rail. I have dual tanks, so that messed up wire runs in a big loop from the tank switch on the dash, to the tanks, and then back up to the fuse panel and then gauge. I will just jump from the switch to the gauge cluster. I will move the electric brake wire as well. Now I will only have the starter solenoid wire down on that side. Main power comes from the core support, where the two batteries are, and to the driver's inner fender which is where my wiring box will be.

I had downloaded a pdf with all the wiring diagrams for a 79 chevy CK series. After studying that for a while, I was able to trace my hazard light circuit which was not working. Now I will know where to look for problems when I get power back to the truck. I do not use some of the engine and instrument wires because I have the aftermarket gauges. I was looking at the unused wires and wondering if I missed anything when I worked on the electrical before. Now I will get to make sure everything is proper.

My goal is to get the engine bay part and wiring back in by next Tuesday so that I can put the engine and trans in at my uncle's shop. The engine and trans are there and waiting. I may have a job out of town the following week with my brother, and it would be nice to drive my pickup. It is better for power and features than the K5 and it will need 500 miles to break in the rings before I tow with it. It might be a quick way to break it in before I start driving it in my normal style of resting the gas pedal on the carpet.

I have been working on remodeling a mobile dog grooming trailer for the last week or so. It is a job from hell, but at least the work is from home. I think I will stick to grooming equipment and sharpening, and not mobile units. There is just too many things to go wrong on these mickey mouse mobile units and people don't want to pay for all the hours it takes to do them right. If I am going to be frustrated with working on a vehicle, it might as well be to improve my own.

I had nightmares the other night about installing plastic wall paneling in a grooming trailer and I was traveling to and from work in my truck with the newly rebuilt 406, but.......I didn't have the power steering or water pump hooked up yet. It was running like crap and didn't turn worth a crap. I just wanted to drive it so that is what I did burnout

 

[speedfreekk]

Nice. How do you like the dash. I have been thinking of doing the same thing.

 

[CGT80]

Nice. How do you like the dash. I have been thinking of doing the same thing.

I love the 5" gauges and the look of the panel. The gauges would be a bit easier to see if they were tilted back more, but I can read them just fine. The panel is a POS as far as fitment goes. I had to move things a bit, such as the wiper switch, headlight switch, and AC controls. I elongated some screw holes and used washers behind other parts. There is a lower plastic brushed aluminum piece that goes under the steering column. It doesn't fit at all. I will have to trim it down, and hope that it fits close enough to not look stupid.

Someone should make an aluminum bezel, on a cnc machine, to match the size of the original plastic one. You can get an aluminum plate that just covers where the actual gauges are, but that doesn't fix the factory part that has to be used with it. The lower parts of the factory bezel are left uncovered with that plate. I don't know if aftermarket gauges will go in that plate either. Even an aluminum sheet metal bezel would be fine, but it would have to be built by someone who knows how to fab an intricate part and make it look good.

The new bezel I have just didn't have any quality control when made. The finish looks great.

 

[speedfreekk]

Thanks was thinking they would fit better but didn't know of anyone who had one to see.
How is the engine? My 406 is like your but I have iron Dart heads. Looking forward to getting it done and driving it. Thanks

 

[CGT80]

I got my truck up and running. I just hadn't felt like typing it all up. I need to post some pics. There is just over 300 miles on the new engine now. It is quiet up front. It doesn't have all the misc. engine noise and rattles that it had before. The roller cam and lifters seem to like high rpm's. It gets up there in rpm pretty quick and it doesn't hesitate at 4500 rpm like before. There is a lot more low end torque. I can roll along on the freeway at 70 mph and 2300 rpm in overdrive and not even work the engine. It is very quiet when cruising, but when you get on it, the flowmaster super 44 lets you know it is far from stock.

At 500 miles I will do the first oil change. I am trying to not thrash on the loud pedal too hard. After 500 miles, the engine guy says I am ok to tow my trailer. My MSD HEI is set to the slowest advance curve. I think the engine would like a quicker curve for street use. For towing, the slowest is probably best. My initial timing is 10 degrees advanced, with 21 additional degrees of centrifugal and then another 16 degrees when the vac advance is active. It doesn't ping at all, even at 10.2:1 CR and 91 gas with 10% ethanol mixed in, due to our stupid smog laws. It was running at 190f degrees coolant temp at the head with the ac going and an air temp of 85 degrees or better and bright sun. In cooler weather it will stay right at 160f.

The electrical has worked out pretty well. With the AC going on high and my headlights on, the voltage drops to 12. I still have a couple extra grounds to add though. My battery isolator also drops my voltage to 13.5 at my fuse box. It is 14.4+ off the alternator.

I'll add pics and maybe more details later.

 

[y5mgisi]

Good deal man!