CK5
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86 K10-Orion
- Thread starter toomany
- Start date
Some quick pictures. I'll get some more as I'm working on it.
This is where the frame is bent. Also has a sizeable crack near the engine crossmember. I already pulled a section out of the parts truck. Plan is to join the two at the front cab mount, fish plate the inside and top/bottom. Should be fairly straightforward.
How it's currently sitting. Once I head back out there, I'm going to turn it around and get the running gear out. Then start working on the frame rail.
Hoist is easily one of the best things I've ever bought.
Hoist is easily one of the best things I've ever bought.
After a few hours, out she came.
Underside is super clean.
Underside is super clean.
For being in Michigan, this thing is practically new. I don't know how many miles it has on it, but I do know it's been off the road for the last 20 years or so.
Better shot of the crack in the frame. Doesn't look so bad from the outside. But once you get some light behind it, you can see just how far down it goes.
The only real bad spot on the cab I've found so far...and a shot of the crushed gas tank.
Dang that’s clean.
Today's progress was to get the new frame rail cleaned off of the extra parts. Tomorrow I'll try power washing it to get the grease off of it before getting it into the truck.
Upper shackle bushing was totally wasted. The truck actually has decent, newish aftermarket bushings in the springs and hangers. But if I'm going through the trouble of knocking off the other one or pressing bushings....I'm not going to put the used ones in. Placed an order with ORD for new shackle hangers and HD shackels. Also got their Dodge D60 swap kit. Not going to fight it, admitted to myself that I'll probably be swapping the 60 in at some point so I'm just going to do it now. New body mounts and 1" body lift on their way as well.
Trucks frame is pretty much stripped down. Hope to lift the cab off tomorrow and get that cut or at least ready to.
Upper shackle bushing was totally wasted. The truck actually has decent, newish aftermarket bushings in the springs and hangers. But if I'm going through the trouble of knocking off the other one or pressing bushings....I'm not going to put the used ones in. Placed an order with ORD for new shackle hangers and HD shackels. Also got their Dodge D60 swap kit. Not going to fight it, admitted to myself that I'll probably be swapping the 60 in at some point so I'm just going to do it now. New body mounts and 1" body lift on their way as well.
Trucks frame is pretty much stripped down. Hope to lift the cab off tomorrow and get that cut or at least ready to.
Knocked the rivets out of the truck frame and lifted the cab off.
Took a rough measument and cut the frame rail.
Did some more accurate measuring and cut the new rail to length. Cut is behind the front cab mount. Used the mount to make sure I had things spaced correctly.
Mount and holes for front crossmembers lined up like nothing happened.
Need to clean up the weld and make some plates for the inside and top/bottom yet. I've got some grade 8 fine thread bolts with pinch lock nuts that will be going in place of the rivets once I run the step bit through the holes to size them up.
Gas tank, sending unit, straps and pump showed up today. Once the front of the frame is taken care of I'll see what I can do to get that in place.
Took a rough measument and cut the frame rail.
Did some more accurate measuring and cut the new rail to length. Cut is behind the front cab mount. Used the mount to make sure I had things spaced correctly.
Mount and holes for front crossmembers lined up like nothing happened.
Need to clean up the weld and make some plates for the inside and top/bottom yet. I've got some grade 8 fine thread bolts with pinch lock nuts that will be going in place of the rivets once I run the step bit through the holes to size them up.
Gas tank, sending unit, straps and pump showed up today. Once the front of the frame is taken care of I'll see what I can do to get that in place.
Finished up the frame splice today. Cut some plates out of the old section of frame rail and welded those on over the joint. Did top, bottom and inside. Tightened the bolts for the crossmembers too. Also decided to knock out the other upper shackle hangers while I had the grinder out. Motor mounts came off as well.
Once everything had cooled off, I pushed it outside and soaked it in some heavy duty oven cleaner and hit it with the power washer. 95% of what was on there came off...which is good enough for me. I'll shoot it with some paint tomorrow after it dries overnight. I did put a little paint on the welds already, did that before I put the body mount back on.
Once everything had cooled off, I pushed it outside and soaked it in some heavy duty oven cleaner and hit it with the power washer. 95% of what was on there came off...which is good enough for me. I'll shoot it with some paint tomorrow after it dries overnight. I did put a little paint on the welds already, did that before I put the body mount back on.
Not too much progress today.
Put a quick coat of paint on the front half of the frame today. Nothing special, just Rust-Oleum hammered black.
Diy4x parts rolled in today. Top notch stuff as usual.
And I keeping with the budget theme of the build, I picked these up. Dakota Digital VHX gauges. They popped up on Facebook, didn't get that good of a deal (paid almost retail) but they came with the fan controller and a few other things...so not real budget oriented. But, I needed gauges and this will simplfy wiring.
Put a quick coat of paint on the front half of the frame today. Nothing special, just Rust-Oleum hammered black.
Diy4x parts rolled in today. Top notch stuff as usual.
And I keeping with the budget theme of the build, I picked these up. Dakota Digital VHX gauges. They popped up on Facebook, didn't get that good of a deal (paid almost retail) but they came with the fan controller and a few other things...so not real budget oriented. But, I needed gauges and this will simplfy wiring.
Body mounts and body lift came in. Probably don't need the body lift, but I don't know how much clearance I'll have for the filler neck with the box. And being I want to run a 35" tire, a little more clearance won't hurt either.
Upper shackle hangers, shackles and Dodge D60 swap bushings were in the box as well.
While I have the cab in the air, I sprayed some Lizard Skin on the bottom and lower firewall. Only used the sound deadener (didn't have enough heat control to do a full coat). Did it for two reasons, for the sound deading aspect and as an undercoating. It's basically a liquid rubber that gets airated as you apply it. Hoping that will protect the sheet metal some. Not that I plan to drive this in the winter/salt. The shadows make it look like I didn't cover the whole floor, only place I didn't do a full coat was the trans tunnel. Probably going to cut that out and put the high jump in.
Tomorrow I need to set the cab back on the frame to free up the hoist for another job. Might try setting the motor in if I get time...get an idea how much I'll need to cut out to clear the AC compressor.
Upper shackle hangers, shackles and Dodge D60 swap bushings were in the box as well.
While I have the cab in the air, I sprayed some Lizard Skin on the bottom and lower firewall. Only used the sound deadener (didn't have enough heat control to do a full coat). Did it for two reasons, for the sound deading aspect and as an undercoating. It's basically a liquid rubber that gets airated as you apply it. Hoping that will protect the sheet metal some. Not that I plan to drive this in the winter/salt. The shadows make it look like I didn't cover the whole floor, only place I didn't do a full coat was the trans tunnel. Probably going to cut that out and put the high jump in.
Tomorrow I need to set the cab back on the frame to free up the hoist for another job. Might try setting the motor in if I get time...get an idea how much I'll need to cut out to clear the AC compressor.
Not as much progress as I'd hoped today, but I got the cab back on the frame. Also moved the rearmost crossmember to the last set of holes in the frame to make room for the K5 tank.
Little more got done today than I expected.
Started by getting the tank mounted. Used some scrap angle iron for the front mount. Trimmed a little bit off the rear crossmember so the tank would sit further back. Had to modify the straps. I assumed I could use factory straps, but they were too long. Cut about 3" off of them.
New Delphi pump. From a Vortec application, pretty standard stuff. Can't really see it in this picture because of the rubber sleeve.
I only had one of the fittings for the sending unit, need to add the other to my list for the next Summit order. Put some conveyor belt material between the tank and frame/straps.
After the tank was in, I went to town with the die grinder to open up the holes for the upper shackle hangers. Didn't put any bushings in yet, need to track down some spring plates for the D60 and u-bolts. Not going to bother with the spring bushings until I remove the front axle.
Set the motor in place to check clearance. Everything looks good. Oil pan seemed a little close to the axle, but there aren't any shackles on the rear of the springs so the frame is sitting lower than usual. I was hoping I could get away with notching the frame for the AC compressor, but the motor mounts run right into it. Will have to source a bracket to move the compressor.
Started by getting the tank mounted. Used some scrap angle iron for the front mount. Trimmed a little bit off the rear crossmember so the tank would sit further back. Had to modify the straps. I assumed I could use factory straps, but they were too long. Cut about 3" off of them.
New Delphi pump. From a Vortec application, pretty standard stuff. Can't really see it in this picture because of the rubber sleeve.
I only had one of the fittings for the sending unit, need to add the other to my list for the next Summit order. Put some conveyor belt material between the tank and frame/straps.
After the tank was in, I went to town with the die grinder to open up the holes for the upper shackle hangers. Didn't put any bushings in yet, need to track down some spring plates for the D60 and u-bolts. Not going to bother with the spring bushings until I remove the front axle.
Set the motor in place to check clearance. Everything looks good. Oil pan seemed a little close to the axle, but there aren't any shackles on the rear of the springs so the frame is sitting lower than usual. I was hoping I could get away with notching the frame for the AC compressor, but the motor mounts run right into it. Will have to source a bracket to move the compressor.
How do you like the DIY4X mounts? I have heard they put the motor too close to the firewall. Asking cuz I am gathering parts for my ls swap. And that vortec fuel pump supplies enough pressure? Thought spec for LS stuff was 55-60 PSI.
The motor doesn't look any closer to the firewall than the factory SBC. I've also got the 1" body lift in there too, so I'm sure that helps too. I'll get a couple of pictures later today.
The Vortec trucks run at the same pressure as the LS ones from everything I've read. Pump should put out 55+ psi.
Thanks, do you have a part number. I'll be needing that exact pump/sender then.
EP381and the sender is for the stock K5 with EFI
