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budget beater - . . . HOLMES 220 single line boom wrecker install starting ..

sweetk30

sweetk30

Back to play nice .
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friend sent me this pic and i went and looked it over and hauled it home last night .

87 c10 silverado 305/700r4 combo .

thinking quick 4x4 frame swap and driveline from my old plow truck .

but who knows what i will do with it .

other than paint peal the worst spot is pass side box wheel arch . driver side just starting a little . clean southern truck for most of its life . zoom

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Nothing wrong with a C10 for warm weather daily driving--rides smoother,less weight = a bit better MPG,and its still a pickup,so it can haul stuff..you dont always need 4wd...and transmissions for 2wd trucks are more plentiful...
I would buy one again in a heartbeat,if one came available for a good price locally that wasn't a complete rotbox...I regret selling my '79 "Bonanza" C10 I had..
 
so i went out and put the truck up on the lift .

rr tire flat . all tires weather checked bad . no biggy i have extra set .

trans pan he said needed a gasket ( i dont belive anyone ) but he stopped with almost all the bolts out cause he couldnt get the pan off with out removing the crossmember . the trans mount is also toast . i have extra . he also had new gasket on the seat in felpro box .

coolant was just a hair low but green .

gas in both tanks didn't smell to bad .

he had done a plug/wire tuneup he said and looked it .

so i tossed in a half charged battery i had and turned the key . the pump wined . so i shut it off and waited 20 sec . re-cycled the key and pump wined again so i cranked it . 10 sec of cranking and she was running LOUD from open exhaust from a cut off plugged cat . he said 1.5-2 years since last run .

so i guess i will pull the trans pan and verify no major chunks . re-seal and hope for the best . then test drive around the block . if all seems good fix a few bugs and re-test drive .

possible dd at this point .

super sloppy colum tilt unit . i have spare i can swap in place . i think this one is to busted / worn .

rear brake line just popped when i was moving it off the rollback in to the shop . easy chunk swap and blead out .

side note : has factory small short bed gas tanks on long bed truck . note pics of the long filler necks .

otherwise decent unit for the price point so far .

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The loose tilt can usually be fixed. Just some loose bolts.

When you convert a 2wd to 4x4, I assume its a simple adding the front spring hanger, ORD frame bushing bracket for the shackle? Always come across 2WD crew cabs cheap and think of converting one.
 
Not so simple..
The rear spring hangers are different height,so those must be changed too...also you'll need the front spring mounts and shackles off a 4x4,and remove the engine crossmember and install one off a 4x4,along with the front diff,brake hoses,transmission & transfer case,and more..there are lots of rivets to remove to get these parts..

Though these parts will bolt on to a 2wd chassis--
I'd say swapping a good 2wd cab onto a 4x4 chassis is easier,then you just need to raise the floor hump or add a body lift to clear the transfer case..
 
I didn't realize the rear spring hanger was different height. Most opt for the ORD engine x-member and DIY front spring hangers anyways but yeah not easy to do with all the rivets. BTW I didn't realize how great my air hammer was until I tried everything to get some rivets out of the frame. The mini-sledge would do nothing with a punch. Air hammer got all the rivets out in seconds after grinding the heads off.
 
Shawn said:
The loose tilt can usually be fixed. Just some loose bolts.

When you convert a 2wd to 4x4, I assume its a simple adding the front spring hanger, ORD frame bushing bracket for the shackle? Always come across 2WD crew cabs cheap and think of converting one.
Click to expand...
I’ve done a few of this fix even on my own rig hardest part it being careful not to snap the pivot pint puller . Gm didn’t locktite those bolts so they come loose from pulling the steering wheel getting in the truck !
 
Nice find! I'd still like to find a regular cab long bed 2wd. Just a parts getter/haul small stuff. I have many memories in the cab with my dad and brother going and doing dude stuff.
 
oh i know how to redo the steering guy . thanks tho for the links . this one has WAY to much slop and from past rebuilds i am thinking its got striped threads or broken parts .

but HUGE update today .

got the trans pan off / cleaned up the little amount of buildup ( possible good sign ) in the pan . re-sealed it and filled it up with no leaks .

found the carrier bearing rubber falling apart . got to thinking i have a 1 peice shaft from a parted out older long bed 2wd . so i swapped it in place and removed the carrier bearing bracket rivets .

got the broken o2 sensor swapped out . had to heat the sucker up with the BIG wrench glowing orange . then used my old s-k spark plug thread chaser to clean the threads up good .

fixed the rear section of brake line from the factory mid joint to the hose and reused all the line clamps . had to hold the pin on the prop valve cause it actually worked still . got great pedal now .

when up in the air the rear felt funny like maybe a new or malfunctioning g80 gov-loc unit . . . . . seemed to grab way to easy and unlock to easy . so when i pulled the rear fill plug i looked in at good oil and full level and also found out why it felt funny . . . . . lock-right or power-trax locker is inside this 10 bolt rear :saweet::yikes::burnout:

have to figure out the HUGE lumpy cam idle it has . possible bad plugs or cap-rotor junk . has new plug wires and told new plugs . could be bad tbi base gasket ? could be timing off . they said they tried to set it . but i dont think they know the single brown wire thing for setting it .

she dosnt run like a stock motor . the engine has over heat plugs on it from the reman company so i know its not original .

need a 20" ish long section of 2.50" exhaust pipe to fill the void were the restrictive device was that was plugged up bad .

so in short this is looking like a real smoking deal of a truck so far .
 
well today was filled with good/bad and otherwise on the old girl .

i have figured out i need to drop 700ish in this to get it ready for the road as a 2wd and still not know if the 700r4 is any good or not . if not there is crazy money i dont want to drop in to it for a reman trans .

so i need to go get the extra 4x4 frame and check it over to see its condition . if good then it will be a body swap and 4x4 conversion .

its the same level of work for me with the bonus of using parts i have i KNOW 100% work and just be done with it as a 4x4 .

side note its got 3.42 gears in the 10 bolt .
 
i do have a backup plan if i need to . . .

my 1 pickup trailer has a set of springs and possible good rear axle . i could swap the whole combo if i need to . . . but then i would still need another set of springs at the bare min as i have a 8 lug axle i can toss in it for trailer use .
 
How do you keep falling into this stuff?!? But I did get lucky other day, I found a $20 on the floor in the hospital....i'd love to have the rear, but my 'hoe is 30 spline and urs is 28. Need to replace fuse if I want 4wd to work, and big shocker, the grenade lock was already set off, in less someone swapped it out...
 
guess I am grabbing my crew cab frame and cutting out the middle section and shortening it to a std cab long bed frame size . then this will be swapped to 4wd and use my current old plow truck driveline.
 
looks like 33" inches is the section i need to remove from the middle . measured 2 different spots on crew cab frame and std cab frame i have in the shop already .

going to play around with the style of cut i use . trying to remove a fusty thin section of the left rail . for some reason the whole frame is good but this 1 side ? ...... not sure if direct cut or slant cut or maybe a fish mouth style cut .

then i need to strech the back end around 40" inches to get it back to long bed spec . and give the rear leaf shackle a place to hang .

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I used a slant cut on my '70, but I did a fishplate inside, with the corners cut off at 45*.
But what method would work best for the rear, considering the taper?
 
Fish mouth gives the most welding surface area but I'm not sure it matters much which one you do if it's scabbed on both sides.
 
oh they will get a fish plate on the inside of each one for sure .

thinking fish mouth my self . will make cardboard template to help lay it out and get a idea .

as to the rear it will be what it is . but i have a SUPER beefy upgrade planned if the vendor still makes them . installing this item will put a LOT of beef back there .
 
sweetk30 said:
oh they will get a fish plate on the inside of each one for sure .

thinking fish mouth my self . will make cardboard template to help lay it out and get a idea .

as to the rear it will be what it is . but i have a SUPER beefy upgrade planned if the vendor still makes them . installing this item will put a LOT of beef back there .
Click to expand...
The best way to cut a frame is to cut a step in it.
You want the cut not to be in one plane.
I will try and find a pic to explain.
 
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