What have you done to your square lately??

[78C10BigTen]

Took it to Talladega this weekend

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Im jealous!!! ALWAYS wanted to go to dega!!

 

[Frankenchevy]

I got this in the mail today anybody want to help me put it in this weekend?

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By help I mean come put it in for me so I can still get the things done I wanted to do like paint more parts for the truck lol

I’m over painting f’n parts..wanna trade?

 

[78C10BigTen]

I started to make mine all come together

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because that's what I built it for

Holy mirrors!!!!

 

[Clutch]

Holy mirrors!!!!

Yea I want the West coast stainless steel ones that you could get on a cab and chassis before I paint the nee doors

 

[78C10BigTen]

Yea I want the West coast stainless steel ones that you could get on a cab and chassis before I paint the nee doors

They stick way out lol

 

[roundhouse]

Im jealous!!! ALWAYS wanted to go to dega!!

I have a friend that gets us in the garage and pits at Atlanta

We hang around as long as we can dodge the guys checking credentials after the race starts
But we usually get kicked back to the stands about 45 minutes into the race

 

[Clutch]

They stick way out lol

I know that's why I want to change them. Also the drivers door is open in that picture

 

[78C10BigTen]

I have a friend that gets us in the garage and pits at Atlanta

We hang around as long as we can dodge the guys checking credentials after the race starts
But we usually get kicked back to the stands about 45 minutes into the race

I go to pocono every year. I like your truck btw

 

[Old77]

Washed her up and took her for a drive with the kids

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[theblindchicken]

Got the exaust done 2 1/2 from the headers back 3 inch tips 40 series Flowmasters.
Neighbor's are going to hate that cold start in the morning.
I love these old trucks.

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Looks good. Did they put all hard mounts or rubber too?

 

[theblindchicken]

Spent the day out in the garage.

Got the intake manifold, carb, thermostat, water pump, alternator, egr, fuel line, motor mount brackets, and new clamshells on the frame. Stuck the new k&n air cleaner and oil filter, and the aluminum valve covers on for some fun.

Need to sort out the vacuum lines since my new thermostat housing doesn't have the spot to be able run two vacuum lines off of it. Eliminated the smog pump since I don't need it anymore. Just taking up room and making the belts a bit longer. Need to also get a new set of fel pro valve cover gaskets since the ones I got a long while back were actually for a set of center bolts. Also gotta go pick up some new bolts for the water pump pulley since the originals are too long now that i'm going to electric fans.

 

[86suburbanNJ609]

Looks good. Did they put all hard mounts or rubber too?

Yes the rubber was in all of them

 

[theblindchicken]

More time out in the driveway and garage. Covered head to toe and completely worth it.

 

[theblindchicken]

Copied from my build thread, but figured y'all might like a nice little read here:




Goal.......... Accomplished! Engine is in the frame and actually bolted down. None of this, still held by the cherry picker while sitting somewhat between the frame rails nonsense!

Time clock: 11am.

First thing of the day was to get a final coat of Rustoleum Gloss Black Enamel paint on the flexplate for preparation of getting it installed. It was originally half bolted to the crank and used to turn it over and whatnot, but ended up spraying it half orange when I painted the heads and touch up spots on the block and around the oil pan gasket. Previously painted it some flat black, but that didn't do well against any grease marks. Finger prints from days prior would still be there. Loved the look of that black enamel paint, so all the brackets and bolts got a nice little coat of that to give a solid contrast against the bright Chevy Engine Orange. Grabbed some coffee and made a quick sandwich. Time clock: roughly 11:30am.

Went to stick the oil pan on after it dried overnight..... the new Fel-pro gasket I had was for a block with the oil dipstick on the passenger's side. Whelp, can't use that one. Stuck the old fel-pro one on for the moment just so I could install it. Somehow missing two of the small oil pan bolts as well, so guess I'll order up a new set of those. No biggie. Probably will find them as soon as new bolts get delivered.

Installed the remaining free plugs and set screws in the back of the block. I couldn't get to them before since they were blocked by the engine stand. Used a 1-1/8 socket to tap in the 1-5/8 brass free plugs and I think a 1-1/2 socket to tap in the steel camshaft freeze plug. All three of em went in real smooth. Made sure the top edge was nice and flush with the block so they weren't sticking out too far or sucked in too far. Kinda makes you think what you gotta do if ya accidentally knocked em in too far. Used some blue loctite on the three set screws so they won't be coming out any time soon. Tightened them as far down as I could even though they were maybe 1/16" still sticking out of the block.

Got the starter all installed up nice and easy since it was right there. Stuck a little more blue threadlocker on the bolts, then torqued em down to 35 ft-lbs. All good to go, and on to the next bit.

Installing the engine!


Grabbed the cherry picker and rolled it on over to the engine stand. Grabbed a chain, some bolts, and washers. Both of the chains we have already have clevis hooks on them that are too big to safely grab the hooks on the intake manifold. So next best option is to bolt the links to the brackets and lift her up. Unfortunately, only one bolt actually fits through the links. Everything else is either wayyy too big or small enough that I don't trust it to hold the weight safely. Got the chains all tight and looked good. Got the weight off the engine stand and pulled out the bolts. That nicely lookin engine ended up being super cocked. Like the front pointed roughly 30 degrees down off horizontal. Not a good spot to be in.

Whelp, been in worse places than this, so figured i'd try and make do since its too much of an angle that I can't get the engine stand back on and I can't set it down on anything for risk of damaging the pan and setting the engine down on its side. After getting pretty fed up with it, my dad stepped on in and helped set me straight. Grabbed a 4x4, 4x6, and a couple pieces of 3/4" ply with an old towel to cushion the pan. Grabbed a 4x4 block stack that I made to hold up the pinion a good while back when I added those springs and zero rate block to the front spring pack. Threw that block down on its side on top of the plywood sheets and dropped the engine nice and slowly. Once she was set down real nice and carefully, got the chain all sorted out. Went with a floating center, by bolting the chain at both brackets over the carburetor and then lifting in the center via the hook on the cherry picker. Did pretty well for centering and leveling the engine out.

As the engine was about to be set into the frame rails..... I remembered that I needed some new bolts for the driver's engine mount bracket. Yeah, the one that only had 2 of the 5 bolts actually attaching it to the frame. Also needed a new set of bolts for the water pump since I'm swapping the mechanical fan for a set of dual 14" electric fans. Still tweaking the design of the radiator shroud on that one. Grabbed a set of 5/16"-24 grade 5 bolts and lock washers for the water pump, and a set of 3/8"-16 grade 8 bolts and flanged lock nuts for the engine mount at the local OSH hardware store. Has a muuuuch better hardware selection than the local home depot. So glad they put another one in after the one a couple miles away closed down when they shuttered quite a few stores. Also called a few buddies to see if anyone could swing on by and give me a hand. They all wished they could help, but already had previous obligations. I get it, last minute request on a Sunday. No biggie.

Anywho, shot on back home real quick to keep the project rolling. Tossed the bolts into the brackets and got them all tightened up as much as I could muster. Then slid the engine on down into place in one go. Just like those videos of professional drivers sliding their car into a parallel parking spot along a curb right? Everything went absolutely perfect.

Whattayamean I'm lying? Of course it went perfectly smooth and absolutely nothing went wrong or hit each other or caused a delay....... Alllllright you got me. It took forever.

Took a ton of tries to get the engine lined up with the transmission bellhousing. The flexplate kept getting caught on the bellhousing mounting surface and couldn't get it shifted off of it. Not to mention they were about 10 degrees or so off from actually being parallel to each other. Took way too many tries to finally find out that the snout of the starter was inside the bellhousing and getting in the way that prevented the engine from being shifted over about an inch. Ended up pulling that off and then got it pretty close. Driver's side cocked up, passenger's side down a little. Grabbed a 1x4 chunk of pine and then pried up on the passenger's engine mount to try and drop the drivers side down to get the pins lined up. Took a couple of tries, then got it all nicely lined up. Used a nice chunk of treated 4x4 to pry between the crank pulley and the front crossmember to shift the engine back up to the bellhousing. Couple of small pries later and it was pretty set. Was able to get the bolts in there to mount the trans and block together.

It was tricky enough with that 2" body lift to get em all tightened up and in place, I couldn't imagine doing that without having any body lift of any sort. Probably easier to just pull the entire cab at that point. Took quite a long time to get all those bolts all tightened up. Got the vacuum line to the transmission all reconnected after accidentally pulling it off sometime earlier.

Now time for the motor mounts.... They didn't wanna line up at all. Couple buddies showed up to come give me a hand after their obligations were done for the day. So, we dropped the weight of the engine entirely onto the mounts and they were still around 1/2" off. Just couldn't get em down far enough. After trying a couple times and trying to pry it down into place, we ended up loosening the transmission mounts to give us enough play to shift it the 1/8" we needed the engine to come forward to clear the rubber clamshells. Got the driver's lined up pretty quick after that. Stuck a bolt in place and hand threaded it a little bit. On to work on the passenger's side. It was a bit too far to passengers and a bit too low. Had my buddies lift her up a bit while prying the engine towards driver's. Bolt slid right into place as though it had never left it's home nearly a year ago.

Got those all nice and tight after a little debacle of trying to find the right sized sockets and wrenches and all. Didn't have an 11/16" ratchet wrench, so just went with an adjustable crescent and a 1/2" drive 5/8's socket wrench to tighten em all the way up.

Then a ton of time went by and no idea what happened, just takin a little break. Moved on to the exhaust manifolds since it was getting late and didn't want it sitting out nice and exposed. Exhaust manifolds had to come forward nearly an inch, so pulled the rear exhaust hangers loose to be able to get it forward. Pulled em up, and spent way too long trying to figure out why the exhaust manifold bolts weren't lining up. Eventually figured out that the mufflers and pipe were dropping it too far and wouldn't let it line up. Threw a couple blocks under each pipe and it all lined up pretty decently.

Now it's nearly dark, threw the air cleaner on to keep the carb dry and also just for looks. Remembered that the flexplate still isn't attached to the torque converter. Grab those bolts, hop under the truck and look up: it's pitch black, no way I can see what is going on without grabbing a flashlight. No idea where the nearest flashlight is... so guess it's time to call it a night.

Cleaned up the garage, got the old block, engine stand, floorjack all into their respective places. All tools and loose bolts and parts all gathered up.

Time clock: 9pm.

Had a couple burritos, grabbed a shower, and here we are.

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[silverscottsk10]

Moved it 10 feet forward to mow today, I need to get gravel to extend my driveway lol

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