68 C10 shortbox LS/T56 project

[79 Camaro]

Evening everyone.

My new project is a 68 C10. It was a LWB but going to be a SWB.

I bought the truck last fall. Came out of CA. Very nice body. Only rust was beneath the heater core area.

It had about 100 pounds of rat/mouse/other crawly stuff in every crevice of the cab and engine compartment.

I completely disassembled the truck. Stripped all the paint off the sheet metal. The frame was sanded blasted and painted.

As I would say I'm in charge of taking paint off but a local body shop is willing to let me put paint on this time. Mostly just sanding. That starts next week.

I'm buying a new aftermarket short box.

So here's my question. I've been on the C10 sites reviewing build threads. I'm going LS and T56. I understand I will need a high hump transmission pan. But if I go with a 4" front drop and 6" rear drop will a correctly sized (3.5"-4") one piece drive shaft clear the stock trailing arm cross member? Some say yes and some have modified the stock cross member. No plans to go any lower than 6" in the back. What have you guys done?

Any help would be great.

[79 Camaro]

So I've made some good progress.

The local body shop has let me do all the sanding of the skim coat body filler. Sanding one coat of "poly" filler and then two sessions of block sanding 2K primer.

They color sanded and buffed all the cab and body parts. It looks pretty great.

I installed the LS1 T56 combo.

I just got the wiring done. Howell LS harness. Painless chassis harness. Got the basic stuff hooked up and it cranked!

Lots of work to do before it fires. Run fuel lines. Install gas tank.

Tomorrow is gauge panel install and hook up all the wires.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Sounds like a fun project and we're particularly fond of these trucks. Please post some pics!

[79 Camaro]

Ben,

It has been a good project. First time I've done any body work. People don't realize how many hour goes into body prep and color sanding and buffing.

Hope to have it on the road late May or early June.

I would post photos but for the life of me I haven't figured out how.

Can I send some to you and you can post?

[79 Camaro]

Just an update.

Truck is completely painted. Cab back on the chassis. Suspension in. Brake lines done. C5 brakes installed. Fuel lines run. Working on the exhaust. Wiring is complete. Dash is in. Radio goes in next week. Radiator support and big 31" x 19" dual pass radiator goes in this weekend.

I didn't want to run the exhaust under the trailing cross member so I plasmed a 4" hole in each side for the exhaust to run thru. Added a plate to bring the strength back. I basically centered the hole in the up and down in the cross member. Now as I run the exhaust it would of been better to bias the hole right towards the top of the cross member. Makes for easier routing of the exhaust over the transmission cross member. I'm using a ECE trans cross member that is almost flush with the bottom of the frame.

I'm using Speed Engineering full length headers and they fit well. Bottom of the collectors is about even with the bottom of the frame.

Ordering wheels tomorrow.

Hope to have it drive able in a few weeks.

[79 Camaro]

More progress. Exhaust done. Gas tank in and fuel lines and wiring hooked up.

And it's alive! Put 5 gallons of gas in it and cranked it. It started right up. Got to like LS platform.

Still up on the jack stands so I tried the clutch and it all worked.

I need to finish the radiator hoses and fill it with coolant.

[chevelletiger]

Pictures would be nice! ;)

[KevinK]

Just an update.

Truck is completely painted. Cab back on the chassis. Suspension in. Brake lines done. C5 brakes installed. Fuel lines run. Working on the exhaust. Wiring is complete. Dash is in. Radio goes in next week. Radiator support and big 31" x 19" dual pass radiator goes in this weekend.

I didn't want to run the exhaust under the trailing cross member so I plasmed a 4" hole in each side for the exhaust to run thru. Added a plate to bring the strength back. I basically centered the hole in the up and down in the cross member. Now as I run the exhaust it would of been better to bias the hole right towards the top of the cross member. Makes for easier routing of the exhaust over the transmission cross member. I'm using a ECE trans cross member that is almost flush with the bottom of the frame.

I'm using Speed Engineering full length headers and they fit well. Bottom of the collectors is about even with the bottom of the frame.

Ordering wheels tomorrow.

Hope to have it drive able in a few weeks.

I haven't been on this board in a while, but I just picked up a 68 C10 myself.
You mentioned C5 brakes, what spindles are you running up front? ...and did you do disks in rear too?
If you can't post pics, please email I will post for you. [email protected]

Thanks, Kevin

[79 Camaro]

I will send the pics. I need to update them to the current progress.

Wheels are in 20" Rambler wheels. Tires will be here this week. 285/40 rear. 255/40 front.

I used 2.5" drop spindles that were modified by Way2Low on the C10 website. He supplied the spindles, hubs and caliper mounts. I supplied the C5 calipers and rotors. 4.75" bolt circle.

In the rear I used 1995 Camaro rear calipers. They have the e-brake built in. Made my own brackets to fit. 12" Camaro rotors. 4.75" bolt circle.

Thanks for the help.

[saon]

So here's my question. I've been on the C10 sites reviewing build threads. I'm going LS and T56. I understand I will need a high hump transmission pan. But if I go with a 4" front drop and 6" rear drop will a correctly sized (3.5"-4") one piece drive shaft clear the stock trailing arm cross member? Some say yes and some have modified the stock cross member. No plans to go any lower than 6" in the back. What have you guys done?


what did you figure out about the rear trailing cross member and using a 4" 1 piece drive shaft?

[79 Camaro]

Per my local drive shaft shop with a 6200 rev limiter set on my LS swap they said a 3.5" is safe to 7000 rpm. I did grind a bit out of the top cross member to add clearance for the drive shaft. I have a T56 magnum which moves the tail shaft out a bit compared to a Fbody T56. I did use a high hump trans cover. I did the ECE motor mounts. They set the engine quite high and forward in the chassis. Wouldn't use them again. They wouldn't clear the Fbody pan and the stock cross member. I had to die grind all the bolt holes to allow moving the chassis mounts back to allow for pan clearance. Also if if did it again I'd lower the engine down and back so the drive line angle is better. Currently the engine angle is 3.5 degrees. I would build my own mounts using SBC engine mounts. I used the Speed Engineering headers. Even if lowering the engine I'd have plenty of ground clearance.

[79 Camaro]

So I've been driving the C10 for about a month. Just installed the CPP front sway bar. With the POL tubular arms the spacers between the poly bushings I left out. Looks good. seems to have helped .

Front and rear bumpers from AMD thru Summit. Look good and fit good.

Front trim (hood, eye brow, and grill inserts) fit good and look good. My mistake on the grill inserts was assuming they weren't damaged inside the packing. They were taped to a piece of wood to prevent damage. I put them on the shelf and when I was ready to install found out they were a bit mangled. Note to self always inspect each part as they arrive.

Tail gate trim is OK at best. Upper trim as it over laps the center latch trim is poor. Lower trim is OK.

Tail light trim is barely OK. Needs fine tuning bending to fit.

Truck has been fun to drive. Just getting used to it.

[rlovell383]

Need Pics!!!

[79 Camaro]

Just FYI. I ordered the side moldings for a 67-68 SB fleet side from Brothers Truck. I ordered them late Feb during their winter sale. 15% off.

Not knowing who made them it was rumored they were Mar-K parts.

Just received them and they are Mar-K as I hoped. They are packed very well. I look forward to installing them.

I will keep everyone posted.

[chevelletiger]

^^ pics!

[79 Camaro]

Will do on the pics tomorrow. Can't really get a good shot while in the shop. Have to wait until the snow stops.

[KevinK]

Will do on the pics tomorrow. Can't really get a good shot while in the shop. Have to wait until the snow stops.

Got your pics Jim, ...Truck looks amazing too ;)


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2019/04/IMG_0194JPG-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2019/04/IMG_0187JPG-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2019/04/IMG_0189JPG-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2019/04/IMG_0091JPG-1.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

...and a couple more...

http://photos.imageevent.com/hvclassics/autoeventscamaro/trucks/jimbrink/websize/3.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/hvclassics/autoeventscamaro/trucks/jimbrink/websize/2.JPG

[c4racer2]

Oh man. That is killer !!

[79 Camaro]

Thanks so much for the help posting the pics.
I'm hoping the snow is gone by mid week so we can go for a cruise this week end.

[79 Camaro]

So the C10 is complete. It's a great ride. I will be selling it this fall for the ONLY reason I'm a touch over 6"2 and its a bit tight as I drive it. I will be going to the local car shows thru the summer. It's funny how many folks look at the truck and go "cool" with all the mods I did. Then you have the guys that think the LS/T56 swap is dumb although they haven't driven a well tuned LS swap anything.
I'm looking at a couple of local "rust free projects".
If you are at the Orelliy' show in St.Paul this next weekend please stop by to talk. We will be there later Saturday and all day Sunday rain or shine. The truck has wipers and defrost.
The Pro Touring web site has been great over the years.
Thanks for all the help.

[spacepirate]

What brake booster are you running? I like the plastic reservoir.

[79 Camaro]

The booster is a C5 Corvette. The master is a 2002 Z28 Camaro. Works well. Captain Fab makes the booster/clutch bracket. Works well.

[spacepirate]

Awesome! Thanks!

[79 Camaro]

Just FYI. We were in St.Paul early Friday and thru the day. First big trip with the C10. 346 miles round trip. It was HOT. Air temp close to 90 and heat index at 112. Tons of cars. A few over heated. Saturday about 9 AM it started to rain and continued thru 2 PM? Still a great show. Tomorrow cool in the upper 70's to low 80's.
We went home about noon today (150 miles west) and drove thru the worst rain on I-94 for about 50 miles. Like 2 inches per hour rain. Truck ran great. Got to like wipers and defrost.
Tomorrow is going to be great weather wise so if you are thinking about going do it.

[79 Camaro]

Just a project update.

I'm running 20" wheels so the front rotors (13" C5) look a bit small. Did some research and it looks like I can use C6 ZO6 14" rotors.
I bought a 2007 ZO6 front rotor and other than being 1" larger in diameter they are identical. I'm going to reuse my C5 calipers.

Just have to remake the spindle bracket that bolts to the C5 brake abutments 1/2" longer for the bigger rotor diameter. I will keep everyone up to date on the progress.

[79 Camaro]

Just an update.

The swap is successful. Made new brackets that space the C5 caliper out 1/2". The 14" J56 rotor has the exact same "back spacing" and hub diameter as the stock C5 rotor. The swept area of the 14" rotor is the same as the 13" rotor per the brake pad wear pattern.

After a few low speed stops I did a few 60 mph really hard stops and it works well. Stopped straight and quick. I'm
happy with the results. And it does fill the wheel much better.

So cost? Modded spindles and hubs $600. Used calipers with brackets $250 after rebuild. Rotors $200. Brake pads NAPA premium $70. New brackets fabbed by me $20 including grinding discs.

[79 Camaro]

So I need some help. The MN Street Association is still putting on their "Super Secret Fun Run" at the Brainerd MN drag/race track. If you are a member and can pass tech you can run your car/truck down the 1/4 mile or around the road course.
I've never run down a 1/4 mile track. My 68 C10 LS/built 4L60E SWB swapped has about 380 rwhp. 285/40 rear tires. 3000 stall Yank converter It will spin the rear wheels thru second gear on the local tar roads. The full throttle shift points are set at 6000 rpm. Rev limiter is set to 6500.
Need any advice on getting off the line.
Any help would be good.

[79 Camaro]

The 68 is for sale in the sale section.