Recent content by Huck

I've always cleaned and painted the frame on all my trucks, usually takes a weekend or two and I use a combo of wire brushes in a drill and hand brushes to clean every inch I can, then wipe down with laquer thinner or brake clean, tape up anything I don't want paint on, then prime and paint. I...

So I started about 5pm yesterday tearing it down. This truck is completely rust free but there's just dirt and mud caked everywhere, it's nasty underneath It's been a while since I've done control arms and my dumbass forgot you need to take the nut all the way off and then put it back on a...

So last night I decided I wanted a break from the engine stuff and started on the front suspension. I'd bought all this stuff 6mo ago and it's just been gathering dust waiting on me lol I didn't really wanna drop the coin on Cognito or Kryptonite arms this go-round so I went with Spindle...

So then yesterday I double and triple checked the harness, put the air box/intake tube back in and plugged in the MAF. Hooked up the battery and listened for arcing, watched for smoke, thankfully no magic escaped. Dumped in some VR1, unplugged the coil packs and spun it, it spun nice! So then...

So Tuesday night after work I started buttoning all the other little details up. Started with the valley plate, got new knock sensor grommets installed, torqued it down, installed the knock sensors and harness, put RTV on the harness plugs and then built the usual dams Painted the water pump...

Made small but important progress yesterday. Crawled underneath and measured my gap from the converter to the flexplate with a drill bit (per Circle D's tips and tricks). My 3/16" drill bit wouldn't go all the way between the mounting pad of the converter and the flexplate, I could just barely...

Then got it swung up in the truck Slowly... Slowly... Had to do some sketchy shit to get the hoist to come all the way out, apparently the boom had come out a bit more than the last time I used it lol In and bolted to the transmission! Also got the engine mount bolts halfway started

So then last Thursday I put the pushrods and lifters in Got all that torqued down properly, installed the GM valve cover gaskets and put them on and torqued. Then went to pull the balancer off to clean the paint off the snout but when I went to reinstall, it started boogering up the...

So that night, I ordered some ARP head bolts and also the driver's side frame side engine mount cuz I'd broken 2 bolts off getting it out. They showed up 2 days later So then I made damn sure I put the bolts in for the trays and torqued them down Then followed the instructions to a T. I...

Didn't do anything yesterday except getting the C10's alternator warrantied. Just wasn't happy with the paint color on the motor so I stopped by the parts store and picked up just straight Red to redo it today This should look better Oh yeah, much better. Masked it off and resprayed it at...

Did the VCs too of course So while those were drying, I pulled the driver's frame side of the engine mount out. 2 of the bolts had broken off when I was trying to get the motor out so my buddy brought me the ones that were attached to his donor 5.3 he picked up to go in his OBS. Wouldn't ya...

Dropped the pan on, put the bolts in loosely and aligned it with the straight edge as well Then set it out in the sun to start warming up for paint while I ate lunch Went with Chevy Red-Orange cuz that's what I did on the C10 but used a different brand of paint. Not sure I like it

So Sunday I turned the motor over to install the windage tray and pickup tube with a fresh o-ring Then slid the front cover on loosely, reinstalled the balancer and then rotated the crank 2 revolutions to help the front and rear covers find their natural alignment. Then made small...

The old o-ring was definitely flat Rear plate on loosely Lubed and slid the cam in. Installed the retainer plate, cam gear and chain, torqued it all down, installed the oil pump and lubed it all real good. Had a dinner date with some friends and the GF so celebrated a good day with...

So then Saturday I cleaned the block real good one more time and changed out my floor diaper in prep for assembly Lubed the main bearings, dropped the crank in, lubed and installed the main caps and torqued everything to spec. The started installing the piston rings and sliding each...