Huck's new daily - Victory Red '05 CCSSB

[Huck]

So last Thursday I started fitting piston rings after work. Cleaned the block really thoroughly again and re-oiled everything





Everything landed 1-2 thou above spec, perfect



Then clean out the head bolt holes with chasers I'd made out of 2 of the old head bolts

 

[Huck]

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 rod/piston into their hole





Then picked it back up with the hoist to do the barbell and rear main plate




Don't worry, I only stabbed myself 3 times lol

 

[Huck]

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 some Mexican and a big XX Lager

 

[Huck]

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 adjustments to get them within spec with a straight edge, no more than .020" drop from the oil pan rails to the covers



Then did a light coat of black RTV on all the gasket surfaces and laid the gasket down



And did the same on the pan

 

[Huck]

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

 

[Huck]

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 know, an L59 in an SUV has a different mount than an LM7 in a truck. Phooey



Then got the stock converter out of the trans and brought the Circle D 2800-3000 down to top it up and get it in



So at this point, I had pulled the motor inside, pulled the lifters out of their oil bath, installed them in their trays and slid them all in the motor. As I was finishing that, the guy that was gonna buy my C10's camper shell showed up. That MF'r stayed for 2.5hr fucking hours, he would not leave. Finally, he pays me and gets out of my hair. I'm now 2hrs later being here than I'd planned and I wanted to have the heads on at least. So I grab a head gasket and a head, throw them on the pass side and go through the WHOLE torque sequence with the GM bolts.

Get done, walk over to the driver's side to wipe it down and do it. That's when I see it....THE FUCKING LIFTER TRAY BOLTS AREN'T THERE. I FORGOT THEM. FUCKKKKKKKKKKK. I was so fucking pissed, throwing tools and shit. Had to take a walk. I come back, get my impact and pull the head off and just leave it on the table.



Get in the C10 to go home and the gauges are flashing at me, it's charging at 19V. Fuck me. So shop truck it is

 

[Huck]

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 lunch