1978 K10 355 restoration

[bake74]

     Looking good, looks like you are getting excited to get it in and running again.

[gcochran223]

yeah its coming together, motor is about 99%, then starting on the body.im going to pull the bed off soon,replace the senders while its off check for any other issues or hack jobs from the previous owner.then its cab corners and d.a. d.a and more sanding.

[reload]

What color/type paint on the heads?

[gcochran223]

 here is a throw back of my 78.i miss her dearly.

the paint i used on the heads was rustoleum 500 degree aluminum.

[reload]

Thanks!

[gcochran223]

got the bed taken off last week for cab corners and a patch panel on the bed.planning on getting the motor dropped down in soon so we can move it around.just need to come up with a serpentine belt setup from a 88-94 or 95 to get it to run.its been moving pretty slow lately since the weather has broke.

[gcochran223]

the humidity and heat in ohio has been slowing the progress down to a crawl.one cab corner of the two and focusing on selling the other cab to free up space has taken priority.before the weather got hot as africa we were able to get the cab primed and it sold within a week on craigslist for $600. i have been wanting to get the 86s bed primered and sold but the heat is killing those plans. the trans has been painted black and i have been in search of a 88-95 gm parts truck for my 86 project and parts i may be able to purchase for my newly aquired 89 c2500 daily driver(350 5 speed 15.5 mpg!). i am going to look at one today which will give me the serpentine belt setup i want for my 86,then from there ill get brackets powdercoated then ill be ready to drop the 355 in the 86.on a brighter note the 78s rolling chassis hasnt gone to waste it went to a buddy whom is doing all the paint and prep for his 56 apache project.the attempt to sell the 37x13.50x15 boggers that came on the truck also has been a disaster,nothing but bs on craigslist. the tires are 75% if not more tread and retail for 419 otd cheapest and i have them listed with rims for 1000. i have been getting ridiculous offers for these online.so they still sit,hopefully someone with some money will come along so it can pay for my paint!

[gcochran223]

first pic is the cab corner on the 86 replaced,original was full of bondo

second is the cab i was gonna use for the 78 all primered forsale, sold on craigs for 600

third is a pic of the bed being lifted off with the wrecker boom.

[thirsty]

gcochran223... I do the plug welds from the other side where ever possible then I don't have so much finish work to do on that part of the new cab corner.

[gcochran223]

yeah that would seem to make sense.i dont question my buddy about the stuff cause he gets sassy,as long as its taken sometimes i think i would have been better off taking to someone else on the side!

[thirsty]

Looks like it is in the right place to get worked on to me. Sometimes you got to wait for good work. I sent my truck away to have the cab redone and all that happened was it got taken apart and left outside, so you are doing better than I did with mine. I ended up going to get mine and doing it myself. Think positive, work completed slow is better than no work completed at all.

[gcochran223]

got the truck outside and pressure washed getting the dirt and grime off it. picking up a 88 350 with my serp belt setup i have wanted for 300 bucks and runs well.i may use that block in my 89. engine should be installed this weekend

[gcochran223]

motor is in! found a donor 88 350 for my serp belt setup, brackets soon to be powder coated

[gcochran223]

header gaskets ordered and arrived already waiting on the ac delco plugs for my vortec heads, autolite wires, plug wire seperators. gonna call summit today about a carb spacer for my truck, not sure if it needs to be fancy cause the vortec intake on the summit 600cfm carb. np205 power washed and 30 years of grease off it, (82 t case), hopefully get that mf in this weekend so i can see how my driveshafts are gonna fit with the 86 being about 3 inches higher than my 78 that i started the project with.hopefully more pics to come

[gcochran223]

truck has been moved into assembly position for the motor, brackets were powder coated gloss black $80, truck did not come with any radiator hardware so i orderd a new fan shroud and all the hardware from the internet. ordered my flex fan a and reverse rotation water pump since i used a 88-95 serpentine belt setup.