1985 GMC K10 build

[1967KaiserM715]

front end except for tie-rods and drag link is DONE!


Passenger


Driver


little tip for torquing ball-joints and the stud keeps spinning, use a pry bar like such




and a Wrench to verify the stud doesn't keep spinning, right around 50ft-lbs is where the stud is tight enough you can torque to the final without worrying about the stud spinning


I also pressure washed the tranny and transfer, for whatever reason, the camera ate the one of the tranny(well both, cause I took one with the tranny on its side, then decided that wasn't good enough so I stood it up), I'll take another of the tranny later, planning on trying the Rustoleum rusty metal primer, and then top-coating with Rustoleum Gloss Sunrise Red(I like red, and I figure it will stand out under the truck, debating on doing diff covers red as well)


and apparently no pictures of tranny before either, got an ok pic of the inside, but doesn't do it any justice; lets just say it looks nicer on the inside then my brothers sm465, which was driven by an old gentleman who bought the truck new and only put 26,000 on it, first and reverse don't look chipped at all.

[1967KaiserM715]

Well, 7 hrs later I got the engine on the frame....

the motor did not want to sit right in the motor mounts, so with help from my dad, we removed one mount from the frame, got the engine bolted to the removed mount, and to the other side, but it took a lot to make the bolt holes to line up-the polyurethane mount, I think, was making it more difficult then it should have.

but here it is resting, the tranny has to go in later, my bell-housing has a crack, so we brought it over to a friend, he'll get it all welded, and back to me tomorrow.




I don't have any pics of the crack, it was almost unnoticeable, so of course the camera couldn't pick it up, but I'll make sure to get a pic of the repair. If it doesn't work well, I do have the parts truck I can steal a hydraulic clutch bell housing from

[Nastybuzzard]

Following here as well.

I too had a lot of issues getting my 6.5 to sit down in the motor mounts properly. I was using regular sbc mounts in stock location. I could get one side perfect but the other was an inch off. I never got it in all the way but I realized I could move the rubber inside the clamshell and get it close enough I figured I could make it work. (these motor mounts were from 1979, I haven't bought new ones yet.) Knowing you got it in without any mods is reassuring.

Are you using the bell housing where the clutch fork exits on the passenger side?

[1967KaiserM715]

using the hydraulic bell housing from 85-91 SM465 Square bodies, so fork is on drivers side. I knew with the passenger side fork/clutch slave cylinder it would either make contact with the front driveshaft, or I would have trouble routing the exhaust. the only issue with using the drivers side clutch slave cylinder is I can't use the 6.5 drivers manifold, I had to use the 6.2 style, which is no big deal.

[1967KaiserM715]

picked up front brake parts, and hoses, I am making my own lines with the copper-nickel and stainless fittings, decided to paint the calipers


Started cleaning up one gas tank(almost brand new, sender looks brand  new, inside spotless, so definitely seems like a replacement from a few years back(plus the Spectra Premium stamped into it),other tank is in same shape, although I may just run one tank to start off with; just getting the paint off, planning on painting it a silver(although I am seriously considering clear-coat),


bell housing is ready, I will pick that up tomorrow

[1967KaiserM715]

got the bell-housing back, looks good.

inside


outside


worked late today, will try to get down the garage later this evening.

[1967KaiserM715]

finished stripping the tank, as best as I could, last night. put a coat of primer and topcoat today, trying Krylon Rust Tough, mainly because it was the only local paint I could get that was zinc rich-something I figured would help with rust repellent on the gas tank

only got the bottom half done(can said 25 square feet, primer barely got the bottom half covered, so will get another can tomorrow, still have about a half can left of the silver left.)





and another, trying to show the gloss/reflection of the paint, I was really impressed, I thought it would end up like a dull(reflection wise, not really gloss) looking silver(like 90% of the silver paints I have tried), guess closest thing I can compare to is it is more like a chrome, not quite but really close



had a little issue with Rock Auto, so my flywheel and clutch that should have been in tomorrow, will likely not get here until next Wednesday. But the weekend is supposed to be really nice, so will be doing all the brake and fuel lines

[zieg85]

That is a great looking fuel tank

[1967KaiserM715]

Finished gas tank, got the correct diesel strainer, the paint has a few spots that dulled out, I think it was from the surface prep, I used a pretty agressive wire wheel and some heavy grit sand paper, so the dull patches might be from that-still really pleased overall.





And spent half the day drilling out and putting in thread-it/helicoil inserts for the bell-housing splash shield, gave that a quick coat of paint as well. PO drilled out the heads to get splash sheild off and completey screwed it up, all the drill marks were off center, and I knew steel in aluminum is not fun, so I drilled as close to center as possible, working way up from 1/16" to I think 17/64" for the inserts. Using Stainless 1/4-20 bolts, should be a bit better.(inserts were stainless as well)



Wow, just realized how terrible that picture is, oh well.

I plan on running some of the brake lines, putting front calipers on, and running fuel lines as well tomorrow

[Jason S]

Great work!  I love the attention to details like the heli-coil inserts...  That fuel tank looks great too.

[1967KaiserM715]

Thanks!

After some lengthy discussion with my dad, contemplating and doing some work to the truck, I have decided its probably best to try and get the Cherokee inspected and registered, that will give me time to get the truck all up to par without rushing and worrying about the small odds and ends. would have been nice to not have to go through the hassle of transferring plates and fees, but it is probably for the best.

Anyways, here is another small update:
Got my supply line routed, with the lift pump-much easier to route everything on the drivers side, as that is how the 6.5 was originally fed, and I don't need to worry about getting by the exhaust and turbo on the passenger side.





I also go the intake, and exhaust manifolds all bolted in and torqued, going to do rear main seal tomorrow(if I get rained out of work), my flywheel should be in as well.



More Later.

[1967KaiserM715]

Attempted to make a rear main seal installer, just for kicks and giggles, that and hopefully it will allow a cleaner install over tapping with a hammer

but here it is, now I just need to test it, probably tomorrow, I'll use a soft punch and hammer and calipers to make sure it seats straight.









So the installer is a piece of 12 gauge steel, plasma cut to fit inside a 4" PVC end cap(which required minor sanding to fit over the end of the crank), then drilled to match the pilot stud and three crank bolt holes, and drilled in the center for a 5/8" 6 inch long bolt, which was then welded to the plate. the rest is pretty self explanatory, but put seal on crank, put PVC cap over stud, thread down nut, and Ta-Da! seal installed(theoretically)

Anyways some pics, and some more parts; Diamond Eye down pipe, cab mounts(red poly), and my brake proportion valve, my dad got me some Mack truck parts too...nothing fancy though, just some silicone hose for the turbo to intake, and for the oil drain and CDR valve.



Painted trans, just Rustoleum primer so far, going to be Rustoleum sunset red


Oh and my flywheel and clutch came in the other day too, Luk brand, which supposedly requires the matching Luk brand clutch as OEM won't work...but I think that is because it is the replacement for the Dual mass flywheels, so an OEM clutch wouldn't work anyways, and later clutch kits use the wrong throw out bearing, No matter as Luk was the cheapest option, while remaining with very high reviews($267 Shipped flywheel and clutch)





More later.

[Evolspecies]

Great stuff, cant wait to see more started from the beginning and couldn't stop reading forward on all of your progress!! awesome work!!

[1967KaiserM715]

Thanks!

Got rear main seal in, wicked easy with that install tool, was a couple thousandths off, so a little tapping on the PVC pipe, and got it to within .003" all the way around.



And made a drain pipe(manual transmission 6.5L came with one, but they appear to be hard to find, and after a local guy fried his clutch after a Fuel filter change, I figured cheap insurance to try and route it away from the clutch.



And finally flywheel and clutch installed and torqued.



Oh, almost forgot, got turbo on yesterday evening, fun job getting it all on, and for future reference drain pipe for turbo would be easier to get into place before turbo...and thinking about it, probably before exhaust too





Transmission install next.

[1967KaiserM715]

Transmission and transfer case in, made sure I had enough clearance at driveshaft for exhaust crossover, still thinking about how to route the down-pipe, shooting to get it between the small space between frame engine and cab.

There's a little over 3 inches of clearance, the block of wood is 3.5 inches for visual reference.




Had to use the spare driveshaft, the one that came with the truck the slip yoke froze up, and after some hammering it was still stuck pretty good(it moved, but had and not far), not that it really matters which one I use, they are both the same size.