I've been watching your progress for a while now. It's gonna look great when your done. I really like the looks of the 1st gens when their all cleaned up.

 

Thanks sir! Keep watching and commenting, I like hearing the encouragement!

I lost the bid on my seats, which is fine since I found out a local salvage yard probably has some. I am going a whole different route with seats. Alot of people put 1st gen or second gen buckets in the 2st gens... I am going to put Silverado buckets in mine. Simple reason... I love the fact the second gen seats have the seat belts built in, but... I don't like the fact that the 2nd gen seats with the console are too wide for the cab. That would bug me. So, I went searching for some bucket seats that have arm rests, so I can mount the seats wherever I want them. I will buy one of those cheap cup holder consoles, and mount that in between the seats, somehow, and I will be happy. I think its a win win. I have somewhere to put my drink, and I have somewhere to put my arm!

 

Got the HE351VE hooked to the truck tonight, just need the oil feed line adapted, and need to get a downpipe made up. Need to get the pneumatic cylinder and stuff to control the VGT with. The intercooler is ordered and on the way, just need to get the intercooler pipe material ordered and then get it to the shop to get welded up.

Got a bit more bondo work done, too. Its all been really slow due to the back injury, but I am getting much better, and I am not nearly as reluctant to go out and work on the truck

Turbo.jpg?t=1285121274

 

Glad to see that you are back to working on the truck, keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing more pictures

 

Thank you! I can't wait to get 'er done!

 

Well, been working on the last of the major bondo work. I got it pretty close to finished, just have to Metal Glaze it and then block sand it. Gonna finish up the prep on the roof this weekend, and hopefully get that close to done too.

Need to go find the right adapters for my oil feed line, and need to readjust my oil drain line to the turbo, and I think I will be good to fire it up.

Floorpan is welded together, now we just have to weld it in and seal her up!

Still on the prowl for some seats. I am gonna get to the junkyard one of these days to try to find some, but IDK when, haha. Picking up a new air compressor sometime before the weekend hopefully, so I will be able to get back to spraying primer.

Feels good to be getting closer, and I gotta give a big thanks to my dad for helping me so much on the driver's floor. I probably would be Flinstoning it if it weren't for him!

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Floorpan tacked together. It was about 3" too wide when we got it from JCWhitney, so we cut it down to fit, and it fits great!
100_4598.jpg?t=1285280242

Bondo where I had to pull out a small dent. Not much left to do to it at this point, just blocking it and primer.
100_4599.jpg?t=1285280243

The garage is a MESS, my tools are scattered every where! I really need to clean it up, . We are in the process of building my dad's new shop, so EVERYDAMNTHING is in the garage.
100_4600.jpg?t=1285280244

And lastly, another pic of the new turbo in the engine bay I am like a proud father, haha.
100_4601.jpg?t=1285280244

 

Nice progress, make sure to cap off your intake and turbo prior to sanding. You don't need sanding dust or something else getting inside the engine and creating more work for you down the road.

 

Yes, definitely. I have been shoving rags in it all to keep everything out, so I think that will work well. I don't have any of the caps that they would come with new, unfortunately.

 

Small (pictureless) update from tonight:

Got the floorboard screwed in tonight, got part of the drip rail filled with bondo, and got the roof sanded most of the way. Need to work on a few rust spots and get them glazed, and need to block the driver's side cab corner, then the cab is ready to roll. I will prime the cab then. After that I am gonna move it over to the neighbor's and use his steam washer to wash the oil and grease off the engine and everywhere else. Then I am going to bomb the firewall and core support with black paint. Need to prep and smooth out the driver's door, which shouldn't take but 2 days of work, then I need to tape both doors off and spray them with primer.

BAH! Never fast enough!

And just to give you some eye candy... some pictures from our last dyno day at the performance shop I work for:

Our shop racecar, a Solstice GXP Coupe. Its got an upgraded stock turbo and all the bolt ons. Runs 295 slicks. We were running NASA TTB class, but got bumped up because of the width of the tires. So, being prepped for TTB and running a class up in TTA (running with Z06's Vipers and Porsche 911 TT's), we ended up in 4th place on the first outing with the car!
GXPCoupe.jpg?t=1285810628


Also a shop built Evo. Detuned running a GT35R turbo (down from the GT42 that was on there) it put down 512awhp on pump gas (no meth either!):
WerksEvo512awhppumpgas.jpg?t=1285810846

And then the technical winner (since the Evo is a shop car) of the dyno competition, a BMW M3 with a 74 mm turbo. Put down in the high 470's for power:
74mmturboBMW.jpg?t=1285810894

Hope y'all like the eye candy!

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ALSO! Does anyone have a way to replace valve springs without taking the whole head off?? I really don't want to go through having to take the head off and getting a new head gasket and all that junk. If I have to take the head off, I guess the springs will wait til I can afford a cam too, and I will just do a whole refresh on it then.

 

Well, been getting quite a bit of work done to the truck lately, but just in small spurts. Here are the pics!

Last week I got my Intercooler in, and decided it was a little plain, so I painted the end tanks to match my turbo and oil pan. then I got it all installed. Install was straight forward, just used 2, 4" bolts through the core support, and then made some custom brackets on the bottom:
100_4608.jpg?t=1286685490

I also decided I wanted to fill the drip rails to prevent any rust, and to clean up the look of the cab a little bit:
100_4606.jpg?t=1286685376

This week:
I sandblasted the stack while I was at the shop on Friday, but I forgot pics. So, today I started out by spraying the stack with high temp paint, and putting a few coats of high temp clear on it. It turned out really well:
100_4622.jpg?t=1286685359

We also got the floor all done, and I got the inside all sealed up, before I ran out of sealant. Tomorrow I hope I have enough cash to go buy some and get the underside finished up. Its not pretty, but it will work. It will be covered by carpet and sound deadening anyway!
100_4620.jpg?t=1286685624

Next, I decided that the old foggy solid beam headlights weren't going to cut it, so I ordered up some ebay special H4 bulb housings for a Toyota:
100_4616.jpg?t=1286685727

To make them work, you have to take the stock housing shroud:
100_4617.jpg?t=1286685730

And cut the bottom of the opening in the rear out so the new housing can protrude through the back end:
100_4618.jpg?t=1286685733

As you can see, the new housing protrudes perfectly out the back! These will now screw in with the same retaining rings that the old housings did, and will help me see anything in my way:
100_4619.jpg?t=1286685738

I primered the shrouds and will paint them tomorrow:
100_4621.jpg?t=1286685736

Until later! CHEERS!