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Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

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  • Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

    Well, I bought this a couple of months ago as it was going to be my new daily driver I was going to sell my Caddy CTS as I had a new job that didn't require a 4 seater car, and I could get away with having an old pickup (much more character than a new one). Anyhow, the new job didn't work out, but now I have both the CTS and finally got this truck ready to roll.

    In all honesty, the truck didn't need much work. I bought it relatively cheap (for this area anyhow) from a kid who had done a bunch of work to it, then proceeded to have the oil line to the cooler blow off on the freeway on his way to get it smog checked.... Needless to say, he had moved between doing work at this time from his parents house to a condo where he was not allowed to work on the truck. I guess it sat for a few months, and he finally had put it on craigslist as a parts truck. Being as it was close to me and I always liked the 67-72 GM Trucks, I figured I'd take a look. Ended up towing it home that day with my little guy since we decided it was a keeper. The PO had replaced all of the tires, brakes, master cylinder, mirrors, marker lights, exhaust and a few other things to get it through provincial safety inspection (he had brought it up from Washington state). He only got about 400km on it before blowing the thing up....

    Since it is a 3/4 ton with leafs, it's not worth a ton, but I got it for $3200 and now with a quick engine swap, some paint on a few things and a couple of new parts (gaskets, engine mounts, etc) it is running and driving. I just need to do a little tuning on the carb to get it through the driving portion of our smogger tests.

    Here is the truck when I brought it home:


    Getting the engine ready to pull:


    Donor engine truck - 1987 Blazer 4x4 that had a 350 in it hooked up to a 5 spd. I just wanted the engine, the guy offered to deliver the truck to me and pick up the carcass when I was done pulling it -


    10lbs of %&#$ in a 5lb bag....


    It's a lot easier to pull an engine when you get to use a sawzall and sledgehammer to remove the body work. I was thinking it was going to be a pain to unbolt the trans, but I didn't want to have to dropped the t-case out either, so on a whim I through a jack under the body of the blazer and jacked up, took about 2 seconds to break off all of the body mounts and get the body lifted about 8" off the chassis, made for plenty of clearance.





  • #2
    Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

    Got the ol' truck prepped and pulled the engine out -


    My little helper making sure I don't lose any lugnuts -


    Engine is out - I should probably clean and paint this, but the weather was the craps, so it just got pressure washed


    Little guy had to get in to check it out - his mom was really happy that he was wearing a brand new hoodie when he was helping ;D


    Old engine on the ground, my engine hoist operator was quite proud of himself.....


    Bonus points for anyone who notices what doesn't look right in this picture.....


    Engine from the blazer has a fresh coat of paint on it, little man is excited as always ;D


    Engine from the Blazer is now installed, I painted the valvecovers that were on the truck when I got it as well as the intake that was on the blazer. I had an old short style Edelbrock aluminum water pump sitting in the garage, so I threw that on for good measure as well. Had to build a new engine wiring harness as the previous one was totally hacked.


    Truck as it sits now:





    All told after selling the old canopy and a few spare parts from having both engines lying around, I'm into it for about $4200. I know everyone down south would think thats way high, but trucks like this around here are bloody expensive, even with crappy paint and a bunch of dents (no rust though - just piss poor finish work)

    New engine is just a late 80's truck engine with a Performer intake, Edelbrock carb, Proform distributor, Hedman headers, Edelbrock valve covers, trans is a TH350, exhaust is dual 2 1/2" Flowmasters.

    Truck is a 3/4 Ton leafer with air overloads. Lets just say she's a bouncy ride.

    Next in line would be lowering, but I think I better get a job first :P

    One last pic - little man putting the rims & tires back on




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    • #3
      Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

      Why does the old engine have only ONE roller rocker on the one bank?

      Weird....
      Of all the paths you take in life - make sure a few of them are dirt.

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      • #4
        Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

        haha, still not sure..... I haven't had a chance to pull the old seized engine apart and see what other interesting mods there may have been. I was kind of surprised when I pulled the valve cover off and saw ONE roller tip rocker.....

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        • #5
          Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

          That roller rocker deal is weird!

          Nice truck, and frankly I don't think your $4200 investment is all that far off of what you'd be spending in New England for a truck in that condition.

          Awesome photos of wrenching with your side kick. It tends to slow things down, but I love doing it too!

          Brian
          That which you manifest is before you.

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          • #6
            Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

            engine looked great and it was cleaned and repainted, btw did you scrap the stuff from the blazer for the V8 swap ?
            Charles W - BS Photographer at large

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            • #7
              Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

              Yeah, wrenching with the little man is fun, but it does definitely slow you down, he's not quite to the good help stage yet (but he only turned 4 a couple of weeks ago), I'm sure he'll be a good help one day as he is constantly asking how everything works, and always wants to fix stuff.

              I did keep some of the S10 parts, namely the engine mounts & bellhousing. The truck it was in had a T5, so nothing special their, but the motor mounts were the real only part necessary for the conversion. It had standard truck exhaust manifolds on it, no clearance issues (though the truck did have a small body lift in it). The only other things I kept were the electric fans from the rad (brand new), carter electric pump (sold it) and a windshield washer fluid pump that I needed for the GMC. Otherwise the truck was just junk, not a single good piece of trim on it and not a single panel that wasn't rusty or crushed in....

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              • #8
                Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                SCORE!... I think a $4200 investment is very reasonable, maybe even a little less than around here.

                So is there a V8 S10 in your future?
                Whiskey for my men ... and beer for their horses!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                  Originally posted by Bamfster
                  SCORE!... I think a $4200 investment is very reasonable, maybe even a little less than around here.

                  So is there a V8 S10 in your future?
                  Maybe..... though the engine mounts and remote filter set up are really for a 4WD S-10, and I'd rather have a 2wd one...... Something I have always wanted to do however (I've had a few S10's, love those trucks, but they have all been commuters, so dropping in a small block wasn't in the cards)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                    Doing a v-8 s-10 4x4 is far easier then a 2wd.... benefit is also increased traction

                    *fine print - the 4wd differential is smaller then the 2wd cross member and, if you want even more space, you can do a body-lift on a Blazer that gives you BBC sized spaces to work in.... body lifts also resolve most of the cooling problems.
                    Doing it all wrong since 1966

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                      What size wheels and tires are on it? A friend of mine just picked up a 71 C20 2wd and it still has the original 16" split rims with 7.50-16's on it. I think what your running would be just what he's looking for.

                      Great job!! It should be a fun truck.
                      Although I can't believe you didn't slide in a dirt cheap 89 dollar summit RV cam/timing chain right while it was out!! You'll have time later if you want to.

                      That little S10 Blazer must have been fun as well with the V8 and 5 speed......

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                        Turning into a great truck. Prices for that era of trucks have plummeted in SoCal, but I still think you've a great start for not a lot of cash.
                        BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

                        Resident Instigator

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                        • #13
                          Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                          Originally posted by andy30thz
                          What size wheels and tires are on it? A friend of mine just picked up a 71 C20 2wd and it still has the original 16" split rims with 7.50-16's on it. I think what your running would be just what he's looking for.

                          Great job!! It should be a fun truck.
                          Although I can't believe you didn't slide in a dirt cheap 89 dollar summit RV cam/timing chain right while it was out!! You'll have time later if you want to.

                          That little S10 Blazer must have been fun as well with the V8 and 5 speed......
                          The tires are 265/75/R16's, decent size for the truck for stock height.

                          I would have put a cam in it BUT - if I had pulled the timing cover & pan off, I would have replaced the timing chain, then I would have pulled a main cap (because I should) and then I would have pulled a rod cap, and then low and behold, it ends up being a complete rebuild ;D I just can't help myself, so leaving it all buttoned up was the best option for getting it on the road right away (and I can build another engine to drop in at a later date when I put a 4 speed auto in it)

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                          • #14
                            Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                            So I sold the heads that were on the junk engine on craigslist, figured that the little man could help me tear down the engine tonight (he's 4 now, seems like a good time to learn how to tear one down ;)





                            I cracked the head bolts for him & he threaded them the rest of the way out, was quite proud of himself (as I was of him)
                            He also managed to get the oil pan and timing cover off with me just helping him line up the wrench (no need for me to crack those loose)

                            Definite bangshifter in the making!

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                            • #15
                              Re: Chevy3100's 1970 GMC C20

                              The pic of him on the step stool is priceless!....

                              Cute kid brother, keep up the good work.
                              Whiskey for my men ... and beer for their horses!

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