97 chevy rcsb sleeper

[bluedevil]

Whats that guage in the center between MPH and RPM???

Its an old amp gauge I had laying around lol. Its just sitting in there to make sure all 6 gauges fit, as the set didn't come with a volts gauge. Im going to pick up another ultra lite volts gauge to match...or maybe a boost gauge instead

 

[bluedevil]

Looks like a cool project, those are my favorite SBC valve covers, I've got an original set I bought off of craigslist a while back. I'm restoring them to put on a 350 for my Camaro

Thanks! Ya I dig the old Mickey Thompson covers too. These ones were in tough shape, so I just sand blasted them, then shot them with a wrinkle paint so they have a bit of texture. Then I just sanded the fins with 320, then 600 so they have kind of a dull luster.

 

[bluedevil]

Nice project! I love these kind of builds.

Thanks, I think it will be pretty cool when its done

 

[1997k1500Calvin]

Pretty excited about some interior stuff I got going on. Was surfing some local adds, and landed a set of ultra lite 2 gauges for the truck, with all the sending units. The speedo and tach are 3-3/8" and the rest are 2" (I still need to get a volts gauge, so just stuffed something in its hole for the time being). I got lucky and managed to keep the stock bezel, and pretty much just gutted the back plastic half, then I made a new gauge plate out of aluminum. I still would like to get some lights for signals, and maybe a few other small things. Lastly I will paint the gauge plate black before it goes back together. I test fit it in the dash and will have to do some trimming to allow it to sit down the last 1/2" and bolt in place, but its much less than I initially thought. I should be able to leave the heat duct alone. Here are some pics

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Also some other small updates, the wiring harness is pretty much stripped down to bare minimum, and i stripped the air bag out of the pass side of the dash, and its associated wiring. I will just fasten the cover to the dash so it still looks normal. Will post some more pics soon.

That's nice as hell, only critique is that id have to have the rpm and mph swapped. But other than that that is awesome

Live action!!

 

[bluedevil]

That's nice as hell, only critique is that id have to have the rpm and mph swapped. But other than that that is awesome

Live action!!

Thanks! I think your right...I wasn't really paying attention, but that's how the factory gauges are set up. I was going
for the nbs gauge look when I made the panel, but couldn't remember what went where lol.

 

[bluedevil]

More progress slowly rolling in. I finally finished stripping the frame, and cleaning up everything good enough for a coat of paint. I used rustoleum semi gloss black. It turned out pretty decent, and now I can start catching up on assembling stuff back on the truck. My Belltech stuff arrived also, so when I put the front suspension back together with the new 3" drop springs, i also tossed in new ball joints, rotors, calipers, bearings. All the steering components have been replaced already with moog equipment so that was a bonus. Its on wheels and sitting back on all fours again...just don't have good pics yet in the day light, and it sits like a 4x4 with no weight in it, lol. To finish up the front end, I will be getting some monroe sensitracs from a dakota. They are supposed to work pretty good with the spring drop i have (13.5" extended length, and 8" compressed ) I also started mocking up my used griffin rad (originally for a 70-81 f-body), and although the 4 core fits a little tight against the rad support, and fills the bottom channel a little snug, it works. I just ended up cutting some mild steel for the upper hold down that I will also use to make mounting tabs for an e-fan. Here are a couple pics of how its starting to look. More pics coming soon.

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Hopefully soon I can track down a 88-94 prop valve, and lines, and finish buttoning up the brakes. I will be digging into the drivetrain soon also. I'm wiring the 700r4 to lockup in 4th instead of using a vacuum switch, tossing in a new filter etc, and bolting up the combo and stabbing it in the frame rails hopefully by my next days off.

 

[bluedevil]

I was in the garage last night, building a rocking chair for our nursery, and got side tracked a little. I was looking at the factory accessories, which Im going to try and run, but since im deleting the a/c, and using tall valve covers, i wanted to try and cut down the bracket so its only power steering. Its just the first rough preliminary cut to see how it looks. I have to get the vortec water pump on, and mock everything up to see if the belt will clear the water pump from the p.s. pump to the alt or not. I may have to run an idler off the mounting hole left on the p.s. bracket, or use the one on the alt bracket (not shown on the pic). If it works out i may even try and polish them up nice. Has anyone else tried something like this with any success?

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[bluedevil]

Im starting to get excited about the rear wheels arriving soon. At first I was dead set on painting them black to look low key. I like the thought of oem silver also, but if I kept them stock color, maybe keep the beauty rings too? Then I found the Gale Banks 454ss shop truck with red modern diameter rally's, and it looks sick!!! Not sure if I could pull off that look, my truck not being as low, and only 15" wheel?

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This truck is so bad ass...Makes me wish I had a fleet side so I could copy the roll pan and exhaust.

If it was your truck what color would you pick...black, silver, or red?

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[FastOrange]

I think black on black would be too much, I would go with red.

 

[mattgio72]

I'd do silver