The Chevy Gets a Heartbeat
This week has been a busy one on the Adrenalin Fix truck build. The bench seat is together and ready to mount in the cab. The Triumph Foundation offered to sponsor the 5.3L V8 engine and automatic transmission to be put in and Astro Auto Wrecking stepped up and helped out with a great engine and transmission package for the build.
Over the weekend, my neighbor -- that just so happens to be a professional upholsterer -- gave up part of his Saturday to help me finish assembling the bench seat for the truck. In the original parts haulings from Lancaster, I took inventory of a large amount of brand new parts already purchased by the previous owner in his pursuit to rebuild the old girl. A brand new seat cover, both pieces of foam and the seat frame still in their boxes were among the parts scored.
My awesome neighbor, and equally awesome upholsterer, Edward Jimenez schooled me how to assemble the parts as he worked with ease on it all. He even used some of his own materials in the assembly. Edward also fixed a tear in the vinyl seat cover that miraculously appeared in some fashion a while back, of which I know nothing about.. really! None the less, he worked his magic on his sewing machine and you can’t even tell there was ever any damage.
With some sun-soaking to soften the material and some vigorous tugging and stretching, the seat was ready to be bolted together. I made my way to the local Home Depot and picked up some, dare I say it, sexy stainless steel bolts to attach the backrest to the seat base and voila!
As an addition to all the work on the seat, I will soon be receiving the remaining parts from the powers that be at LMC Truck. LMC Truck is one of the largest classic truck parts retailers in the country and have a catalog I could pretty much build an entire truck from. I have ordered some odds and ends parts from them and have a “laundry list” of items yet to order.
They have a sidebar website for people to show off their own builds called “LMC Truck Life” and a couple weeks back I set up a profile of my own. Within 24 hours, I was contacted by one of their web developers in interest of showcasing Adrenalin Fix on the site (www.LMCTruckLife.com/Domonic-Corradin) for the month of April. I am honored to have this project highlighted on a website associated with such an awesome company. I look forward to seeing it next month.
With that, it means game on! Now, I really have to knuckle down and make some serious progress on the old work horse. Which brings me to the next item of killer news. One of the main reasons for doing this build in the first place is to be able to haul handcycles to clinics and events that I organize with the Triumph Foundation. Since mid-2013, I have taken the reigns of their handcycling program and together we have made it grow and bring more and more people into the sport and joy of handcycling. Check out the Triumph Foundation’s website (www.Triumph-Foundation.org) for more information on the clinics.
I digress, back to the news.. With our growing relationship, Triumph Foundation has agreed to help out the Adrenalin Fix project even more by purchasing the engine and transmission package to give it life, literally. Triumph Foundation worked with the guys at Astro Auto Wrecking in Wilmington, CA to take the power plant from a left-for-dead 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe and transplant it into a needy recipient.
With this 5.3L V8 engine and 4L60e automatic transmission, Adrenalin Fix will have ample power to haul gear in its bed and a trailer if by some chance more space is needed. Being a late-model, fuel-injected engine, it will provide reliability and good fuel economy, with less emissions than the old pumper. The donor truck unfortunately has seen its demise at the hands of another, but its heart pumps life into another. Rather poetic, don’t you think?
It is going to be a lot of hours, late nights, long days, but we are on our way now, folks! Stay tuned for updates, photos and maybe even some videos soon!
I want to send out a special thanks to those who have provided for and supported this project so far. I have been so fortunate to have these great people behind me and my dreams. I could not do it without you. It truly takes a village..
Edward Jimenez – Valencia, CA (661) 964-7176
LMC Truck – www.LMCTruck.com 15450 West 108th Street Lenexa, KS 66219
Triumph Foundation – www.Triumph-Foundation.org 17186 Hickory Ridge Court Canyon Country, CA 91387
Astro Auto Wrecking – www.Astro-Used-Parts.com 1002 Schley Avenue Wilmington, CA 90744
Getting an Exhaust
When I first bought Adrenalin fix it had this giant dual exhaust mess that someone had spent a good amount of time bending and welding and looked basically new. It stretched from the header collector flange all the way back up and over the rear axle and out under both bed sides behind the rear wheels. This was WAY more than I would ever want to have. So, I decided to remove this monstrosity and stash it for later. You never know what it could be used for…
This was an endeavor in and of itself. The entire 2-1/2”, steel erector set was all welded together and, of course, I don’t have one of those fancy 2-post lifts to get the old girl up in the air and make life way easier. It was one hell of a wrestling match to get that enormous, bent up jigsaw puzzle out from under the bed. I think I only dropped it on my head a couple of times. And I only said a couple of bad words through the whole process.
Once I got both sections free, I had to cut it down to make it even manageable. But, yet again I don’t have the fancy tool to make the job easier, so I bust out the dull hack saw from the tool box and start cutting away. After what felt like an eternity of gnawing away at that tubing, I now had a bunch of smaller, easier to handle pieces. I figured I could reuse a lot of it when I was ready to make the exhaust the way I want it, saving myself a bunch of money.
Since that fun-filled day of wrestling, sawing, cursing and swearing now so many moons ago, the awesome guys a Borla Exhaust have offered to build me a fully custom exhaust system that I am so excited for. Luckily, I had hung onto that old exhaust, you know, just in case… And, over this last weekend I finally put it to use. I needed to put some sort of exhaust on the truck, so I could drive it back to California. Now that we live in phoenix, I can’t just drive down the freeway with no exhaust, now could I? That would be a no no.
After a bit more cutting, now with much better tools, and a lot of measuring, the exhaust is hanging on the truck. I began to blame myself for the ugly tack welds I had been laying down, until I realized one of the fittings on the regulator was loose and it was leaking gas badly. See! It wasn’t me after all! I still need to finish all the welds, install the O2 sensors and fab up a couple of hangers for the mufflers, but for a couple of days’ worth of work in our driveway it feels like a pretty good accomplishment. It always feels good when I can get more parts off the shelf and on the truck. And, no money out of pocket.
One small step closer…
Back at it. Finally!
Do It Yourself
Adapted Outdoor Recreation
Video
Here is a video Domonic did talking about some of the options for adapted outdoor recreation using a wheelchair or off-road handcycle.
DIY and How-To's
More Videos
Welding
How-To
Long Overdue Update
I figured that I owed everyone a good, DETAILED update on the truck build, as my last couple were short and sweet to say the least. I have been working rather diligently over the past few month on getting this truck on the road. I have stripped my time and intentions down to just getting the truck running and driveable. I have decided that the “pretty” can wait until a later time. I just want to be able to drive my truck already, and for it to be able to do the job it yearns to do, hauling gear to all the good little boys and girls.
The wiring harness has been a fun experience – I hope you can all hear the sarcasm oozing from my words. I have sorted out each sensor and its specific lines into organized sets ready to be plugged back into the engine and transmission. I still have to take out the wiring and sensors that aren't going to be used, such as: the EGR valve and some of the oxygen sensors. And I have to add in the wiring from the additions I am making, like: power windows, power door locks, dually-style cab lights, and much more. Also, the computer is heading out to Custom Built Motors down in Rancho Cucamonga, CA in the next week or so to be reprogrammed.
>I have finished filling the old molding and badge holes on the front fenders, fixed a couple rust spots, and finished the initial round of bodywork. I even sprayed a few coats of white primer on them to seal them up from rusting and to try and bring the whole truck to one color over the whole body. Well, at least it is all white, even if it is a couple different shades of.. white.
The awesome bench seat that my man Edward Jimenez helped me out big time on is placed in the cab – boy was that a chore on my own! That bugger is seriously heavy. I think I need to find some lighter bucket seats down the road sometime. The brackets to mount the seat aren't in yet, but at least the seat is in the cab on some wood blocks for positioning.
With the seat, I have disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the dash, including: all the a/c and heater ducting, glove box, steering column (which received a whole new wiring harness from LMC Truck), and the new dash pad. I am waiting to install the gauge bezel for when I get the new gauges and all that mess sorted out. The sun visors are in and the door panels are waiting for a bit of body filler to cover the old window crank holes and a fresh coat of paint.
I have removed all of the rest of the original wiring from the cab and front end and am having a GREAT time – sarcasm noted? -- matching old and new wiring together along with fixing 40 years of idiots splicing wires that should have been electrocuted long ago. The surprising fact of this whole wiring adventure is that there are less wires to run the entire interior, headlights, and taillights, than there are to run just the engine and transmission. Hmmmm..
The engine is finally on the correct engine mounts and all bolted up. The tubular transmission cross member is in, both thanks to the folks at Classic Performance Products (CPP). We had a bit of a challenge and some trial and error with the engine adapter plates, but in the end we sorted out exactly what was needed and it fits beautifully. I really gotta give it to CPP. Their conversion kit for the LS engine into these old Chevys are really well done.
I had quite the experience just the other day trying to remove the exhaust that was still hanging in the frame rails. With the installation of the engine and bolting on the sexy, little shorty headers, I was now aware that the exhaust tubing wasn't going to work. Unbolting it from the rusted hangers was the easy part. Trying to get it out from under the truck was another story. The long 3’ diameter steel tubing and GIANT mufflers weighed in at a small elephant and each side was fully welded together, having to come out as such. Did I mention that the tubing after the mufflers was bent up and over the rear axle with a 2-foot section turned out towards each bed side? That made for a Tetris challenge, for sure. I ended up having to unbolt the rear shocks and move them out of the way, after fighting with it laying on my back on the concrete for 20 minutes. Finally, SUCCESS! This would have been quite a bit easier with a lift. Next time..
I made my first trip down to the wonderland called Pick-A-Part in search of, well, whatever I could find, but I did have a list of bolts and such that I was looking for in particular. My buddy Jeff and I wandered around for hours among the “candy store” and, even if I didn't get everything on the list, we had a good time and a good deal on what we did get. I must return to this place of awesomeness very soon!
Some of the finds that I made at the Pick-A-Part were most of the tailgate mounting hardware. I spent the time cleaning the layers of old paint off and bolted everything up. Only a few more bits and I can hang the brand new tailgate on – completing the rear part of the body panels.
So, there it is guys and gals.. You are now up.. to.. date.. on the project otherwise known as Adrenalin Fix. I hope you are all keeping an eye on the progress either on Facebook or Instagram as I try and post pictures and such. This project has been an incredible one and I am doing my best to tick things off the to do list, even if only a little at a time.
As always, your questions, comments and the like are welcome. Feel free to reach out to me, if you like.
Wiring Day 2
After a little work in the shop on some of the Triumph Foundation's "rehab" chairs, I attempted to charge forward on the wiring again and some odds and ends cleaning on the engine.
I climbed up on the wheel again and cleaned up the aluminum valve covers with wire brush and steel wool to get rid of the grease and oxidation built up over the last 12 years. I had to remove the coil packs and brackets to get to everything, but didn't remove the valve covers themselves.
After a good scrubbing the coil packs came out like brand new. I re-assembled the coil packs after I gave them a thorough cleaning as well, and re-installed them.
I think I will call that a day..