73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Members Rides => Topic started by: trillionmiler on March 30, 2010, 10:25:56 am
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(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/diesel001.jpg)
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The bed has some stuff in it, including a front anti-roll bar, but no small parts for installing it. It includes a 4"-deep front air dam, a 454 block, and some other stuff. Otherwise, it sits level with the shell on there. I hate the wheels, they're lug-centric instead of hub-centric, and the tires suck, but they're brand new.
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(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/diesel002.jpg)
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I hand-stitched that seat cover myself, last winter. My first-ever attempt at stitching. I'm a mechanic, not a seamstress.
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(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/diesel003.jpg)
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This one really does burn oil. So it's getting new valve seals, at a minimum. I'd rather be installing a Cummins. Maybe someday. For now, the exhaust system was a brand new Hooker competition-series 2.25" mandrel-bent dual, with cheap Summit Racing mufflers, but I pirated all that for a V8 S-10 I did last summer. So now I get to do it all over again, since I can't afford the Banks turbo kit.
The trans that came in this thing was losing second and had lost OD, so I installed another 700R-4, only it had a shift kit done to it (by me, when it was in a Camaro I had) so I couldn't live with that.
It also needs both tanks drained of 3-year-old diesel. They're both full. I propose to begin mixing one gallon of that into 19 gallons of fresh, until the old is all used up.
The turn signals don't work, but the hazard flashers do, and the parking brake isn't functioning.
Back when it did run, I saw 24 mpg running a steady 55 mph in third gear.
I have a friend with one of these, we've seen 35 mpg in his, more than once. Only he had no shell on it.
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I've always loved these trucks, my dad always had one when I was growing up. Always 2WD, always a long-bed. It was how he made his living. Eventually he traded a tired '85 for a fresh new '94, and by then I was able to drive. I'm convinced the pre-88 front suspension is better for canyon-carving. And when driving from SLC, UT to Nashville, TN non-stop, twice every week, the pre-'88 seat design is more comfortable, too.
I'm thinking about some 275/60R17 tires for this truck, but on the other hand, I'd like a stronger rear axle, for hauling. I know the 2 are not mutually exclusive.
I want a 2-tone, black and gray paint job, with a thin red stripe dividing them.
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I like the truck, and the shell. Good luck with it and hope to see some progress pics as you get into it. Right now you're just going to do valve seals and drive it some or is this truck going to be down for a while to tackle a lot of things?
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thanks Jared! if you'll look closely at the engine pic, you can see that there's no trans or exhaust in it at all right now. I took those pics just yesterday. This summer I want to get it fixed enough to drive it, then do a paint job by the end of the year. Any fun modifications will be next summer, but they will happen.
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I finally got a 700R-4 in there. The exhaust system has been delivered by UPS, I'll be doing that while waiting on the new speedometer gears. Since it currently has 235/75R15s and a 3.42:1 axle, it needs a blue 18 tooth drive gear, GM p.n. 8640518, and a purple 43 tooth driven gear, p.n. 1362196.
The exhaust is Hooker Competition 2.25" dual, mandrel bent. Muffs are Summit Racing cheapies. I will post pics.
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Not seeing any of your pics..?
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my sister hasn't returned my digital camera yet. maybe on her way to work in the morning. then pics of the new exhaust.
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Should there be any in this thread as there is a quote to look at a interior pic which i cant see.. ;D
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yes, the pics are working fine for me. The very first post is a pic.
Here's a couple shots of the new pipes:
(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/exhaust001.jpg)
(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/exhaust002.jpg)
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The pics are working fine for me too.
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Can see them now,nothing yesterday..lol
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(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/recentest001.jpg)
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Going to the salvage yards tomorrow, one of the things on my wish list is a dually axle for this truck, just because I like the look. The stability and the safety are nice bonuses, but hurt the MPG. 1/2 ton capacity is adequate to haul a stack of rocking chairs, but I don't do that very often. When I do, it's nearly as tall as a big rig, and when there are cross winds I wish for a dually.
I've seen guys put dually wheels on a non-dually full floater, which still sticks out a couple inches, and requires cutting the bed / wheelwells, that seems dumb, and isn't what I want.
I'd like to find the axle, preferably low-mileage 3.21:1 posi, dually wheels and a rust-free bed with fenders, all on the same blue truck. But white would be okay too.
Probably a pipe dream, pre-'92s are like gold around here, they cannot be found, so they command a king's ransom.
Maybe I'd do better to buy aftermarket dually fenders, 15x15" wheels, and Hoosier 31x19.5" tires.
Anyway, I'm off to the salvage yards, gotta get my e-brake hooked up. I'm missing that link rod that angles toward the passenger's right foot, more or less.
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Finally getting back on this, I need it running by August. Since I have the stuff, and since the intake manifold was off, I did a half-hearted porting job. This wasn't really a restriction, but it looked like it might be a cause of turbulence. I'm probably still at 130 horsepower, but at least you can have something new to look at. Yes, I'll get it clean before reinstallation.
(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/pmvh002.jpg)
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(http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k392/Atilla_the_Fun/pmvh001.jpg)
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This morning I installed the rear transmission mount, and the driveshaft. I don't think anyone needs pics of that, but it gets me that much closer to a new paint job, which I think many will like to see. I'm definitely a 2-tone type of guy. Just not sure on the colors yet. Probably black and gray, or black and blue. I have found some good sheetmetal to replace my rusty bits. I'll show that as soon as it's practical.
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No clue where the speedo gears are, since I didn't install them. But last week I ordered a bracket from www. competitor.com, ant today I used it to finish getting the emergency brake working. I also drained the last of the old diesel by drilling a 1/16" hole in each tank. This is easily fixed with the quick-set version of JB Weld. I did this to this truck 3 years ago, and it sat with a full tank for most of 3 years since then.
Anyway, tomorrow morning I should be getting some pics posted of the new Hooker exhaust system going on.
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I think your truck looks pretty good like it is on the outside. I like that primer look. That has to be the coolest retro looking camper shell I have ever seen.
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I think your truck looks pretty good like it is on the outside. I like that primer look. That has to be the coolest retro looking camper shell I have ever seen.
thank you. It does have a flavor to it, and I'm not in any rush to change it, it'll probably look like this all winter.
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No clue where the speedo gears are, since I didn't install them. But last week I ordered a bracket from www. .com, ant today I used it to finish getting the emergency brake working. I also drained the last of the old diesel by drilling a 1/16" hole in each tank. This is easily fixed with the quick-set version of JB Weld. I did this to this truck 3 years ago, and it sat with a full tank for most of 3 years since then.
Anyway, tomorrow morning I should be getting some pics posted of the new Hooker exhaust system going on.
Nope, the first muffler is very damaged, so I just called Summit and ordered a new pair of their plain-box chambered mufflers that are really made by Flowmaster. I wasn't happy with the "turbo"-style mufflers anyway. And Borla just isn't in the budget.
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I found the speedometer gears, so at first light in the morning, I'll start installing them, so I can get back to installing the new exhaust.
These mufflers aren't re-boxed FlowMasters after all, they're Chinese copies. But I don't like Ray Flugger, so I'm going to use these anyway.
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You should remove that EGR web in the middle of your intake manifold. It'll give you a few more horses. The higher horsepower J code engines had intake manifolds without this web. You can also plug up that EGR hole as well. Once you get those mandrel bent pipes installed, the next step will be to turn up the pump to unleash the hidden power of this engine.
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I'd definitely ditch the egr set up as well
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You should remove that EGR web in the middle of your intake manifold. It'll give you a few more horses. The higher horsepower J code engines had intake manifolds without this web. You can also plug up that EGR hole as well. Once you get those mandrel bent pipes installed, the next step will be to turn up the pump to unleash the hidden power of this engine.
You have the right idea, but you forget my being at high elevation. In this thin air, I'm not having ANY restriction from keeping the EGR, and the EGR doesn't hurt anything else, so it stays. Likewise with the fuel. I'm already having black smoke at WOT, so adding more fuel won't help. What I need is less fuel.
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I got the speedo drive gear changed, but now I'm hunting for the sleeve for the driven gear. I know I have one somewhere, just too many boxes to go through in one day.
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You should remove that EGR web in the middle of your intake manifold. It'll give you a few more horses. The higher horsepower J code engines had intake manifolds without this web. You can also plug up that EGR hole as well. Once you get those mandrel bent pipes installed, the next step will be to turn up the pump to unleash the hidden power of this engine.
You have the right idea, but you forget my being at high elevation. In this thin air, I'm not having ANY restriction from keeping the EGR, and the EGR doesn't hurt anything else, so it stays. Likewise with the fuel. I'm already having black smoke at WOT, so adding more fuel won't help. What I need is less fuel.
More air is what you really need. If your driving high up, why not try to find a 6.5 to strip the turbo off? You would be one of a select few that use a turbo for its main purpose. Altitude compensation. :)
And the air pressure isn't going to negate the advantages of a better flowing intake setup. More CFM's is always better. Even if it isn't forced induction.
Nice truck! Good to see more diesels! I drive a Cummin's, and am working on putting a 6.5 NA in my K10 (I have a lead on a HO 5.9, but I'm not holding my breath...)
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you should be able to get the trans sleeve from GM.
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Good morning everyone. Well, morning for me, at least.
I do want to grab the turbo stuff off the next 6.5 to arrive at Pick-N-Pull. I want to do back-to-back comparisons to see if a turbo really can help MPG. Everyone says so, but noone proves it.
I really want the Cummins, ideally a hybrid with the 24-valve head, but NO electronics. But I also want a dually axle, and the T56 from the Ram SRT/10. Rockland Standard Gear can modify the T56 to hold 1,000 ft-lbs, and I'm hoping to have 2/3 of that, at best.
I'm not about to buy a sleeve when I know I have a good one.
Some smoke at full throttle is good, but not as much as I saw in the mirrors. Maybe these better mufflers will do some scavenging.
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Good morning everyone. Well, morning for me, at least.
I do want to grab the turbo stuff off the next 6.5 to arrive at Pick-N-Pull. I want to do back-to-back comparisons to see if a turbo really can help MPG. Everyone says so, but noone proves it.
I really want the Cummins, ideally a hybrid with the 24-valve head, but NO electronics. But I also want a dually axle, and the T56 from the Ram SRT/10. Rockland Standard Gear can modify the T56 to hold 1,000 ft-lbs, and I'm hoping to have 2/3 of that, at best.
I'm not about to buy a sleeve when I know I have a good one.
Some smoke at full throttle is good, but not as much as I saw in the mirrors. Maybe these better mufflers will do some scavenging.
The 6.2 does respond quite nicely to a turbo but solo MPG's usually goes down. This is especially true with the 6.5 turbo setup and less so with the Banks setup. Another thing to consider is the additional stress to the bottom end of the engine block. It's not uncommon for these engines to have the bottom end fall out of the bottom of the engine when pushed too far. In all, these engines were designed to provide excellent fuel economy in a light truck and when used this way, it works very well and is reliable.
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Yesterday morning I found my speedo sleeves, so that's done, and the driveshaft is back in. Now to finish the exhaust. On Sept. 4, I'll be dropping the intake manifold off at the machine shop to be vatted clean. I already have a new set of FelPro intake manifold gaskets.
It needs new valve seals, but I'm gonna try to get it running anyway.
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Finally got the intake manifold to the machine shop, to be "vatted" overnight.
Also, I found a dually axle for $167 with drums.
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Good progress: The intake manifold is on, the ATF cooler lines are re-connected to the trans, the converter bolts are in and tight, the trans is full of ATF, the airdam is half bolted on, The fuel filter bracket is bolted to the intake manifold, the EGR gasket is ordered, the CB radio is installed. All that just today. Plus I bought a gallon of Rain-X De-Icing windshield washer fluid, and 2 gallons of antifreeze for the radiator.
I can't find the gasket for the vacuum pump, not even from truck or RockAuto, let alone AutoZone and O'Reilleys.
I got the bright idea to try the one off a HEI distributor, but it proved to be undersized. I have a FelPro gasket catalog, but it's only for the performance-oriented stuff.
I'm still trying to find where the shift linkage ended up, but if all else fails I have a '91 Camaro shifter I can use, since it and the truck both came with 700R-4.
Still have to finish the exhaust, and get the turn signals sorted out, plus there's an issue with one cap on the rear-most u-joint, and I'm missing a fuel filler cap.
Even so, the only thing stopping me from firing the engine is the vac pump gasket.
I've also misplaced 2 gallons of fresh Rotella T 15W40.
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I made a gasket for the vacuum pump, got that installed, then installed the modified EGR. Had to trim the gasket to match, but it's progress. This truck will move under it's own power again, this year.
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This project seems never-ending, but I keep making progress. Today I got the PCV system re-installed.
I also tightened every hose clamp I could find, and a few other minor but necessary details.
I also found the missing bits for connecting the B&M trans temp gauge.
Next week is getting that exhaust headpipe flared, and finishing the exhaust system.
Over the winter, my heater box housing has cracked, so I'll be showing replacement when I get it.