73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => 73-87 Chevy & GMC Trucks => Topic started by: 123 pugsy on June 10, 2007, 07:08:36 pm
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Nothing but trouble since I finished my truck. First ,the 700r4 was giving me problems,so I rebuilt a TH350 myself.Should have known I was in trouble when I pulled the pan and found 1 of the bolts didn't go thru the gasket.So much for paying anyone ever again for a tranny rebuild. Next problem ,I was installing an RV cam in the lousy 283 when I noticed about 70 thou crank end play.Thrust bearing and crank toast!
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I installed the 350 4 bolt I had laying around the garage. I got it honed, installed new rings,bearings,the RV cam I was gonna use in the 283, World Product S/R heads,and Edelbrock intake. I should have used the 350 from the beginning.I thought with the 283 and a 700r4 I would get good milage. What a mistake!
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/4boltmains.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/WorldHeads.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/350Installed.jpg)
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Looks great! Is it running?
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Nice job on the chevy orange. Looks great in the yellow and black engine compartment! How did you get such a high quality finish?
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I've had it running for awhile now. Runs great and gets better milage than the 283 with overdrive.Its got an Edelbrock carb on it now which I'll be swapping over to TPI.
The orange paint is some kind of engine paint from a store called Canadian Tire up here.I'm not sure of the brand.
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The next upgrade was to add some Jeep Cherokee power bucket seats. The original seat just couldn't go back far enough.I found a jumpseat for it brand new on Craigslist,a set of black seatbelts at the wreckers and a smaller steering wheel at a flea market.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03121.jpg)
The seats were sitting way too high so I had to remove the factory brackets and lay them as close to the floor as possible.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03123.jpg)
I made the brackets up to use only the 2 factory bolt holes. No drilling of the floor required.I also ran the wires for the new amp at the same time.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03206.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03214.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03328.jpg)
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Looks GREAT!
Im going to be adding buckets to my 79 C-10 soon. I just picked up a set from some one on Craigslist.
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Thanks,just hope your seats are not as high as these. What are they out of?
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I put Caravan bucket seats in my buddies 83 years back They were high back but sat good, didn't stick up to bad in the back window. Had built in arm rests etc.
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The height I'm referring to is the seat part. The Cherokee seats are quite high on the seat. It made it tough to install and keep the as low as possible.
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That really looks good, great inspiration to get started on my bucket seat conversion......
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The next thing on the list was to deal with the spare tire. I had this beauty jangly bar thingy from my last truck ,so I painted it up and checked it out. Put the spare on it and it flipped and flopped around like a dead fish.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03229.jpg)
I went to the wreckers and found this beauty. Its off I believe a Chevy Lumina.Not sure,those things all look the same to me.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03233.jpg)
Made up some bracketry to hang her up.......
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03252.jpg)
Drilled a couple of holes here and there....
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03247.jpg)
And got the spare outta the way and have the crank hidden behind the license plate.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03294.jpg)
Oh yeah,those are salt stains you see under there. This truck was built to be driven. ;D
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/123pugsy/DSC03305.jpg)
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Oooooh, I love that spare tire idea...brilliant!
You should do a write up for this site and/or 73-87.com...bet people would love to add this to their ride!
Good job!
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Thanks Jeff. How would one go about doing a write up on something?
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Yeah that lumina thing is a good idea. I had a lumina apv and it (the spare tire mechanism) works well.
But more importantly, i'm baffled why the 283/700R combo didn't work.
Can you give us more detail on both engines?
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Thanks Jeff. How would one go about doing a write up on something?
Put together some pictures and details explaining what you did and the parts required and send them to either Jeff or I, or you can start a thread and put all the stuff there and with the pictures and I can link to it.
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But more importantly, I'm baffled why the 283/700R combo didn't work.
Can you give us more detail on both engines?
The 283 was a stock rebuild with .040" overbore. The problem lies in the fact that I'm an idiot some times making decisions. I talked to guys who said the 283 was a great little motor...blah..blah..blah... So i thought,why not. 1st why not was that I decided to go with 31" tires. The cars that these guys drove with the 283 had 26" tires and were probably 1000 lbs lighter.Even with the 3:40 gears, the 283 in a heavy LWB pickup is like a small weak person trying to ride a 10 speed bicycle up hill in tenth gear.I had to keep giving more and more throttle just to keep cruising.When giving it so much gas to keep going it would kick down a gear or two,so I drove it around in 3rd all the time. In 4th it felt like a Honda Civic climbing a hill. I dropped the 350 in and now it just cruises along fine without having to give it the gas more and less everytime there's a slight grade. The 350 has World Products S/R heads, an RV cam,edelbrock intake and carb. It gets about 2 MPG better milage and thats with a TH350 behind it.
The next step is to put the TPI unit on it and check the milage difference. I will be recording fuel consumption with every change. Then I will open up the 700r4, check it out and reinstall it. I will again check for milage and performance. Results should be quite interesting.
Hey Vile,Chris, boys.... anything else to add for the exact reasons why a small engine won't push a heavy truck?
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Well you pretty much summed it up. It's like trying to bust a lug nut loose with an air ratchet. It'll stall the ratchet because it can't create the required torque to cause the nut to actually move. An engine that doesn't produce a lot of power will require lots of throttle to get the required power to give it the push it needs.
You've seen most SUV's and trucks coming through with numerically higher final drive ratio's like 3.73:1 and 4.11:1 and 4 speed transmissions for years and this has actually improved fuel economy with relatively larger displacements.
Back in the 80's the mentality was reduce displacement, numerically lower final drives, and problematic engine management systems. You ended up with an underpowered gas pig.
A better power to weight ratio will result in better fuel economy.
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Dang it Pugsy... Sorry to hear about the motor/tranny.
I've been gone awhile so this is all new to me. I figured yours was one of the rare trucks that actually gets finished... NOT. Just goes to show you these project trucks are truly never done huh??
Anyway, your seat mods look awesome and a definite inspiration for sure. Let us know how that 350/350 is running. Hopefully one of these days soon I'll have my 350 crate motor and TCI Street Fighter trans in.
Time is a precious commodity indeed!!
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Dang it Pugsy... Sorry to hear about the motor/tranny.
I've been gone awhile so this is all new to me. I figured yours was one of the rare trucks that actually gets finished... NOT. Just goes to show you these project trucks are truly never done huh??
Anyway, your seat mods look awesome and a definite inspiration for sure. Let us know how that 350/350 is running. Hopefully one of these days soon I'll have my 350 crate motor and TCI Street Fighter trans in.
Time is a precious commodity indeed!!
Thanks Randy.
The 350 is running great.I rebuilt the tranny myself and its pulling good (knock on wood) still. Just gotta put the TPI on it and that's about it for this truck. Its been a real pleasure to drive since I changed the motor. In the future , I will be doing only 350's or 383 strokers.Nothing else. No more "try to be different" baloney for me. I learned the hard way!