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‘86 K30 Crew- From Sierra to Silverado, & a Cummins

Because there's not enough projects on the go, and I have too much space for junk, I've added another vehicle to the fleet

K3500

K3500


Seen it on marketplace yesterday morning, it had been up for a while and I figured it would have been long gone. But I called, he still had it, and it came home. 1997 K3500, 4x4, 6.5 TD and an automatic transmission. The body is as clean and as straight as they come, but the 6.5 is not well. It doesn't start, and the previous owner attributed it to a valve problem, either a dropped valve, or a collapsed lifter. I know these engines have some sort of valve issue that can spell death pretty quick, just can't quite remember what it is. Plan for this is to drop in a new engine, clean it up and beautify the interior, and flip it to make some capital for the K30. I'd be in danger of liking it and keeping it, but I don't need another dually, and daily driving a 6.5 makes me nervous, haha

K3500 again

K3500 again


K3500 once more

K3500 once more

 
Got the heavier valve springs installed, was having trouble finding top dead center on the cylinders with out cam or pushrods to watch, haha. Remembered I had the pan off, and had to watch the crank for that.

Valve Spring Tool

Valve Spring Tool


New Springs

New Springs


Also put all the fuel lines and brackets back onto the injection pump, and fired a few layers of paint on it, too. If work stays slow this coming week, and the cam shows up, I'm hoping to have everything mostly put back together, minus the big ticket items I plan to do a bit later, like an exhaust manifold
 
Last major engine piece came in yesterday, picked up the cam from the post office. It wasn't my cam they ground and sent back, they appear to have sent a new one, so that's pretty cool. New wider tappets, as well

New Cam

New Cam


Shiny and New

Shiny and New


Tossed the cam gear in the oven at 350 for an hour, and with a few hammer taps, it slid right on. I also had the cam tapped for a gear retainer, I was pleased to see that they included their own brand retainer, too

Gear Retainer

Gear Retainer

 
So how do you put all the timing without an adjustable gear? Or do you just let the cam do the work?
 
It's been a while but if I remember correctly, you set the pin on the injection pump to lock it at TDC, pop the gear off the pump, roll the engine to tdc, put the gear back on and unpin the pump, put a dial gauge on the #1 plunger on the injection pump, spin the engine backwards to get your desired lift on the plunger, pop the gear off, spin the engine back to TDC, put the gear back on the pump.
 
obijuank5 said:
So how do you put all the timing without an adjustable gear? Or do you just let the cam do the work?
Click to expand...
If ya mean injection timing, pretty much like Centexk5 said, pin the pump to to it's factory timing spec, in this case it should be 17.5 degrees on the 215 pump. Ya need a special socket to pull the delivery valve holder on the first barrel, and the second if you need clearance, like I did. From there, you can buy an adaptor for a dial indicator, or in my case, if you're cheap, drill and tap an oil pan plug with a hole and set screw, as they're the same thread. Each thousandth of an inch lift on the #1 barrel corresponds to fractions of a degree, simply roll the engine over until you have the desired advance, on top of the pump base timing. Knock the pump gear loose, roll the engine back to TDC, and reinstall the gear. Sounds complicated, but it's not that bad. Especially when ya have to do it twice in the same day cause it slipped the first time :rotfl:

This is the best picture I have when I did it on my Dodge last year

Timing

Timing

 
Got a running start yesterday and got a lot of stuff bolted back on. First up was to install the new tappets, forgot what a pain in the ass that is with the tappet cover installed. But, got them all in there

Larger Tappets

Larger Tappets


Got the cam gear retainer torqued and covered the cam in assembly grease, and fired that thing in there, too

Lubed Cam

Lubed Cam


Greased and installed the cam retainer plate, and installed the oil pump, too

Gear Train

Gear Train


Having run out of things to do on the front, tossed the injection pump on

Injection Pump

Injection Pump


The rear support bracket was missing for a long time, but luckily it turned up in a box of parts. These little bastards are crazy expensive on Cummins online, and most areas show it as discontinued

Bracket

Bracket


Not sure what to do next, waiting on headstuds to show up, so I can't put the valvetrain back together yet. Still deciding on an exhaust manifold, I will most likely time the injection pump and install the gear, and continue to clean up and install the rest of the bolt on parts
 
Been a little while since I could work on the engine, have been putting way more time than I would like into the 6.5 project. Finally quit being a cheap bastard and bought some headstuds, so I could forge ahead with the engine top end. Did lots of reading and comparisons, and decided that the Xotic brand would suite my needs just fine. So for today, got the rocker pedestals assembled, got all the head studs that go through them installed, and got halfway through installing the rest of the studs. Ran out of time today, will have to continue later on in the week. Other big ticket items to buy include the high mount AC setup, but I'm holding off on that, too. Will also be picking up an adaptor to direct mount the power steering pump to the gear cover, to delete the vacuum pump. They're pricey, but I think it's worth it to get rid of a component I don't really need. I plan to install it to a pump from a 6.2 diesel with the remote reservoir, and fabbing something up. That's it for today, though

6.5

6.5


Studs

Studs


Headstud Install

Headstud Install

 
Finished the head stud install yesterday and got the first torque on all of them. I want to put this thing in a more secure stand before I do the final torque sequences, haha. Lifted it off the stand and removed the motor mounts and got some paint on the bottom of the block, and sealed up the oil pan and installed. I'm thinking the next step is going to be to get the injection pump gear timed and installed, and seal up the front of the engine. Also gotta get a set of 5x.014 injectors on order. It's starting to get warm here, so hopefully some time soon I'll pull the truck into the shop and start with the GM portion of this build, haha

Oil Pan

Oil Pan

 
In the spirit of going in the opposite direction, picked up a reverse donor yesterday. A little 1990 6.2/4 speed/ 4x4 with a blown engine. This guy will be getting the 6.2 I pull out of the crew cab. My way of dealing with the fuel prices these days, haha. Once I kick the 6.5 crew cab out of the shop, the square is gonna get pulled in and ripped apart, and while the engine is out and it's waiting for the 12 valve, I plan to do 52" front leafs, clean up the frame, run new brake lines, all that front end stuff

Reverse Donor

Reverse Donor


Hitching a Ride

Hitching a Ride

 
I don't think I've ever seen that body style with a 6.2L. It's always either older squarebody trucks or straight to the 6.5L trucks.
 
Truckman4life said:
I don't think I've ever seen that body style with a 6.2L. It's always either older squarebody trucks or straight to the 6.5L trucks.
Click to expand...
This body style started I believe in 88 and this truck is a 90.
6.5 didn't come out until what, 93, 94?
 
Truckman4life said:
I don't think I've ever seen that body style with a 6.2L. It's always either older squarebody trucks or straight to the 6.5L trucks.
Click to expand...
I'm no 6.2 expert, but I'm pretty sure they were offered right up until the 6.5s came out. I used to have an 88 half ton with a 6.2 and a 700r4. And this is a 90
 
Yeah I have a turbo 6.5 with a mechanical pump I bought from a guy once that was out of a '92. Needs a rebuild but I was always gonna swap it into my K5. I'm just saying I've not seen any '88-'92 6.2L trucks. Must not have been popular.
 
Truckman4life said:
Yeah I have a turbo 6.5 with a mechanical pump I bought from a guy once that was out of a '92. Needs a rebuild but I was always gonna swap it into my K5. I'm just saying I've not seen any '88-'92 6.2L trucks. Must not have been popular.
Click to expand...
That's true, not popular
 
Another month gone, but haven't been sitting idle. Been playing with 6.2s and 6.5s a lot lately. That being said, I have pulled the crew in today, the intent is that it will not be leaving the shop under it's own power, haha. In the final stretches of my 6.2 project, pulled the dead engine out and I'm going to transplant the 86 6.2 into it

6.2 Out

6.2 Out


The plan for this thing keeps evolving, but as of now, it's going to be getting a turbo'd 6.2 I'm building right now, with an NV4500 I just picked up. The engine from the Sierra is going to be getting the turbo, manifolds, intake and possibly the injectors from a 6.5 engine I have laying around. I also have the dual thermostat crossover, water pump and serpentine system to transplant. That will be going in front of a 1996 NV4500 I picked up, minus internal slave bellhousing. Still trying to find one of those. Should make a pretty neat beater to drive while I install the 12 valve to the crew
 
Here we go, the operation was successful, the Detroit has been removed, haha. I usually pull the engine and trans as one, but I tried it the other way this time, and it was really simple to do

6.2 Out

6.2 Out


Looking at the empty engine bay, it's actually really quite clean, the frame is in good shape, and the fire wall insulator even seems to be intact, which I was planning to leave in anyway. Unfortunately, this once running and driving truck is now just a hulking rolling chassis, and I'm gonna have to screw around and get it out of the shop for a bit until the new power train is ready for it. At least the engine is out now, though, so it'll be harder to procrastinate on the project

Engine Bay

Engine Bay


Next step is to get this 6.2 all dressed up with the newer serpentine system and the 6.5 manifolds and turbo, and drop it in that OBS
 
Quick update on the side project, the truck is back together, running and driving with a few small issues that have yet to be worked out. Really tired of messing around with small Detroits, can't wait to get back into the 12 valves, haha

Out of the Shop

Out of the Shop


6.2/6.5 Hybrid

6.2/6.5 Hybrid


Engine In

Engine In


Took it on a trip from Edmonton to Calgary last weekend, even with the turbo set up it isn't all that fast, but it was up in the low 20s for mpg, which was the entire goal, so I'm not too upset at all. Don't think I turned up the pump enough to accommodate the turbo, but that's fine, I'm not going back into it. Hopefully back to the crew cab soon
 
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