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1972 GMC K25 daily driver build(fan shroud question)
- Thread starter Cili
- Start date
Sweet bottle opener! Looking forward to this one!
Been working on this a few hours a night getting done what I can while I wait for parts. I found an olllddddd edlebrock intake and finned aluminum valve covers in my stash so I decided to clean those up and install them. I didn’t get the intake on yet but I did get the valve covers on with new rubber gaskets.
Also the inside of this motor is super clean, no sludge at all.
Waiting on some stuff still but I’m going to do water pump, radiator, hoses, tstat, heater core, belts, and put in my spare HEI distrutor to replace the original points one. Trying to clean and paint parts as I go too.
Also got my new rubber cab and core support mounts and bolts in today so I’ll try to start on that this weekend.
Also the inside of this motor is super clean, no sludge at all.
Waiting on some stuff still but I’m going to do water pump, radiator, hoses, tstat, heater core, belts, and put in my spare HEI distrutor to replace the original points one. Trying to clean and paint parts as I go too.
Also got my new rubber cab and core support mounts and bolts in today so I’ll try to start on that this weekend.
I'm loving this as a daily driver. Subscribed 
Thats so cool. Bring it to dunes!!
That's awesome for a daily driver.
Got the intake, distributor, wires, carb, and water pump on over the last few nights. Looks kind of weird with nice shiny parts on top and nasty greasy stuff underneath but I just don’t have time to pull the motor and clean it any better right now.
Hopefully my radiator will show up tomorrow and I can get it back running this weekend. Should have all the parts I need to get all the lights working tomorrow as well.
Hopefully my radiator will show up tomorrow and I can get it back running this weekend. Should have all the parts I need to get all the lights working tomorrow as well.
I’m hoping it will be reliable enough by dunefest that I can drive it up and cruise around with it but we’ll see lol
So while looking for radiators I really wanted a copper/brass one instead of plastic/aluminum, but couldn’t find one for less than $400 and that was out of the budget for now. So looking on rock auto they had one of clearance for $110, figured if I couldn’t get the one I wanted then I would go as cheap as possible and see how long it lasted.
Well it came in today and this is what I found...
A four core HD style copper/brass radiator! I still can’t believe that’s what I got for the money. Unfortunately though I need new upper and lower mounts to make it fit but even with the new mounts it’s cheaper than most of the other radiators I found.
Also today I got a new headlight switch, dimmer switch, all new side markers, right tail light housing and both tail light lenses. I’ve got all the lights working now except the front left blinker while the headlights are on, I can’t figure that one out.
Got my new core supports mounts in loose too, hopefully work on the rest of the body mounts tomorrow.
Well it came in today and this is what I found...
A four core HD style copper/brass radiator! I still can’t believe that’s what I got for the money. Unfortunately though I need new upper and lower mounts to make it fit but even with the new mounts it’s cheaper than most of the other radiators I found.
Also today I got a new headlight switch, dimmer switch, all new side markers, right tail light housing and both tail light lenses. I’ve got all the lights working now except the front left blinker while the headlights are on, I can’t figure that one out.
Got my new core supports mounts in loose too, hopefully work on the rest of the body mounts tomorrow.
That's pretty lucky. What brand did you get?
Dang! That's a great deal for that price.
Vista pro I think was the brand. It looks nice. We’ll see if it actually holds water though lol
Been working on this pretty much every night for a few hours. Got the new radiator mounts and radiator in, or course the fan shroud doesn’t fit now though. I think I still have one off my c10 though if I can find it.
Also got the new heater core in and cleaned a mouse nest out of the heater box so I have air flow now. Finished up the rest of the cooling system with new hoses and filled it with coolant, to have it pour right back out at the rear of the intake manifold. So I pulled that back off today and found where the intake seals off the coolant port on the head is corroded all the way through and has a pin hole in it, that was frustrating. So now I’m just going to throw on the performer I have on the shelf like I should have to begin with.
Also got the body mounts almost all done. Found out that the kit from brothers trucks doesn’t come with the steal sleeves that go inside the rubber so I had to order all those individually from lmc. Also realized after I started that I needed new frame mounts too because they looked like this
So all those are on with 7/16 bolts and lock nuts. Only issue is the rear driver side bolt spun the nut inside the body doing the finale tighten so now I get to found that and weld it back up...
Also got the new heater core in and cleaned a mouse nest out of the heater box so I have air flow now. Finished up the rest of the cooling system with new hoses and filled it with coolant, to have it pour right back out at the rear of the intake manifold. So I pulled that back off today and found where the intake seals off the coolant port on the head is corroded all the way through and has a pin hole in it, that was frustrating. So now I’m just going to throw on the performer I have on the shelf like I should have to begin with.
Also got the body mounts almost all done. Found out that the kit from brothers trucks doesn’t come with the steal sleeves that go inside the rubber so I had to order all those individually from lmc. Also realized after I started that I needed new frame mounts too because they looked like this
So all those are on with 7/16 bolts and lock nuts. Only issue is the rear driver side bolt spun the nut inside the body doing the finale tighten so now I get to found that and weld it back up...
Quick question on fan shrouds. Now that I’ve changed the radiator and all the body mounts are good, the fan shroud doesn’t even come close to fitting. As you can see in the picture the bottom of it was already cut out to clear the fan. (The closer one)
Well I thought it was because of the heavy duty radiator, so I grabbed the one off my 71 C10 which is an air conditioning truck with heavy duty radiator and as you can see it’s way different(shorter). So it doesn’t even come close to reaching the fan.
But the real problem is that with the shroud bolted to the radiator it sits 3 or 4 inches too high, same thing with both of these shrouds. So now idk what I need. I think the one I took out was never right for the truck and that’s why it was cut up.
So are both of these for 2 wheel drive trucks? Also I noticed on my c10 that the motor sits much closer to the radiator, hence the shorter shroud.
LMC lists a few different shrouds, and only one for 4 wheel drives so I assume that’s the one I need but not sure. Anybody ran into this?
Well I thought it was because of the heavy duty radiator, so I grabbed the one off my 71 C10 which is an air conditioning truck with heavy duty radiator and as you can see it’s way different(shorter). So it doesn’t even come close to reaching the fan.
But the real problem is that with the shroud bolted to the radiator it sits 3 or 4 inches too high, same thing with both of these shrouds. So now idk what I need. I think the one I took out was never right for the truck and that’s why it was cut up.
So are both of these for 2 wheel drive trucks? Also I noticed on my c10 that the motor sits much closer to the radiator, hence the shorter shroud.
LMC lists a few different shrouds, and only one for 4 wheel drives so I assume that’s the one I need but not sure. Anybody ran into this?
I have a couple different sets of electric fans in the shop, not really looking to go that route right now. I’m sure it will be fine without one until it starts to get hot out anyway.
Started driving this yesterday, drove it home from my shop, then to work today. Set timing on my lunch. It was having issues on hot restarts and idling when it was hot as well. I also couldn’t get it to idle right, either too high or too low.
So tonight after work I robbed the Holley off my c10 and bolted it on, runs much better! We’ll see how it does on a cold start in the morning though with out the electric choke hooked up.
Other than that it drives decent, steering is pretty tight, brakes work good, it is a little cold with all the holes in the floor lol. Hot oil pressure is kinda low, around 8. Might go a little heavier oil and see what it does.
Started driving this yesterday, drove it home from my shop, then to work today. Set timing on my lunch. It was having issues on hot restarts and idling when it was hot as well. I also couldn’t get it to idle right, either too high or too low.
So tonight after work I robbed the Holley off my c10 and bolted it on, runs much better! We’ll see how it does on a cold start in the morning though with out the electric choke hooked up.
Other than that it drives decent, steering is pretty tight, brakes work good, it is a little cold with all the holes in the floor lol. Hot oil pressure is kinda low, around 8. Might go a little heavier oil and see what it does.
Well I think the time has come that I need to start thinking about an engine for this. I’ve got about 1500 miles on and it’s started smoking a little, leaks and uses oil, and the oil pressure isn’t great which doesn’t make me comfortable for long drives.
The only issues I’ve had since daily driving it is the coil died on the way to work one morning and the alternator spit the bearing out of the rear of the case. But I don’t like the 8-10psi of oil at hot idle with 15w-40 oil and I have a couple of long drives planned for this summer.
I have a couple options so I’d like some opinions. Keep in mind this is my only dd so I need it back on the road as quick as possibly when the time comes.
Option 1- pull the original 350 out, inspect it to see what it needs, order parts and possibly send to machine shop. And then put an FiTech or the such on later. Probably just a stock rebuild with maybe a small cam.
Option 2- rebuild the 400 small block I have in my garage. For the sake of argument I’ll say it will need the same work as the 350 but I could have it all ready and then it would be a quick swap.
Option 3- 5.3 or 6.0 swap. I’m not crazy about this because then I have to change the fuel system right now and I wanted to keep this truck looking stock.
Option 4- GM crate engine. Probably won’t happen but I work at a GM dealer so i might be able to get a good price on a no frills 350
The only issues I’ve had since daily driving it is the coil died on the way to work one morning and the alternator spit the bearing out of the rear of the case. But I don’t like the 8-10psi of oil at hot idle with 15w-40 oil and I have a couple of long drives planned for this summer.
I have a couple options so I’d like some opinions. Keep in mind this is my only dd so I need it back on the road as quick as possibly when the time comes.
Option 1- pull the original 350 out, inspect it to see what it needs, order parts and possibly send to machine shop. And then put an FiTech or the such on later. Probably just a stock rebuild with maybe a small cam.
Option 2- rebuild the 400 small block I have in my garage. For the sake of argument I’ll say it will need the same work as the 350 but I could have it all ready and then it would be a quick swap.
Option 3- 5.3 or 6.0 swap. I’m not crazy about this because then I have to change the fuel system right now and I wanted to keep this truck looking stock.
Option 4- GM crate engine. Probably won’t happen but I work at a GM dealer so i might be able to get a good price on a no frills 350
