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1983 shortbed/ stepside build thread

I wish I could find a big tank, I keep finding vapor tanks and not liquid. Rv tanks are vapor drawn.
 
They will charge you less for LPG for a big tank. I want to find an LPG saddle tank.
 
Ive been looking lately for a tank, then i can run the fill neck out the fuel door. I need to find out tho who locally will fill the tanks and is their a way to have the big tank and still keep the fitting for a forklift tank for backup. I like the idea of the big tank then their is no messing around with the little ones. Id like a bed mounted tank and not a frame mounted since its for mud and offroad so you can clean underneath easily. Without the regular saddle tank now its pretty nice..lol.
 
My tank is bolted to the frame since my box was horrible rusty. Most people just mount them to the bed or top of the frame then you just go over the side to fill it. You can remove the hose from the big tank and get an adapter to the forklift tank. Or you could just make a hose to go to the fill valve of the big tank and fill it with the forklift tank. I would go to places that fill home tanks to fill my truck tank. They are usually much cheaper than truck stops and the like that usually fill small tanks and RVs.
 
Mud bog pics from 10-11-14

We had a local mud bog yesterday afternoon. I towed it over with the new trailer i bought. My hd did pretty decent towing but its no rocket ship..lol. The truck ran perfect, carbs work good and get my high rpm at about 6500 plus...right to my revlimiter. The truck runs way better than before from 1/2 throttle and up. Here are a few from the bog.

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The motor can handle about 7500...lol, I set the revlimiter to about 6500. Occasionally I touch that area but don't go over it. Most used rpm was right at 6000. With the 2 carbs its pretty impressive. It sounds good , I thought she took video this year but I guess not.
 
I found a super deal on a goodmark cowl hood and a tonneau cover, finally got the superwinch lp10,000 working. Picked up a xrc 10,000 winch cover since they are cheaper too. I did some big changes to the ignition and the propane kit. I mounted a new impco model e right to the side of a new mmx450 carb(ebay and couldn't pass it up), ran all new fuel line with a new filter and lockoff. It now revs right thru 5500 nice and clean. I recurved the Mallory unilite mechanical advance so that I have now 20 degrees advance. With 14 degrees initial and 20 degrees advance its all in by 2800 rpms. Ill test it out and see how well it does this way. I can also change to a locked out hei since that would prob help too. I will go 2 steps colder plugs and see how that goes.


Recently seen the joe gibbs racing oil with high zinc, I picked up some 15-40 and a wix filter. Changed the power steering pump to a hydroboost style with external reservoir also did the pump mod. I used a smaller pulley with ams oil power steering fluid. My 2x8 ram turns the 39s pretty well, better than before. Still didn't get to do my 5:13 gears or front locker, hopefully soon. A buddy of mine does em a lot so its when he has time. Hopefully I can get to the jb conversions twin stick kit also since the weather has been so decent.


As for the dual carbs, I stalled a little on this. It runs too good now for the moment to pull apart. im still collecting parts to do the install anyway, im waiting on a backordered rebuild kit and another impco model e with orange spring. Going to try the dual x450s and if they are too much ill be going to a set of used impco 425s I picked up.



Rob h - Weve chatted before, I finally got around to reading your whole thread very nice.
so where are you at now with you're timing? and what plugs are you running? it sounds like your setup is very close to mine.
I have a 377 SB with about 12.2to1 compression, dual mixers on an adaptor down to 1 throttle plate, 2 vaporizers mounted on the firewall. I don't remember my cam specs, I wanna say 230ish duration @.50 with high 400s of lift? the motor was originally built to pull 15" of vacuum at 900 rpm. (I ran a stock mud racing class once upon a time and it was almost 20 years ago that the motor was built). It would turn 6500 to 7000 pretty well on gas.
So anyways I've got it running on the propane now and it pings something terrible and is really hard to turn over (acts like it way too advanced) I realize I probably have too hot of plugs and need to do something with the ignition timing. I have a MSD mechanical advance distributor, 6al box. It currently has the largest stop and lightest springs. according to the MSD it should only allow 18*of advance (it isn't according to my timing light). I think my distributor might be worn out?

So I'm looking for advice on plugs, how to set up timing and possibly what type of distributor to run?

I've rambled on long enough any advice would greatly be appreciated.
 
First do you have a wideband air fuel ratio gauge to monitor what its doing..? Super important to have one so you know exactly where your at. I have my idle set a little rich, mid 10s at start up on the wideband, mid 11s at wide open and rolling down the highway in the 15s. On and off the throttle 12s-13s depending on how deep your into the pedal. My plug gap is ,030 and i used just plain autolites one step colder than stock, nothing fancy. I have less vacuum than you have, i needed a vacuum canister to have brake pedal. For timing i have 30 degrees all in by 3k, too much timing and you will see power fall off. I have a mallory unilite which i do not care for but its in it for years. You want the hoses that go from the carbs to vaporizers shortest as possible, i found i have better response that way. The initial and advance i cannot remember tho, i think i had 8 degrees and 22.....hmmm, i haven't messed with it in 2 years. Hasn't been on my mind lately since it sits, with the work i did to the 2500hd and remodeling room after room in the house i haven't touched it.


Its about compared now to the 750 double pumper that was on it when i ran vp105.
 
First do you have a wideband air fuel ratio gauge to monitor what its doing..? Super important to have one so you know exactly where your at. I have my idle set a little rich, mid 10s at start up on the wideband, mid 11s at wide open and rolling down the highway in the 15s. On and off the throttle 12s-13s depending on how deep your into the pedal. My plug gap is ,030 and i used just plain autolites one step colder than stock, nothing fancy. I have less vacuum than you have, i needed a vacuum canister to have brake pedal. For timing i have 30 degrees all in by 3k, too much timing and you will see power fall off. I have a mallory unilite which i do not care for but its in it for years. You want the hoses that go from the carbs to vaporizers shortest as possible, i found i have better response that way. The initial and advance i cannot remember tho, i think i had 8 degrees and 22.....hmmm, i haven't messed with it in 2 years. Hasn't been on my mind lately since it sits, with the work i did to the 2500hd and remodeling room after room in the house i haven't touched it.


Its about compared now to the 750 double pumper that was on it when i ran vp105.
No, I do not have the wideband air fuel ratio gauge. I will be buying one tonight. Any suggestions on brands or different kinds if there are different styles? It's just a probe into the exhaust right?
And the gauge will help me time the mixers settings? or timing too?

So your distributor is all mechanical no vacuum advance? If so maybe mine will work if I can limit the amount of advance it putting out.
A lot of the reading I've done in other forums has said to have a more initial timing and limit the full. I have read multiple times about 14 and 14 which I would assume is 14 initial advance at idle then another 14 of distributor advancement. Some I have read also use an adjustable vacuum advance distributor which I assume only would give you more initial advance since manifold vacuum is only high when throttle plates are closed right?

To me it sounds like it would be easier to setup without the vacuum advance distributor?
 
I like the aem kit, comes complete with a bosch 02 sensor. You need to weld in a bung for the 02 sensor or buy the kit to drill a hole and bolt the band clamp on. (both below) The wideband will help your fuel ratio so your not running lean or too rich. With the correct fueling and the timing the ping will go away. I adjusted the advance up till i got a ping then backed it off. I have my 2 carbs adjusted the same, i slowly adjust each one. Also should connect a hose that connects the carbs. Alot of guys like a high initial, i didn't with my setup. I don't really know much on the vac advance, i've only ever had mechanical. This unilite has worked fine for me, except for burning up a module.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/avm-30-4110
https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/oxygen-sensor-mounting-clamps
 
I like the aem kit, comes complete with a bosch 02 sensor. You need to weld in a bung for the 02 sensor or buy the kit to drill a hole and bolt the band clamp on. (both below) The wideband will help your fuel ratio so your not running lean or too rich. With the correct fueling and the timing the ping will go away. I adjusted the advance up till i got a ping then backed it off. I have my 2 carbs adjusted the same, i slowly adjust each one. Also should connect a hose that connects the carbs. Alot of guys like a high initial, i didn't with my setup. I don't really know much on the vac advance, i've only ever had mechanical. This unilite has worked fine for me, except for burning up a module.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/avm-30-4110
https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/oxygen-sensor-mounting-clamps
Thanks for the info. I found a lot of good info on a forum called hardline crawlers. There's a guy on there named Buddy that either owns or works at a place call Altfuels or something like that. He seems to know propane inside out.
 
Thanks for the info. I found a lot of good info on a forum called hardline crawlers. There's a guy on there named Buddy that either owns or works at a place call Altfuels or something like that. He seems to know propane inside out.

Look him up, buddy is a great guy. He owns a shop down south, full of knowledge for this stuff. He helped me with the dual mixer setup, the dual air filter base is from him.
 
Summit is really good with delivery, 2-3 days at max. If it comes saturdays it will be fed ex.
 
we gosta have some videos.... I love hearing a motor roar @ 6500rpms!!!! just don't dub music over it !!!!!

I'll look and see what i have, alot of em are on photo bucket and its almost un-useable at the moment. Honestly it hasn't moved in about 2 years, i am going to be working on it soon.
 
Well i had my fun with this thing over the years and now it just sits. I think i'm going to bring new life and a new purpose into it. First figure out how to swap the front springs out so i can lower it about 4 inches. I moved the fush mounts back for my alcans, the frames welded and plated there so i'd like if i can to keep it there. That i guess i'll need to research more, these are 53s with the canter pin moved. After i get that part done i'm going to pull the front fenders off and the flares off of the rear, put stock fenders on it and the biggest tire that will fit without killing the fenders. I do have a stock 6.0 to put in it too, so i can give it back daily driver status.
 
Any info on 52 inch springs, where the center pin is..? is it centered..? My front spring rear mounts moved back about 3 inches.
 
Any info on 52 inch springs, where the center pin is..? is it centered..? My front spring rear mounts moved back about 3 inches.
52s from the rear of a gm truck have a centered pin, so 26" and 26" both ways there are also 56" that are 26" front eyelet to pin and 30" pin to rear eyelet.
So you said you moved your rear shackle mount back 3" right?
Is your front spring mount moved forward already?
If not move it forward 4" that's what people normally do when putting 52s or 56s in. This slides the whole axle forward 2" helping clearance at the rear of the tire to the cab.

You should be pretty close with your rear mounts being back 3" and the front forward 4" running a 56" spring. That's what I'm running on mine currently I don't remember how far I moved my rear mount back but I can tell you it's into the cab mount structure. I'll see if I can find a pict.
 
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