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1988 K5 the "Big Blue" compromise

Overview Gallery Discussion
Unfortunately while i cant find any more of the engine photos. oh well.

Not a lot of options for headers (have to have the C.A.R.B. exemption). the Ones i found would not fit because of the slave cylinder on the bellhousing... they would only work with an auto trans. Back to cast iron manifolds -BIG BLUE COMPROMISE-

I was doing all the TBI mods: bored TB, and had most of the rim on the top milled off, 1 inch power spacer (mostly because i needed the TB higher in order to get a pressure gauge mounted right at the inlet), adjustable diaphragm/fuel pressure regulator, injector pod spacer...

I was looking into better intake options, and i found THIS curiosity on the core support. See the round knockout plug?

Inkedknockout for plastic intake snorkel (2)_LI.jpg

knockout for plastic intake snorkel (1).jpg
 
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The passenger side of the core support has the exact same shaped hole, and there is a plastic fitting there with a deflector on the front... that's what the factory intake snorkel attaches to. How interesting that there would be an identical punch out on the driver side!?


My truck gets driven in cold climates and anything between sea level and 10,000 feet elevation. i did not want a cold air intake.

All kinds of wheels were turning now about the "ultimate intake manifold".

I went junkyard diving a few times, and unleashed a chain reaction of changes to other things in order to realize my dream.

MORE TURD POLISHING!
 
found a different model truck that had an air filter that was TWICE the height of mine- same diameter. Last few I've bought were STP SA3549. The only difference was the element itself, and the lid for the assembly... sooooo

I'LL HAVE THAT.

I found another one of the plastic fittings that goes into the core support

I'LL HAVE THAT!

Also found another lower assembly that matched the one in my blazer, and a few of the plastic snorkels...

I'LL HAVE THOSE!

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Picture45654trtr 019.jpg
 
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MATT'S BAT SHIT BATWING (patent pending) was born.

-Taller air filter with more surface area = less restrictive? =better air shape/funneling down the TB?? hell i dunno, it sounds good.
- 2wice as much available snorkel hose! -thats like 900 percent better airflow!
- I retained both of the cold air/wax pellet valve things, and both of the diverter valve doors inside the elbow ducts. I made a fitting for the driver side exhaust manifold and hose clamped it, and connected another heat riser tube. This Baby is fully functioning in cold AND warm weather!

The combination of the TB spacer and the tall filter can has this thing closer to the underside of the hood, but still clears. Made contact once when the transmission mount broke, but for the most part, the transfer case slamming into the underside of the body keeps the drivetrain from moving enough to damage my beautiful intake. :coolblue:
 
You can see how I thought ahead and kicked an angle into the new elbow so it would clear the brake booster... Nice. But, OF COURSE having this awesome-strocity in the engine bay created fitment issues with everything else now!

I ended up using a serpentine bracket and accessory set from a 1993 buick (i think). The AC pump, and alternators traded sides, and the brackets on the cars spread the accessories out wider and lower than the trucks... So the front of the engine got completed, and now worked with my Dual Bastard Air Dongle.

I even found a 9C1 caprice and harvested the 68#fuel injectors, MAP, some other fuel injection stuff, and it had the adapter cradle and a freshly rebuilt high amperage alternator! (the alternators on the cop cars were physically too large to fit in the accessory bracket, so they made an intermediate cradle piece to get it mounted). Score! This made me have to go out and find the plug and play adapter for the one wire style alternator.

Then, I found out i would have to remove the Bat Turd Filter Monster EVERYTIME I needed to out oil in the engine?! what- NOOOO! that was not going to work, so back to the junk yard. i swapped my passenger side valve cover to the driver side (i think-maybe not- cant remember), and then I took a driver side valve cover from a vortec van or truck -it had a large plastic riser for the oil cap... and i spun it backward and put it on my passenger side head! Now my oil cap is on the back of the motor, but its way out there in the open by itself, and how often do you really need to get at it anyway?! Worked out awesome -love it.

oil filler.jpg
 
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New motor was in. I had the exhaust all redone, and bent into the areas of the truck the way that I wanted- high and tight!

It passed smog with flying colors. BIG BLUE LIVES AGAIN!!

I then briefly tried those 68# police injectors with a custom chip, and it ran like a raped ape- like DAMN.

BUT, it also ran hot, and im not really sure what was in the custom chip other than a lot of timing advance... was from TBI chips. It was either a dumb experiment, or enough other things had been changed on my engine that it wasn't compatible. I removed and went back to the stock chip, and stock 55# injectors. The power increase over the stock engine was still VERY "seat of the pants" noticeable. The fuel pressure was turned up a bit from stock.

I ended up never getting around to trying to tune it. It ran great, always ran cool with the stock 190 degree thermostat, passed emissions, never had off colors on the spark plugs. This truck doesn't have overdrive, and a little later on in the timeline, i drove it easy on the freeway checking MPG several times, and could pull off 14mpg on 35 inch tires. :saweet:

-edit-
I don't want to think about the monetary value of the labor, and elbow grease invested... but, at one point I tallied up all the receipts. I had very little material cost making stickers and signage, so after the bartering, buying bearings, pistons, used parts, dumpster diving, wrecking yard scrounging, throttle body mods, etc., etc...
$1,300.00 total cash invested in my bigger better turd engine, including the batwing dual duct air cleaner. I was fairly proud of what I ended up with for the price.
 
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scouthead said:
In the pictures above with all the transfer case and skid plate work -the blazer had to go back on the 31" tires for a little while. I was driving it a lot for work at the time, and one of the 33" Bridgestone Duellers exploded at 70mph on the 605 freeway (in the center lane) .

No warning. POW! -then the rear passenger corner dropped 10 inches and we made an immediate 3 lane change to the shoulder while a giant flap of tread beat the hell out of the gas tank, body, and ripped off the strut that supports the fender area. My Brother was with me and we both looked at each other like WOW.
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Any Idea defective Tire or possibly damaged on trail?
I just put Bridgestone Dueler Revo's on mine
 
scoots1967 said:
Any Idea defective Tire or possibly damaged on trail?
I just put Bridgestone Dueler Revo's on mine
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The tires were old when I got em. Lots of tread, but had been sitting. I tossed one that looked bad (sat flat for a long time), bought two new ones for the front, and had a set of 5. Ran them hard for a year or so- old rubber that’s drying out proabably does not like to be aired down and stretched out as much as new rubber?

Don’t think I can fault the product. Those were the desert duellers - i loved that tread pattern. If they made them in a 35inch , I would still be running them
 
another complete vehicle purchased from a wrecking yard. unfortunately a 1977 FJ55 Landcruiser is ruled over by the CA Smog Nazis, and it had all the upgraded weber carbs and manifolds, header, etc.. lots of stuff from Downey offroad. the top was too rusty and the decision was made to part it out. bought it for 1100 bucks, sold the entire drivetrain to a friend for 750- carb to driveshafts. It got transplanted into an FJ40 roller.
I kept a few parts for the FJ55 that i was slowly repowering with a TBI/700r4, kept about 20 pounds of metric hardware that piled up as this was scrapped...

complete axles sold immediately 350 each... cut the rear 1/4 panels off and sent to a cruiser head in need... tailgate, doors, front fenders, seats, lights... all of it gone in a coupe months.
This was literally the only thing left and the scrap yard gave me 70 bucks for the steel.

sad to see such a rare car go, but also kinda fun parting out when you need to dispose of quickly and dont need to make maximum profit on everything - no sitting on stuff. no haggling - get it it gone and still make a buck- met some cool people.
 
scouthead said:
I had previously modified the stock crossmember for extra driveshaft clearance, and lowered it 3/4 inch with spacers. Things were functioning really well, but, on a couple occasions I tagged that stock crossmember on rocks. The last time got me hung up pretty good: going up a sandy hill full throttle and I didn't make it -tires dug in. I tried to back up, and the crossmember peeled a boulder out of the sand and proceeded to roll it up and out of its hole while stuffing it up and into the front axle at the same time. I couldn't move forward and was locked in to that boulder -completely pinned to the side of a step hill.

There was an awful. lot of digging to get the boulder to roll back out of the way, and well, that was the last time. I had made up my mind not to raise the truck anymore to get more ground clearance...

This was the excuse I needed to dig in to the underside, and ditch the NP208 in favor of the np241. Ordered a clocking ring... and off we go

View attachment 394130

View attachment 394131
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Why wouldn't the stock ones have been made like yours?
Do the bends mke the crossmember stronger?
Yours looks simpler and stronger, but I have no clue
 
scouthead said:
Need bigger rubbers. i popped another bridgestone sidewall on a sharp stick, and was told they had been discontinued.

time to get off the emergency set / "hoops of shame"

onto a new set of 35 inch BFG All terrains

View attachment 395250

View attachment 395251

View attachment 395252
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That tire set up looks great, I have 285/75/16 Revo 3 and they look way to narrow they feel great on the road. I am planning on heading out to hunt Havasu in a few weeks and will see how they work in desrt dirt and sand. Kinda wishing I had got the 295 BFG ATs
 
Those were 35 x 12.50 R15 -on the stock gm 15x8 rally wheels. I do kind of like the look- I like the way 33x10.50 looks on the stock Landcruiser wheels too- people do that occasionally. squeezes the carcass a bit- tires would be happier on 15x9 or 15x10.

When "correctly inflated" over time the center of the tread wears more on the highway. I thought about changing the wheels, but then again, only a few have stayed on the truck long enough to wear the tread like that before the tires got destroyed by other means, so :thinking:
 
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scoots1967 said:
That tire set up looks great, I have 285/75/16 Revo 3 and they look way to narrow they feel great on the road. I am planning on heading out to hunt Havasu in a few weeks and will see how they work in desrt dirt and sand. Kinda wishing I had got the 295 BFG ATs
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what's in havasu? Dove?
 
scoots1967 said:
Why wouldn't the stock ones have been made like yours?
Do the bends mke the crossmember stronger?
Yours looks simpler and stronger, but I have no clue
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the more I look at factory pieces, the more i think the design is by people that have access to giant stamping machines, and want to keep fab work, and labor to a minimum :wink:

Also, weather or not its designed into it- the stock crossmember is one piece of metal that will probably twist very easy when the frame rails move, and not crack and get broken as easy as super strong boxed rail would. All the crossmembers and the frame are similar sized and formed material.

the more rigid the crossmember gets, the stronger/stiffer the entire frame would need to be as an assembly to avoid the metal failing at the mounting points? tried to keep mine strong enough without it wearing out or fatiguing the metal too quickly. So far so good!
 
scouthead said:
what's in havasu? Dove?
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Hopefully a few Quail
Carrizo and Los Padres are pretty slim pickens this year, Too dry last few years and the hold over guys are spooked and running or flushing 100Yds out no luck so far but I'm no expert.
A couple guys on a forum mentioned AZ is a better bet, If I can get the time I'm gonna get out there
 
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