CK5
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71 C20 gets a 5.3

Couple more puzzle pieces

Summit "universal" aluminum radiator. Had to trim a tiny bit off the top channel but it went in with the stock mounts.
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Craigslist y pipe/cats and some cheap prebent silverado replacement pieces to get it out the back. Cant decide between a 40 and 50 series flowmaster. leaning towards the 50 cause its not as loud (sounds good behind my dd's 6.0), but its $100 and I have a 40 I can make work. Some headers should be coming with my next paycheck
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Someone drilled a hole in the gauge backing plate thing so I slaped a sticker from work over it. Turn signal, high beam and check engine lights are in there and the wiring for the gauges is pretty much done too. Just need to borrow my 4" holesaw back from Dan at some point to mount the tach and speedo
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Replaced the battery tray with a repro part. Then used another replacement tray to mount the PCM. Kinda hard to see in there. I had to clearance the hood hing a tad but the hood closes.
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Little bit more progress. I got 3 of the three broken exhaust bolts out. The third killed 3 dill bits and an easy out. The easy out and the tip of one bit are still stuck in there... That's going to be fun

Picked up some "summit" brand pacesetter shorties, stopped them down and filled the egr hole then hit them with BBQ black. Redneck windchimes
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I chopped the raised letters off a newer tailgate and am working on stitching it on mine. Also swapped out the ugly ass taillight for some a little more fitting. I will find some nicer ones eventually.
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Damn broken exhaust stud had kicked my ass the last few weeks. It's the farthest back on the drivers side, right under the brake booster and mc so it's fun to get too. Still had a broken dill bit and an easy out in it. I tied welding a nut on the end but surrendered after the third fail. Welding on an aluminum head is scary.
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Got a bunch of old white oak barn wood for a work project, I hope there is enough left to do this...
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Hacked up a factory 5.3 y pipe and picked up a flowmaster 50. Still need to do a little more awkward upside down welding then run the muffler back section.

Picked up a junkyard shaft, cut it down and had it put together and balanced. New u joints and center bearing.

PCM is off getting tuned. Just a few more puzzle pieces to go...
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the weld wont stick to the aluminum . turn the heat up and burn that nut on the broken bolt.

I do it all the time on these engines and fords also .

let it cool off and heat the head around it and work it out .
 
the weld wont stick to the aluminum . turn the heat up and burn that nut on the broken bolt.

I do it all the time on these engines and fords also .

let it cool off and heat the head around it and work it out .

I'll give it another try with some more juice. Damn thing killed my momentum
 
Any tips for holding it up there while I burn it on? I cant get to it from the top due to the booster and MC
 
Well I tried 4 times tonight and couldnt get any of them to stick. I think the only thing exposed is the broken easy out which is messing with me. Damn that bolt
 
not a fun task, I had that same bolt on my 6.0 break. Never did fix it, traded that truck in.

Time to pull the head?
 
Anytime I get a broken manifold bolt that stubborn I just pull the head. You end up wasting more time and run the risk of ruining the head by drilling into water jacket(dont ask how I know) than if you just pull the head.
It takes less than an hour to pull the head,then you can extract the bolt(or take it to a machine shop) and them maybe an hour to put it back together.
A set of head bolts and a head gasket(the other gaskets can be reused if you want to go cheap) will run about 70 bucks.
 
I am going to keep messing with it a little more before I pull the head. I am not going to let it win.

PCM should be back from the tune in the next day or two.
 
Howd I miss this :doah:

Cool build. Gotta love old sheet metal with new juice under the hood.

Did you try wrapping that exhaust stud with a hammer and punch and seeing if it loosens up enough to just unscrew it? Im always the first guy to say weld a nut on it, sucks its not working.
 
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