71K5 - BP71K5's Just for fun build

[GRINCH]

That is a cool tool!!!! I have had really good luck using a 1" x 4" x 3" block of aluminum placed behid the holes. If you hold it tight or clamp it/Wedge it against the hole it comes out really nice. Just start on the outside edge and go in a circle until you get to the center.

 

[bp71k5]

What are you going with for the spray in bedliner?

Right now, Line-x is the leading candidate. I've felt the Rhino liner and don't like the "rubbery" feeling it has. The Line-x is a little more "sandpaper-ish" than I'd like, but it looks and feels much more high quality. The good news about the economy is that what was once a $1200 line-x job, is now down to about $650-$750 for the entire tub.

I have heard about custom colors fading a bit, but not so much for black. I'm actually trying to find a local place that will match "hugger orange" for me. I'd actually like to try a sample of the scorpion coating a member on here talks about a lot, but I haven't got a response from the closest place I called up in Sacramento.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Changes to the cage design

After some discussion with the local fab shop down here, I revised some of the things I wanted to do with the cage. One bit of good feedback was that having a bunch of removable sections could be problematic after a bunch of wheeling and the cage joints start to not line up the way they used to.

I'm still considering a removable bar to accomodate carrying big things like motorcycles, refridgerators, etc. in the back when the need arises. This new design doesn't leave the entire bed open like the earlier versions, but it does leave a good amount once the "green bar" is removed. I'd just need to make sure it stays in place all the time and is only removed when space is needed.



It's not done, but this is the latest iteration.

I also did some more bedliner research. It seems to get any color'ed line-x, you need to add an extra coat called "Xtra" and is hard to find someone to spray, and costs a bit extra. I'm starting to look at some DIY stuff to see if any of it would meet my skill level and quality standards.

 

[AJs72K5]

I totally dig the 3D model.

 

[bp71k5]

You can have a copy of the model if you want. It's 1:1 scale and pretty accurate for the most part.

 

[BGKYK5]

Have a model for the '73-91 K5s?

 

[bp71k5]

Have a model for the '73-91 K5s?

I think someone in the garage posted a couple. I wanna say it was Babaganosh? Do a search for 3d models in there and you should find it.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Piss off the neighbors day

After many night welding up holes, pounding out large dents and sanding off rust, I finally was able to get everything cleaned up, prepped and sprayed with a 2-part epoxy primer. For some odd reason, the wind decided to pick up that day and so I smoked out the next door neighbors as well as my wife and kids. I guess my plastic spray booth didn't keep the fumes from getting into the ventilation system in the garage.

This stuff takes a while to dry and I ended up going on a last minute road trip up north so there's a few spots that rubbed off before the paint hardened. Mostly from my heel rubbing on the floor underneath the gas pedal.

Anyway here's the pics:

 

[jimbug]

looks good. Subscribed

 

[bp71k5]

I know I'm posting without pics, but I just got my truck back from the exhaust shop where I had the guy rework the downtubes to use some 2.5" corvette manifolds I got a while back.

There's a noticable "good" difference! I'm not sure if there was an exhaust leak he fixed, or the larger manifolds make that much of a difference, but I have much more noticable torque at low RPMs (1800-2200) which is very nice since that's where the truck seems to end up being on the freeway. I can power through some of the initial hesitation at that range now instead of lugging it like it always did before the change. I could almost see keeping the 4.10's now since it drives so much better, but I'm still going to get the 4.56's in the back in the next week or so. I'm still battling ants in the hardtop.

Before my trip north, I noticed the spark plugs were looking kinda rich and after datalogging it today, I believe that it really is running rich now, which could explain some of my gas mileage problem. Yay, maybe I can get back to 15 mpg again...

The k5 just got a lot more fun to drive!

 

[ChefBear]

Ants!

I'm not taking the top back! Forget about it, those are your ants now and I hope they have fun in California.

If I find anymore I'll send them.

 

[BGKYK5]

If I find anymore I'll send them.

 

[bp71k5]

Naw, the tops going to work fine.

The ants are really pretty gross but interesting. I thought I killed most of the adults, and then I checked yesterday and there were piles off eggs in the back and more ants around.

I think I'm going to wrap the thing up in plastic and set off a couple bug bombs and let em stew in that for a bit.

 

[jimbug]

Nice build I finally had some time to sit and read it all.... I remember seeing the first few pages a while back and your progress is coming along nicely! I miss my Jimmy, they are such great vehicles!
Do you have any more mileage updates? The OD is a really nice addition, especially if you are actually going to drive the thing in todays traffic situations. Adding a 700r4 has been one of the best mods I have done to my Burb! So great that I did it twice!!

 

[bp71k5]

Last real mileage numbers were 11 mpg on the freeway at best, only using OD sometimes. The gearing is too high to allow OD at any speed lower than 70 mph which is sketchy in this 38 year old truck.

After I finish the gears this weekend, I'll need to see if being able to actually use OD will offset the lower gearing needed to run it.

 

[jimbug]

not bad... I have 4.56 gears and the OD makes it purr right around 2200 RPM at 70ish(my speedo is off!) and that is with 35's. I think I am about 20% off by my expert calculation from watching mileage markers and my odometer, I'm clocking about 8 miles for every 10 driven... or .2tenths a mile.
I got 14 mpg driving conservitavely on a 200 mile stint, but those are the corrected numbers

Sorry for the rant/ hijack just looking to compare apples to Er tangerines.... Auto OD vs. Manual OD

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Gears and lockers are done and waiting for test drive...

The wife was out all day for a kids b-day party which was more for adults so she got some adult time, and I got an entire day of garage time in.

Buttoned up the rear end with new 4.56 gears and an ARB air locker. The metal bracket on the left is kinda flimsy when you torque the cap bolts down, the thing twisted a lot so I had to bend it back in spots.


DIY diff cover bolted on and completed the leak tests.


I added a 3/4" drain plug in the bottom to help make oil changes cleaner. I just used a black iron pipe adaptor, cut it down to 1/2" long and welded it up inside a hole I drilled in the bottom of the cover. Works pretty nice.


I was originally going to use some kind of CO2 air supply, but I never remember to re-charge the canister for my beer kegs so I figured it'd be the same with this and I wouldn't be able to use the locker when I needed it. The compressor is the larger ARB capable of supplying air to accessories as well. I do plan on plumbing an external air tank to it later on for filling tires, air mattresses for the wife when camping, etc. Here it is bolted on to the inside of the inner fender.


Shot from the other side. Pretty easy install as the compressor comes with a complete wiring harness and labeled connections so it was pretty plug-n-play. I haven't mounted the switches yet as I'm not sure whether I want them super visible, or hidden from view.

 

[vtblazer]

Good to see the gear change, I'm betting your going to really like em and from what calc's I've done for my build, a better final ratio anyway.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Test drives and oil leaks

I was able to do some test drives for the new gears and everything appears to be working well. One satisfying change is that the 4.56 gears were the right choice. The gear reduction is just enough to allow me to spend much more time driving around in a higher gear and keep the rpms down without being so low that the motor lugs. This also puts my final crawl ratio at just over 113:1. Plenty good for me.

Onto the pics. I have the arb switches just hanging under the dash until I can figure out what to do with them. I'm going to get an extra switch and use it for the Elocker instead of the pushbutton style they provided.



Then I also created some small tube adaptors for the ebrake to get it working. The custom brake cables I ordered were a bit too long so these adaptors take up the slack. There's a smaller tube welded into the larger tube that presses into the hole in the ebrake lever bracket to keep it from coming loose. I do still have an issue with the cable interfering with the transfer case that I need to address.


After some test driving, my oil leaks started getting much worse. Long story short is that the PCV valve appears to have gone bad or was the wrong part. Seems better now, but here's a shot of the engine bay as it is now.



I also took a shot of the new hard top generously donated by Chefbear. I removed the rack and wing. Although I am still finding small nests of ants every couple days.


Also found a curb flexing poser shot from a few weeks back before the road trip. My girl loves jumping around in daddys truck.

 

[jimbug]

Man, that thing sits nice! Are you planning on keeping it white? Maybe a little soon in the build to ask..... But I am sure you have something in mind