docjake
1/2 ton status
I like the textured red I think you did a really good job
CK5
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'73 K5 - Stevoandaredk5's Build - [Pre-Summer Update - (4/5/11)]
- Thread starter StevoandaRedK5
- Start date
G-Force8
1/2 ton status
Just when i thought I might not have to deal with wiring for a while after rewiring the '73....oh well. at least i know what i'm doing now
Thats the spirit!
The '73 looks great. I like the way the paint came out.
Still think it needs a 4" lift
G-Force8
1/2 ton status
(starting college at the University of Texas
Go Horns!
Big Longhorn football fan
Good luck at college,man
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
Thats the spirit!
The '73 looks great. I like the way the paint came out.
Still think it needs a 4" lift
Thanks. And yes, I am fairly sure that if any serious wheeling is to be done, a lift is in order. no clue when that'll be though haha
Whoo! Hook 'Em!!! that's awesome, and thanks again
I've never figured out how UT can scrape enough students together that can pass a drug test to field a football team.
G-Force8
1/2 ton status
Thanks. And yes, I am fairly sure that if any serious wheeling is to be done, a lift is in order. no clue when that'll be though haha
Whoo! Hook 'Em!!! that's awesome, and thanks again
Hopefully the tires aren't bald by then
And you picked a perfect year to enter UT. Colt McCoy is going to lead them to a National Title
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
well, got to go home this weekend, and spent most of saturday morning doing basic PM on the '73 with my dad. He's been driving it to work some days, but had trouble where it would crank, die, and then he'd have no electrical power to the cab whatsoever. We thought it might be a shoddy connection at the starter, but when I pulled out my trusty $2 HF multimeter() and put the positive on the hot post on the alternator and the other on the negative battery post, I was getting voltage. So my first thought: Bad ground. Pulled the headlight switch so I would know when it had power again. I check the most immediate and vitally important one, the big gauge cable from the neg post to the engine. and by check, I mean whack it with the nearest wrench... and taa-daa, we have power. Turns out that paint on the bracket it's attached to was causing a state of intermittent insulation, causing the loss of power. So that was an easy fix. No more non-start/no power issues.
Also went and had the oil changed and all the fluids checked. I was surprised when they told me that the oil in the diffs was clean and looked good, seeing as that I've never changed it. Oh and put on a new air filter once i realized that I was using the one from the previous engine.....haha Couldn't find a normal 2" tall round filter....so we put on a 4" one looks pretty cool, though this motor will probably never need that much airflow.
I can't wait for x-mas break so I can get the last few things accomplished and bring it with me to Austin.....
) and put the positive on the hot post on the alternator and the other on the negative battery post, I was getting voltage. So my first thought: Bad ground. Pulled the headlight switch so I would know when it had power again. I check the most immediate and vitally important one, the big gauge cable from the neg post to the engine. and by check, I mean whack it with the nearest wrench... and taa-daa, we have power. Turns out that paint on the bracket it's attached to was causing a state of intermittent insulation, causing the loss of power. So that was an easy fix. No more non-start/no power issues.Also went and had the oil changed and all the fluids checked. I was surprised when they told me that the oil in the diffs was clean and looked good, seeing as that I've never changed it. Oh and put on a new air filter once i realized that I was using the one from the previous engine.....haha Couldn't find a normal 2" tall round filter....so we put on a 4" one
looks pretty cool, though this motor will probably never need that much airflow.I can't wait for x-mas break so I can get the last few things accomplished and bring it with me to Austin.....
G-Force8
1/2 ton status
gotta love those easy fixes
The girls are gonna love the Blazer in Austin
The girls are gonna love the Blazer in Austin
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
Big Update!
Ok, seeing as that this thread has been dead since early October, thought I would bring you guys up to speed.
First order of business (copied from thread in the Audio section, think the links in this post no good, i'll get em fixed):
So for a long time I have been contemplating the best way to put a decent stereo in my '73. Main concerns were simplicity, security, and ease of use. Nothing crazy, just loud enough to drown out road noise and annoying passengers. At one point in the past, I had a 10" sub downfiring in a sealed box in the center, amp on top, 6x9" under the dash, run off an ipod split into rca's haha.
Now it's time to do it up right. Once again I'm going to use a downfire 10", but with some changes to the design. Crutchfield is running some good prices on this Pioneer head unit, plus knocking 10% off for buying these Pioneer 6 1/2"s. Going to use this Kenwood amp because of the small size and decent power, plus the refurb price is much better than new, and i'm not picky.
I want some fairly secure locking storage as well, so the top of the sub box will be built up to include a place for the amp and some shallow basic storage for small items.
For a long time I tried different configurations where all the components would be housed in a single unit, but never could find a setup that didn't obscure the HU or become way too complicated. Ended up picking out this HU with a remote, and putting the Pioneer under the dash with (2) 6 1/2"s to either side. With the removable face i'm not worried about security, and the dash will protect it from most weather with the top off (will have a bikini top in the summer). Could always get a splash cover. Put the other two 6 1/2"s on the back of the box for the rear passengers and wahlah! Hopefully something that will work out quite well.
Here's the most recent drawings I came up with after some measuring.
Let me know what you guys think, I'm always glad to take advice, more sets of eyes see stuff I miss or don't think of.
Second order of business:
The Blazer is here in Austin with me. Long story, and I will go ahead and tell it. hope you guys don't mind lots of reading, I'll break it up into paragraphs to make it a little better.
.
After being home in Lufkin for "dead week" studying for finals, I got up early and loaded up the Honda minivan for the long haul back to Austin. Rolled out of the driveway at 8am. About an hour and a half down the road, trans started acting up, traction control freaking out, stopped on the shoulder, see if restarting the vehicle would help, then it wouldn't go into gear, or so I thought.
Called my dad, he started figuring out a wrecker, when I called him back after discovering that the trans was actually just slipping....horribly (no movement in gear until around 1800 rpm
). Got back on the road and headed back towards Lufkin, so the Honda could go to a shop and hopefully I wouldn't fry the trans.
Got home. Mom had the other car (Taurus), but the pinhole in its heater core had me worried with keeping water in it and such, so I said forget it. I'll take my truck. No stereo, heat not working, No OD haha. Needless to say, first leg of the trip went awesome, truck did great, and I was loving driving it.
Again though, around an hour and a half out, noticed that the oil pressure was a little on the low side, so I stopped in Madisonville at an O'Reillys. Oil level was low, put in 2 quarts to get it filled back up. Then I looked under the truck and noticed the bad oil leak....again. (Few posts back you'll see I had a problem with the valve covers leaking).
Started looking for the source, it was somewhere on the oil pan, suspected the front seal. Called my dad, he just said to keep putting oil in it until I got somewhere and was able to work on it. Got back on the road, stopped for gas in Bryan. Oil leak still horrendous. Finally made it to Caldwell, last nice sized city until Austin. Stopped in a NAPA parking lot and decided to try and get the leak fixed while I still had some daylight.
Many thanks to that NAPA, let me borrow some tools and their parking lot. Ended up that every, single bolt on the oil pan was not tight. Figures. Over the break, I may dedicate a day to just retorqing and checking bolts on the whole truck. Tightened all those up, poured in some stop leak additive for good measure, picked up a couple more quarts of oil. As of last time I looked at the truck, oil leak seemed to have either stopped or slowed considerably.
So with that fixed up, back on the road for the last leg of the journey. However, I didn't get away that easy. 30min out of Austin, engine starts acting up. Stuttering/missing/afterfiring at hwy speed...out of nowhere. Dunno if it was the best choice, but I stopped and backed the timing off ever so slightly. Still nothing. Ended up stopping about 4 more times to try to get it to stop running so bad. No luck. Drove the last 20-25 miles into Austin at 45-50 hoping I wasn't going to screw up the motor.
This had me so angry. I love this motor I built, but ever since I dropped it in and tried to turn it over the first time, it has been nothing but trouble and headaches. When it's running good....it's fantastic. But now it just pisses me off to no end.
That being said, continue to the next post
Ok, seeing as that this thread has been dead since early October, thought I would bring you guys up to speed.
First order of business (copied from thread in the Audio section, think the links in this post no good, i'll get em fixed):
So for a long time I have been contemplating the best way to put a decent stereo in my '73. Main concerns were simplicity, security, and ease of use. Nothing crazy, just loud enough to drown out road noise and annoying passengers. At one point in the past, I had a 10" sub downfiring in a sealed box in the center, amp on top, 6x9" under the dash, run off an ipod split into rca's haha
.Now it's time to do it up right. Once again I'm going to use a downfire 10", but with some changes to the design. Crutchfield is running some good prices on this Pioneer head unit, plus knocking 10% off for buying these Pioneer 6 1/2"s. Going to use this Kenwood amp because of the small size and decent power, plus the refurb price is much better than new, and i'm not picky.
I want some fairly secure locking storage as well, so the top of the sub box will be built up to include a place for the amp and some shallow basic storage for small items.
For a long time I tried different configurations where all the components would be housed in a single unit, but never could find a setup that didn't obscure the HU or become way too complicated. Ended up picking out this HU with a remote, and putting the Pioneer under the dash with (2) 6 1/2"s to either side. With the removable face i'm not worried about security, and the dash will protect it from most weather with the top off (will have a bikini top in the summer). Could always get a splash cover. Put the other two 6 1/2"s on the back of the box for the rear passengers and wahlah! Hopefully something that will work out quite well.
Here's the most recent drawings I came up with after some measuring.
Let me know what you guys think, I'm always glad to take advice, more sets of eyes see stuff I miss or don't think of.
Second order of business:
The Blazer is here in Austin with me. Long story, and I will go ahead and tell it. hope you guys don't mind lots of reading, I'll break it up into paragraphs to make it a little better.
.After being home in Lufkin for "dead week" studying for finals, I got up early and loaded up the Honda minivan for the long haul back to Austin. Rolled out of the driveway at 8am. About an hour and a half down the road, trans started acting up, traction control freaking out, stopped on the shoulder, see if restarting the vehicle would help, then it wouldn't go into gear, or so I thought.
Called my dad, he started figuring out a wrecker, when I called him back after discovering that the trans was actually just slipping....horribly (no movement in gear until around 1800 rpm
). Got back on the road and headed back towards Lufkin, so the Honda could go to a shop and hopefully I wouldn't fry the trans.Got home. Mom had the other car (Taurus), but the pinhole in its heater core had me worried with keeping water in it and such, so I said forget it. I'll take my truck.
No stereo, heat not working, No OD haha. Needless to say, first leg of the trip went awesome, truck did great, and I was loving driving it. Again though, around an hour and a half out, noticed that the oil pressure was a little on the low side, so I stopped in Madisonville at an O'Reillys. Oil level was low, put in 2 quarts to get it filled back up. Then I looked under the truck and noticed the bad oil leak....again. (Few posts back you'll see I had a problem with the valve covers leaking).
Started looking for the source, it was somewhere on the oil pan, suspected the front seal. Called my dad, he just said to keep putting oil in it until I got somewhere and was able to work on it. Got back on the road, stopped for gas in Bryan. Oil leak still horrendous. Finally made it to Caldwell, last nice sized city until Austin. Stopped in a NAPA parking lot and decided to try and get the leak fixed while I still had some daylight.
Many thanks to that NAPA, let me borrow some tools and their parking lot. Ended up that every, single bolt on the oil pan was not tight. Figures
. Over the break, I may dedicate a day to just retorqing and checking bolts on the whole truck. Tightened all those up, poured in some stop leak additive for good measure, picked up a couple more quarts of oil. As of last time I looked at the truck, oil leak seemed to have either stopped or slowed considerably.So with that fixed up, back on the road for the last leg of the journey. However, I didn't get away that easy. 30min out of Austin, engine starts acting up. Stuttering/missing/afterfiring at hwy speed...out of nowhere. Dunno if it was the best choice, but I stopped and backed the timing off ever so slightly. Still nothing. Ended up stopping about 4 more times to try to get it to stop running so bad. No luck. Drove the last 20-25 miles into Austin at 45-50 hoping I wasn't going to screw up the motor.
This had me so angry. I love this motor I built, but ever since I dropped it in and tried to turn it over the first time, it has been nothing but trouble and headaches. When it's running good....it's fantastic. But now it just pisses me off to no end.
That being said, continue to the next post
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
Any ideas as to what could have happened going down the road that caused it to all of a sudden stop running so good? (Timing, vacuum advance, bad fuel, etc?)
Anywho. here's the list of stuff I want to get mostly accomplished over the xmas break:
You are now officially up to speed.
Anywho. here's the list of stuff I want to get mostly accomplished over the xmas break:
- Get it home. haha
- Fix engine stuff
- Get fuel gauge wired up right
- Get trans to shift on it's own....all the time.
- Adjust the doors and get some grab handles so they're easier to close
- Finish up the Floors and Herc
- Patch the spare and get some locking lugs on my rims
- Locking storage (see above post)
- Seatbelts (Pretty sure I'm gonna get 3pt retractables from Corbeau)
- Rear seat covered and reinstalled
- Locking gas cap
- Get the heater hot...
You are now officially up to speed.
my s10 had a similar problem where it out of no where on the highway started missing and running like ****. Turns out that the plug were highly foulded. Not sure why it happened all of a sudden, but just throwing an idea at you.
BTW I like the design of your locking storage/sub box.
BTW I like the design of your locking storage/sub box.
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
hmm....when i get a chance after finals tomorrow, I'll pull some plugs and see what they look like....with how rich it ran for a while, it's possible..Thanks!
Cool. I've been mulling over it for a while. It'll make those long drives a little more bearable haha
G-Force8
1/2 ton status
I would bet its either
- a fouled plug (or plugs) or
- plug wires burning on exhaust
My Suburban started running like dung on the freeway a few months back. No power, sputtering and vibrating. A quick check of the wires showed that the two front-most wires on the passenger side had popped out of their looms and were laying on the manifold,melting away.
Went ahead an popped in a set of new Autolites and a set a wires and it purred like a kitten
- a fouled plug (or plugs) or
- plug wires burning on exhaust
My Suburban started running like dung on the freeway a few months back. No power, sputtering and vibrating. A quick check of the wires showed that the two front-most wires on the passenger side had popped out of their looms and were laying on the manifold,melting away.
Went ahead an popped in a set of new Autolites and a set a wires and it purred like a kitten
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
I'm pretty sure I did a visual inspect of the wires, don't think any of them had fallen onto the headers. I ended up using a custom fit wireset to try and prevent that. I'll check them again for good measure and then pull plugs either tomorrow or tuesday.
thanks for the help guys!
I had a weird one on a SB Chevy where a single pin in the dist cap fell out while driving. It wasn't easily noticeable, since the wire stayed in place on the top half of the pin. The bottom half, however, was laying under the rotor when I found it. The car lost a lot of power and started missing and popping under the slightest load. I've also had a distributor slip while at full throttle, but that killed the engine with a bright flash out the exhaust. Yours still may have slipped, but less than mine did. Just throwing out a few more possibilities for you to check.
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
sweet. Possibilities are good, so I don't flog a single one to no end. motor's got a Streetfire HEI from MSD. Timing has been spot on since I had a local guy set it and tune the carb. If I can get this thing home I may bother him again hahaha...if it needs it that is...
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
Ding ding ding we have a winner
Fouled plug. Cleaned it up and she's running great. Thanks guys!!!!
Recon!
Maniac
Wow, I hope you looked at all of them.
You might want to check compression (rings) and valve seals. That is a lot of junk for just fuel.
StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
Yeah, I pulled every one. This was the only one anywhere near this bad.
Oh I know it's not just fuel. However these plugs have been needing to be changed. (Been there since the inception of the motor, through messed up head gaskets and such.) It's not exhibiting any other signs of low compression or anything. Regardless, next time I get ahold of a compression tester I'll check em. Thanks.
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