79' GMC C15 - Spruce Caboose

[bix]

This weekend I tackled the rad, thermostat and front brakes. Once I had the new rad in, then knew that the gauge, or temp sender wasnt working properly, and I put a new sender on when I got it. The original rad has shellfish growing in there so it was definitely time to go.

The old tranny cooler lines were very caked in but I soaked them over night n wire wheeled them with the die grinder , and they came out pretty decent.

Since the oil pressure gauge jumped around alot and the coolant gauge was out to lunch, installed these mechanical gauges. They came with all the adapters to switch over from electric which made it nice.







Oil pressure is steady at 34 psi at idle
Water temp is heating up to 210 and then cooling down to 175 area at idle.

It seems to have a better idle now too. I'm thinking maybe it was due to running rich at a low temp? I dunno but I'm happy either way.


A good friend of mine just got his 5.3 turbo stepside shortbox tuned n running for the first time since the turbo. We went and cruised it.. and it's nutty. A license looser for suuuure haha.

 

[Bent77]

Sad to hear about the k5, but glad you used some of it to chew up the credit debt

project is coming along!

 

[max 02]

Right on Nick!

Your buddy’s short box look like a cool ride!

 

[bix]

Sad to hear about the k5, but glad you used some of it to chew up the credit debt

project is coming along!

Yea I'm sad to see it go but it was the right thing. Debt , welder, another square body, and parts ain't too bad of a deal.

And yea she's turning out to be a decent daily driver. And the rust is very saveable with the means that I have right now, which is why it's such a better fit than the blazer at the moment.

Underneath of the gmc is so healthy in comparison.

Right on Nick!

Your buddy’s short box look like a cool ride!

It so sweet. It's 3 different trucks and somehow to colors go together.. except for the bare primer roof. While driving n tuning it we put 12 lbs of boost to it. Definitely too much for th350 or g80 twelve bolts to live through more than a few times haha.

 

[max 02]

Yea I'm sad to see it go but it was the right thing. Debt , welder, another square body, and parts ain't too bad of a deal.

And yea she's turning out to be a decent daily driver. And the rust is very saveable with the means that I have right now, which is why it's such a better fit than the blazer at the moment.

Underneath of the gmc is so healthy in comparison.





It so sweet. It's 3 different trucks and somehow to colors go together.. except for the bare primer roof. While driving n tuning it we put 12 lbs of boost to it. Definitely too much for th350 or g80 twelve bolts to live through more than a few times haha.

Sounds like fun! Happy to here you’re liking your c10s condition rust wise. Usually a guy finds more rust than first anticipated. I’m jealous of your new welder that will be nice to work with for sure!
The two trucks look good together, probably not a ton of round eyes running the island these days.
Cool!

 

[bix]

Sounds like fun! Happy to here you’re liking your c10s condition rust wise. Usually a guy finds more rust than first anticipated. I’m jealous of your new welder that will be nice to work with for sure!
The two trucks look good together, probably not a ton of round eyes running the island these days.
Cool!

Yea I have found more than I thought. But I did buy it at night and hadn't really seen it in a year but I figured for the price if it lasted a year or two it'd be worth it. It needs cab corners and one side can use a quarter but the original inner fenders don't even have holes in them yet.. so she's got a lot of wins for the loses she does have. No sub frame rust, body mount rust, crossover rot. No floor rot except two little 4x4 inch patches . It'll all need attention but hopefully not too much welding. Alot of sanding to get all the surface rust off before paint but that'll be okay..

 

[6872xtc]

Subscribed.

Are you going to change your avatar picture now that the Blazer is gone?

 

[bix]

Subscribed.

Are you going to change your avatar picture now that the Blazer is gone?

Ah that would make it all too real haha

 

[bix]

Scored some goodies today. When my friend hit a bird and ruined the GMC grille on this thing he also damaged some chrome trim, so i found the top piece I needed. Also scored a tailgate to make a bench out of since I have a bunch of old Douglas fir from the 60s I took from a Reno, that I've never done anything with yet. And also scored a factory tach cluster. Not sure if I'll install it because the yellow dials and what not aren't era correct... Buuuut it'll probably end up in the c10 since I always wanted one. Also found the owners manual under behind the seat and some synergy greasable sway bar bushings.

I went out there for a hood and other stuff and left with nothing I went there for. Glad I went though.

 

[bix]

Well that's pretty gross...

 

[bix]

My reason for taking the carb off and apart was that I was having cold start issues. I assumed it was the choke so after days and days of tuning it a touch each morning when it was cold I got it to start first crank but then itd die shortly after. After doing some research online I read that the well plugs at the bottom of the qjets often start to leak over time. One way I read to test this is to go out first thing in the morning,or after sitting for awhile, and push the accelerator pump by hand and see how many times it delivers fuel from the bowl. After trying this I realized I was only getting about two squirts and then some half ass squirts and then nothing.. as if the fuel bowl was empty.. the gaskets were gross, wet and smelled like fuel also.. and like I always do I figured **** it, why not give it a go. ( After fully rebuilding the 4 synched carbs on my xj and getting way in over my head at times ) I figured freshening this one up wouldn't be a hard task. I watched a few videos and then got to it.

My friend Scott ( previous owner said he had someone rebuild the float a few years back ) but that was about it. I noticed the choke on it seems aftermarket so that's been replaced as well as the secondary vacuum is quite shiny...



After taking photos so I wouldn't mess up one of the what seems like way to many smog vacuum lines, I broke her apart and just gave it a decent cleaning looking for any obvious signs. The float had been replaced along with the needle valve and seat. Float height checked out at 15/32s so I left that along. The gasket which surrounds the pump is super annoying to get seated properly without ruining the gasket and many times wanted to kick that engineer in the shin.. but I got through it. The carb overall was in decent shape. No gunk I'm the bottom of the bowls. Passages all seemed clean.

Someone's been in here before because the fuel mixture screws had the plugs hacked out. One was set 6.5 turns out from its seat and the other was 5.5 turns out from its seat. And someone had previously put JB weld ( which is what everyone on the internet suggested to do,other than hitting them back in) on the well plugs which was half gone. I re applied some more, let it cure for 15 hours like it suggests and re installed the carb this morning. Was a bit tough to get going , which I'm sure is partly because of the empty float bowl. Once she got fired up she ran good. High idle cam and all that functioned as it should, so I got the pieces back together somewhat properly haha. My Chilton's manual stated that the idle mixture screws should be set at 4.5 turns out from its seat so that's where I put them. Seems to idle nice, checked idle speed in park. Which is about 750... All seems well. The true test will be how it starts in about 12 hours of sitting. I have read about these carburetors also flooding or over richening the mixture and causing starting issues, but I'll tackle the other potential problems if this doesn't solve my issue. As for carbs I really haven't messed with them any, so if anyone has any words of wisdom to a quadrajet I'd be more than glad to listen.

Fingers crossed!

 

[bix]

I'm just glad my bench didn't look like this, this time.

 

[Bent77]

Aside from that scary last picture...

the fuel bowl wells are an issue for sure. I used JB weld. Lasts a couple years, then the ethanol gets to it, like everything rubber in the field system

In lieu of a vac gage, start at 4.5 out. When warm, turn the screws in 1/4 and wait, until it stumbles a tad at idle. Then back out 1/2 turn

 

[bix]

Aside from that scary last picture...

the fuel bowl wells are an issue for sure. I used JB weld. Lasts a couple years, then the ethanol gets to it, like everything rubber in the field system

In lieu of a vac gage, start at 4.5 out. When warm, turn the screws in 1/4 and wait, until it stumbles a tad at idle. Then back out 1/2 turn

I'm glad when I listen to the internet, and then people I trust say they did the same thing. Internet is a scary place if it's not ck5 haha. I do have a vacuum gauge as I picked one up the other day, wasn't sure what vacuum line to hook it up that wouldn't affect the idle and give me a clear reading. I'm assuming if I used one of the smog lines it would be fine. Now that the carb hasn't self destructed after touching it I should definitely get it out.

As for the last scary photo. I spent a good 20 hours probably taking that thing a part and cleaning it. Took probably 100 photos, she runs good but I do need to invest in a set of 4 vacuum gauges to set the carbs properly after all that work. Its still too cold to ride so the new truck has trumped all bike work.

 

[bix]

Why did they even use well plugs.. is it because they had to drill another hole and they intersected at the bottom where the plugs are then placed?

 

[Bent77]

Why did they even use well plugs.. is it because they had to drill another hole and they intersected at the bottom where the plugs are then placed?

That's my guess. I wish they had used pipe plugs, but...

I did try to solder those once but couldn't get enough heat into it to work

 

[bix]

So it's been about 8-9 hours and I went out to fire it up and it did the same thing as before. And the gasket on-top of the float bowl is wet all the way around with gas again.. I made sure those screws were tight. Besides someone having warped the top of the carb.. I'm at a loss why its leaking.. again.

 

[Bent77]

They will do that if the float is too high. Then the bowl will drain back towards the tanks (siphon style), especially if the diaphragm in the pump isn't 100%

 

[bix]

They will do that if the float is too high. Then the bowl will drain back towards the tanks (siphon style), especially if the diaphragm in the pump isn't 100%

Okay so I must not have measured the float height properly. It stated that you should use one finger to hold the bar that's inserted through the float, and the other to push down on the float and needle valve until it sits in its guide. It said apply slight pressure. I tried to push it down until it was just seated? That's probably where I messed it all up.

When you say diaphragm you mean the rubber round part with the spring inside it that sits around the bottom of the pump
?

 

[bix]

Tuition sucks..