79' GMC C15 - Spruce Caboose

[bix]

Babys got some new dancing shoes.

When I realized I couldn't run the rallies I bought, I sold them but kept the original wheel caps and found a wheel that would fit the disk brakes in the rear, and the drop spindles on the front and also hold the original caps. These are just some 17x9s I picked up on summit for under 100 bucks each shipped to my door. Trying to keep the original farm truck wheel vibe. They also sell beauty rings for these too..

It's so nice to have it a roller. Now I can roll it forward and get the driver's door on now that the regulator is all back in. I can then start to align the front fenders and doors ect as best as I can and toss the hood on also. Them all being from different trucks I'm sure it might be a pain.

 

[bix]

 

[bix]

After receiving a few outrageous quotes for driveshafts i figured id otta toss the old one in there anyway to get a visual of the numbers. I dived into the internet hole about tail shaft lengths depending on 4l60e aplication, live axle or not, ect..

I also didnt know how much engagement there was on the 4l60 tail shaft compared to the Th350. Turns out i am about 1 1/4 - 1 5/16 short on the shaft. I did find a longer 27 spline yoke for the trans. My stock size is 5 1/2 to centre of bearing cap with a 3 5/8 shaft. The one i ordered is 6 3/4 inches from centre of cap to the end of the shaft, and has a 4 3/4 of shaft. Which will give me an extra 1 1/4 +/- which will bring me about 1/8 more engagement than i had previously. I cant see how an extra inch and a half of length would throw this into a buss full of nuns but we shall see. Im not worried about trans damage as im sure it has worse things going for it at the moment.








The fact it doesnt leak leads me to thinking , it must be empty..

 

[Justin V]

I bet you're fine...

Not enough to actually bet, but why not?

You are a 2wd. How slip do you really need?

 

[bix]

I bet you're fine...

Not enough to actually bet, but why not?

You are a 2wd. How slip do you really need?

Riiight?


Yea this is my first 2wd and i was definitely over thinking it, til i realized that the slip doesnt see much travel at all..


i just want enough engagement that there isnt any minor wobbles in the tailshaft that will destory seals, and all that fun stuff ect..

 

[Justin V]

Just saying that my truck really doesn't use much slip at all. I have a slip shaft, not Yoke, but the rear only needs about an inch on my truck. Unless I jump it. Then it would need maybe 2 inches.

Now nor every one has their truck set up exactly like mine. And mine was luck. I didn't plan this.

I have about 9inches of droop in the rear suspension if I throw the truck on a hoist. Only needs a couple inches of shaft slip at that point. Short wheel base with reverse mounted 56" springs and a rear driveshaft that measures approx 53.5" at ride height. Under regular flexy moments it needs about an inch of slip. See my avatar, that was probably as twisted as it has been for a good bit, and at that point, it would have been an inch or less of extension.

 

[bix]

Got the driveshaft and yoke installed and backed it outta the shop to turn it around and see if the trans fully engages or not. I wanted to move it around and make sure it was topped up with fluid and worked. Seems okay, no weird grinding or anything. It did die when it went into gear a few times.. Not sure what thats about but once i can actually drive it around and get a data log ill know more. A buddy of mine seems to know how to whip up a good tune for what i have as im still very new to learning it all.



I did blow the power steering line when i was backing it into the shop and had no traction on the back tires. Ended using the jetta as the push buggy to get it back into the shop as it got hung up on the ledge... flexing it out? hah Im going to take my hose w/ fittings and go get one crimped professionally, im clearly not qualified haha.

My brakes are not too existant so somethings up there also. Once i get the bed back on and a plate on it ill be able to troubleshoot more.

I did pick up a set of delphi 50 lb injectors, a buddy warned me of potentially running lean at WOT with the stock injectors. Got these from glensautoperformance and they showed up from florida in two days.. not sure what sorta wizardry that was but hey thats nice! So, i guess changing out the injectors will be next.


Im also scheming up a system to hoist the bed onto the truck. Im going to first build some wheel dollys for the truck and see how the spacing all works out.

 

[bix]

Got the old injectors out ( stock 30 lb ) and put the new delphi 50 lb injectors in. They apear to be 42 lb injectors at 43 psi and 50 lb at 58 psi . I went with these injectors because they are a bigger than i need and give me room to grow, mainly purchased because they were cheaper than the 36 lb ones i wanted at first. The Holley ecu has the injectors listed which is a bonus so no importing flow charts. Got it back in and it fired up good with a new base tune. Got it turned around in the yard and back in the shop. Glad these old injectors are out.






Time to go over the whole thing and find the 9.5 and a half loose nuts , 1 missing keeper , and probably quite a few forgotten things along the last year. I will box up the rear bed frames for the drop shackles and get it back on, so this thing is street legal and can be plated. I put in a good day of chit work and wire wheeled the bottom of the bed supports and floor some.. I marked on both sides the 6-7 inches im going to cut out and box it in.








I need to actually drive it, record some data logs and see how the base tune is, get the idle good and dialed and saved. Then start venturing into the cruise and WOT VE tables to see where fueling can be added or pulled. Its idling at 13.8 AFR give or take on the base tune so thats decent and didnt run much different from 18 degrees to 20 at idle. Once i get the idle set in i can then actually record proper timing adjustment notes, now it was just to see about idle quality. Doing lots of research , and learning not only the holley system and software but also the computer side of what an engine needs to run, Atleast with VE tables. The looks of a Lb/hr chart makes me not too excited ,and I also really enjoy that the VE tables tie into the Fueling tables. Easier for a beginner like me.

This a great page with a ton of links to different holley EFI software troubleshooting scenarios with good descriptions of the systems involved. I know theres a few guys here with sniper systems and what not and these links are not just terminator related so might help some people.

Initial Checks & Adjustments - Read This! - Holley Performance Products Forums

Originally Posted by Danny Cabral Tech Support Contacts: Holley Tech Service (PHONE (https://www.holley.com/about/holley/contact/)), Holley Tech Service (EMAIL (https://www.holley.com/support/support_request/)), Holley Tech Support (INTERNET (https://www.holley.com/support/)) Datalogs...

forums.holley.com

Id love to buy one of these updated old school gauge clusters some day but man they arent cheap. I could buy the next project for the same price. I pass by a 1991 suzuki sidekick thats mint and for sale. Would be sweet to solid axle swap a little buggy like that...hmm I could buy a windows tablet for 125 bucks and just plug it in to the holley system and run the dash shown on my laptop screen.. I really dont like the look of a touch screen in a truck unless its done right, and i dont think id do it right so i Might set one up temporarily while i get the tune sorted and then go back to the little 3.5 inch when i dont need too much attention on the gauges and maybe one day ill get the fancy pants ones..

Also still gotta pull the trigger on the TBI glove box insert so i can tuck the holley ECU up there and out of the way.





I might be over thinking the bed situation... i realized the other day i only needed 3-4 friends and some beer to lift it on..

ill touch base when / if i find some friends....maybe ill put a wanted poster up at the general store for help haha.

 

[Justin V]

That last bit sounds all too familiar for me lately...

 

[bix]

That last bit sounds all too familiar for me lately...

The hermit life got ya?

Between trying to suceed, projects, wife, and my own life i dont have much spare time to make new friends in a new city... New being 4 years..

 

[Justin V]

The hermit life got ya?

Between trying to suceed, projects, wife, and my own life i dont have much spare time to make new friends in a new city... New being 4 years..

Yeah I moved a little over a year ago to city 800+ miles away.

 

[bix]

Yeah I moved a little over a year ago to city 800+ miles away.

Yea i often wonder if i should just " break down " some day infront of a few guys houses with shops that i drive past everyday... Im sure if i just happened to have some cooler beers it might got over well


I hear ya with the distance too, it sure isnt easy to meet people. Im about 2800 miles away from where i grew up, and about 800 miles from the last place i had a couple solid friends.. What brought you to move?

 

[Justin V]

We moved for many reasons, but the main reason was cost of real estate. It was a difference between living in a HOA controlled neighborhood and having a small house with no land, vs living in a restriction free area with 3 times the house and 20 times the land...and the monthly bill went down by over 400 bucks.

 

[bix]

We moved for many reasons, but the main reason was cost of real estate. It was a difference between living in a HOA controlled neighborhood and having a small house with no land, vs living in a restriction free area with 3 times the house and 20 times the land...and the monthly bill went down by over 400 bucks.

Right on, the move usually isnt easy, but it sounds like you gained quite a bit for what you probably had to give up. Its hard to ignore the invetible bouts of " grass is always greener " syndrome sometimes though.

 

[bix]

I picked up some Wheel dollys at our HF. I couldnt even buy castors for the same price as these so... i figured id try em out. They are good for 4k Lb but do the trick just fine to push the truck out of the way, now i can attack the storage shed that the box has become over the last year.









Once i made some space.. i measured and cut out the box support for the drop shackles to fit. I will be boxing these in and making some sort of drainage.

Spent a couple hours of chit work under there with a wire wheel and my die grinder. Got a decent chunk done and tossed some enamel over it. You can really tell this truck just drove around the farm most of its life, it doesnt have all the paint beaten off the bottom of it from rock and road salt in saskatchewan winters. Luckily the bottom of this box is in aot better shape than i had thought after seeing a few buddies...
I still got a lot of wire wheeling and sanding left, but seeing a chunk done for now is motivating. Ive been thinking about putting in a wodden bed floor in this sometime in the future. Some dark hardwood would look cool i think. anyway thats dream land for now, back to reality.






Before i put the bed on i wanted to address the crusty stuff i wont have access to anymore once its on. It will be coming off again when i decide to paint this truck, but for now i just want it sealed up as good as i can get.. I purchased my first neumatic tool and realized the next big tool purchase is a good second hand compressor or wait for boxing day sales ,so i can use the tools i want to use it for. Its still very handy for all those little nooks but waiting for more air isnt that funny...


Ive been scheming how to make a sweet i-beam trolly hoist, but for now i thought a 10 bolt inner axle shaft would work well enough, so i cut two holes with a hole saw big enough to slide the axle through, and hang the bed from the chain hoist. Then i can push the truck under the bed and lower it on.
Did a test lift and it all seems good to go. I just bought some threaded eye bolts and used nuts and washers on the stock mounting locations. When i drop the bed down ill use a shim on each bolt location, so i can get my eye bolts out and get the bed bolts lined up.






Got one more patch on this side but im going to finish those on the truck. I really need the space back this bed is taking up.

 

[bix]

Got the bed on today.. Went very well considering doing it alone isnt ideal. Such a nice sight to see it all together again, even though theres still alot of work left. It was sucha nice sunny day i couldnt pass up doing some organizing, and preparing for the rain to never end for 6 months. Got one more patch to make on the drivers side rear of the box, and the inner wheel well piece to replace since i have it here already, maw..










I cut some 2x4s and dropped the bed on each corner with a wooden 2x4 chunk, Removed the eye bolts and straps, then used my baby 4 ton jack on the leaf spring to get each sides shim out. I also used my heat shield, from the air intake kit. it didnt fit over on that side so i used it to fasten my batter down to, since i didnt have a tray, just the support.









technically it can be plated and driven soon......

 

[bix]

plan for now is work out all kinks over winter and spring, then take the box off and spray the truck when its nice and hot out. Im hoping for a green similar to this but non metallic and then a white ball cap on the cab.


I also plan on swapping over the 73-75 door shells i have since these are dinged and the bottom corner rot is real...
theyd make good repair doors as its really only the one bottom corner thats dinked.

 

[mrk5]

Looks really good. I so want those wheels for both my 73 C10 and the 66 C20. Unfortunately, they don't make them in 8 lug for the C20.

 

[bix]

Looks really good. I so want those wheels for both my 73 C10 and the 66 C20. Unfortunately, they don't make them in 8 lug for the C20.

Thanks. Im quite a happy squarebody owner over here thats for sure.

thats too bad they dont have them in the 8. Theyre a nice, cheap, good looking wheel, and they even sell beauty rings for them too. Ironically they are almost the same price as the wheel

 

[mrk5]

Yeah I've decided I can live without beauty rings because of that. Haha