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'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond
- Thread starter mrk5
- Start date
Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
I forgive you Scott 
So if you look at it with the proper perspective, we can document an incident where the "MAWS" didn't affect the outcome.....A cheap shot at all sketchy previous owners everywhere.
After it was all said and done I was thinking myself that I should have. It was kind of a slippery slope thing. First mistake was I thought $26 paid for TWO inserts. Then I realized it was only ONE.Then I got wrapped up in figuring out the correct insert, doing a couple of returns in the process.
So yeah, I should have just done one of theirs to begin with.
Maybe????
I used the stock crossmember with Kerts competition mounts, as I was mocking things up, I had the engine bolted in the frame, with trans. and doubler bolted up as well...the doubler was sitting on a couple of milkcrates for crossmember mockup...over night the milkcrates collapsed from the weight, but the motormounts held all of the weight up...I'm really surprised it didn't break the block casting where they were bolted on.
Yikes, that's pretty impressive. Especially considering there was enough force/weight being exerted to break the crates.
That's looking real good in there!
l just love the stickers you make! Very cool!
l just love the stickers you make! Very cool!
Thanks!
Just making slow progress when I want to take a break from sitting at the desk. Mounted the coil. Used rivnuts for the rubber isolators.
I want to run a bit of wiring across the top of the firewall where the washer fluid hose is. Since I don't have a hood on, I'm concerned if there would be any clearance issues with the hood.
I'm a little worried about the coil even, but I put it where the fuel pump relay was and it's not higher than the junction block on the other side. But adding a small loom of wires up higher I wasn't sure about. Looking at my uninstalled hood there is a rib that looks like might hang down a little lower than the top of the firewall.
Any thoughts?
I want to run a bit of wiring across the top of the firewall where the washer fluid hose is. Since I don't have a hood on, I'm concerned if there would be any clearance issues with the hood.
I'm a little worried about the coil even, but I put it where the fuel pump relay was and it's not higher than the junction block on the other side. But adding a small loom of wires up higher I wasn't sure about. Looking at my uninstalled hood there is a rib that looks like might hang down a little lower than the top of the firewall.
Any thoughts?
That rear bit of hood structure doesn't get any lower than it is at the hinges; from the picture you should be fine.
I would think that you could put a small harness through there, but I would keep it down to keep it out of trouble.
Here is my '90, note the rub mark on the washer hose.
Here is my '90, note the rub mark on the washer hose.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Guess I missed the post about the valve covers.
Where or who made those?
Pretty neat.
3d printed letters?
Where or who made those?
Pretty neat.
3d printed letters?
Thanks! They're cut from 1/4" aluminum: https://ck5.com/forums/threads/89-r...use-with-a-sniper.303347/page-79#post-3714229
Also worked on installing the throttle and transmission throttle valve cable. The Sniper comes with pretty nice brackets. However I wasn't happy with the trans throttle valve cable connection. It was fairly tight but it didn't move any with the adjustment. So I drilled a couple new holes to move the bracket further back.
It still didn't move much with the adjustment, but it's the same as it was with the factory TBI setup so I'm satisfied for now.
Other problem came up, the throttle cable doesn't work well. I did some looking on RockAuto and noticed the carburetor equipped 454's came with a 3" shorter throttle cable. Since they aren't that expensive, I ordered a new one. The cable that is in there isn't in that great a condition anyway.
It still didn't move much with the adjustment, but it's the same as it was with the factory TBI setup so I'm satisfied for now.
Other problem came up, the throttle cable doesn't work well. I did some looking on RockAuto and noticed the carburetor equipped 454's came with a 3" shorter throttle cable. Since they aren't that expensive, I ordered a new one. The cable that is in there isn't in that great a condition anyway.
Good info thanks guys. I think I'm going to try and run it over just below the flat area at the top of the concave section. Better safe than sorry.
Not much done in the past couple days; waiting for some stuff to show up. Installed top radiator hose. I had the "splice" piece in there for one of the fan switches but don't need it with the Sniper fan control ability. I thought it would be fun to add a thread-in temperature gauge. I got a 90 that I trimmed a couple inches off both legs and then a 36" straight hose trimmed down to less than half length.
Can definitely tell the 454 is longer than the 350. The thermostat is noticeably closer to the radiator. I had to support the hose for the 350. No problem there with the 454.
Can definitely tell the 454 is longer than the 350. The thermostat is noticeably closer to the radiator. I had to support the hose for the 350. No problem there with the 454.
Started the exhaust. 
You can see a couple places I had to add in little filler pieces. Below is what I have left from 2 mandrel 180° U-bends.
The first part to the merge is 2.5".
Putting in v-band clamps in the 3.5" pipe for easy removal. Had to do a little angle correction.
Unboxed the muffler and it's a monster.
It's a 50 series big block muffler, supposed to be the quietest they make. Plan is to weld a v-band clamp on the inlet and outlet. Hope to have the exhaust done tomorrow.
You can see a couple places I had to add in little filler pieces. Below is what I have left from 2 mandrel 180° U-bends.
The first part to the merge is 2.5".
Putting in v-band clamps in the 3.5" pipe for easy removal. Had to do a little angle correction.
Unboxed the muffler and it's a monster.
It's a 50 series big block muffler, supposed to be the quietest they make. Plan is to weld a v-band clamp on the inlet and outlet. Hope to have the exhaust done tomorrow.
Did you buy a kit for that with all the bends? I need to do exhaust soon
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Hope so. It was was quiet before. I'm old and I like it that way.
No, I just bought individual bends. The kits has more than I needed and they don't have kits with 3.5" pipe.
The collectors already have about a 45 degree bend, to my surprise. I think that's why I ended up with more of the bends left over.
Glad to see I'm not the only one that ended up with filler pieces.
Looks good.
Looks good.
