CK5
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'91 K5 Four Wheel Camper
This is the build for my 1991 V1500 Blazer, AKA the K5.3. It started out life being sold to the U.S. Government with a 350 TBI/700r4/241 combo. 4 years with a 5.3/700r4 Combo and now moving to an 8.1L Vortec and NV4500 5-speed.
Operation retrograde tailgate is in process. Last night I gutted the old tailgate from my 75. I had traded it to one of my techs for the spare 700r4. He has decided to go another direction with his and the gate was just taking up space. I picked it up on the way home and got to work after dinner. It's the last part from the 75 to give up of itself to the 91. I had not realized that all 91's were built with the electric rear windows, but looking through the restoration guide from the GM heritage website proved it.
That being said, I've made up my mind. It's going manual. I gutted everything short of the window run channels. Kept all the rest. The shell is junk. Ended up doing most in the dark by the light of my led work light. The sentimental nitwit in me got a little weird over working on the old gate but seeing the split in the sheetmetal and bondo across the bottom snapped me back to reality.
Got to make a run to Denver to visit my parents and deliver the dashpad I sold. Probably pull new gate apart to switch it. Just need to pull the lock cylinders so I can code the lock on the manual handle to the new key.
That being said, I've made up my mind. It's going manual. I gutted everything short of the window run channels. Kept all the rest. The shell is junk. Ended up doing most in the dark by the light of my led work light. The sentimental nitwit in me got a little weird over working on the old gate but seeing the split in the sheetmetal and bondo across the bottom snapped me back to reality.
Got to make a run to Denver to visit my parents and deliver the dashpad I sold. Probably pull new gate apart to switch it. Just need to pull the lock cylinders so I can code the lock on the manual handle to the new key.
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Got a little done today. Pulled the 91 gate apart and got all the electric stuff swapped out. Pretty easy. I was going to swap the lock cylinders, but the locks are completely different between the two. It means for now I'm using the door key from the 75 for the gate. Didn't take any pics of the swap but it isn't a highly technical thing either. One of the articles in the tech section goes over this in good detail.
I did put the new inner and outer weather strips on the gate for the glass. One note, don't do what I did by putting the inner on first. This pushed the glass to the outside and didn't give any room to slide the outer strip in without wedging something between the glass and the gate. It would have gone better if the outer strip was put on first and then the inner. Still it went on, just required extra fiddling to get the outer strip on.
So here's what I don't have any more...
I did put the new inner and outer weather strips on the gate for the glass. One note, don't do what I did by putting the inner on first. This pushed the glass to the outside and didn't give any room to slide the outer strip in without wedging something between the glass and the gate. It would have gone better if the outer strip was put on first and then the inner. Still it went on, just required extra fiddling to get the outer strip on.
So here's what I don't have any more...
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I need to do this on my '88
I had mentioned earlier one of my Techs and I were working on a mount for the Tuffy security console. The idea being it be back far enough for the cupholders to clear the t-case shifter and high enough to rest an arm on it while driving comfortably. After throwing ideas back and forth he had me make some cardboard templates, a bunch of measurements, texting pics we came up with this:
The interesting thing here is the material he made this out of. It's a composite material made up of a plastic core with aluminum skin on both sides. It's really light but very stiff/strong. I don't know what the name of it is, but if you have a local Chevy dealer that recently remodeled to have a really slick silver facade with a giant blue archway this is the material they used to skin it. Our store was remodeled a couple years back and my tech took every last scrap of this stuff to make brackets or other items with it. It's a little difficult to work with to bend as you need to make a relief cut on the inside of the bend, then bend it and epoxy the seam back up. Crazy rigid.
He ended up reconfiguring the cupholder to be mounted to the bracket and not the console.
Another shot showing the construction. Basic attachment of the console to the base will be through nutserts in the base with screws coming from the inside of the console.
How the front fits to the floor:
Looking at the rear:
Got gear to fill the console too. Going to be somewhat of a electrical center. Since the CB is in the front of the console it's going to need power. I need another 12v outlet and a couple of USB outlets too, so I got a panel off of Amazon to fill the bill. That's 3 more circuits, so rather than running multiple power wires into the box, I got a fuse panel with 6 fuse slots in it to power everything up. Need to run a 10 or 12 gauge wire up to it, but I've got a plan there too. Ended up picking up a LED dome lamp in the vendor area at the Street Rod Nationals this last weekend so that's going in to give it some light in the dark. Also picked up another radio in the swap meet area for a whopping $15. Killer Kenwood head unit with USB/AUX/Bluetooth and pre-outs. So the JVC is out. Plus my buddy John gave me an old Alpine amp to drive the 6x9's. It's not a giant high watt unit (60) but he said it will make a pair of 6x9's thump. Not looking to go nuts on the audio, but it would be nice to be able to hear it. It's a small enough unit it will fit bolted to the inside of the box. Then I've got a 300 watt ac/dc inverter so I can have ac power to run the tuning laptop.
Good thing I picked up some new wiring tools this last week. Ratcheting crimp pliers are awesome. Got a new wire stripper tool from the street rod show too. Both work great! I've got a bit of wiring to do in the near future to get this console trimmed out so these will come in handy.
The interesting thing here is the material he made this out of. It's a composite material made up of a plastic core with aluminum skin on both sides. It's really light but very stiff/strong. I don't know what the name of it is, but if you have a local Chevy dealer that recently remodeled to have a really slick silver facade with a giant blue archway this is the material they used to skin it. Our store was remodeled a couple years back and my tech took every last scrap of this stuff to make brackets or other items with it. It's a little difficult to work with to bend as you need to make a relief cut on the inside of the bend, then bend it and epoxy the seam back up. Crazy rigid.
He ended up reconfiguring the cupholder to be mounted to the bracket and not the console.
Another shot showing the construction. Basic attachment of the console to the base will be through nutserts in the base with screws coming from the inside of the console.
How the front fits to the floor:
Looking at the rear:
Got gear to fill the console too. Going to be somewhat of a electrical center. Since the CB is in the front of the console it's going to need power. I need another 12v outlet and a couple of USB outlets too, so I got a panel off of Amazon to fill the bill. That's 3 more circuits, so rather than running multiple power wires into the box, I got a fuse panel with 6 fuse slots in it to power everything up. Need to run a 10 or 12 gauge wire up to it, but I've got a plan there too. Ended up picking up a LED dome lamp in the vendor area at the Street Rod Nationals this last weekend so that's going in to give it some light in the dark. Also picked up another radio in the swap meet area for a whopping $15. Killer Kenwood head unit with USB/AUX/Bluetooth and pre-outs. So the JVC is out. Plus my buddy John gave me an old Alpine amp to drive the 6x9's. It's not a giant high watt unit (60) but he said it will make a pair of 6x9's thump. Not looking to go nuts on the audio, but it would be nice to be able to hear it. It's a small enough unit it will fit bolted to the inside of the box. Then I've got a 300 watt ac/dc inverter so I can have ac power to run the tuning laptop.
Good thing I picked up some new wiring tools this last week. Ratcheting crimp pliers are awesome. Got a new wire stripper tool from the street rod show too. Both work great! I've got a bit of wiring to do in the near future to get this console trimmed out so these will come in handy.
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Got a little done today after dinner while avoiding the rain. I borrowed the nutsert tool from my tech and armed with fresh batteries in my drill I commenced to punch some holes. I do have to say this, a nutsert tool is high on my buy list after using it. Very slick and I can find many other uses for it. I set the base with the floor brackets now installed and marked out where the holes land on the floor. Quick work with a step drill to work up to the size where the insert snugly goes through the hole. Here's a shot after I cut the holes and just set the inserts in.
For those who haven't used one of these, the insert looks like this:
You then screw the insert onto the threaded end of the tool. Extend the arms out on the tool and place the end with the insert into the hole. Pull the handles in and the tool pulls up on the base of the insert to allow it to squeeze up to the bottom side of the sheet metal. The idea is it works like a hollow pop rivet but with threads on the inside.
The tool:
Here's the base mounted:
Tuffy bolted down.
I bolted it in to make sure everything lines up. It is exactly how I wanted it to go in. It's going to come back out again so I can run wires and the antenna cable for the CB. I plan on painting the base with the same satin black tractor paint to make it disappear with the floor mat and console.
Within the shelter of the garage in the rain I got started for the panel to be mounted inside the box with the outlets. This is more of the same material the base is made of.
It's got a marine style 12v outlet that locks as well as the USB outlet with 2 ports. Speaking of tools here's the wiring stuff I picked up in the last week. Both work great and the crimping pliers give you great leverage with how it ratchets. Perfect crimps every time.
Now that I've used the nutsert tool, I got to get one for me. I plan on setting up some mounts for the 6x9 boxes to make them a little more theft proof. Should be able to make some progress on the wiring tomorrow after work.
For those who haven't used one of these, the insert looks like this:
You then screw the insert onto the threaded end of the tool. Extend the arms out on the tool and place the end with the insert into the hole. Pull the handles in and the tool pulls up on the base of the insert to allow it to squeeze up to the bottom side of the sheet metal. The idea is it works like a hollow pop rivet but with threads on the inside.
The tool:
Here's the base mounted:
Tuffy bolted down.
I bolted it in to make sure everything lines up. It is exactly how I wanted it to go in. It's going to come back out again so I can run wires and the antenna cable for the CB. I plan on painting the base with the same satin black tractor paint to make it disappear with the floor mat and console.
Within the shelter of the garage in the rain I got started for the panel to be mounted inside the box with the outlets. This is more of the same material the base is made of.
It's got a marine style 12v outlet that locks as well as the USB outlet with 2 ports. Speaking of tools here's the wiring stuff I picked up in the last week. Both work great and the crimping pliers give you great leverage with how it ratchets. Perfect crimps every time.
Now that I've used the nutsert tool, I got to get one for me. I plan on setting up some mounts for the 6x9 boxes to make them a little more theft proof. Should be able to make some progress on the wiring tomorrow after work.
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Spent the afternoon after work in the zone getting wiring done to the console. Amp is mounted, Panel is mounted with two switches, one for the light and one for the inverter. Light is mounted and all the wiring is roughed in and hooked up. Still need to tidy things up with loom and routing, but it's ready to power up. I mounted the speaker boxes in front of the wheel tubs with a nutsert to the sidewall on each side. Speaker wires are run and ready to plug into the amp.
Tomorrow's fun will be to run the 12ga wire from the battery. I'm running directly to the battery for clean power for the amp and CB, but will be using a 80amp constant duty solenoid and a 30 amp circuit breaker. I need to mount the Kenwood into it's spot in the dash and plug it in. I need to mount the CB antenna and run it's cable so it can be hooked up to the CB in the console. Plus I need to get it ready to roll to Larry's for the pinon angle adjustment.
Sorry no pics since I was making good progress on the wiring. That and it was dark when I packed it in.
Tomorrow's fun will be to run the 12ga wire from the battery. I'm running directly to the battery for clean power for the amp and CB, but will be using a 80amp constant duty solenoid and a 30 amp circuit breaker. I need to mount the Kenwood into it's spot in the dash and plug it in. I need to mount the CB antenna and run it's cable so it can be hooked up to the CB in the console. Plus I need to get it ready to roll to Larry's for the pinon angle adjustment.
Sorry no pics since I was making good progress on the wiring. That and it was dark when I packed it in.
Got a lot done this morning on the electrical. Just kept moving from one area to another. Circuit breaker and solenoid mounted on the right fender. Wiring run from fuse panel for switched power to the solenoid and 12ga circuit run to the console area. Finalized connections to the amp and ground for the circuits. Mounted the Kenwood into it's spot and powered it all up. Most of it works...
Seems as if the switches are probably wired in backwards for the lights and inverter. The light pops the fuse, but I think it's the lack of a mounting ring for the switch allowing one terminal to touch. USB outlet lights up, but tried my phone and it didn't indicate it was charging. That might be the cord I was using. The stereo absolutely rocks. That is for running through 3 speakers right now. Seems as if I got nothing through the left rear channel. In order to confirm if it was a wiring issue or not, I swapped the RCA inputs at the amp. Still only got sound out of the right speaker (now fading to left channel). If I'm thinking about it correctly I've got a wiring problem to the left rear speaker or the amp output is is fried to that channel. Will need to troubleshoot more.
I also swapped out the governor cover on the trans with a new part since it's been dribbling. I also put a proper tailshaft plug in place of the rear driveshaft instead of the band-aid I had on it to limp home, which leaked.
I had to get it all together so I could make it to a little princess' 3rd birthday party. The King of the house had requested the K5.3's presence to make the required pinion adjustment. The drive over was smooth and trouble free. Stereo cranked up cruising along with all the windows down. Even though it's not perfect for a 20 minute ride all was right. That was until the rain started coming down. Hmm, yeah never put the wiper arms on. Why am I getting wet? Oh yeah the back window is rolled down. Spray off the tires gets sucked in like a shop vac. I just slowed down as I was pretty close to Larry's anyway. Still it's a treat to drive and now with the seat lined up it don't feel goofy. Looking forward to new measurements from Larry and how bad my wallet will hurt for a new shaft.
Seems as if the switches are probably wired in backwards for the lights and inverter. The light pops the fuse, but I think it's the lack of a mounting ring for the switch allowing one terminal to touch. USB outlet lights up, but tried my phone and it didn't indicate it was charging. That might be the cord I was using. The stereo absolutely rocks. That is for running through 3 speakers right now. Seems as if I got nothing through the left rear channel. In order to confirm if it was a wiring issue or not, I swapped the RCA inputs at the amp. Still only got sound out of the right speaker (now fading to left channel). If I'm thinking about it correctly I've got a wiring problem to the left rear speaker or the amp output is is fried to that channel. Will need to troubleshoot more.
I also swapped out the governor cover on the trans with a new part since it's been dribbling. I also put a proper tailshaft plug in place of the rear driveshaft instead of the band-aid I had on it to limp home, which leaked.
I had to get it all together so I could make it to a little princess' 3rd birthday party. The King of the house had requested the K5.3's presence to make the required pinion adjustment. The drive over was smooth and trouble free. Stereo cranked up cruising along with all the windows down. Even though it's not perfect for a 20 minute ride all was right. That was until the rain started coming down. Hmm, yeah never put the wiper arms on. Why am I getting wet? Oh yeah the back window is rolled down. Spray off the tires gets sucked in like a shop vac. I just slowed down as I was pretty close to Larry's anyway. Still it's a treat to drive and now with the seat lined up it don't feel goofy. Looking forward to new measurements from Larry and how bad my wallet will hurt for a new shaft.
Well, I got to thank Larry for getting the pinion angle adjustment knocked out. Called him on a road test after getting some texts where he said the trans was still leaking. I asked where and at the moment to him it looked like the governor area AGAIN! Son of a biscuit! He thought it might have been from in between the trans and t-case but I shot that idea down since that area was bone dry on Sunday. Anyway, I had the wife bring me back to his place tonight to pick it up since Larry can't touch it again for a couple of weeks or more. No big deal, I can fix leaks. I come armed with a gallon of Dex6. Top off the trans and proceeded to dump a half quart right out of the funnel all over the pass side inner fender. ARRGH! While it's running to check the level, Larry spies the drips again. I craw under it and to my surprise it's not the governor cover. It is puking from the trans output to t-case adapter seal. Drip, Drip, Drip... I decide since the wife is already halfway home by this point to take it easy and putt the truck home. Didn't loose much, as it wasn't leaving a bloody trail behind me. Parked a drain pan under it to catch the mess and called it a night.
Frustrating to say the least. To top it off, photobucket is being a pain and taking forever to upload from my phone so no pics. People not into this hobby must think we are mental for putting up with crap like this. Still, looks like I get to yank the t-case out in the driveway and seal this pig up. Yea me!
Frustrating to say the least. To top it off, photobucket is being a pain and taking forever to upload from my phone so no pics. People not into this hobby must think we are mental for putting up with crap like this. Still, looks like I get to yank the t-case out in the driveway and seal this pig up. Yea me!
I hate leaks too.. It's funny how sometimes these trucks sit for years and don't leak, then you put fresh gaskets or sealant and they puke all over the place.. That console is really nice, I'm diggin that power outlet the voltmeter is a nice touch.
Thanks for the support! Just had to vent last night. The is what the leak looks like.
I've got the u-joint here at the shop so I'll put that in up here. Check angles tonight before I pull it.
I've got the u-joint here at the shop so I'll put that in up here. Check angles tonight before I pull it.
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That's puking pretty good.
I think the problem is that your equipment is too shiny. Get a good thick layer of congealed oily dirt on there and you won't hafta look at the leak anymore. 
On my old 75, that indeed was the line of thinking I had. The 465/205 combo had such a shell of congealed gear oil and dirt they were hardly recognizable. The 350 leaked from evey spot it could too.
This one is too nice all kidding aside to let it go. With all the effort Larry and I have made to clean it up I won't let it go. It's $12 worth of seals from my dealership. Yes I'm replacing both seals in the adapter. Might as well, right? All its going to cost me is some quality time under the truck. And as warped as I am, I like it under there. So it's ok.
Gonna go under it after dinner and pop the driveshaft in to see how we did on the angles.
This one is too nice all kidding aside to let it go. With all the effort Larry and I have made to clean it up I won't let it go. It's $12 worth of seals from my dealership. Yes I'm replacing both seals in the adapter. Might as well, right? All its going to cost me is some quality time under the truck. And as warped as I am, I like it under there. So it's ok.
Gonna go under it after dinner and pop the driveshaft in to see how we did on the angles.
Here's some progress pics from last weekends thrash..
Console panel:
Speaker mounting.
The $15 Kenwood mounted.
I've still got to clean up and loom all the wiring. Checking driveline angles last night, I still have too high of a working angle to run without a cv joint. Its a bummer since it's going to cost a bit to get one made, but I'll cover the costs with the Impala I'm selling. Just need it to sell! I'll pull the shaft back out and get the dimensions for the shaft tomorrow. Then the t-case comes out so I can seal up my puking mess.
Console panel:
Speaker mounting.
The $15 Kenwood mounted.
I've still got to clean up and loom all the wiring. Checking driveline angles last night, I still have too high of a working angle to run without a cv joint. Its a bummer since it's going to cost a bit to get one made, but I'll cover the costs with the Impala I'm selling. Just need it to sell! I'll pull the shaft back out and get the dimensions for the shaft tomorrow. Then the t-case comes out so I can seal up my puking mess.
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Spent the afternoon under the K5.3 today and discovered the reason the for the mystery of the massive leak. While waiting for my buddy John to come over to help me lift out the t-case to change the seal I started to loosen the bolts to the trans. Two of the 4 bolts were barely finger tight. I know with the trans being out to put the tv cable kit and all the t-case problems we never broke the adapter from the trans. The t-case was pulled off the adapter only. The adapter showed no signs of leakage. Anyway we get everything sealed back up and shove the t-case back in. We start on the 4 bolts and sure enough two get tight and two get snug. SOB! We pull the t-case again and try the bolts in the holes that would not get tight and figure we might have enough room to run an allen head cap screw in from the front and then put a nut on the backside. Worth a shot right? So the banzai run to the farm store before it closes swings into motion. We grab what we need and get back and find out that the slightly longer bolts we got to reach through are too long to come in from the front without hitting the trans case and coming in at an angle. We did try the bolt from the backside without the tcase and it threaded in nicely. So we put the t-case back in and try it again, still using the original bolts since the ones we got are too long. Just like before, two of the bolts get snug, but not tight. The idea was the other bolt getting run through cleaned up the threads. WRONG.
So I may try a regular bolt in the correct way but just a 1/4" longer to make sure it reaches all the way through on the top bolt. I'm skeptical though. It may be that I'm going to have to tap the holes in the trans to the next size up and use bigger bolts. I'm open for suggestions if anybody else has run into this problem.
I will say this, if I cross paths with the nitwits that had this truck before they may get beat to death with a sock full of the bolts they screwed up.
So I may try a regular bolt in the correct way but just a 1/4" longer to make sure it reaches all the way through on the top bolt. I'm skeptical though. It may be that I'm going to have to tap the holes in the trans to the next size up and use bigger bolts. I'm open for suggestions if anybody else has run into this problem.
I will say this, if I cross paths with the nitwits that had this truck before they may get beat to death with a sock full of the bolts they screwed up.
either step up bolt size or helicoil
That's probably going to be the plan. I am happy that it's a 241 t-case. Doing the same thing with a 205 probably would have hurt.
Haven't picked up a 241, but the 205 is a heavy bitch...
