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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.
The GM parts catalog does show a different part number between small block and big block. It does not show a difference between 2wd and 4wd. There might be a difference in the big block mounts since they showed two different part numbers but the catalog did not show any reason for the difference. I might have to dig out an actual parts book from upstairs to see if it lists any difference.

Strange? I know there is different heights between mounts for sure. I have measured them and have pics. I’ll dig them up just for a good debate! :D


https://ck5.com/forums/threads/big-...d-four-wheel-drive.319202/page-2#post-3494519
 
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Not sure If I did that right, but the link is a old one of when I swapped the 454 into my 77 .
It worked just fine, but it goes completely backward to our findings. Keep this in mind we were not looking for it as a 2wd/4wd issue. But the taller mounts with and without the mount shims would not fit right at all. If we got one bolt in, the other side was right at an inch off. Our measurements had it at a 1/2" per side, which added together fit the full inch we were off by. So in the exact opposite way, we ended up needing the smaller/shorter mount saddles to get the big block to fit. With it installed we have lots of clearance to the ORD cross member.

It's truly odd that the taller saddles threw us for a loop.
 
It worked just fine, but it goes completely backward to our findings. Keep this in mind we were not looking for it as a 2wd/4wd issue. But the taller mounts with and without the mount shims would not fit right at all. If we got one bolt in, the other side was right at an inch off. Our measurements had it at a 1/2" per side, which added together fit the full inch we were off by. So in the exact opposite way, we ended up needing the smaller/shorter mount saddles to get the big block to fit. With it installed we have lots of clearance to the ORD cross member.

It's truly odd that the taller saddles threw us for a loop.

So actually it would be the ORD cross member that gave you guys the trouble?
 
Nope. The ord crossmember does not effect the mounting pad locations. The tall mount saddles made it too wide to fit.
 
I remember having the mount issue when I put the 454 in the crew cab (replacing 350). The first set of poly mounts were not right. I can't remember now how I found the right ones, but it wasn't straight forward is all I remember.
 
I got thrown in our parts Dept again today so I made use of some free time to review the old paper catalog. It confirmed the digital version I looked it all up on Friday.

14067103 lists for both 2wd and 4wd with 454, 2wd 6.2
00334607 lists for 2wd/4wd 7.4n ( not sure what the n is calling out.
14071967 lists for small blocks 2wd and 4wd as well as 4wd 6.2

I had originally picked up 00334608 from the local boneyard and was told they came off a small block. Google that number and it lists for small block trucks, but also full size cars with big block engines from '73 up.

To add to the confusion, the ones that did work did not have any numbers stamped into them at all. Nor does the paper catalog give a dimension of how far the bolt hole is away from the mounting surface.

I'm going to have to go back to the other thread that has pics of the mounts and see if the part numbers match up.
 
Got a few things knocked out on the bastard today. Injectors, harness and fuel rail are on. Spark plugs and wires are on. Map and knock sensors are in along with the accessories and belt. Then moved underneath to nail down the flywheel, clutch and bell. Looking nice!
4 wheel burnouts coming soon :burnout:

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Got a few things knocked out on the bastard today. Injectors, harness and fuel rail are on. Spark plugs and wires are on. Map and knock sensors are in along with the accessories and belt. Then moved underneath to nail down the flywheel, clutch and bell. Looking nice!
4 wheel burnouts coming soon :burnout:

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:sign12:
 
Bwahaha

awesome artwork!
The artwork is fitting because the truck has fought us in so many ways.

But I look forward to the day many years down the road when it's time to replace the clutch and we find the artwork again. That's gonna be funny because in our advanced age we will have a case of the Wade's and forget it's there.
 
Congratulations Rob! It’s a boy! (y)
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I have a little more trimming to do around the shifter tower on the passengers side.
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The transmission and transfercase pretty much fell into place but in true fashion, anytime dealing with anything on the frame is a fawking nightmare. Now the transmission crossmember bolts will not line up to the holes. Its not that the engine and trans assembly is any different in length where new holes are needed but more like the frame rail seems to be pushed inward on the drivers side at the bottom of the frame rail. The same side where the front leaf spring bushing are pooched out with bent leaf spring bolts and bent shackles :thinking:. Looks like I’ll need to use the Porta Power to push the frame rail out to get the bolts to line up. The good news is the heavy lifting is done! Now its all wiring and the tedious details, which is what I like :smile1:
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Doing the happy dance over here. So cool to see the shifter poking up through the floor now.

I'm certain I probably caused the frame damage not seeing a bump soon enough off road and launching it off the ground. It was a trip pre-camper install, but none the less didn't help our situation now. My wife was in the truck with me and wasn't very pleased as she had the dog in her lap at the time.

Once we get it on the road I'll bribe my body guy at work some pizza to put it on our frame bench and see what we can do to get it lined back up again. Sure explains the lean to the left though.
 
It amazes me how flimsy and flexible the frames are on squarebodies.
I really didn't think I did anything out of the ordinary, but it's pretty obvious it's tweaked pretty good.

The positive side of it being so flexible is we should be able to bring it back into shape. We had a K10 in our body shop that shoved the right side rail back hard enough it popped the rivets to the engine crossmember. With careful pulling on the frame bench my guy was able to get the whole frame back within 1/8" to square.

No more air time for me.
 
Cool stuff man! Looks like you are right about at the same spot my build got stalled out at. Keep up the good work Larry!
Yep, the heavy lifting is done. Now the tedious details come in. Thankfully, Larry thrives on tedious details. This weekends fun for me is stripping the paint off the inner fenders and coating them with bedliner. He needs them back so we can get the PCM mounted and start routing the harness.
 
So to catch up, Larry was able to get the trans cross member bolted in with the help of his porta-power to get the frame lined up to drop the bolts in.
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My project this last weekend was to clean up the inner fenders and prep them for coating with bedliner. I ended up using an angle grinder with a knotted wire cup brush for the majority of it. Note to self, tuck in the t-shirt when using that thing. I was near the end of the work to clean them up when I managed to lean over the inner fender while the grinder slipped of the edge and managed to catch my shirt and reel it in faster than I could react. The cup brush did tag me on the belly but not break the skin. I got a nice bruise from it for sure. I figured I was done at the point. Since I wasn't prepping for paint I didn't go to town with paint stripper or get every ounce of old paint off.
Ready for minor rust repair.
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The standard problem area right behind the brace on the backside of the wheel opening.
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Same thing, other side plus another small spot to fix.
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I had got a text from Ian that offered to patch up the rusty spots and to drop them by. He's finishing up the floors on his CUCV so he's got all the tools out to tackle the little job.

Ian drilled out the spot welds and pulled braces.
One side don't look too bad.
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The other side, not so good.
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Larry has been working on the shifter boots. Following what he's done on his Suburban, the 241 shifter is trimmed of the parts that would normally mount the big black shifter bezel and replaced with a boot and ring from a 205.
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Another view. The 205 boot is pretty ratty, but all we got for the moment. CaptRon's gonna see what he's got in his stash for anything better.
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I was planning on using some rattle can bedliner on the inner fenders, but we are using some Raptor liner at work on one of our used trucks so I'm going to bring them up and sneek them in the booth.
 

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