'91 K5 Four Wheel Camper

[ZooMad75]

The Blazer is back home at my place now. The exhaust guy had a couple of delays that made it challenging for us to get it picked up during the week so we said screw it and planned for today. Larry and Hannah came over to pick me up and we buzzed out to the county to free it from exhaust jail. I hopped in and brought it home with no drama. Once home I took some of the stuff out of the back and started fitting up the grille, bezels and marker lights. It don't look like the '88 support is going to play nice with the '89-91 grille/bezel setup. The grille fits, but the headlights are a 1/2" too high and the marker lights don't bolt up to the core support at all. I'll keep my eye out, but I have other stuff to deal with right now.

One of those items is a working park brake. Since my 14b has the older backing plates my existing cable from the pedal is way too long. I've got all the parts from my old K5 except that cable. I'll need to get one.

For now I'm just picking away at little things.

 

[Wes Harden]

Inline tube does p brake cables

 

[ZooMad75]

Inline tube does p brake cables

I'll check them out. Thanks!

I drove the K5 to work today to give it the longest run yet since the swap. Start up dead cold was right on the money. Runs down the highway light it always did, with a little more sound to the exhaust than it used to have. Nothing bad like drone, just the song of an 8.1 at speed. It was a good test as there was a pretty good headwind this morning. With the 5.3 I would have been pushing to maintain 65mph as the trans would drop into 3rd and stay there if the wind was bad enough. Now I found I couldn't tell if I was pushing into the headwind as I kept noticing my speed creeping up past 75mph and have to back off. I never had to downshift on a couple of large hills along the way that would have required dropping out of 4th with the old combo.

It was the first time my crew got to see the swap other than what I showed them on my phone. They all liked it. I grabbed one of our tech2's for the ride home so I could watch some data on the way home. I wanted to watch the coolant temp to compare against the stock gauge along with just monitoring all the engine data. No codes set and all the vitals are normal. The engine just purrs right along.

Got my chores done today at the house so I'll plug away at hooking more stuff up tomorrow.

 

[GWeakland620]

Man I’m jealous lol. Glad to hear of the success!

 

[2Dogs]

The funny thing is how well it takes to lug it in higher gears too. The 8.1 don't care. Roll around a corner onto another street in 3rd and it just pulls away. I did the same thing in 4th and it still didn't complain.

I noticed this as well. I have a big-bore dirt bike, same thing and can make you lazy with the shifting

I have about 70 miles since the swap and really starting to appreciate the broad torque band, even in an untuned condition.

 

[ZooMad75]

Man I’m jealous lol. Glad to hear of the success!

Thanks dude. You aren't far off so get with it!

I noticed this as well. I have a big-bore dirt bike, same thing and can make you lazy with the shifting

I have about 70 miles since the swap and really starting to appreciate the broad torque band, even in an untuned condition.

Totally easy to be lazy shifting. 2nd, 3rd, 5th is pretty normal to find myself doing if I'm not in a hurry. The same goes for downshifting. If traffic doesn't come to a complete stop I might not pull it out of 5th. It's a complete opposite to the 5.3 for sure.

 

[ZooMad75]

Drove the K5 Camper to work again today. It's pretty routine to fire up cold and hit the highway with ease. For an added level of distraction I plugged in my bluetooth OBD2 dongle to the truck and fired up the Torque Pro app on my phone. I'm a nerd for data so having the info at a glance within my line of sight with my phone mount on the windshield is good. The details from the app proved my tach which I already knew was inaccurate, is really off as the revs climb. I'm tired of doing math to know what the rpm is so a new tach is on the list.

The ride home had me detour to a local salvage yard to search for a key item for the truck. Making the switch from auto to manual trans means my truck is lacking separate circuits for the backup lights. Larry clued me in on the location and wire color. The guys at the yard were skeptical they had what I needed since they only listed two of the squarebody trucks in the yard as having manual transmissions. I was up for a walk on a warm fall day anyway so he gave me a sheet with the locations and I took off. The first one closest to the building was not much more than an empty cab part of the dash left, no column. Lacking the column and pedals made it easy to spot the right connector. Got the complete harness through the firewall, outer connector, and the rest up to where it was cut when they yanked the drivetrain. I went ahead and hoofed my way to the other side of the yard to the other location of the second manual trans. The trans side of the harness had been removed, but the plug for the bodyside remained so I clipped it and brought it home. I wandered back, but as I did another square caught my eye so I went to check it out. '74 C20 GMC, with the engine and trans still in place. Manual trans that is. Armed with only a multi-tool I pulled the lower section of the dash out of the way to look under it easier. Sure enough, the correct wiring was there. I was able to pull the second one out to the external connector above the brake booster. I know Larry will need the same thing for his Blazer project so as long as I found another one I might as well grab it.

If the weather holds tomorrow I'll see if I can get it set up.

 

[ZooMad75]

I pulled the steering column down to get access to the NSBU switch on the column. First here's the harness I got from the boneyard.

The difference here is that the manual transmission columns lack the shift mechanism obviously and lack the NSBU switch. We didn't change my column but the nice thing is the wiring already in the truck matches up to the harness I grabbed. Gotta love GM keeping things common because the harness came from a '77 truck and fit as expected.

Here's where the stock wiring connects to the NSBU switch.

I plugged in the harness and connected the wires together with the key on, back up lights work. Nothing changed there, so it should but we've had so many stupid little things come up I had to prove it for my own sanity. Now I need a plug for the 4500's back up light switch and I can fish the wires and lock them in permanently.

Next up a quick fix to the floor where it cracked before the interior can go back together.

 

[ZooMad75]

Since I lack a welder at my house I cruised over to my buddy Ian's house yesterday for a quick stitch-up of a small crack on the floor near one of the seat mount holes. Went pretty quick so we moved on to a simple project for a more robust mount for my nav system. I had picked up a small chromebook but it was still a little much for my existing mount. Cue the used truck dept at work. We had a truck come in with a Ram laptop mount that the boss didn't want in the truck anymore.

We chopped down the floor bracket to something useable. It ties into the seat mount and has a matching 3/16" backing plate on the underside of the floor to sandwich the stock sheet metal.

Pardon the wiring mess, the wiring for the console is in need of being re-routed before the flooring goes back in.

The unit itself is super adjustable in multiple directions.

I set the chromebook in it so I could take a test run of sorts. Torque Pro is loaded on it and I wanted to try it out for the first time on the laptop too.

The test drive proved the stability is as good or better than the old setup with my Ipad. Torque Pro is better on the larger screen too. The final adjustment for the right location will wait until I reassemble the rest of the interior. But the mount does tuck closer to the dash and out of the way of anybody riding in the passenger seat. Plus the upper section slides right out of the tube when not in use.

With the crack fixed and mount done I can put the rest of the interior back together. I've got some insulation to lay down under the floor mat first, but that will get a good chunk the truck back to normal.

 

[ZooMad75]

Made some progress today on the interior. I insulated the entire floor from halfway up the firewall back to the step-up at the rear. Pretty much used an entire roll of Reflectix. Added to the existing jute pad and rubber floor it should put a dent in the radiant heat off the engine/trans/exhaust. Not having the 700r4 should also limit the heat production right under the floor.

I think I might have got a sunburn on my face with the reflection off the other side with the door open.

It's not the ideal use of the product, but it fit the budget and should make a difference in the summertime.

My buddy Ian had some extra foil-backed jute insulation that was just enough to cover the front and sides of the trans tunnel. It's thicker than the Reflectix and has more loft to it, so I figured it would be best right in this spot.

One of the things discussed using this product on the floor is popping the bubbles since it's really bubble wrap with foil on both sides. I was all over the floor with it down during the install process. I didn't hear any popping. I tried to pop some of the extra I had and it's tougher than bubble wrap to pop by hand.

While I was dealing with the insulation I had the rubber floor mat sitting out in the sun on the driveway warming up to be more pliable. I cut a small section out for the trans shifter while it was out. After wrestling the floor in it was time to start with the console base.

The console is next and is much easier to install first without the seats in the way. All the wiring is connected and it was screwed down to the base from the inside.

Part of the afternoon was spent installing the seat covers back on the seats. The cord that was used to lace up the sides essentially fell apart when I took them off so I picked up some red 550 paracord for a splash of color. Installing the covers is best done with the seats out of the truck for sure.

The shift boots are set back in place, but not screwed down. I ran out of light. I still need to do something to address the larger than needed hole for the t-case from the original install. I kept the section I cut out so I might try something to lace it back in.

I still have some small stuff to do inside, but I can move to reconnect items back under the hood.

 

[mrk5]

Looks very nice!

 

[ZooMad75]

Looks very nice!

Thanks!

I forgot to show a couple of small upgrades I made to the Tuffy console while Larry had the truck. One was to add a trio of USB outlets on the outside of the console. There's two inside plus another 12v outlet, but if you want to plug into one of those, the cord has the possibility of getting pinched by the lid over the side. If you route the cord directly over the front, it would not pinch as bad, but over the side could work like a pair of scissors if you lean on it much. Yes, one could notch the side for clearance, but it would be a big notch since the lid overlaps it so much. I grabbed a USB 3.0 outlet off of Amazon. This one is constructed out of aluminum instead of plastic like the rest of the outlets I have in the truck and camper. Most importantly is it doesn't have any LED's to show it's on. Where this one is place would light up the whole dash on the passenger side in the darkness.

The other outlet added is actually 110v. I've always had a small 400w inverter inside the console to allow running the old laptop that I had to use with the 5.3. But since that is gone and I've made a change to a small Chromebook for navigation and monitoring engine vitals I still need a way to plug in since I don't have a USB based charger for the Chromebook. I'm not sure they make one anyway. But the 110v cord going over the edge of the box with the lid down is just as much of an issue if not more than the phone cords due to the size. Amazon to the rescue for a flush mount 110v outlet. I put it to the back of the console to allow the passenger seat to move without getting hitting anything plugged in. The cord can ride between the seat and the console up to the laptop mount.

The two USB ports still inside the console will most likely get used charging the GoPros or other items that can stay inside the console while charging. There are two more USB ports where the ashtray used to be if more charging is required. One usually gets plugged into the GPS bluetooth puck on the dash for navigation. My main goal here was to limit the number of cords reaching from the dash to the console. The last couple of big trips I've ended up with a tangled mess of cords that drives me nuts. Having a gear shift now right in that area just drives the point home to organize the madness. This should improve on that.

 

[k10klub]

https://www.amazon.com/Charge-Charg...d=1&keywords=usb+12v+3&qid=1606242835&sr=8-38

?

 

[mrk5]

I like the outlet mounting idea.

 

[ZooMad75]

https://www.amazon.com/Charge-Charg...d=1&keywords=usb+12v+3&qid=1606242835&sr=8-38

?

That's the one I got. I haven't tried it out yet.

 

[Wes Harden]

Does the USB out have a led light? Don't like the ones with lights

 

[skunked]

Does the USB out have a led light? Don't like the ones with lights

Most importantly is it doesn't have any LED's to show it's on. Where this one is place would light up the whole dash on the passenger side in the darkness.

I had one like that once, bothered me too.

 

[ZooMad75]

I had one like that once, bothered me too.

I've got three in the camper with a blue led indicator light. No need for a nightlight as they light up the whole camper. Plus they don't have a switch to shut them off. So they are a constant draw on the camper battery. On my monitor the 3 usb outlets are good for 20 milliamps with of draw. Not a lot but it adds up.

 

[ZooMad75]

Today's progress doesn't seem like much but I managed to take all day at it. Got the power for the console reinstalled. I'm running it directly off the battery with a continuous duty solenoid that comes on with switched ignition power. Takes a big load off the stock fuse panel. I've got a 30amp self-resetting circuit breaker on it to protect it. The stereo amp, CB, inverter, 12v and two USB outlets get power from this main circuit feeding a fuse panel inside the console.

I used riv-nuts to attach the solenoid and circuit breaker to the fender. I added a distribution block for the PCM's main battery power so I don't have a ton of terminals on the battery itself. The aux battery solenoid was reinstalled to the fender in the corner while I was at it. I'll need to build a new cable to the aux battery because it's a few inches over from where I had it before.

Bonus, I got full tunes back since the amp is powering the 6x9's behind the seats. The little speakers in the dash made it sound like I was listening to an old AM radio.

I needed to get the shifter boots bolted back down too. But before I did that I felt the need to finally fix my massive mistake when I originally installed the rubber floor. I severely misjudged the location of the t-case shifter and ended up with a bigger hole than I needed. I kept the chunk stashed away for when I finally decided to rectify it. Ultimately I'd replace the front section, but the budget ain't going for it and I thought I'd try to fix it. Paracord to the rescue. I took my drill and punched a bunch of holes in both sections. I've never really screwed around with paracord other than what I used on the seat covers last week. So it took a couple of tries to figure out how to stitch it up. I like how it came out and the hole isn't visible anymore. I got longer carriage bolts for the laptop mount and got it bolted down once the patch was done.

Taking little bites every weekend when I can work on it.

 

[AgDieseler]

Taking little bites every weekend when I can work on it.

Steady progress gets it done. Got a chance to catch up on your progress. Nice work man.

David