CK5
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Adventures with Big Blue

When I go to a place like Quincy I'm always impressed by the ingenuity on display. What is relatively simple now with electronics they had to do with steam technology, mechanical timing parts and electrical bits tacked on. Just the drawings of the final designs would have taken weeks. I would like to know how they communicated with various shops and vendors to prototype some of this stuff. I'm sure nobody said the engineering was too expensive and should be outsourced to India, either.
 
Pulled Big Blue out of hibernation today. Scrapped the failed batteries and suddenly cranking got much happier. This truck is superior in almost every way to the CUCV. It's quiet and smooth, it tracks well down the road. The built 700R4 has nicer gear spacing and actually shifts faster than my NV4500 (that surprised me). It's a little slower (thanks to gearing), but not as much as I had remembered.


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The trucks aren't quite lined up, but the extra 2.5' of length is noticeable.

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I'm gonna put it back into service this summer, but mostly just to keep the mice away from it. It's slowly turning into a liability for me.
 
At the end of the day, I have the same complaint about both rigs. Neither of 'em has enough doors. :1zhelp:

Have you thought of keeping the pickup but selling both the burb and cucv for a burban in better shape? A pickup is always handy when you have a house.

I've seen some pretty decent 80s and 90s diesel burbans on ebay for under $7500. I've been looking for one for myself too.
 
Have you thought of keeping the pickup but selling both the burb and cucv for a burban in better shape? A pickup is always handy when you have a house.

I've seen some pretty decent 80s and 90s diesel burbans on ebay for under $7500. I've been looking for one for myself too.

Yeah, I think of keeping the pickup every time I think of selling it. :doah: I've been see-sawing back and forth for years now.

My burb is in decent shape aside from the funny transmission shifting, so I don't think I need to upgrade it. Selling without fixing that is a money-losing idea, and once it's fixed I won't want to sell it. :deal:
 
Have you thought of keeping the pickup but selling both the burb and cucv for a burban in better shape? A pickup is always handy when you have a house.

I've seen some pretty decent 80s and 90s diesel burbans on ebay for under $7500. I've been looking for one for myself too.

For $7500 you can buy mine...
 
Yeah, I think of keeping the pickup every time I think of selling it. :doah: I've been see-sawing back and forth for years now.

My burb is in decent shape aside from the funny transmission shifting, so I don't think I need to upgrade it. Selling without fixing that is a money-losing idea, and once it's fixed I won't want to sell it. :deal:

Should fix it so you can use it then :thumb:
 
That's the plan, Stan. :waytogo:











Unless it really is worth $7500 to someone, then I'll gladly cash it out and start from scratch. ;)

In the month that I've just been looking Ive seen some go stupid cheap and others go for a lot. Just recently saw an 85 3/4 4x4 6.2. Had power locks but manual windows. No rear heat or a/c. No third seat either, not even the mounting points. Was supposedly all orginal went for 20,000. Crazy.
 
In the month that I've just been looking Ive seen some go stupid cheap and others go for a lot. Just recently saw an 85 3/4 4x4 6.2. Had power locks but manual windows. No rear heat or a/c. No third seat either, not even the mounting points. Was supposedly all orginal went for 20,000. Crazy.

Sign. Me. Up.

Mine has the 3rd seat AND power windows AND rear A/C. So add 5 grand to that price. ;)
 
Drove this thing around town yesterday & today, watching the dashboard voltmeter. First time it followed its normal pattern. Initially charging at ~15V and settling back to 14V after a couple of minutes. Second time it didn't charge. Third time it was normal. Fourth time it stayed above 15V, almost to the red line. When I got home I pulled out a real volt meter and measured 14.8V at idle. Battery should have been more than fully charged by that point.

Both of the old batteries had boiled off significant amounts of water.

I conclude that my alternator regulator has failed.

Otherwise it's running like a top. I love how quiet it is.
 
A quiet 6.2 ?...it must have stalled!...:eek:..mine sounds like a stonecrusher until you reach 50 mph or so..

The 6.2 in my '85 Burb is much quieter than the pickup--I bet the injector pump timing was advanced on the pickup,I have never looked--or the Burb might be retarted ?..

The voltmeter on my dash sometimes refuses to go over "half way",fools me into thinking its not charging,until I give a dash cluster a firm whack,then the needle jumps up to 13.7 or so where it belongs..
Noticed the oil pressure was lower than usual too,till that whack got the oil pressure gauge to go up a good 10+ psi..

I'd check the plug on the alternator for loose connections or rusty tabs on the regulator where it plugs on--poor connections there will make it charge goofy because its not getting the proper input to tell it if the batteries are low or not..
 
A quiet 6.2 ?...it must have stalled!...:eek:..mine sounds like a stonecrusher until you reach 50 mph or so..

The 6.2 in my '85 Burb is much quieter than the pickup--I bet the injector pump timing was advanced on the pickup,I have never looked--or the Burb might be retarted ?..

The voltmeter on my dash sometimes refuses to go over "half way",fools me into thinking its not charging,until I give a dash cluster a firm whack,then the needle jumps up to 13.7 or so where it belongs..
Noticed the oil pressure was lower than usual too,till that whack got the oil pressure gauge to go up a good 10+ psi..

I'd check the plug on the alternator for loose connections or rusty tabs on the regulator where it plugs on--poor connections there will make it charge goofy because its not getting the proper input to tell it if the batteries are low or not..

Will do.

My M1009 is loud like you describe, but the K10, with quiet exhaust and stock noise insulation, is a whole 'nuther beast. It's not overly quiet outside the truck, but it's not painful on the ears, either.
 
My 6.5 is surprisingly quite on the inside. As shown in the video I posted on my build thread, it's not horrible outside. The factory insulation helps a ton.
 
My pickup still has 95% of the firewall covering & insulation--only part missing is around the heater box,I assume someone replaced the heater core somewhere in its past,and just tore that part off...

The engine just seems "clattery" compared to many other 6.2's,including my Burb..especially at idle or slightly above,once you get it above 2000 rpm or so it isn't as noticeable..

It also seems to vibrate more than the Burb too...everything in the cab buzzes and rattles,mostly at the lower rpms..that is typical of all diesels to some degree,every one I have owned does that,including my old VW Jetta I had..
 
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