CK5
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BENDER stays in hibernation with me

We're hitting the trails in Big Bear soon.
Get that thing together so we can try it out!
 
Ok, so I took her over to a local shop for some finishing work. Includes:

brakes bleed
master cylinder install
208 install and clocking (bought spare, rebuilt with SYE, ready for install)
driveshafts installed
F/R 4.88s, install kits, lockers, 1350/1410 yokes, diff covers
pinion guard

I think that's it for that shop. It will be 2-3 weeks I'm sure. I bring him a lot of work and he helps me on prices if he can work on my truck during slow times. It all works out well.

After that shop is done, I'm driving it about a mile to an exhaust shop to get my Y pipe fixed. This is the original shop that did the work, which is perfect cause I know it will get done right the first time.

After that, it's off to get the cage done. I can't mount the seats till the cage is in. I think I'm going with a body sandwich type mount. Funds will be completely gone by this point, so properly tying the cage into the bumpers, rock sliders, and frame is gunna have to wait till I can pay for bumpers, rock sliders, and whatever else is needed.

Some pictures from this morning. I have a big empty area outside my house now. It's really really weird.

First time she's been non-level since 6/29/2011. :)

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Just pulled out from the grass, still has the dirt on the tires. Currently in 4low, since I have no brakes, moving it around slowly so the tow truck can pick her up. She has a good stance. On level ground she looks damn near level. I'm still thinking about putting the two leaves I previously took out...back in, and removing the overload. I think the ride height would be the same, but give me a better spring arch, I'm close to flat in the back with 56"s right now.

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Yeah it looks good even if it's not ready to rock just yet. Man, you've gotten a lot done to it and conquered a lot of weird stuff. I know you're going to be glad to get it back from the shops so you'll know you're that much closer to having it back on the road. The end is in sight my friend. And I mean that in a good way. :D
 
Ok, update time.
However, I STILL have an oil pressure problem. WTF?? This is the second time this engine has been built, using two different engine builders. OMG I hope it's just the sending unit. (brand new autometer:doah:) I wont know till I can drive it over to the machinist's shop. He has a reliable mechanical gauge to check. Till then, I'm scared, once it's completely warmed up I'm reading 12.5psi with 20w50. (cold is 55psi) I'm also baffled by the TV cable right now. I don't think I'm getting proper geometry at the linkage. The TCI bracket I was using is garbage and mounting directly to the Holley linkage doesn't seem to be right. It feels decent off the line but the cable limits throttle to 1/2ish. If I pull more cable out, it slips like a MOFO getting up to speed.

So I've got some work. It's depressing and hard to find the energy to just cut the fenders. :doah: But it's running.... I've had it up to 55mph so far, runs good and straight. I can't feel the locker, but it passed to test you perform after install. I can only tell it's there when I accelerate or decelerate. It affects the steering, but never any clunk from the rear.

Here is the spacer I had made up for the air cleaner. It wouldn't fit, hitting the fuel rails of the FAST TB. It's a couple rolled pieces of steel. Fits perfect!

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Good stuff. Why didn't you just run a mechanical gauge from the first place?
 
electrical is what I bought, WAY cheaper. I removed my remote mount oil filter kit and threw a shorty filter on for shiggles. Didn't affect the pressure. It has always been in place, figured it might be the problem. Next is the sending unit. :(
 
I'm sure it's just the sending unit or the wire connecting the sending unit to the gauge. I'm sure the wire is all corroded and funky and probably even has some bald spots. It is 25+ years old. You haven't heard the engine knocking or anything have you? Also why are you running 20W-50? I wonder if 10W-40 might bring the pressure up a bit? Just a thought.

Be careful with that TV cable man. Usually when you start messing with that thing on an older trans, that throttle valve gets pulled out and sticks and then your trans burns up in short order. If you've just gotten it rebuilt, it may not be a problem because everything is nice and clean on the inside and the TV won't stick. You need to find the right bracket for your carb. Or either just get a Quadrajet and linkage like origianally came on it.

Don't give up! I know how it feels. Until this Tuesday, my truck had been sitting in an empty lot beside my house since the first week in March waiting on me to complete a transmission swap. I just couldn't get motivated to get out there in that heat and work on it. Plus every little thing that could go wrong did go wrong. I'm sure you can relate to that. Anyway, it was a great feeling to finally drive it again even if there are a few bugs to work out still. You're almost there.
 
Dammit Andy, that's good info. But.... I've got brand new autometer gauges, sending units, and wires. :doah:I was running 10w30 and the pressure was about the same, no difference really. I haven't heard any noises :dunno:

Also, I'm running a FAST EFI, so going back to Qjet :whistle: ain't gunna happen. It uses a Holley linkage. I see the difference between the Qjet and Holley linkage. It seems the Qjet pulls the cable straight out and just as fast, but looks to stop pulling after 3/4 throttle. The Holley linkage pulls all the way through. :dunno: I just need some time and patience to deal with it.

Trying to be thorough, replace anything that needs replace, no compromises, etc etc......and this truck just keeps butting heads with me. :flipoff9:
 
Prolly all that emissions crap :whistle::haha:

I think that's been the cause of most of his problems this whole time. It's a sick sad world when there's a place where a '75 Blazer is worth more than a '91 Blazer on the used market because it's "smog exempt". Hats off to K85 Octane and all the other Californians on this site who refuse to give up on their rides and give in to their state government's will to make people buy new vehicles every few years. I salute yall. :bow: Don't give in to tyranny! Don't let the hippies control you. It's your state too!

(Although if it were me, I probably throw in the towel and move to Arizona or something.)
 
So I've been playing with the throttle/TV cable linkages. I don't like the TV "adapter" for the Holley carburetors. The TV cable doesn't get pulled right away, the "adapter's pin" moves DOWN first and then AWAY from the TV base. It has been giving me problems. I tried mounting the TV cable to the bottom hole of the Holley linkage, since I've seen that done before, but this just made things worse. This position pulls the cable right away. The Holley linkage at the bottom moves farther than the cable allows. The carb wont reach WOT this way unless I pull a gang of cable out, at that point the trans isn't happy AT ALL. :doah:

The "adapter" pulls the cable the correct length, about ~1 7/16" IIRC. I wanted to use this but fix the direction it pulls. The bluish arrow shows how far down the cable goes. The linkage moves down first, then out, so the cable doesn't get pulled right away.

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I used some spacers on the TrickFlow unit to get everything up some. This should help the TV cable angle.

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The red arrow shows where my throttle linkage was. It only pulls as far as level, then stops. I was only getting 5/8 throttle maybe, plus my stock throttle cable was too long and toast. I switched out my stocker for a Lokar "cut to length" cable I've had kicking around the garage. I also moved it to the top hole, which took some tweaking and a new hiem joint. Now the throttle cable pulls level all the way to about 7/8th or 15/16th throttle. Because of the spacers I'm running, this is my best outcome. If I adjust the TrickFlow throttle cable holder towards the firewall, I might get full throttle. You can also make out my stock throttle cable.....that big ass loop in the background with tight bends.

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Here is what things look like now. It shifts good, though I'm thinking of using longer spacers to level out the TV cable some more. The throttle is nice and WAAAAAAY smoother with the new Lokar cable. Feels more like my DD S10. :D

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That's more like it. Man I like the way it looks under your hood. Puts my engine bay to shame. :bow: Glad you got that issue figured out. What's next?
 
Finding some time to drive over to the shop that built the motor. Need to double check the oil pressure with a reliable manual gauge. I need to mount the front seats. I can't do the rollcage right now, funds are low, so for now I'll just make up some brackets to mount the WRX seats.
 

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