CK5
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Black Betty - Formerly Blaze the Monster Machine
- Thread starter centexk5
- Start date
1984 K5 Project for Dad and kids
Progress on this build is going to be slower than I'd like but meh. Such as life. I bought this truck to just play with and have something for my hands to do instead of driving my wife crazy and to get my daughter and I out of the house. In case you are wondering, my daughter picked the name and wants to paint the truck red just like the cartoon. But she does love this stupid truck. I have to take her for a ride in it every week.
I haven't done much to this thing other than a few tinker things. I moved the oil pressure and water pressure gauges up from the bottom of the dash where you couldn't see them to the main dash:
Took it out to Hidden Falls for the first time a couple of months ago. I was surprised at how well it did considering how big it is but you can definitely tell the place is more suited towards Jeeps and not full sizes. Few spots I wasn't sure I could even fit through and others I knew I couldn't. I may have taken out a tree at one point. One thing is for certain, the turning radius on this truck SUCKS.
Took some time and installed the Edelbrock off road kit in the carb, block the fuel passage between bowls, and install a phenolic spacer to help with heat sink. I also adjusted the floats from 1/4" to 7/16". Didn't realize the carb was as nasty as it was. I'll clean it up in a few weeks and put a rebuild kit on it when I install the Vortec heads I've got at the machine shop right now. Hopefully these things will help keep the engine from stalling out on some of the steep sections. I'll find out in the next couple of weeks when I head back.
I haven't done much to this thing other than a few tinker things. I moved the oil pressure and water pressure gauges up from the bottom of the dash where you couldn't see them to the main dash:
Took it out to Hidden Falls for the first time a couple of months ago. I was surprised at how well it did considering how big it is but you can definitely tell the place is more suited towards Jeeps and not full sizes. Few spots I wasn't sure I could even fit through and others I knew I couldn't. I may have taken out a tree at one point. One thing is for certain, the turning radius on this truck SUCKS.
Took some time and installed the Edelbrock off road kit in the carb, block the fuel passage between bowls, and install a phenolic spacer to help with heat sink. I also adjusted the floats from 1/4" to 7/16". Didn't realize the carb was as nasty as it was. I'll clean it up in a few weeks and put a rebuild kit on it when I install the Vortec heads I've got at the machine shop right now. Hopefully these things will help keep the engine from stalling out on some of the steep sections. I'll find out in the next couple of weeks when I head back.
Weather is getting nice. Time for the doors to come off. Leaving the roof for now so I'll have some protection for my next rock crawl in a few weeks and then it'll come off.
Decided to put a tach on it.
O'Reilly gauge package. Oil pressure, water temp, alternator, and tach.
My command center. Needle on the speedo is broke and the gearing on the cable is wrong so the Garmin functions as my speedo as well as it has the trails marked at the off road park. I was able to hack it and get the latest updates from July 2019 on it.
O'Reilly gauge package. Oil pressure, water temp, alternator, and tach.
My command center. Needle on the speedo is broke and the gearing on the cable is wrong so the Garmin functions as my speedo as well as it has the trails marked at the off road park. I was able to hack it and get the latest updates from July 2019 on it.
Watch out. Hidden falls can really sock it to you if you're not careful. Full size can have a good time at hidden falls.
I've been out there a few times with my old four wheeler and 4runner. It's a good time for sure but you can definitely get in trouble. Had a good time last time I took the blazer out. It's definitely more capable than my skills allow.
Was looking at my carb yesterday and something didn't look like it was routed quite right with the vac lines. Sure enough, the vac advance line was hooked to the ported side of the carb instead of manifold vac. Swapped that around and while it's never ran bad, it seems to have picked up some pep on the bottom end. Also took the kid for a spin with no doors.
For the record, if you have a 4 channel amp and 4 speakers, do not connect 2 speakers per channel. These are not 70v audio systems.
Got the stereo fixed up. It ain't much but it's loud. Turns out the dash speakers are connected also. Next paycheck I'm going to buy some new dash speakers and run those off of the amp and eliminate the pair of 6x9's that are aimed at your knees in the back.
Pulled out the factory rear window switch. No wonder it doesn't work.
Pulled out the factory rear window switch. No wonder it doesn't work.
Previous owner had 4 speakers hooked to 2 channels on a 4 channel amp because I guess he thought you could daisy chain these speakers. Only 1 speaker worked. So swapped in a new amp and added the additional rca cabling so all 4 channels worked. All of these speakers are blown. So I'm going to remove two of these speakers entirely, replace the other 2 with new speakers, and install new dash speakers powered by the amp.
He had the USB input from the head unit poking through the switch hole for the power rear window. So I pulled that out so I could replace the power rear window switch and install it in the factory location and then install a USB input plug in the dash for the input to the radio.
Since the speedo needle is broken and the gearing is all ****ed off, the guy included the Garmin GPS he used as a speedo. I hacked it and updated it to maps from July 2019 which also includes the off road park trails so I don't want to get rid of it. So I bought a hard wire kit for it so I didn't have to constantly plug the thing in and unplug it every time I drove it. I also bought a new windshield mount since the one on it is trashed.
So, the non computer vehicle I bought to get away from wiring and electronics, I'm spending a dumbass amount of money on wiring and electronics to get it set up right.
He had the USB input from the head unit poking through the switch hole for the power rear window. So I pulled that out so I could replace the power rear window switch and install it in the factory location and then install a USB input plug in the dash for the input to the radio.
Since the speedo needle is broken and the gearing is all ****ed off, the guy included the Garmin GPS he used as a speedo. I hacked it and updated it to maps from July 2019 which also includes the off road park trails so I don't want to get rid of it. So I bought a hard wire kit for it so I didn't have to constantly plug the thing in and unplug it every time I drove it. I also bought a new windshield mount since the one on it is trashed.
So, the non computer vehicle I bought to get away from wiring and electronics, I'm spending a dumbass amount of money on wiring and electronics to get it set up right.
New rear window switch and speakers.
Got my new dash speakers installed and running today.
Headed out to hidden falls this weekend. Seems my tweaks made solid improvements as I didn't have any issues with stalling this time. Got a little Carnage as I smacked a tail light and a fender against a ledge. Battery hold down broke and threw the battery against the manifold and started smoking. Blew one of my new speakers and now I've got a whine in the speakers so I need a new headunit and speaker. Finally got the top pulled off also. Just in time for it to rain all week and drop into the 30's.
Great day for a cruise to a local brewery. Bull creek brewing. Good beer and food truck.
Since the battery shorted out the nose filter on the headunit I bypassed it completely and installed a Bluetooth receiver. Works great and no alternator whine. Also checked the trans fluid and find out it was practically bone dry. No wonder it didn't want to work after sitting for a week. So got that topped off. Found a crack in the frame by the steering box so I'll be ordering the ORD braces this week and get that fixed. I'm going to have to make a decision soon on tires because these 38" pieces of shit are dry rotting and out of balance and almost bald. Gotta decide if I'm going down to 35's or sticking with 38's.
Since the battery shorted out the nose filter on the headunit I bypassed it completely and installed a Bluetooth receiver. Works great and no alternator whine. Also checked the trans fluid and find out it was practically bone dry. No wonder it didn't want to work after sitting for a week. So got that topped off. Found a crack in the frame by the steering box so I'll be ordering the ORD braces this week and get that fixed. I'm going to have to make a decision soon on tires because these 38" pieces of shit are dry rotting and out of balance and almost bald. Gotta decide if I'm going down to 35's or sticking with 38's.
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Found this fun little tweak while crawling around this morning. Custom exhaust clearance.
Tons on 35s dont wheel worth a damn. Diffs drag all over hidden falls.
40s are the new 35s. Just saying lol.
40s are the new 35s. Just saying lol.
Haha. They are overkill for certain. I'll probably end up getting a second set of wheels and tires for wheeling. This truck will see more street than rocks but I still plan on wheeling it.
37s are almost as cheap as 35s
Perhaps. But 35s and dropping to a 5" total lift instead of the 9" I'm at now will also allow me to fit this thing into my shop to be worked on and stored instead of in my yard behind the shop with a tarp over it. I could go and deflate the 37s and put it in the shop but that's almost as much of a pain as storing a set of 37s. Max I can squeeze in my door is 81". I'm currently around 86-87". I'm for sure dropping the lift 4" which brings me to 82-83". The rest has to come from the tires. Going with 35's and the current 3.73 gearing doesn't suck so bad but with 37-38's it's crap. This truck is not a dedicated off road toy so road manners are important to me. I'm trying to strike a nice balance between on and off road performance.
Finally got my new battery box in. Thing is rock solid now. I also cut up the hard top and made a poor man's Bimini top. I actually prefer this over a soft top or no top. Keeps the lines of the truck nice and clean. Of course nothing is easy, one of the back corners the nut inside the top has vanished and the other back corner it stripped out. So I had to drill a couple of new holes to bolt the corners down.
Not much will be happening for a while. We head to the hospital tomorrow to deliver my son so my time will be spent with him for a while.
Not much will be happening for a while. We head to the hospital tomorrow to deliver my son so my time will be spent with him for a while.
