It'll all get done. It's just a question of which engine it's going to get done on. First world problems.
CK5
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Black Betty - Formerly Blaze the Monster Machine
- Thread starter centexk5
- Start date
1984 K5 Project for Dad and kids
Few more parts for the head swap showed up. PRW 1.6 guided roller rockers, intake manifold bolts, header bolts, and cylinder head bolts. Hopefully next week I can order the intake manifold, gasket kit, and headers.
Started work on the half doors today. Got one cut before getting yelled at for being to loud. I need to trim the back part closest to the latch at a better angle than straight up and down.
I also made some quick release hinges.
I also made some quick release hinges.
Spent some time working on the half doors. Still got some spots to reweld and grind but not to shabby for an hour of work with some flux core wire and a 110 welder. I'm using 20ga for the filler plate. Sturdy enough for framing buildings with, should be good enough for a door.
Nice. You could also recess a hole in the top plate to make a cup holder.
That's the plan. I'm hoping another 2-3hrs and this door will be done and I can start on the next one. Then I can mount them back on the truck and that's one more project I can quit stepping over in my shop.
While I'm in there..
Working on a head swap. Figure while I'm that deep in to it I'll swap the 36yr old distributor out.
Buddy of mine decided to go with a smaller cooler in his charger and sold me this brand new mishimoto cooler with fan and temp sensor for cheap. Think I'll install this on the transmission.
A little more grinding and a couple of spots welds and it'll be ready for a quick shot of rattle can. Then I can move on to the next door which I hope goes faster than this one.
So I sold the vortec heads and parts and decided to just give the current engine a solid tune up. New distributor, new plugs, new wires, new fuel filter, reset the timing, rebuild the carb, and while in there add in an electric choke.
So I started by pulling a spark plug and taking it to get a new one. It was a Bosch platinum. Get there and give the guy the plug and he looks it up and says that ain't right. Turns out the plugs in this truck are for a later blazer with a smaller motor. Awesome. So I get the correct plugs and head home.
Get home and yank the carb to tear it apart. First screw snaps in the shaft for the choke valve. Awesome. Go to pull the shaft for the primary butterflies and it fights me coming out. Why? Because it's freaking bent. So $350 later I've got a new Edelbrock 600 with electric choke.
So I've barely started this and already found messed up crap. Can't wait to see what happens when I pull the other 7 plugs and distributor out.
So I started by pulling a spark plug and taking it to get a new one. It was a Bosch platinum. Get there and give the guy the plug and he looks it up and says that ain't right. Turns out the plugs in this truck are for a later blazer with a smaller motor. Awesome. So I get the correct plugs and head home.
Get home and yank the carb to tear it apart. First screw snaps in the shaft for the choke valve. Awesome. Go to pull the shaft for the primary butterflies and it fights me coming out. Why? Because it's freaking bent. So $350 later I've got a new Edelbrock 600 with electric choke.
So I've barely started this and already found messed up crap. Can't wait to see what happens when I pull the other 7 plugs and distributor out.
These plugs are trashed. And the new carb is so shiny.
Tomorrow while the brisket is smoking I'm going to find TDC (because of course there is no mark or pointer so who knows what the timing is), swap dizzys, and try and get this thing fired back up before the game.
Tomorrow while the brisket is smoking I'm going to find TDC (because of course there is no mark or pointer so who knows what the timing is), swap dizzys, and try and get this thing fired back up before the game.
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Turns out the distributor that was on this truck was an ECS distributor that was connected but the wire to the knock sensor was cut. So that's all gone now. Also found out that one of the hold downs wasn't tightened and so the inside was filled with grit and dirt.
New distributor, new wires, new and correct spark plugs gapped at .045, all new carb. Cranked for about 15 seconds and it fired right off. Sounded awesome. I need to pick up some timing tape so I can actually time it but for now I've got it set by ear best I can. Idles at about a 1000-1100rpm in park and 600-700rpm in drive. I had to stop and clean up and get ready for people to come over but it's running way better. Was able to get it up to 5000rpm without any missing or popping or just not wanting to.
New distributor, new wires, new and correct spark plugs gapped at .045, all new carb. Cranked for about 15 seconds and it fired right off. Sounded awesome. I need to pick up some timing tape so I can actually time it but for now I've got it set by ear best I can. Idles at about a 1000-1100rpm in park and 600-700rpm in drive. I had to stop and clean up and get ready for people to come over but it's running way better. Was able to get it up to 5000rpm without any missing or popping or just not wanting to.
Got a timing light on it today after fighting with that crappy msd timing tape. It was at 30* with no vac advance hooked up. Oops. No wonder it was hard to start when hot. Got it set to about 10* with no vac and it looked like 30* or so with vac. At that point the tape flew off again and I sad screw it. Had to make my own timing pointer since the stock position is completely covered by the power steering reservoir.
Ceramic coated long tubes arrive tomorrow. True dual exhaust arrived yesterday. But it's supposed to rain most of the week so that'll wait until next weekend maybe.
The really exciting news is our bonuses came in so I'm calling ORD on Monday and ordering new springs, shocks, shackle flip, new body lift, all new bushings, crossover steering, brake lines, u-bolts, hardware, etc. Finally dropping this thing down from 9" of hacked together suspension//body lift to a well thought-out and put together 5" suspension//body lift.
Ceramic coated long tubes arrive tomorrow. True dual exhaust arrived yesterday. But it's supposed to rain most of the week so that'll wait until next weekend maybe.
The really exciting news is our bonuses came in so I'm calling ORD on Monday and ordering new springs, shocks, shackle flip, new body lift, all new bushings, crossover steering, brake lines, u-bolts, hardware, etc. Finally dropping this thing down from 9" of hacked together suspension//body lift to a well thought-out and put together 5" suspension//body lift.
Headers came in and gotta say, I'm impressed. For $250 for ceramic coated long tubes I'm surprised they are this nice. Each tube is fully welded on the inside. Bends are nice. Coating looks solid. I can't wait to install these. Also got the dual exhaust system in. This will be fun to piece together.
Whose headers? Where did you get them?
Summit racing headers from summit racing.
A whole bunch of money later, I've got ORD custom springs, ORD F3 Bilsteins, u-bolts, extended shock mounts, drop pitman arm, body lift and bushings, front shackle, 6" rear shackle, and Kevlar greaseable bushings all the way around. The front springs are getting setup to push the front axle forward an inch. David and tech support were hugely helpful in making sure I picked the right parts to meet my goals. It'll be 4-6 weeks before the springs ship which is going to put them delivering during spring which will be perfect weather for this project.
Woohoo!!! Parts are shipping!! Stuff should start rolling in on Monday. Except the springs. Those are still several weeks away. I also added in new bump stops to replace the factory ones.
