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Build up questions.

A few days ago I was texting my brother about the trying to squeeze some more power and better mileage out of sierra. He laughed at me because I had neither in this truck. When I first started tracking the mileage in this truck it was 10. 10 lousy miles per gallon. After I installed the part time kit in the transfer case and part time hubs and the new exhaust we were at a consistent 11 mpg.

After my little helper and I worked on the truck all morning and early afternoon we tested our improvements. 100 mile test loop and we used 8.2 gallons. Yep, that's right, 12.19 MPG BABY!! I know a lot of the jeep and toyota folks are scoffing at this but, for one of these older Chevy or GMC trucks this is a pretty big improvement.

We replaced, plugs, plug wires, oil, filter, greased joints, and adjusted the timing a bit. I was unable to find a cap and rotor at any local auto parts stores today. Those items will be next.

Anyways, I am stoked to see this truck running so well, especially considering we did it with a 3 year old helping me.

LT.
 
82355 said:
Lifting it isn't going to help the economy.

Martin
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Understood. I was hoping to keep double digits was all. Bad news, after I changed to oil the next day I was cleaning out the oil catch pan. I found gold glitter in the pan. So, a new engine will be coming sooner rather than later.

LT.
 
Someone may have added some "Restore" to the oil--that stuff looks like aluminum paint with some brass flakes mixed in with it.....

I'd flush the crankcase out good and run it--like Martin said,it might run fine a long time...
I've used magnetic drain plugs in many engines,they always come out with a lot of metallic "fuzz" stuck to them...every engine has "some" metal in the oil,its all part of normal wear & tear..

I've had several chevy V8's that ate cam lobes,and all that metal went somewhere (hopefully the oil filter)--but it had to pass through the oil pump and passages to get there...they all ran great after a cam swap,no smoking,knocking,etc...
 
Thank you fellas. That helps put my mind at ease a little. I am going to run it til something fails. I do have a 1971 Chevy 350 that would have to be gone through and a mid to late 1970's 454 that had been freshened up some time ago from an unknown owner. The 454 ran well enough and was pulled from a truck and sat in the garage for a few years now. I think all it would need is some fresh gaskets and it would be good to go. Problem is that 454's and TH-350's do not make good bedfellows.

I appreciate the words of wisdom.

LT.
 
GM used the TH350 behind some BBC cars factory,I had one behind one in my 72 Chevelle wagon a friend put on a '69 Suburban chassis--it had a divorced Rockwell T-case and the TH350 was a well used one from a mid 70's Impala...it never gave me any grief,and I whaled on that thing often...

I heard TH400's "waste" a lot of HP compared to a TH350,some drag racers prefer the TH350...granted a TH400 is a lot beefier,but they can blow up too..
 
diesel4me said:
GM used the TH350 behind some BBC cars factory,I had one behind one in my 72 Chevelle wagon a friend put on a '69 Suburban chassis--it had a divorced Rockwell T-case and the TH350 was a well used one from a mid 70's Impala...it never gave me any grief,and I whaled on that thing often...

I heard TH400's "waste" a lot of HP compared to a TH350,some drag racers prefer the TH350...granted a TH400 is a lot beefier,but they can blow up too..
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I have heard that 400's wasted hp before also. I didn't know about 350's being behind big blocks from the factory though. Interesting. My 350 was a little over built for my application.

LT.
 
My buddy has a 71 jimmy with a 454 th350 in it for the last 20 years...he doesn't drive it much but it has been fine!
 
Believe it or not,I see listings for 1970-72 Chevy's like Impala's and Malibu's in my old Motors Manuals "engine code listings" showing several 396,402,and 454 engines with a Powerglide transmission...as well as TH350's...

Those Powerglides were actually a pretty beefy unit,they even use them with air shift in rail dragsters..but having just low and drive wasn't very exciting on the street..bet a 454 could still roast the tires despite the high ratio in "low" though...

I had at least 4 TH350's in 4x4 plow trucks and one in my '72 K5...they held up OK,one in my 77 GMC finally lost reverse after 12 years of plowing and daily use..the one in my '72 K5 didn't want to go into forward gears after a cold start for several minutes ,but once it did,I could drive it anywhere,without any other issues..never did figure out what was the cause--I drove it 3 years that way,then swapped a SM465 4 speed setup in it..

A friend of mine had a '70 Buick GS,he destroyed 4 TH400's with its 455,he ended up not being able to find another TH400 locally reasonable,so he put a TH350 from a 72 Cutlass in it instead,using the crossmember ,drive shaft,and other parts needed ..he never changed his lead footed driving style,the TH350 held up well despite his abuse...

Personally I prefer the TH400,but wouldn't be too dissapointed with a TH350 either..
 
I have a TH350 behind my 402 in my 1975 K5.

Even if you do burn it up, they are only a few hundred dollars to rebuild.

Martin
 
Thank you fellas. I guess I will see what it is going to take to put that old 454 in the truck. It should not take much.

LT.
 
82355 said:
Change the exhaust. That's about it.

Martin
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Just the head pipes is all, right?

The truck just went into the shop this afternoon. I am a little bummed because I expected to be picking it up today. I was told that the truck was supposed to finish off the week last week so, I took that as the truck would be in the shop on friday afternoon.

LT.
 
Do you got all brackets for Power steering and alternator?

They are different than small block. So is the fuel pump.
 
LT. said:
Yep. Got the whole thing. I just need to make sure this is what I want to do now.

LT.
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Good Deal! I couldn`t find brackets for mine an ended up making my own.

Not sad I got a 454 in my truck! :D
But its not a DD and I don't care about mileage.

I did have a 78 short box with a 4inch lift and 35s with a 454/465/205 that I DD for about a year and a half...It wasn't to bad if you drove it easy,but that was hard to do...way too much fun to mash the peddle and giver! I couldn`t tell you what it got for mileage? :dunno: I had that truck over 20 years ago.
 
I am not sure the 454 is the way I want to go. I just need to stew on it for awhile.

On a side note, the truck still is not out of the shop. Rust has been holding up the progress. After 8 hours in the shop the rear blocks are in. The brake lines are so rusty that just trying to break them loose causes the lines to twist and break. So, the brake lines are being cut and re flared. Figures, nothing can go easy on this truck.

LT.
 
Well, the truck is still in the shop. 40 years of rust and crust has slowed the suspension tear down. The rear is done, after 8 plus hours, and the front springs were out, front brake lines were being replaced, and the front steering arm was also out. The old front upper shackle was still in, and needed to be removed still. 16 plus hours on the shop lift and she still isn't done. I know this isn't the norm for the shop but, I thought it would be cool to modify the truck instead of just repairing it.

LT.
 
She is out of the shop. Next up is engine and wheels and tires. Three full days in the shop and the bill was super reasonable. Especially considering all the extras the fellas did. She is a little high in the front. New springs, and new longer front shackles are to blame. The will settle down a bit, especilly after a new front bumper and winch.

I am super happy with the new ride. The old springs had zero compression left in them. Due to the spring eyes touching the frame. I do need to replace the sway bar bushings and buy the correction andquick disconnect kit from Offroad Design.

LT.
 
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