Laguna's newbie K5 Jimmy Build

[Laguna37]

Ever since being a little kid I've always loved regular cab short box 81-87 trucks and K5's and kept telling myself that some day I would buy one. After many months of searching for the right vehicle recently I finally got myself my first K5.

This is my first major venture into offroading and 4x4's. I've owned them before but those have always been IFS daily drivers/mall cruisers. So this ownership and build is as much a learning experience as it is an ownership for me.

I don't have much of a set-out plan and as such I seem to be making stuff up as I go. One of the major limitations for me is I'm only a 20 yr old student with a part-time job and my own house, so thanks to bills and utilities the Jimmy gets limited funds.

With that said, the story begins. I found my Jimmy for sale in a town about 2 1/2 hours away from me, so I drove up there and drove the truck all around town and decided I liked it, picked it up for $1400. On the highway drive home the engine over-heated, I stopped to let it cool down, but upon re-starting it it sounded alot like a diesel. 20 minutes from home the motor seized. First day I owned it I had to leave it on the highway overnight..

Next morning, called the tow truck and went to rescue my new baby.

Got it home and started checking stuff out on it.

What I came up with was:
-1984 K5 GMC Jimmy 'Sierra Classic' 4x4
-Original 5.0L with 289,000 km's
-700r4 and np208, rebuilt 4,700 km's ago
-Ait, tilt, cruise, power rear window, power locks
-Warn manual hubs
-worn out and cracked 31x10.5 R15's

And the work began..

 

[Laguna37]

First order of business was to rip that blown up 305 outa there.

So thats what clear-coat looks like (leaning up against my chevelle's rusted out hood)

My pit crew/gearhead-girlfriend helping

Buddy showed up with an engine crane

Chains? screw chains..we got tow straps!

Then I started tearing it down, mostly becuase I was bored and had never torn apart a blown motor before

Inside my water pump

Brackets off

 

[Laguna37]

Next I drained the oil and dropped the pan. Its hard to see, but theres alot of coolant coming out with the oil

Bottom of #1 and #2 rods

Oil pick-up apparently took a beating

Cleaned the oil pan out, found this

Dropped the rods and crank..

Pulling head bolts

mmmm...peanut butter

Intake

stained black with..something..

 

[Laguna37]

Time for the new motor! Got a mild 350 built, I wanted something that I could easily drive everyday in the +30 summers and -55 winters so its no power house, but its reliable.

Blue, I dont f*cking think so! Time for paint!

other misc. engine goodies

Painted the motor GM orange, brackets all jet black

Took the alternator apart and painted the outside casing black to match

Thought this was a pretty cool picture while I had the alt. apart

Putting it in

Next I picked up some used 35x12.5 R15 BFG Mud Terrains, they have 13/32nd of tread, new they have 16/32nd, got all four for $360.

Apparently they wont fit yet..

So next step is a 6" lift so I can fit those tires, but I figured that while I'm doing the lift I may aswell do all the brakes too, so I bought every single brake part I could find.

New calipers, rotors, pads, drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, brake hardware kits, and self adjuster kits. Didnt hurt that I get parts for 60% off at NAPA..

I'm going to paint the drums and calipers with the GM orange to follow my planned orange on black theme. While I'm doing the lift I'm going to sand all the rust off the axles, frame, brackets, etc and spray them all with some black hammertone rust paint and the black spray-on bedliner stuff

Got sick of driving around with no radio so I dug through my junk and found a radio/cd deck and wired it up...doesnt play burnt CD's but its better than nothing.

 

[Laguna37]

For Christmas I decided to by myself a little 120v welder. I've never had any formal welding training, but in high school I was a part of a little after-hours hot rod building coarse the shop teachers setup and I learned body work, so figured I'd use this K5 as an excuse to practice some more and teach myself some new things.

 

[lak2004]

Looking good man!

 

[USSkoval]

How's it run? Have you planned out the lift yet?

 

[Laguna37]

It runs great, but once it's warmed up it takes awhile to start. Friend of mine said it could be some module in my accell distributor that needs replacing.

For lift I'm going to do 6" ez ride front springs, 2" rear springs and a shackle flip

 

[blazinzuk]

Very nice so far very nice.

 

[dfl701]

are you keeping stock axles or upgrading to a rear 14ff? you should be fine with 35s but im just curious

 

[tRustyK5]

Cool build so far...you work very fast!

Rene

 

[Laguna37]

Where I'm from we don't have hills, rocks, trails, etc. As such I have no fears of sticking with the stock axles with 35's. If I ever decide to jump up to 37's or if I put a high power motor in I'll look into a D44 and 14 bolt.

 

[tRustyK5]

35's are fine with 1/2 ton diff's...I think the issue was brought up more for gearing than anything else. Do you know what gears you currently have? If you don't it sure would suck to find out you have 3.08's (like my 90 K5 does)

Gearing that poor makes 35's impractical no matter how good they'd look. 3/4 ton diff's very commonly come with 4.10's which are at least OK with 35's and an OD tranny.

Rene

 

[dfl701]

35's are fine with 1/2 ton diff's...I think the issue was brought up more for gearing than anything else. Do you know what gears you currently have? If you don't it sure would suck to find out you have 3.08's (like my 90 K5 does)

Gearing that poor makes 35's impractical no matter how good they'd look. 3/4 ton diff's very commonly come with 4.10's which are at least OK with 35's and an OD tranny.

Rene

that's exactly why I asked!

 

[tbijimmy]

Nice solid start!

 

[rjpastor]

Looks good. I'm envious.

 

[Russell]

Man, that looks just like my old 88 used to Cept a bit bigger, and a lot rustier, haha

 

[K5 Jess]

Nice!!!!!

 

[Laguna37]

So tonight I spent a bunch of time on the rocky mountain suspension website pricing stuff out (if anyone knows somewhere cheaper feel free to let me know) and I believe I have come up with what I plan to buy.

- Tuff Country 16710 6" box kit
(6" EZ-ride front springs, 2" EZ-ride rear springs, 4" rear block)

Does anyone know if this package comes with a steering arm, brake lines, u-bolts, and all the required install hardware?

- Tuff Country steering arm

In case it doesnt come with the box kit

- Diy4x shackle flip n' switch

I'm going to buy the shackle flip so I dont have to run the 4" lift block from the Tuff Country box kit. Diy4x offers 4.5" and 6" shackles with the flip kit, what are these and do I need them?

- Tuff Country 10701 sway bar drop bracket

Its recommended for 4"-6" lifts, but I plan to buy a ORD sway-bar disconnect, will I still need this sway bar drop bracket?

- Tuff Country SX6000 shocks, 62231

Went with these shocks for the softer ride. The website shows that the Tuff Country '62231' and '62261' shocks will both work for the front, both are SX6000 series shocks. Anyone know if one part number is a softer shock than the other?



I chose the Tuff Country leafs and shocks after much research which has led me to believe their products offer the softest ride and best flex amongst all the 'box kit' 6" lifts.

Also, should I be buying an EZ-inch/Zer Rate for the front/rear and any axle shims?

Think this route will be a good way to go, or should I change up some of these parts?

 

[Laguna37]

Another question, I'm considering getting rid of my stock rims and have found a set for sale that I like. If I got them I would be mounting my 35x12.5 BFG MT's on them, running stock axles with a tuff country 6" lift.

They are 15x8's, 3.75" backspacing, and -19mm offset. Center bore is 4.28"

I want my tries to stick out a little as I have a set of 2" fender flares, but also dont want to run into any rubbing issues.

Think these rims will work for what I'm looking for?