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sons first car

1986 Chevy K20 stock 350 th400 a bunch of unknowns
Overview Gallery Discussion
chevy 14 bolt diff correct correct
it says gm10 on the bottom right hand corner
going to buy a new one but want to make sure I order correctly

20201031_151907.jpg
 
I ordered this one from Amazon
I never realized how many different 14 bolts
there are
the front was easy 10 bolt.
I know it seems like a cheesy question but I had to ask to make sure

Screenshot_20201031-183930_Chrome.jpg
 
Wes
thanks for the help
wish I was a walking encyclopedia an knew it all but I'm not (an google can lie at times)
Good thing I pay my membership
gona put it to use
 
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next redo from diff gasket
re check front wheel bearings (clicking sound coming from front tires)
inner nut was torqued to 55 ft lbs
backed off then again at 35
outer nut was 120?
replace headlight bulbs all 4, then do the relay mod.
I may replace the manual hubs old spicer hubs have hamdle busted

thoughts
 
35 ft ponds is little to much for used bearings, I torque down to 50ftp while turning, back off 1/2 then tighten to 35 while turning, then back off 1/8 to 1/4 is really a feel thing. You are to tight right now if was torqued to 35ftp and not backed off.
120 on lock not sounds excessive, 50 to 80 should be more than sufficient and lessen the chance fubaring the nut.
 
thanks for the reply Wes
I will redo them later today.
my process was 50 ft lbs
back off 1/4 turn an re torque to 35 ft lbs on tbe inner nut
outter nut should be 50-80
I will do as you mentioned
and add a bit more grease as well as re check all the zero fittings
 
joys of wrenching
need to adjust transfercase shifter so its not always popping off
any tips on adjusting an np208.
I can pop it out of gear from the bottom
almost as the positive stop isn't there.
also need to replace the indicator switch
for 4wd
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we thought it was something simple like old hubs so we swapped the old ones for new warns an still popps out

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Man, this brings back alot of memories for me. I first started wrenching around the same age as your son. My dad helped me buy an 86 K5. He guided me through doing brakes, and tune up type stuff. eventually we got to the point where we were re-gearing the axles, and suspension upgrades. That's how I cut my teeth in square body trucks. Cool to see this tradition still alive and strong.

My son hasn't caught the bug yet, but he is only 12. I hope he will catch the same bug I did.

as far as the 208 goes, I don't have much experience with that X-fer case. I'm assuming you already checked the usual suspects like linkage bushings and pivot points? Internally, Im sure there is some sort of selector fork that might be worn out. But if your going that far into it, might be worth it to pick up a full rebuild kit.
 
chevy350
The truck sat for a few years before we got it.
My son is the 3rd owner with 57k miles on the truck, the previous owner tried giving it to his son as a winter rig but it was to ugly for his liking so it sat for 4 years. Everything is low miles an factory original. Heck even the front diff gears still had some residual paint from when they were set up. Everything we have replaced is factory original, or installed at the dealership according to some of the papers we got with it.
Im pretty sure the linkage and pivot points need to be adjusted. I checked the t case fluid an it was full. adjuating thhe linkage an pivot points is were im extremely green at. But I'm sure we will figure it out. Hopefully this week we can send it off to the exhaust shop.
an really put some miles on it.
he has driven it a total of 20 some miles since it was delivered
 
My K5 wouldn't stay in low at one point. I just disconnected the linkage at the t-case and made sure the t-case side was where it should be then adjusted the linkage to line up with it .
 
Update time.
Once we got my sons truck driving an him enjoying it. He Got his License an turned it into his daily driver, an drove to school 25 miles each way.
We did not encounter any major hiccup's for a truck that was parked in a field for 5 years or so.
Then what ever was in the tank started to come off the sidewalls and mix in with his gas, well that ate all the seals in the Quadrajet, so we took it to the local 4x4 shop here in town
where the owner is Q-jet guru. An had the exhaust redone to get rid of all the leaks in the system.
While it was there the carb was rebuilt, transfer case rebuild and exhaust redone.
Not having all the tools/ time to get certain things done I farm the work out. That an the owner of the shop will often have me or my son stop by an help by. That and he lives around the corner from me.

Well after getting the truck back from the shop the owner recommended we get a new tank. I was trying to convince the owner (my son) to get a blazer tank vice the saddle tanks.
He likes duel tanks for some reason.
So we got a new tank and sending unit. Sorry no pics of that
He learned how to drop a tanks and replace the sending unit as well as all new fuel lines. Good thing we replaced it, the smell of gas was from all the pin holes on the tank from all the dirt an rocks trapped in the skid plate.

Once everything was done he wanted to learn out to rebuild an engine, so I started searching around for a small block to teach him how to tear them down and inspect.
An old co worker has 2 he wanted to sell one "was running when pulled" the other was a bare block. we settled on a deal and picked them up.
 
Well the engine that was running when pulled turned out to be a crate l31 that the previous owner had in his Camaro, when he drifted it on a telephone pole. After putting it on the stand to see if it was a 4 bolt or 2 bolt we discovered that it was to clean to tear apart so we opted for a reseal. I reached out to my buddy who sold me the engine an he claimed it had less than 2k miles on it. So we left the engine alone.

So far I thought my son basic engine tune ups, spark plugs, oil change, basic brake bleeding etc etc
Not so routine maintenance, was to teach him how to replace a radiator, as well as new rotors, brake calipers, wheel bearings and locking hubs, gas tank and sending unit install


I get a kick out of watching him drive it as well as him telling me about all the compliments he gets from older folks. Especially when they find out its his truck an not mine.

drive.jpeg
 
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