Thanks guys, I'm a life-long K5-er now!

[SnackPack]

So I bought an '87 K5 last March and it spun a rod bearing before I even drove it for one week. It's been a long road to becoming a daily driver again, but I gotta tell ya, I love this thing. I joined ck5.com after my engine blew up and you all have helped so much and I'd like to thank everyone of you.

What I've done: Rebuilt the TBI 350 as a 383 with new cam, reworked heads, camaro TPI fuel pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, new clutch, headers (plus a sweet new 3" single exhaust w/o muffler), clutch master/slave cylinders.... and now I'm making my own ECM chips!

It's kinda weird when the first/only time I drove a K5 or anything this size was for 4 days and then I spend 8 months or so getting it driveable again (it would have taken a month if the finances were there). The most I've done to a vehicle before this was general maintenance and a timing belt for my old toyota car, so it was real sweet when my rebuilt 383 fired up on the first try (they don't even do that on TV most of the time). Not a bad jump, and now I'm addicted!

So now that I got a decent (still needs some work) ECM chip, I've been using it as a daily driver for a couple weeks now, and I gotta tell ya I LOVE it! It's got a ways to go but that's the fun of it! I've gotten used to driving it for the past couple weeks and it's starting to feel like a car instead of a huge hunk of metal.

Things I wanna do next: new heads and beef up the TBI and intake, spare tire carrier, shackle flip, detachable sway bars

Anyway, just wanted to give you guys a shout-out and a huge Thank-you for being here.

 

[midnitewarya]

Man, you sure jumped in head first! I think the motor is the only thing on my ride I havn't messed around with.

This place is great, and it's thaks to all the guys who frequent it and love wrenching as much as wheelin. I'm with you, I don't know what I would have done if CK5 wasn't around.

Al

 

[SnackPack]

Absolutely... I rebuilt the engine out of necessity. I guess I could have re-sold the truck after the engine was shot, but for how much of a loss?
Being on a tight budget and all, I think my best option would be to do it myself. When I started I did underestimate the costs of doing a 383. While not being too expensive on a TBI setup, you do need to consider the ECM programming and fuel pressure. It seems that on these vehicles, GM made the max performance of things like the fuel pump aren't enough for anything better than a stock motor.

That said, however, I think I can declare that working with these small blocks and primitive TBI fuel injection is a great way to start understanding what makes an engine actually run, and run well under many conditions.

 

[ryan22re]

man that thing is a twin fot my truck except for the single headlights. i like it. good work.