The Green Grendel

[campfire]

I can't picture a shop charging less than $27 for a custom line.

I can't, either, and I did wind up ordering the pre-fab line. Should be here soon.

But I had thought it would be a simple fab project like bending up a brake line and adding couplings with a flaring set. The kind that takes $2 and 10 minutes of time.

 

[Richcz28]

I can't, either, and I did wind up ordering the pre-fab line. Should be here soon.

But I had thought it would be a simple fab project like bending up a brake line and adding couplings with a flaring set. The kind that takes $2 and 10 minutes of time.

It's not easy to find a place that makes lines by me, but the few I've had made were in the $40 range.

 

[pomai]

You can use normal vacuum pedals with hydroboost (and vice versa) in at least 3 ways:

1) drill a new hole and use a new pin in the hydroboost spot
2) get a set of pedals with both holes (like mine) and move the pin (thanks to @sweetk30 for pointing this option out)
3) swap your existing automatic pedal into the manual pedal bracket and cut it off to be the appropriate size (this is what I ended up doing).

The pivot distance isn't hugely different. It might work out well enough just using the "wrong" location (just guessing, I haven't tried this). You'd have less leverage and shorter travel if you used vacuum pedals on a hydroboost truck.

Aside from the pin location, the pedals are dimensionally identical, so they can be swapped back and forth. Hydroboost pedals come with a return spring and a little cover. I swapped this across with no issues. As detailed in the pictures, 2 of the 4 studs on the pedal bracket are reversed for hydroboost trucks (no idea why).

I purchased a complete 1986 CHEVROLET M1031 K30 CUCV 1.4 TON CONTACT TRUCK, 400/205 just for the hydroboost system. the fire wall, engine side and in cab are identical to my 1988 k-5 blazer also with an automatic trans.

Should I remove the whole peddle assemble with bracket that is sandwiched between dash and column? I am planning to remove the whole system but just wanted to know if this bracket I'm talking about is the same as my blazer.

Being that this truck has a dana 60/14blt & automatic trans like my blazer does, was this the correct set up to get?

Thank you for all your help,

Ed

 

[campfire]

I purchased a complete 1986 CHEVROLET M1031 K30 CUCV 1.4 TON CONTACT TRUCK, 400/205 just for the hydroboost system. the fire wall, engine side and in cab are identical to my 1988 k-5 blazer also with an automatic trans.

Should I remove the whole peddle assemble with bracket that is sandwiched between dash and column? I am planning to remove the whole system but just wanted to know if this bracket I'm talking about is the same as my blazer.

Being that this truck has a dana 60/14blt & automatic trans like my blazer does, was this the correct set up to get?

Thank you for all your help,

Ed

If both trucks are automatics, the brackets will be the same. The hydroboost truck will have a return spring and a cover that you can swap over to your existing bracket. The pedal will have its pivot in a different location. Grab these things (pictures shown earlier in this thread) and you should be good to go. Getting the pedal out while the bracket is in place might be a pain. But removing the bracket is a pain, so it's up to you which headache you wanna deal with.

 

[Kay86K5]

I can't, either, and I did wind up ordering the pre-fab line. Should be here soon.

But I had thought it would be a simple fab project like bending up a brake line and adding couplings with a flaring set. The kind that takes $2 and 10 minutes of time.

So are you referring to the hydro line from the 85-87(91) master cylinder to the NV4500 slave cylinder? If so, were did you order the pre-fab'd line? This is something I will need to do in the near future. Did you just use a local shop or order online somewhere?

 

[campfire]

So are you referring to the hydro line from the 85-87(91) master cylinder to the NV4500 slave cylinder? If so, were did you order the pre-fab'd line? This is something I will need to do in the near future. Did you just use a local shop or order online somewhere?

I'm using an SM465 bell housing and slave cylinder. So I simply ordered the standard clutch hydraulic line for a 85+ square body. The early NV4500 bell housing puts the external slave in a horrible spot for a 4WD square bodied rig.

Are you planning on using the later bell housing with the internal slave?

 

[Kay86K5]

I'm using an SM465 bell housing and slave cylinder. So I simply ordered the standard clutch hydraulic line for a 85+ square body. The early NV4500 bell housing puts the external slave in a horrible spot for a 4WD square bodied rig.

Are you planning on using the later bell housing with the internal slave?

Ah, I forgot that you were using a 465 bellhousing. That makes sense.

Yes, I'm using a 95 NV4500 and bell with the external slave on it. I found a few threads where guys have said the front shaft clears just fine even on a stock height. Obviously if you start flexing it out you chance hitting it with a stock rig, but I plan to lift mine 4", should have plenty of room (the one thread I found a guy had the exact same setup lift and trans as I'm doing and he no issues with clearance whatsoever). Not only that the rig I'm putting this in is a tow rig. No real flexing going to be happening at all. So in my case I will have a 95 slave cylinder that will be needing attached to a 85-87 master cylinder. So will need to figure out what I want to do to adapt the lines together. I for some reason thought you were doing something similar, that's why I inquired about your line.

 

[campfire]

Ah, I forgot that you were using a 465 bellhousing. That makes sense.

Yes, I'm using a 95 NV4500 and bell with the external slave on it. I found a few threads where guys have said the front shaft clears just fine even on a stock height. Obviously if you start flexing it out you chance hitting it with a stock rig, but I plan to lift mine 4", should have plenty of room (the one thread I found a guy had the exact same setup lift and trans as I'm doing and he no issues with clearance whatsoever). Not only that the rig I'm putting this in is a tow rig. No real flexing going to be happening at all. So in my case I will have a 95 slave cylinder that will be needing attached to a 85-87 master cylinder. So will need to figure out what I want to do to adapt the lines together. I for some reason thought you were doing something similar, that's why I inquired about your line.

Ok. Even on the GMT-400 trucks, with the driveshaft on the other side, I still don't think I'd want to put the slave right underneath the starter like that. My dad's '93 sheared its starter bolts once and the motor landed on top of the slave. As I was reinstalling it I couldn't help but think that it would have been easier without having the slave in the way. I imagine it will be that much worse with the slave AND a driveshaft both blocking access.

 

[Kay86K5]

Ok. Even on the GMT-400 trucks, with the driveshaft on the other side, I still don't think I'd want to put the slave right underneath the starter like that. My dad's '93 sheared its starter bolts once and the motor landed on top of the slave. As I was reinstalling it I couldn't help but think that it would have been easier without having the slave in the way. I imagine it will be that much worse with the slave AND a driveshaft both blocking access.

Then drop the d-shaft and take off the slave (external slave is the best)....your only talking about ~6 total bolts and about 2 min of your time. Not a big deal to me. And the sheering of starter bolts is a whole other issue that sounds very out of the norm

 

[campfire]

Then drop the d-shaft and take off the slave (external slave is the best)....your only talking about ~6 total bolts and about 2 min of your time. Not a big deal to me. And the sheering of starter bolts is a whole other issue that sounds very out of the norm

Might not be a big deal, but are there any downsides to simply using the bell housing that the trucks came with?

The sheared bolts were a matter of neglect. The truck came with a 6.5TD and no starter bracket. Nobody noticed until the starter fell off of the block. This is a commonish issue on 6.2 and 6.5TD engines that don't have their brackets installed.

 

[campfire]

Decided I was tired of house renovations today, so I went out and had my first Truck Day of the year.

First I installed the throwout bearing and its pivot arm (both new). I'm not impressed with the arm, it feels quite sloppy. My recollection from the old arm is that it was tight and moved smoothly. Perhaps I go back to using that one. But the bearing is a huge improvement, as it's not seized. Also pulled out the clutch slave for a mockup.




Then I dropped the oil pan and removed the oil pump & rear main cap. My picture of the gleaming conrods & crank disappeared.

But I did get these.



I was surprised to find that it already has an orange neoprene seal (instead of the rope gasket that came stock). My instructions say to tap the old upper seal out with a dowel and a hammer. I gave it a few light taps, and it did not budge.





I also found it interesting that the caps had numbers cast into them to identify position and orientation.





My question for da 6.2 folks out there...if it already has been upgraded, it is worth replacing it again? Do these seals still fail like the stock ones do? Should I bang on it harder? Is there some trick to removing it? Or should I just leave it as it is and reseal everything?

FWIW, the rear freeze plug is drooling oil onto the rear main. So I can't tell whether the rear main leaks or not. If it does, it's not a huge amount. I think.

 

[campfire]

Oh yeah...just for @82355, the underside of this block is painted Detroit Alpine Green (or something close to it). Not sure what that means (if anything). But I thought it worth mentioning, as block color was part of your 6.2 discussion last year. At least one 6.2 is painted green.

 

[Bent77]

Truck day!

 

[blazinzuk]

There shouldn't be oil coming from your freeze plug.

 

[campfire]

There shouldn't be oil coming from your freeze plug.

I agree, but that's what I have. This is the plug at the back of the camshaft. Picture from last fall (still looks like this).

Thoughts?

 

[campfire]

Truck day!

It has been WAY too long. Today wasn't a particularly fun or smooth project (I ended up stumped, after all). But it's still good therapy.

 

[GWeakland620]

Therapy is good sometimes.

 

[Bent77]

Sometimes just takes awhile to get in the flow

 

[82355]

Someone replaced the stock rear main seal.

Someone repainted the engine with a non stock color.......

Martin

 

[campfire]

Someone replaced the stock rear main seal.

Someone repainted the engine with a non stock color.......

Martin

That seems the logical answer. But why would someone bother? It's just on the underside of the block that I can see the color. Everywhere else it's boring black/oily mud color.