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The Wife's Dually - '82 K30 dually

You could send the tanks off to be chemically cleaned but after the cost you can just get new tanks.
 
I actually got on Rockauto after I did that last post and found those Spectra tanks. Ended up ordering them off Amazon prime for about $15 more per tank, but with free two day shipping. The oversize shipping from Rockauto added about $60 to the total price tag, so I saved $30 going through Amazon. Gotta love free two day shipping! I did end up getting the sending units and fuel tank straps from Rockauto though.
 
That is certainly the best option as proving you had to replace the frame is pretty easy. "Yeah, it needed a new one."

Also, everybody, keep in mind that some States use their own statues in addition to/in place of U.S. Code.





I'm going to jail for 5 years?!!! J/K. Thanks for the link. The easiest thing for me to do is just use the VIN from the 2wd donor body, so that is likely what I will do.
 
Today was a good day for the frame, and a little disappointing for the engine.

First the good. Frame got blasted to commercial white blast (unfortunately I didn't get pics of it after blast), and then a good coat of epoxy primer. I'll test the mils on the prime coat tomorrow and maybe have them shoot another coat depending on the thickness. If it's good to go as is we will shoot a polyurethane topcoat on it.

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The only crack I could find was this one on the front crossmember. I can't recall what (if anything) bolts into that. I'll probably get that welded up unless it's something insignificant. Any opinions?

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Now for the bad (or at least not awesome). Pulled the valve covers to see if I could get the surface rust off them. Finally got a peek at the head numbers. Looks like they are NOT oval ports as I was told, but rather peanut ports. I'm not that bummed since I really bought this truck for the body, but it would have been a nice surprise to find oval ports. I think @skunked or maybe @sweetk30 said the 781 or 049 were the desirable ones. These are 346236 made in Feb of '84. So, after a little sleuthing around on the net it looks like these aren't great heads. However, it seems they have the same specs in terms of Intake, Exhaust, Chamber, and CC as the 781. I admit to not knowing enough about this stuff to understand why one is good and the other is bad other than one supposedly flows better than the other. I did see some comments on these heads that they are good for torque (like 500-600lbft is attainable), so I guess maybe "desirable" is in the eye of the beholder? I'm sure most who build a big block gas engine are looking for high HP, but at the end of the day this is a 1 ton truck with a granny low 4 speed. Are these ports worth a damn for this application, or is it worth looking for some different heads for this while it is easy to get at the motor to install them?

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I'm running the same peanut port heads, I debated going with some ovals but quickly learned it's a slippery slope and I would rather build an 8.1 if I was going to spend that kind of coin.

You can make good power with the peanut ports.
 
In my opinion those heads will be just fine. Shoot for a 9.5:1 static ratio; good valve springs(i.e. beehive) and a roller cam, roller rocker set up and you can make the proverbial mountian of torque.

Look into something like Comp Cams Xtreme Energy line; you can get a cam lobe that is profiled to get to max lift very quickly without losing good idle vaccum and tame driveability due to ridiculous lift specs and overlaps as the sharp lobe ramps do not sacrifice dynamic compression.
 
Yeah, I'd rather not dump more money into the engine, so I'll probably just stick with these. I need to get with the PO who built the motor and get the specs on the cam he put in it. It doesn't currently have roller rockers. Are those worth putting in, or should I maybe just go with it as is and see what I've got? Kinda leaning towards that unless there is some enormous increase in power with roller rockers.
 
Roller rockers are a waste unless your running a roller cam IMO.

I agree with the statements above. stick with your current heads, do a nice engine build with a roller cam, work the heads, some new rings, bearings, intake, dizzy, carb, build for torque. No reason you can't pull 550 foot lbs all day with that thing.
I am building a 600hp/600torque, 496 for my 76 now... Haven't got much done with it lately... I suppose there is some tech in my thread about it when I was figuring out what I was/wanting to do.
 
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the crack is were the sway bar bushing/clamp bolt up .

someone added the pinion snubber / bump stop on the front from a military truck by the looks of it . never seen one on civilian .

she looks good all cleaned up .

peanut ports are just fine . . = just means no crazy rpm range is all . they make more power down low to mid were the large oval port would get you a bit more mid to top end.

just make sure the intake is setup for peanut port or you will have a HUGE wall at each runner were it meats the head surface.
 
There is some power to be found in roller rockers, but it desperately hinges on -precise- valve train geometry; which means time, and money, spent on checking spring heights (open and closed), push rod length and the roller to valve contact.
 
the crack is were the sway bar bushing/clamp bolt up .

someone added the pinion snubber / bump stop on the front from a military truck by the looks of it . never seen one on civilian .

she looks good all cleaned up .

peanut ports are just fine . . = just means no crazy rpm range is all . they make more power down low to mid were the large oval port would get you a bit more mid to top end.

just make sure the intake is setup for peanut port or you will have a HUGE wall at each runner were it meats the head surface.
I thought that was probably where the sway bar bolts up. Doubt I'll need one, but I'll go ahead and fix that crack anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if someone ripped the old one off tugging on it with a tow strap or something similar. This truck got worked pretty hard I think.

I didn't even notice the bumpstop you are talking about lines up with the pinion, not the spring. I'll have to take a closer look at that today.

Low to mid power is probably where this truck will need it anyway, so these peanut ports will probably work fine. How do I determine if the intake is set up properly? It's an Edlebrock Victor Jr. intake.
 
There is some power to be found in roller rockers, but it desperately hinges on -precise- valve train geometry; which means time, and money, spent on checking spring heights (open and closed), push rod length and the roller to valve contact.
I'm guessing the cam that was installed is NOT a roller cam (Comp Cams Extreme Energy), so going back through to change that out and then putting roller rockers is probably unecessary expense and effort at this point. This motor is already together and ready to run other than breaking in the cam, so I'll just stick with the current set up I think.

And I agree, those tires actually do look right on there even though there is all kinds of clearance for a bigger tire. I'm still going to go up in size though.
 
Is there any sort of tester that allows you to check the integrity of the brake lines? I'm thinking a pressure tester or something you could hook up to see if the lines are holding properly, i.e. no leaks before I put brake fluid back into them. I've got new braided lines for the front and rear coming from ORD, but I wanted to check to the hard lines that are on the frame for leaks.

Also, anyone know how to tell if my radiator is a "heavy duty" or a regular? I need to order new mounting pads for it, and per LMC there is one part number for the ones that go on a heavy duty radiator, and one for the regular.
 
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