My 1983 SR5 Long Bed Build. (1 Viewer)

[dngspot]

Thanks guys.

I cut the frame back about 8 inches. The shackle mount is the point is was cut at.

Well there you have it, the trans is apart and the failure is found. The bearing behind first gear that is mounted in the intermediate plate, was on it's way out. The kit is ordered and should be here next week.

 

[dngspot]

I hate waiting with not much to do so I figured I would build and install the high lift jack mounts. I simply bent material and welded a bolt through the mounting surface. They act as studs to hold it up there when bolting it down. I always seem to have a 3/4 wrench in my tool stash so no need to use some sort of wing nut to hold the jack in place.
Here are a couple of pics.

 

[amcilwain]

Man I just finished reading all 22 pages of this thread and subscribed! Wow!! What a great build! Your truck is awesome!!! Can't wait to see some off road pics!

Sent from my piece of crap salt water corroded iPhoneusing IH8MUD

 

[dngspot]

Thanks those pics will come when all driving issues are fixed.

The transmission rebuild went well. No issues at this time. I installed the trans, last weekend and have been driving the truck around the neighborhood and fixing what needs to be fixed. Examples a brake line leak or carb adjustment. I do need to adjust the choke dle, it is a bit high, about 2200 rpm. The way the carb is mounted it is a bit difficult, most of the propane stuff is in the way also. I also need to remove the bed again. The bolts that hold the propane bottle clamps are hitting the back of the bed. I will drill through the tubing large enough so the heads of the bolts are inside the tubing.
When all of the issues are resolved I then need to build a car port on the side of the house. The truck is too tall to fit in the garage when the light bar and spare tire are on the bed.

 

[This Effin Guy]

Dude your rig is sick! hope you get it all figured out soon so we can se it in action.

 

[devildogcruiser25]

So much want. Awesome build.

 

[dngspot]

The dual setup works great. The engine is under powered. I am in the process of porting a 20r l will be done soon. Then off to the machine shop for 22r valves to be installed and surfacing. I have a weber that I will be trying out on the stock 20r manifold.

 

[dngspot]

I have been driving and then adjusting, then drive and adjust... The engine just will not give me enough power to be a pleasant drive. What I would like is to be able to shift through all gears and not have to keep my foot planted to hold speed. So the fix is more cubic inches, really nothing can fix power issues other than bigger engine.

Enters the 1996 GMC 4.3L



I am going to tear it down and give it a good cleaning and refresh it, add new where needed. This includes rings, bearings, oil pump, timing chain, valve guide seals and gaskets. It is getting a v-belt kit, 4bbl manifold, and a eldelbrock 500cfm carb. My propane system will be added to this engine. Things already acquired, flywheel, flywheel bolts, clutch and pressure plate, throwout bearing, starter, advance adapters bell housing, slave cylinder carb, and manifold. Need to buy v-belt pulleys and water pump, waiting to fit the engine to see what room I will have, long or short nose water pump. I also need to buy the gaskets, seals and distributor.

Some of the stuff has arrived.



There is a high torque, no nose starter in one of the boxes. The manifold and carb are in the others.

Tomorrow I will be pulling the engine apart.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Why are you moving from a serpentine setup to a v-belt setup?

 

[jynx]

And here I thought you were ready to just sit back and enjoy your work... they are never finished!

And did you get any pics of the rig outside the garage? I would love to see how the rig looks in the wild.

 

[dngspot]

V Belts? I have a power steering pump, air conditioning compressor and oba pump that will be transfered from the 22r to the 4.3.

Never got it out on the trail but did drive it around town. She turns heads like a topless hitch hiker.

 

[dngspot]

This is the motor now, with all the goodies installed.

 

[dngspot]

The engine is pretty much done. It requieres a few hose clamps and fittings, then it is reddy to install. I may have some time to remove the 22r but fitting the 4.3 may be delayed. I have to have work done on my right knee. This will keep me layed up for a while.

 

[TRoss]

Nice! Why no EFI?

 

[dngspot]

Thanks, no EFI, easer to install carb and I have propane also.

I finished building the brackets. I decided to buy a bracket for the alternator, I simply did not want to mess with it when it can be bought pretty cheaply. All belts are fitted also. Now I need to take it all apart and paint the brackets. The alternator bracket will be sandblasted and painted black like the rest of the brackets I made.

 

[jynx]

Looks awesome. Glad you are back up and going. How's the knee?

 

[dngspot]

The knee is doing great thanks jynx

 

[jynx]

Hey man, good to hear. What PS pump is that you are running? Looks like a PSC or TG pulley on there. You like it? I have been considering upgrading mine when I do my motor build.

Thanks

 

[dngspot]

IT is a TG pump. It is doing great but, I do not have a bunch of miles on it, so I cannot give an opinion on how long it has lasted.

 

[dngspot]

Yesterday I installed all of the goodies on the flywheel side of the engine and stuffed it in the truck. I did this to make sure I was not going to have to shave any of the input shaft, and where the motor mounts would be located. Nothing had to come off of the input shaft but the motor mount stands had to be relocated.

This morning I removed the engine and all of the stuff on the back side of the engine. I then cut off the old motor mount stands. Then cleaned the Herculiner from the area.





I then installed and attached the engine to the bell housing. I used a bottle jack on the axle to hold up the engine and make adjustments to the height.
I installed the bracket for the AC and air compressor because the ac compressor is the highest thing on the front of the motor. Then I set the hood on the fenders and raised the engine until I had about 1 inch between the hood and the top of the compressor. The following pics will show the rest of the clearance issues.

The engine in a messy engine compartment. Still that little V6 looks pretty comfortable in there.



After doing all of the research on the 4.3 swap, I was a bit concerned on the firewall and distributor location. Well on my setup there is about 1 inch between the distributor cap and the firewall, no sheet metal work needed here.



As for the front of the engine and the radiator, again no issue there. There must be 9 inches between the lower pulley and the front frame. When the radiator and fan are installed I should have, at minimum, 4 inches from the pulleys to the electric fan.



Now I am stuck, I thought I had enough material to build the mount stands but dont. The top of the motor mounts will sit about level with the frame when all is said and done.