dazednconfused's slow mighty build

Okay i think its time to show a lil history on the truck now. i bought the truck for $1200 (paid too much) off a guy that had it listed on graigslist after the insurance company totaled out my t/bird s/c. after a guy in a newer charger t/boned me.

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the insurance company gave me $3000 for the car. funny thing is i paid $1000 for the car. the thing that made me mad the most was all that happened to the charger was a scuff on the bumper and the turn signal popped out(which he just walks around and pops back in place like nothing happened.

anyways back to the truck. heres how it looked when i bought it.
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i then got a soft bed cover from a buddy of mine that came off his s10.

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a few months later bambi decided to jump out in front of me. it was like a video game. all slow mo, the deer flew and slid 30ft.

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that just gave me the kick to chrome the front out sooner than planned. got a 95 chrome grill and the cheap clear markers from fleabay. a slightly beat up bumper off a 4x4 mm from the local pic-n-pull. plus a couple other chrome accents from the parts store

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then i had gotten a hold of a member on here or maxd50scene(cant remember) and got a grill emblem.

then one night had a bad storm and a tree limb fell into the bed destroying the cover.(no pics)
kinda put things on hold for awhile due to truck acting up. plus i backed into my buddies car cause i didnt realize he had parked behind me and i was in a hurry to pick a friend up from work. there went the almost flawless factory rollpan.

i got bored one night and seen i had a can of primer and a can of grabber green engine paint. so i got a paint and rust removal wheel and got to work on the front valance.

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after that i went down to the local sign shop and had them print me off some color matching(the front valance) novelty decals to go with a pair of truk nutz my wife got me.

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then one day my passenger front turn signal stopped working. the inner guts had rusted. replaced bulb still wouldnt work. so i grabbed some semi trailer l.e.d. markers and got to work on converting them.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocncyXU2b7s&feature=plcp

added some strobes to the turn signals since i still had some in there.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic2btp7HDgo&feature=plcp

then one night i was helping haul some wood for a buddy. i was driving through his yard and went to drive over what looked like a small flimsy tree sapling that you could drive over without hurting anything. i was wrong. there was 1.5in steel rod hiding in it. destroyed the valance and got stuck on the core support. luckily the valance was the only thing that got damaged. now it looks like it has green fangs for the halloween season. lol.

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found this older pic. its from when i took a load of 1000#s of steel to the local scrap yard.

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Nice truck man!

Nice truck, I like the rims, don't see too many people running those.

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Originally Posted by MitsuMax

Nice truck man!

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thank you

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Originally Posted by DroppedMitsu

Nice truck, I like the rims, don't see too many people running those.

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I've noticed that. i haven't found another mm or d50 running them. but as a tip to everyone that may not know, there is no modification needed for these rims to fit our trucks unlike others that need the centers bored out.

Welcome!
What kind of rims are those?

07 and up gmc sierra, savanna 17's

as in van wheels?

ive seen them on both, vans and trucks. i've seen a shipment of fullsize vans come into the local gm dealer with them on.

ordered the head gasket set today. it will be in tomorrow. cant wait to get this started and hopefully wont run into any problems during tear down and reassembly.

Definitely get the head checked for cracks. You dont wanna go through all the work of gasket replacement without it

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Originally Posted by crvtec90

Definitely get the head checked for cracks. You dont wanna go through all the work of gasket replacement without it

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had already planned on taking it to napa once its off the truck

a couple pics of the process
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found the spot where its leaking. just under number 3

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needs some cleaning but still looks good otherwise. forgot to take pic while it was still on the truck.

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a pic with the exhaust manifold. u can see the far back stud is missing. apparently one of the guys before me had broke it but with some soaking down with PB blaster everything came apart nicely.
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number 1&2 caked in carbon
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number 3&4 also caked in carbon

more pics to come. carburetor and intake next.

question for the motor heads. should i leave the head intact or disassemble it when i take it in to be tested?

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Originally Posted by dazednconfused

ive seen them on both, vans and trucks. i've seen a shipment of fullsize vans come into the local gm dealer with them on.

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just a little proof the ones that are saying no way.

heres todays progress on the intake and some indexing photos.
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starting to finally get somwhere. got the head, intake, valve cover, and water neck with new thermostat. work on the rest tomorrow. just gotta fight the rain.

well rain stayed away after early morning shower. not much more to do. got the vacuum lines hooked back up, carb, and exhaust manifaold back on. put the timing cover back on after i turned the motor 6 revs by hand. new NGK plugs. just as everything was going good... i was torquing the 4th bolt on the crank pulley... SNAP. darn it you son of a dog. i was so mad cause that just put another delay. well i got the threads backed out without any extra tool but screwdriver and pair of pliers with a little aggravated patience. tomorrow after work gonna go get new grade 8 m8x1.25 bolts for all four. may have to fab the bolts a little if i cant find the right length.

dad said run with just 3 it'll be fine. i really don't know if that's true plus im trying not to do halfassed work. figure cant go wrong with grade 8.

only got pulleys, belt, radiator, and a change of fluids. im so ready to have my truck back on the road instead of sitting in moms drive way. fast food just isnt cutting it with little brantley due in march. gonna have to get rid of the buckets and get a bench. im looking at putting a back bench from a 98 jeep cherokee laredo. just need to get measurements. seems good, looks like it would fit, and they fold all the way forward. hopefully a car seat will fit without affecting shifting.

ok got it back together. having trouble getting it started. messing with the distributor now.

Nice Truck!! You are making a lot of progress. Congrats!

Little update got it running again. The distributor was a tooth off. Still the chug prob at 40 though. Think it's carb.
Here's a pic of the plasti dip wheels.
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Got some Alpena dual strobz. Any ideas on where to put them. I already have strobes in the turn signals and I don't want these sticking out like sore thumbs.

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Here's what they look like.(stock photo) Haven't pull them out of package yet.

Had some bad luck today. On my way to work I blew my head gasket. Guess I should of took it to the machine shop and had it true'd. Thankfully I had bought a head gasket, then later bought the whole kit. So I had an extra laying around. now just have to tear it down and redo. But what would of caused it to blow another head gasket?

if you changed the head gasket without having the head checked for flatness or shaving the head, it will blow again. On the g54b the bolts are torque to yield, ie one use - can't remember if the g63b is the same.

Yes it's the same but no I didn't have it shaved. Thought I could save 100 bucks. Guess not. This time I will do it right.

The G63B original head bolts are not one use only. If you update them and have replaced them with later versions of head bolts, then you probably have the one time use ones.
My G63B has been using the original head bolts for the entire life of the truck, approx. 27 years with no issues in the past 20 years with head gaskets. I have only blown one gasket on the truck, but have received 3 inferior casting cracks which caused head to be replaced. Never have I replaced the head bolts. They use the Allen Head designed bolt and the originals can be used over. It helps to use the same bolt for the same hole each time, just like internal engine parts.
A manual might suggest replacing them which is normal for manuals to say. These one time only bolts have seemed to appear from performance parts builders. I just spoke to a Fastener company a couple days ago about this same issue and they are actually not happy about the one time use bolts. They explained the older bolts used in vehicles did not stretch and get tweaked like they do today. The company could of sold me the bolts, because that's what I went for to get. They said if yours work fine, there is no need to replace unless they specify on packaging to only use once.

AN accurate torque wrench is a must and I always go for that higher setting. For example 85 to 95lbs, I go to about 92-93. I drive it for a bit and get that engine all warmed and check the torque again. Then check it again in about 500 or less miles. These damn trucks are so finicky with them head gaskets, a little more torque won't kill them.

Thanks for the tip. I am still using o.e. head bolts. Found that tip on a different thread somewhere in here. I gotta check around at the machine shops to see if I can get a better deal than diamond motors in Monticello Indiana.

Well apparently the guy at diamond engines that spoke with the first time didn't know what he was talking about. He wanted $115 to shave the head. I called again today and found out that it is only $60 to have it done will be taking it in this Friday.

Nice, I did the same thing, LED trailer/truck lights into the front turn signal housing.

They work so much better. If anyone knows where to order headbolts let me know. Blew the gasket again. Thinking bolts bottomed out.