Slow but productive!! 1988 W/T stepside project

[cantbuytime454]

Heres my 1988 V6 C1500 Chevy truck.. has a 502 BB and 5 speed trans.. 10 bolt rear with lockers and 3:73 gear.. this is my project of slow moving ideas...

Its in stages man!!!





temp wheels



rally wheels and drop







grille finished





502 before



502 upgraded equipment

[cantbuytime454]

Figured i would smoke the tail lights but turned out badly. i think the paints had a reaction.

on truck u see they are faded , deep scratches, pits and have some cracks





VHT blackout over factory clear!!!!nasty..my park lights and markers came out sweet but these look like this



So 1 hour later, starting with dry 100grit sand paper, then to 220grit wet, 400grit wet, 800grit wet, 1000grit wet and finally 2000grit wet sand.. and magically they look like this.. this is the driver side (worst)and figured i would do it first to see if i could get the paint off but then realized they would just look better like new ones..





I also used these to polish it



i am going to do the other one tonight and will post pics when finished..

NEXT- I am going to post pics of the edelbrock headers install and final engine upgrades.. Then i am going to start my process of shaving the rear steps and adding a roll pan.. Will add pics as soon as i start

[someotherguy]

Grille looks good man. Glad you finally got an emblem for it.

The chrome on the bars and around the opening looks good, not so sure about the turn signals, kinda 50/50 on it but it's definitely different.

That's crazy what the tint did to the taillights. Must have been an incompatibility with the clear on them and the VHT, maybe in the past someone polished the lenses and put rattle can clear on them.

Richard

[cantbuytime454]

yep im in limbo with the park lights myself.. the chrome doesnt look bad on them but i might just get new clear ones or something.. maybe black ones with amber LED's

[cantbuytime454]

Ok guys.. my 1988 C1500 454 5speed...i have a build thread on here but due to getting sick for almost a month and 18 days of being in the hospital ... I did not get my project running till a few days ago...

here come the problems rolling like hurricane.

First it backfires which blows the holley's power valves, but regardless of this i get it running and tunned pretty good..

Next i notice a major heat difference now that i have edelbrock shorty headers but engine never gets over 190 with hood open at idle. Yet seems much hotter under there..

I get the exhaust rigged temporarily.. So i can drive it , decided to drive at night.. we go 4 a ride to autozone for a breather.. no temp change and all runs fine.. then go to car wash. (mind you this is no more then 2 miles from my house)

AFTER THE CAR WASH I NOTICE WHILE DRIVING in 4th gear that just a little gas makes the clutch slip.. crappy since the clutch is a new GM HD clutch..

well when i get home i notice my exhaust leaks are blowing right on the slave cylinder and bellhousing and under the hood temps are extremely high.. guessing the heat glazed my clutch????

not just the clutch went bad but it boiled my brake fluid... aarrgghhh.. this is getting crappy..

next day i decide to fix my exhaust.. muffler shop wants to take these high dollar headers off , cut the the factory collectors off and weld a tube that looks like some kinda metal mesh sleeve in it so the collectors are under the truck.. tell me how will this fix my heat issue?????

Then on the way home (98 degrees outside) after fighting with them to put it how its supposed to be(still has small leaks but not as bad) the temp finally goes to 230 and is boiling over.. clutch starts getting worse, brakes are almost failed out.. brake fluid leaking from every wheel ..

My guess is the headers are adding alot of heat under hood, being the brake lines are only about an inch from the header that dont help.. I also think my clutch fan dumped out on me too!!

Maybe wrap the headers and the pipes, new HD fan or electric, and redo the brakes???

[cantbuytime454]

figured fill you all in.. My own stupidity.. It was a 502 crate motor with stock TBI on it.. So i opted to put in a Comp Magnum Hi energy cam 280H, RPM air gap intake, Holley 800DP, HEI 60,000V, edelbrock shorty headers.

up above is what happened when i first cranked a drove it but heres a vid clip. just click the blank pics. mostly sound.. and new images


















tomorrow will post better videos..

[Gopedxr]

Wow very cool!!

[g9m3c]

Cool project! Sounds like a healthy cam.





lol at the car alarm

[FordeatinZ71]

nice!

[someotherguy]

For checking the fan clutch, when the engine is hot, shut it off and see if you can spin the fan easily by hand. If it doesn't have some resistance, the clutch isn't engaging properly.

I know you said one header runs real close to the clutch line, but they're running close to the brake lines too? Like I was telling you about the fluid, if it's old and nasty it's got a lot of absorbed water, it will boil easier that way. Flushing it out and putting fresh fluid in will help but it can only do so much, if the headers are too close, you're always going to have problems. Heat wrapping will help but depending on how close, dunno if it's going to solve the problem.

Originally Posted by g9m3c

Cool project! Sounds like a healthy cam.

He's one of the few people that I can tell when he's outside at my gate, before my phone rings. It does sound damn good.

Richard

[Koots]

I love what you've done with the truck. The grille treatment is exactly what i was gonna do to my dad's truck. Looks great

Just for motivation, a slow project can end up being a better project. Cuz the longer it takes the longer you have to make up your mind and work out the small detail. Having all the money to transform the truck in one shot would be nice and cool, but it's not always the best way.

[cantbuytime454]

ok I got 2 new videos.. the first one is just to point out problems under the hood... kinda short.. the second vid is me being a tard..

In the first video i am showing the nasty exhaust leaks.. still!!
The red lines from the valve cover breathers to the intake are no no's.,. Cause it sucks in heat and pressure from the motor, which will cause overheating, bad running, etc... I need to get the headers welded up like long tube so it will fix the leaks and i can put check valves on the exhaust pipe to run the breathers to for the crank case evacuation..

next i ran the truck to operating temp and checked the clutch fan repeatedly.. seems its out.. but listen in the long video(2nd vid)it sounds like its kickin on !! Do you hear it or just me?? It ran for 10 minutes being 102 outside and barely got to 195 when the thermostat opened.. still no fan.

last but not least the 35 year old nascar holley carb needs a rebuild.. its the miss you hear when i rev it up.

also dont give me no crap about the lil tire spin.. if i had gave it anymore gas the black marks would be curved and long.. LOL

VID 1


vid 2

[cantbuytime454]

I am moving this week. but next week i will be posting pics and vid on wrapping the headers, welding the headers, rebuilding the carb and shaving the rear steps.

hear that Grant?? i will do work,mine wont be 35 pages of beautyshop gossip..LOL..

Grant that avatar freaks me out man.. tell the midget to leave the dam wires alone already... hes gonna give me a seizure...LOL

[g9m3c]

Originally Posted by cantbuytime454

hear that Grant?? i will do work,mine wont be 35 pages of beautyshop gossip..LOL..

Grant that avatar freaks me out man.. tell the midget to leave the dam wires alone already... hes gonna give me a seizure...LOL

I'm sorry you feel that way. I am a small person, and go through this crap all the time. It's alright though, I've learned to deal with it.





























So yea, speaking from experience, continually posting progress in your build thread cuts down on the time for gossip.

[mikesec]

sweet truck... keep us posted

[92extcabstep]

how do you like the rear end in that thing?

does it hold up to the power? because i was worried about using my 10 bolt with my stroker if it holds up to that beast i have nothing to worrie about haha

and is that the stock mg5 trans

thats another thing i was worried about


trucks amazing man i see w/t i think 4.3l not 502! holy crap

[mikesec]

i like the wire wheels better than the rallys

[cantbuytime454]

Ok the rearend might hold up for a while.. But i havent been driving mine very hard.. it blows off the tires to easily.. so i dont think i am straining the rearend.. Unless i get some grip then we might be shelling 10 bolts.. mines got 3:73 gears and supposed to be a locker in it.. i have never just spun 1 tire..

i know a guy that has a 10 bolt in a 11 sec truck... its just got a locker and 4:10 gears.. its been making passes all night at least once a month. For 3 years

Besides i think im might get rid of the stepside, grab a fleet side bed, dually fenders and a dually rearend.. i know that will hold up..LOL

but really right now making it a real SWB dually is a thought.. i gotta find out if i can move the arms , dually spindles and other front end stuff over to my half ton... Cause why do it and it not be a true dually.. I have yet to see a regular cab short bed obs dually..

But r

Mikesec- I loved the spokes man but they didnt tuck.. If they tucked i would still have them..

[92extcabstep]

haha yea i doubt mines got even close to as much power as your or your buddies truck so it should be indestructible haha that truck would be sick as hell if you did that


keep me posted man sounds interesting

[92extcabstep]

if you ever do get rid of that rear and someone doesnt want to buy it whole... pm me ill def buy the locker and gears in a heart beat ive been looking for a while