89 RCLB K1500 - Quality time with my son building his first truck.

95OBSMan said:

Man nothing like new parts!!! plugging along is paying off, thats all we can do at times... so the 4x4's brake lines going from hard line to caliper just hang out? I do see where the line is pre-bent steel or stainless going to the caliper... Love the rotors!!

Looks great, should hold him for a little while huh?!!

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Yeah I’m happy with those brake lines, it should be roadworthy for a while.

SNCTMPL said:

We got started on the new truck by changing the fluids in the transmission, transfer case and both differentials. We also have the engine ready to come out, so it should be out in the next couple of days. The truck has almost 300k miles and it’s showing its age in some areas more than others. I happened upon some parts on marketplace for a really good deal today, so “project creep” has commenced.
Hopefully this rabbit hole isn’t too deep. Stay tuned.

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Good looking parts . Yes project creep -we are all certainly guilty lol. I vowed to myself 3 years ago I was just going to take my newly purchased WT / maintenance truck beater , leave it beaten up on the outside and just put an LS in it , get it running and fix the interior to be habitable ......you have followed my build so you know how that turned out lol..... I guess we all cant help it haha- we want something reliable and robust -there are much worse things we could be doing or spending our money on . Enjoy.

SNCTMPL said:

I went out to the garage this morning to find a small puddle of gear oil under the front diff, so after a couple of hours I got the axle seals changed out and got started on what I set out to do originally.
We rebuilt the lca’s from the 89 and then fought stuck torsion bars. Today was a challenge, but we ended up getting a few things done. We’ll keep plugging along and hopefully have it running next weekend.

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Oh yeah… now she’s looking like an Illinois truck!

SNCTMPL said:

We got a little time this afternoon and got the motor mounts bolted down

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They’re fun. Almost as fun as the bell housing bolts.

Enjoying the progress.

Well the engine is in. All the stuff underneath is bolted up and ready to go. Ended up cutting out the factory exhaust from the cat, back. Put in a Flowmaster cat and muffler, the tailpipes should be here later this week. Working on the topside now.

Even with a swamp cooler, 106 is just too hot for me to be in the garage. Time for a cold shower and a cold beverage.
I’ll finish this another day.

SNCTMPL said:

106 is just too hot for me

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You ain't kidding there!! 7:00pm here and still @ 112!!

Everything looks great, nice and tidy!!! I've got to get that 11 blade fan with the HD clutch for mine...

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve updated this. We have been busy getting the work truck running and road worthy. It’s running and driving good, but still has a couple of bugs to work out. I’ll give a complete rundown of what we had to do and maybe a video of it running.

As for the 89, we shifted gears (pardon the pun) on the build a little bit today. Since the beginning I have known that the NV3500 was going to be the weak link in the drivetrain, so today we picked up a 4L80E and a Borg Warner 4401 transfer case out of a 92 K3500. After we rebuild them I don’t think the transmission will be the weak link. So now that the rest of the drivetrain can handle it, I think we are going to Procharge the 383.

Don’t you at least want to see the NV3500 explode?

As fun as that might be, we still have a truck that uses that tranny.

I like the procharger idea. I run CSU Holley blow through custom carbs if you plan to go that route I can’t say enough good things about CSU!

Yes the truck deserves a spicy powerhouse under the hood and the 383 SBC is the right way to do it if the budget allows!