Talk me into, or out of, it...

[skylark]

Just for that, I sent you a friend request, sucka

And don't go finding me any engines.. I'm sure there's plenty around here, but I don't need any coffin nails for the 7.4. It's fine and needs to stay that way for a long time.

Richard

I see that there are some 8.1s for $1500-2000.

 

[fancyTBI]

I see that there are some 8.1s for $1500-2000.

$2K isn’t bad. I found a running/driving 8.1 K2500 for $3500.

 

[someotherguy]

I see that there are some 8.1s for $1500-2000.

Price of course doesn't include all the hundreds of accessory items I'd need to transplant that successfully into a '93! I feel like if I could find a wrecked '01-02 3500HD with the 8.1 I'd be set, but it would still be a battle as I'd have lots of harness work to do; no way I'm changing to the new interior on this truck, like I did when I stuck the Vortec 7.4 into the '94 3500HD.

Speaking of the '93.. I went out to the garage ostensibly to clear my mind. Dunno if I accomplished that, but I think I might have fixed the fresh coolant leak. I say "might have" because I don't honestly know WHY it was leaking, just WHERE.

Pressured it up to about 18psi and it started falling, just a little, immediately. I could hear what sounded like the upper hose gurgling.

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Coolant pooled up in the expected area, right around the thermostat housing. The housing, thermostat, gasket, hose, and clamp are about a year old. A quick "feel" determined the housing itself was wet; it's leaking between the housing and hose. Why? The clamp -seems- tight..

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Took it off and cleaned everything up, cleaned inside the hose, and a little bit of white residue on the thermostat housing. Put it back together with the clamp repositioned and tightened it down. Pressured it up to right at 18psi and let it sit for maybe 15-20 minutes, no drop. Pulled the truck outside and blasted the intake area with the hose, dried it off with compressed air, took it for a drive, no signs of leakage.

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This is my first time using these "heavy duty constant tension" clamps. They're sold as Gates but are stamped Ideal which is a name I'm used to seeing on hose clamps. These are #32620 which are for clamping a range from 1-1/4" to 2-1/8"; the upper hose is 1-1/4" INSIDE diameter.. so it should be perfect. The fit near the gear looks a little weird to me, where the outside band overlaps. Guess we'll see. Didn't want to crank down stupid on the clamp and distort the hose badly; these clamps are easy to tighten, not the same as the usual worm gear style.

Richard

 

[someotherguy]

Some gigantic victory for this evening..

Ever since thinking about using the truck to go fill up some gas cans recently, and realizing I had no tiedown points in the bed thanks to the "bedrail protectors" ...... never liked them anyway, but they came on the truck.

So they came off.

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Once wiped down, the shiniest paint on the truck, on the outside, anyway

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I was gonna do the headliner today but didn't realize how hard it would be to locally source the material I need. The local fabric/craft stores have a super-limited selection. All the real upholstery supply places are on the other side of town, which is minimum 45-60 mins one way. Maybe tomorrow, with all the other stuff I've got to get done, too.

Richard

 

[df2x4]

Kind of makes me want to take mine on the red truck off. They've been on there since 1997...

 

[fancyTBI]

Well that’s a nice surprise that the bed rails aren’t all beat up. When I bought the ‘95 it had covers and underneath them was quite the surprise.

 

[someotherguy]

Yeah, there's the usual extra holes drilled up front for whatever goofy stuff they used to have mounted there. Doesn't exactly look like "cowboy sleeper/racerback" hole pattern, so who knows. There were also some L-brackets bolted into the front stake pockets, maybe it had some kind of rig job light bar mount since it used to be a rig job "wrecker"

The protectors are actually still in fine shape (although with those few extra holes up front, too) and would look good with a quick polish job.. on someone else's truck, I'm thinking.

Richard

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Yeah, there's the usual extra holes drilled up front for whatever goofy stuff they used to have mounted there. Doesn't exactly look like "cowboy sleeper/racerback" hole pattern, so who knows. There were also some L-brackets bolted into the front stake pockets, maybe it had some kind of rig job light bar mount since it used to be a rig job "wrecker"

The protectors are actually still in fine shape (although with those few extra holes up front, too) and would look good with a quick polish job.. on someone else's truck, I'm thinking.

Richard

I may be interested in those bed rail covers.... Rawhide has a set on him(came with him just like the brush guard and freeflow tailgate). The ones on the truck are dirty and have some extra holes where someone "attached" them with very rusty screws, when the sticky foam started coming loose. But I could do with an extra set in case these are too far gone to restick....

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

That's why I ordered my bed rail caps with pocket holes in them.

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Then used my "Hide a Hook" tie downs.

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[HotWheelsBurban]

That's why I ordered my bed rail caps with pocket holes in them.

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Then used my "Hide a Hook" tie downs.

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I think the original owner just got whatever accessories the dealership suggested and installed. "Just a little bit more on the payment each month".... He's long gone so can't ask him. His grandson that I bought the truck from, didn't know or wasn't saying. Oh well, when we get em, we redo em like WE want em anyway, right?