1991 V3500 Project Heavy Hauler

[MTCK]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Hope you find your leak Larry. A flowmaster sound with no drone or interior resonance sounds like a great product. I took the wife for a ride last night and she approves of the volume. I haven't driven any long distances so haven't picked out any specific annoying rpm bands. It does have a little of a high pitch type purrr at light load but honestly I can barely hear anything with the windows up and exhaust exiting about 15 feet behind me.

One possible difference besides the single vs dual is I'm running a magnaflow cat too. Exhaust is still a little stinky and it set a rich left and right bank fault code yesterday. I'm using GM LS1 injectors from a 98-00 motor and they flows little more than stock.

[MTCK]

Worked the truck a little today. Hauled 3800 lbs of grout etc down to a job site about 50 miles through the hills from here. Temps were in the upper 70's a fit pulled all the grades nicely at 55-65 in overdrive.

Coolant leak on the motor was the heater hose bung. Slight drip from the radiator was the lower hose not being square. At the top of a long grade trans temp was 150, engine oil 210, rear diff 140 and tires at 115. Should handle a camper just fine.

[Matt Man]

Truck is looking great Marcus, I like how you actually use the truck for its intended purpose. Sometimes when I go to the dump people give me weird gestures on why I use a truck as "nice" as mine for work. Where are the catalytic converters located?

[MTCK]

Thanks Matt. These rigs are great tools, and that's most of the justification I use to spend the $$$. This thing is going to get worked!

It's hard to see, but in post 382 the cat is just in front of the muffler. It's barely larger around than the tailpipe. Not CARB approved, so don't try this in the People's Republic of Cali... I just figured since I was going to burn copious amounts of gasoline, I could do my part to keep the air a little cleaner. And I don't like the gas fumes burning my eyes...

[MTCK]

Got my AC blowing cold tonight. I took it to a shop to get charged last week, and they couldn't get it to charge because of an obstruction... I did a little research and followed up on an idea the tech there had. Some moron (me) bolted the adapter on top of the compressor backward, so my compressor was trying to blow into the suction side. Switched them, added R134a and it blows 35 degree air. Could have used this Saturday when it was 82 degrees here...

Here's a question for you hydroboost gurus: my brake pedal sometimes doesn't return all the way when I've been driving for a while. Troubleshooting guide says an obstruction in return line. One time when I was having the condition, I popped the hood and took the cap off the power steering pump reservoir. It released an audible release of pressure and the pedal immediately returned to the top of its travel and brake lights went off. I've repeated this a half dozen times. I don't recall any of my old pumps having a very tight seal, but this one is very robust. I'm pretty sure the reservoir is pressuring up as the fluid expands and restricts the return. Anybody have this happen when using a newer pump? I used a new AC delco pump for the L29 application without the electronic gizmo that some of them have.

[watahyahknow]

you could look if theres a tiny air hole in the lid of the brakefluid reservour and if there is if its open

[joe231]

This^^^
I believe there should be a vent, maybe it's clogged?

Is your fluid level correct?

Here is something I found on Borgeson.com

"Air is sucked in to the P/S system compressed with the fluid and then expands when it reaches the reservoir causing an unintended pressure build up in reservoir."

[MTCK]

Thanks guys. Just to be clear you're talking about venting the power steering reservoir? Not the brake master cylinder. This makes sense to me. Fluid is on the high side of right. Between hot and cold when cold and just over hot when hot. Maybe I'll suck a tiny bit out and drill a little hole.

[joe231]

Yeah, should be a vent on the top of the power steering cap/dipstick assembly.

[MTCK]

No vent. I will build one...

Did about a 100 mile cruise today, hills and corners 55-65 mph. Pulled down 12.1 mpg with the AC pumping the whole time. I'm happy with that.

[whitels1]

Hell ya man! Glad you are getting out and enjoying it!

[LT7A]

Great Job MTCK. I really like how your rig is nice and clean and purpose built. I'd be proud to drive that thing - take half of my driveway though. And just to put it out there, I agree with your removal of the graphics. Nice work.

[MTCK]

Thanks guys. Installed a vent in the lid of the power steering pump and no more pedal return issues.

Another interesting tidbit: hooked up the obdII port to my buddy's efi live and compared my tune from Howell to his stock L29. Virtually identical except about two degrees more ignition timing at high rpm and load. Still only 17 degrees at 4000 rpm!

[MTCK]

Took a few hours this weekend to button up some loose ends. Picked up some stereo gear Friday. I can't believe how far stereos have evolved. This system is simple, costs less and sounds better than some pretty large spendy systems I've built before. 5 channel amp, 6x9 rear 6.5 coaxial fronts and a pair of 8's.

[MTCK]

Also wired up all my auxiliary power ports and seat heaters similar to how I did my 77 K10 (only twice as many).

Tomorrow I hope to get my 180 degree thermostat installed, a set of roller rockers and chase down the last coolant leak.

[Greenlee]

Nice work Marcus!

[daddyjeep]

Nice, wiring the inside up the have all of the modern conveniences. I will get to that point some day.

[stersam]

That is some pretty wiring.

[MTCK]

Thanks guys. Feel like I've been playing whack-a-mole with coolant leaks. Got the radiator all tightened up and holding and then she started just puking right when I pulled into my drive after swapping the thermostat for a 180 degree unit.

Never had a block heater do this before. I was able to shove the o ring home and crank it down. Seems to be holding. Roller rockers also appear to fit under the valve covers though I only installed two so far.

[COS399]

Looking great. Looks like you've been busy. What caused your block heater issue?

[MTCK]

Thanks. Yes been busy for sure. Good question on the cause of the block heater popping out. When I fixed it, the bolt that holds it in was very loose. I'm not sure how it got so loose, as I torqued it down when I installed it. Hopefully there is no other underlying problem. Only other time I have seen this happen it was a blown head gasket, but I don't have any other symptoms.

My damn radiator is still leaking though. I'm going to have to pull it out and get it to the shop to pressure test and repair.

[MTCK]

Installed some steel roller rockers. Summit and Comp couldn't tell me if they fit under the factory rocker covers. Short answer: no. The locking nuts were too tall. I shortened them about 1/4" and they fit after that.

[MTCK]

Well the block heater issue didn't go away either. I took it apart and the bolt was stripped. Flipped the nut around which put it on a different part of the thread. Was hoping it would hold so I could go claim the topper I found on Craigslist but it wasn't to be.

Hope this isn't a ride the truck needs again...

[deejaaa1]

put in a freeze plug until you can figure it out.

[COS399]

Bummer on the break down. I just put 4,600 miles on my truck in the last two weeks and luckily it didn't leave me stranded. I was towing a trailer most of the the time and it has 220,000 miles on the odometer. Good luck getting it figured out. Look at the bright side, it wasn't below freezing.