miSSed opportunity

[Stormin08]

nice start, neat approach...IT NEEDS THE FLARES ALL AROUND !

cant wait to see the end.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Stormin08

nice start, neat approach...IT NEEDS THE FLARES ALL AROUND !

cant wait to see the end.

Thanks. I agree. I have the flares and all the hardware & access hole plugs. I also have a template I made of the mounting holes from the bed of the 94 K2500 when I had the flares off of it when I painted it before using it to make my 95 K3500 DRW into a SRW. Just have to find the time to do the work.

[68 TT]

I totally gutted the 1989 cab down to the bare shell only leaving the rear window glass in place.

Cleaned every surface completely then lined it with sound deadener.

Installed a passenger side grab handle over the door that I snagged from a donor at the wrecking yard. Installed rivet nuts into the roof structure.

Installed a decent set of speakers into the rear B-pillars while I was back there since they are quite a pain to access later.

Installed an electrochromatic compass temp mirror out of a late 90's Suburban and ran the wires down the A-pillar. Installed the temp sensor on the hood latch support like on the Suburban and made all the connections. Works great. The auto-dimming feature is nice to have.

Since the 89 had some lame poor fitting aftermarket speaker headliner that I was always hitting my head on I decided to put a stock headliner into it. I cut down the extended cab headliner from the 94 K2500 and presto regular cab headliner in the correct oxblood red interior color.

[68 TT]

I completely disassembled the 94 K2500 dash board and R-134a HVAC system. Scrubbed every inch of it inside and out with household cleaning wipes to remove all the years of built up yuck in and on all the duct work and parts. Wiped down after that with Windex to remove the tacky residue that the cleaning wipes leave. Squeaky clean and now the air coming out of the ducts doesn't smell like an old gym locker room.

Repainted all the dash parts with plastic & vinyl dye so everything matched and looked new again.

Reassembled the HVAC system with a new evaporator core, heater core and blower motor. Sealed all the joints in the system with non-hardening polyurethane sealant designed for high heat and UV exposure. Designed for roof and skylight repair but it works great for sealing up HVAC parts on vehicles. I have been using it for years and it works fantastic, plus it is less than $5 a tube for a caulking gun size canister. Makes for much better air flow coming out of the vents when you are not losing so much out of all the seams along the way.

Cleaned up the 94 K2500 tachometer gauge cluster, replaced all the bulbs, put the T400 gear indicator assembly in place and fit a new headlight switch to the bezel. Since I built this truck from scratch and everything mechanical is new or rebuilt (or will be soon) I didn't think it was right to leave the odometer on what it was from the parts truck that donated the engine core and dash so I reset the mileage. Nobody with half a brain could argue with that.

Goodbye 1989 no tach moon gauges dash and R-12 A/C system.

[68 TT]

Moving on to the front half of the HVAC system conversion to R-134a and to the 1994-up grille.

The core support is slightly different on the 1994-up vs the 1988-93 models so it had to be swapped out to use the 94 grille that I wanted to use. Slight differences in the way the bumper filler panel attaches too. I liked the looks of the inset ribs on the 94-up vs the 90-93 sport version where the whole surface is flush. Gives it more character.

Couldn't find a 94-up style grille specific red & black bowtie for sale when I needed one so I made my own. Looks OK but I will put a real one on there after paint. Found a few places that sell them now, just need to buy one.

Installed a new 1994 application R-134a accumulator, condenser, supply & return hoses and orifice tube. All new O-rings with PAG oil on them prior to install. Also installed a new big block auxiliary electric cooling fan and thermostatic switch. I figured out why these things are usually seized up when you find them at a wrecking yard. They spin in the wind even when the truck isn't running. Those poor bearings never get a break.

I made the mistake of putting a new aftermarket A/C compressor on there too. It seized up in just under a year with minimal use. I completely flushed the system parts and pulled a vacuum on it for an hour with my electric vacuum pump. Tested that it held a vacuum for a week before filling then filled the system with the GM specified amount of PAG 150 oil and refrigerant so there is no reason what so ever that pig should have failed. They had the balls to tell me that the warranty was void because I didn't pay a shop to flush my system out. Needless to say I bought the parts to rebuild and re-seal the original AC Delco compressor off the 94 K2500 that was leaking around the housing and spurred me on to replace it. Retard. Won't do that again. Now I have to pull the orifice tube out and trash it then flush the whole system and start over with a new accumulator because there is most likely debris from the POS compressor in the lines that will FOD out my freshened up AC Delco part if I don't.

Put a new set of black trim headlights and front turn signals on too. I liked the way they looked but in function the headlights suck. The light pattern they create is horrible compared to the other aftermarket headlights I have on my 98 Tahoe and even the stock headlights I had on my 95 K3500, hazy lenses and all. I will be swapping them out for a better set soon.

[68 TT]

Wanted to go with no side trim rubber strips on the body or bumpers so I bought a plain black front bumper and matching license plate bracket without the notches for the trim. I had a 1990 K1500 Z71 that had the 350 SS package and it came without the side trim stock. It looked so much cleaner than the 454 SS with the rubber trim on the side.

Also didn't like the look of the fog lights on the original 454 SS trucks so I chose to run a smooth front air dam. Installed that as well.

Two of the other things I didn't like about the original 454 SS trucks I addressed with the choice of the 89 truck cab I started with. The cab came without the cargo lamp and had a solid rear window. I hated the look of both of those things on the original but they were part of the 454 SS package and since I bought mine off a dealer showroom I got what I got. I don't think you could even special order one without them as I have never seen one that way.

[68 TT]

Since the 89 cab I started with had manual windows and door locks the factory didn't put the wire grommets in the door jambs. Had to install them so I could put the power window & door lock Silverado trim level doors from the 94 K2500 onto the 89 cab. Took the dimensions off the 94 cab so they would match up with the doors.

Hole is 1.75" in diameter and 1.75" in from body edge and 1.75" down from the body line in the picture. Center of hole for hole saw is 2.625" from body line and edge of body.

Sorry about the chicken scratch. Better than nothing.

Don't know why it is rotating the image. At least its not upside down.