1964 GMC 3/4 ton build :D

[Captainfab]

Yeah, the '68-'71 big block mounts would work too, but they are $$. The '72 BB mounts are even more $$$.

[sdwolff98]

Yeah they ain't cheap that for sure tge stands I can get locally pretty reasonable but the rubbers 185 a set. Will know more soon waiting on the head from the machine shop then bolt it back together and slip it all in n see where I am at.

Sean

[sdwolff98]

well got the transmission cross member modified so the Allison will fit turned out good 1/2 clearance on the floor board at the rear of the transmission. here are some pictures. I have taken the cross member apart to re powder coat it for its final assembly didn't realize how much rust built up behind those rivets. will be reassembling it with grade 8 hardware fine thread should be good enough that way.
Still waiting on the machine shop to finish the cylinder heads then can get new head bolts and upper end gasket set and get it reassembled and back in the truck.
Sean

[sdwolff98]

here are some pics of the Allison and the floor pan clearance.

Sean

[dwcardfan]

Your build looks good! I was wondering if you had the part number for the engine covers you got from gm parts direct. I would love to have a set for my build.
Thanks
Donnie

[sdwolff98]

I will get you the numbers for both the max and the 6000 covers when I have a few minutes at work today Dw.
Sean

[dwcardfan]

Thanks for the numbers Sean. Just got them ordered!

[sdwolff98]

Dw np any time

Sean

[sdwolff98]

well got a few things done have been waiting on money and parts for the most part lol . Got the head studs in today they are in place and lightly torqued down. Monday will be going through and torqueing them all the way in as per arp instructions say. Started on the gauge cluster lined out and got the indicator holes and cruise switch holes in place. Last week I worked on getting the truck engine harness stripped down and found some interesting ironies about the medium trucks I was not aware of.
I also opened up the firewall bulkhead spot to fit the Delphi bulkhead in place still thinking on ideas for the panel itself.
Here are some pics of todays work.
Sean

[sdwolff98]

Interestingly enough the medium truck harness in some very rare instances were installed on the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks as I found out when I got my harness in and stripped down. The truck I got mine from was definitely and 3/4 ton per the vin they sent me but interestingly enough the harness only had 2 o2 sensors wired in to it??? turns out the medium duty trucks hehe only were required federally to have 2 oxygen sensors in them lol not that I am complaining less holes in the computer connectors to have to seal up. Also the 8.1 engines do not use standard knock sensors they use some kinda funky connector style ones and I am working on tracking the particular pigtails down as we speak. BE WARNED ON THE MEDIUM DUTY HARNESS THEY DO NOT USE STANDARD COPPER JACKET WIRE FOR THE KNOCK SENSORS!!!!!. I AM NOT SURE WHAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE BETWEEN THE WIRE THEY USED AND THE STANDARD COPPER WIRE?? They used tefzel wiring 16 gauge on both the knock sensors for some reasons? what the differences between it and standard txl I am not sure?? Maybe someone can tell me as I am curious as to the reasons?

Sean

[sdwolff98]

Well while waiting on overtime to build back up at work started on a few other small projects since I had the materials in hand for them . First since I am going to a black carpet and interior to match my console setup. I pulled the rear cab panels out and I am in the process of recovering them with a different material then I originally used. I also at the same time made a new center panel out of one piece of abs instead of the three I had originally. here are some pics of the material and the new center panel I made out of some left over abs I had .

Sean

[sdwolff98]

and another pet project involves the marker lights irrational habit of falling out when I close the hood rotflmao. I put new sockets in and everything to no avail /sigh So I decided to see what I could come up with to make it so I could both service them but at the same time keep the dammed things in place lol. Well here it is and looks like it will work perfectly!! I took a couple of the extra tail light buckets that I had and cut the bulb mount and screw hole sections out and did a lil hammer work to flatten them out. The going back and forth several times got them where they conform to the GMC marker housing pretty well. I them when to the local oreillys and found a couple of tail lamp sockets with the foam seals on them. I attached the foam seals on the inside of the housing around where the buld mounts and and used some grey rtv to secure them in place. It is in the process of curing as we speak and I will be reinstalling them tomorrow. the other half of the setup is a set of new tail light pigtail harnesses from classic parts going to be working on those in a few days when I can get some 2 pin weather pack connectors together. the last pic is them housings I bought from oreilly to provide the seals for the bulbs.

Sean

[sdwolff98]

have not done much since I put the repurposed taillight mounts on my turn signal housings but I did however get a few more things for the 8100 while I was off on vacation. Got the heavy duty truck balancer in and also the GM service tool kit for the 8.1 vortec were here when I got home last night. Still have a few more engine parts to gather then slap it back together and reinstall it and the Allison in the truck and set it down for the final placement.
Got side tracked a friend asked me to rebuild a tpi unit and put a stand alone harness together for him then he backed out so trying to get it out of my hair and him paid back before retasking on continuing on smurf :/

next I have plans to get the tefzel wire and some other wire together after the engine is reinstalled and get to work on the firewall engine side of the harness.
Sean

[Captainfab]

What all does the service tool kit consist of?

[sdwolff98]

lets see I looked it all up there is a crank snout protection tool for when your removing the balancer, balancer install tool, front and rear seal install tools, rear main seal removal tool, and a valve seal installer. and the "SPECIAL" gm service tool self tapping screws lol they list them for 55 bucks for 10 screws through kent moore rotflmao lol

Sean

[sdwolff98]

Well finally got back out in the garage and started working on a few more projects. got the tap shift rewired with some longer length wires and put the firewall bulkhead plate together. Tonight going to attempt removing the tap shift resistors so I can change them over to the correct ones.

Sean

[sdwolff98]

also today got the terrain console wired up and started reassembling it to mock up in the truck so I can get the mount holes drilled and prep it for install

Sean

[sdwolff98]

lately have not had as much time as I would like to work on my toy but have managed to get a few things done lol. First off after 45 minutes of painstaking tediousness soldering was able to change the tap shift button resistors in the gmc terrain console to match the values the Allison 6 speed requires to use the manual shift mode!! Yaaaayyyy me the dammed resistors are the side of a pin head almost but go it done. Also got a high mount passenger side air conditioning alternator compressor bracket from a Kodiak truck courteous of a junkyard in Idaho the things are freaking expensive if bought new from GM. along with that a guy on one of my facebook 8.1 engine groups supplied me with a power steering and alternator Silverado bracket assembly just this last week . also started wiring up the firewall engine compartment bulkhead assembly still got a lil more to go on it but coming out good at this point. Also got frustrated and scrapped the rebuild on the painless fuse box there just was not enough circuits to go around so shooting off in another direction with a modular assembly I found in an oldsmobile aurora car see last picture

More to come on engine progress in the next post
Sean

[sdwolff98]

also been getting a few more things done on the engine to get it ready to reinstall in the engine bay . oil pump is officially changed, oil cooler lines plugged and changing the timing chain up next. come to find out this engine had 3 different timing chains and cover setups so if you ever get one of these be ware the different setups and covers do not interchange at all they are as follows: 2001-2002, 2003-2004 and 2005 up. I am waiting on a parts order from gm parts direct that has the 2006 timing chain cover and I got the cloyes 2006 timing chain as well since they no longer make the 01-02 timing sensor.
also since at this time I am not going to use and engine oil cooler found a way to plug the factory oil cooler line holes lol the only American threaded parts on the entire block I have found are the cooler line fittings they are a 1/2" 14 thread setup so couple of pipe plugs and done for now
Sean

[Captainfab]

I always enjoy your updates. You certainly go to great lengths to make things work as they should and do a nice job while doing so. This is one of my favorite builds.

[sdwolff98]

Hey Capon fab
Thanks yeah very detail oriented lol. But them I have done a lot of half arsed **** over the years lol. Do it once do it right the first time :-)
Will be throwing up some more engine pics come January when I get it parked back in its new home.
Sean

[sdwolff98]

well been busy last few weeks taking care of other peoples electrical gremlins and nightmare wiring projects but did get a few things done on my truck in last few days and some last week. First off finally got the bottom end of the engine back together with the new oil pump, new 2006 timing chain and cover and seals all around. Will be tackling the rear main before I put it back into the truck and get it changed before I bolt it up the transmission. I also got the HD balancer put into place and cranked down to spec for the eventual brackets to match up to. more to come on the brackets after its back in the truck

Sean

[sdwolff98]

And got a center ac vent assembly from Corvettejim1968 the other night and as I thought the gmc does not have enough lip on the upper part of the dash to mount it properly so I got to thinking where else I could make it work, DUUUHHH staring at me the whole time is what to do with the space between the dash and the top of the forward center console *chuckles* well whipped out the handy dandy dremel tool and got to experimenting a weee bit lol but I think when I get it finalized will be a nice clean transition from console to dash and have the benefit of ac vents there as well. The center vent I am going to seal up and may place my cruise buttons there not quite sure on it yet but looking at the idea closely. Found some nifty ac vents from vintage air that I like and will see how well they fit in the stock panel setup. Later tonight will be cutting out and making the side panels out of some scrap abs I have in the garage and get some more pictures when done.

Sean

[sdwolff98]

Started on a few more projects while other things are cooking on the back burners. Soon will have the engine stands power coated and ready to reinstall. Once that happens the engine and transmission are going back in the ole pig . Started to work on one project in progress and started a whole other new one for the interior setups.
I got to looking at my vent pockets since having an ac unit wont be using them much so started working on turning them into a set of speaker pockets for some kenwood components I have laying around my garage. Here are some pics of what I have done so far. Trying to a find a second vent pocket one of mine got lost in the move :/
For the speaker Grills I had stashed unused and saved from a cancered up truck a pair of 60-61 vent grills from one of the trucks with the old cable control setups.

Sean

[sdwolff98]

The other thing I started working to finish is the center console. I finally got all the measurements done on the cab and have it centered in the middle of the cab. I am currently working on the front filler panels and the front mount brackets for it. Should all tie in nicely when done. Once its bolted down going to glue the ac vent side panels to the filler panels and make a mounting setup for them still coggerating on that one at the moment but will come up with a solution lol.
To mount the front of the console since the terrain mount is not easily attainable using some aluminum l bar to make the mounts.
The last picture is the filler panels I am working on to close in the vent mount that I am redesigning using the panels Corvette Jim is making he does some really nice work He is going to take a look at my mods to mine and see if he can make me a new one that fits where I am putting it at. Main thing to remove from it is the center vent setup since the ac vents I am using wont require it

Sean