Bowtie Brody's Namesake 96 454

[98chevy2500SS]

Finally got to bumper you've been looking for! Looks kickass, really want to find one for my truck.

 

[BowtieBrody]

Finally got to bumper you've been looking for! Looks kickass, really want to find one for my truck.

Yeah! I had to fold and buy one offline, I just couldn't find one in a salvage yard, and the times I thought I would be getting one off a parts truck, things just didn't work out.
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I'm kind of bummed because I can't swing being able to buy a set of rims off a guy on CL; the intake gasket let loose or something, the truck has one hell of a coolant leak off the backside of the engine. So that needs to be repaired.
I'm wishing I would've searched around more when I had the intake gaskets done the first time, I didn't think anyone made the metal core/tough cork gaskets like FelPro made for the 350s; but it appears Mahle/Victor Reinz makes some, a bit cheaper than the FelPros too!

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[CarolinaOBS]

Yeah! I had to fold and buy one offline, I just couldn't find one in a salvage yard, and the times I thought I would be getting one off a parts truck, things just didn't work out.
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I'm kind of bummed because I can't swing being able to buy a set of rims off a guy on CL; the intake gasket let loose or something, the truck has one hell of a coolant leak off the backside of the engine. So that needs to be repaired.
I'm wishing I would've searched around more when I had the intake gaskets done the first time, I didn't think anyone made the metal core/tough cork gaskets like FelPro made for the 350s; but it appears Mahle/Victor Reinz makes some, a bit cheaper than the FelPros too!

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Did you put beads of rtv in the corners and stuff as well? or was it just a gasket failure?

 

[BowtieBrody]

Did you put beads of rtv in the corners and stuff as well? or was it just a gasket failure?

I didn't do the work, I think the upper intake got removed for some work, and I assume it just didn't get sealed back up all the way resulting in failure.

 

[Jay33089]

This sounds like a great excuse for an LS swap! Lol! All jokes aside. I've done dozens of intake gasket jobs on these trucks. I've used the metal Fel-pros and the original plastic type. Never had a problem with any of them. One trick
I've always done, is around where the water jackets are it gets pitted up. I take the rtv and use my finger to spread a thin layer around where the gasket seals. On the head and the intake both. Just thin enough to cover the pits. Let me stress the word "thin". When I put the intake back on I just snug it down and wait about 20 mins the torque it. I've never had one come back on me so far!

 

[Supercharged111]

If only the upper came off then there's your problem. It's the lowers that leak.

 

[BowtieBrody]

This sounds like a great excuse for an LS swap! Lol! All jokes aside. I've done dozens of intake gasket jobs on these trucks. I've used the metal Fel-pros and the original plastic type. Never had a problem with any of them. One trick
I've always done, is around where the water jackets are it gets pitted up. I take the rtv and use my finger to spread a thin layer around where the gasket seals. On the head and the intake both. Just thin enough to cover the pits. Let me stress the word "thin". When I put the intake back on I just snug it down and wait about 20 mins the torque it. I've never had one come back on me so far!

If the 454 ever gives up the ghost and can't be rebuilt, the only engine getting swapped in would more than like be a 12 Valve....

The thing with the gaskets is that I couldn't find any sort of metal core gaskets for the 454s until the Mahle/Victor Reinz ones I ordered.
And I know these trucks are easy to work on, it's just I really don't have somewhere where the truck can be blown apart to be worked on, working in the driveway is frustrating especially when you're unable to walk away to collect your thoughts and de-stress for a second.

If only the upper came off then there's your problem. It's the lowers that leak.

Yeah, I know, I think the whole thing was removed for some reason or another; I haven't been out to the other mechanic's shop to ask him about it.

 

[BowtieBrody]

Well Big Red's been down since Tuesday; got to work Tuesday morning and noticed steam coming from under the hood.
Well F_CK.
Pop the hood open, reeked of coolant; and there's a spatter of it on the valve covers, I guess the weak spot in the gaskets finally let loose.

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So I've been driving Ol' Betsy our C3500 around. Just washed it and helped dad pull the tint off of it today. I really don't mind mobbing around in that barge; but with 4.56 gearing I can just about watch the needle on the gas gauge drop when pulling a big hill.

 

[Eveready]

Well, it's hard to believe I've owned this truck for over a year now. I remember driving it home the couple hours the Friday night, and then just staring at it almost all morning the following Saturday.

I also started thinking about all the **** I replaced, and I could add up all the receipts and figure out how much I spent, but I'm probably right around 2K in maintenance and mods all together.

And there's still a **** ton of stuff left that I want to do. Unfortunately one of those involved rebuilding the entire drivetrain, but I don't need to worry about that for a long while. I hope.

Figure what two payments would be on a $60,000 plus rolling brothel that Chevrolet calls a truck these days . Bet it comes out close. The rest of the year you drive a great truck for free ! See... fixed that for ya!

 

[Jay33089]

Pics of Ol' Betsy?