1989 Chevy K2500 ECLB 350/SM465 "CayenneCheyenne"

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gstubbz

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So, this will be GMT400 number four. I still have the Junkyard Rescue 6.5 but this is another project, and I'll probably sell the 6.5 at some point soon once I do something with the transmission.

Well I was just gandering at the Reno Craigslist and came across this truck, he was asking $600 and it has rod knock. I texted the guy asking if it was a manual or automatic, and to my luck he said it was a manual with a granny gear. If it was an automatic I probably wouldn't have bought it. So today (Saturday Jan 7) I went to go look at it, and it knocked pretty bad and the truck has 99,512 miles on it.

It's a 1989 Cheyenne, with the W/T grille, hand crank windows, vinyl flooring, and surprisingly has A/C. Also, it is 4x4 with a NP241 transfer case, as well as an extended cab with a long bed.

Drove it around the block and it was hard to focus with that thing knocking so goddamn loud, but it shifts perfect with no problems, and the clutch feels good.

Loaded it up on the seller's friend's trailer and headed 53 miles up HWY395 to Doyle, CA where the truck now lives. The seller was cool and we talked about guns for a bit too, and he also gave me another set of 2nd gen Ram 2500 rims with tires although only one is in really good shape.

Paid $500 for the truck and $160 to have it hauled. I would have done it myself with my Ram 2500 but I couldn't hunt down a trailer in time, and there is no way it would fit on a U-Haul trailer (which has a max wheelbase of 133" and a ECLB is 155.5")

Unloaded it, and the guys left, and moments later we were going to drive it around but 30 seconds into that the engine let go and that ended our vibe for the night, so then we drove home in freezing rain with snow everywhere so the drive to Susanville from Doyle was hell.

So my friend Tyler has a 350 TBI already pulled from his wrecked K5 sitting on a pallet, so tomorrow we are going to go out to Doyle with hope that we can swap the engine in a day!

The drivers seat is wrecked, but the truck has red interior so I will be taking the front seats from my 6.5 and swapping them in as well. Drivers door is also wrecked, bed has dents, headliner sags, needs front bumper brackets, but besides that the truck is pretty solid.

Here are the two pics from the craigslist ad, I tried taking some tonight and the few that came out okayish are below.

I'm extremely siked for this truck because it's an ECLB, 4x4, and has an SM465. If I ever hunt down an nv4500 I'll swap it in. I also love the color, so if it ever gets repainted it'll be the same color!

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gstubbz

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I don't plan an interior swap anytime soon, that was a big PITA with the 6.5, so for now I'll just swap the seats. This truck will have a SAS conversion in it's lifetime. As far as the grille goes, I like the Cheyenne grilles, so maybe I'll find a 94+ grille to bolt on. Truck also has a headlight out. Before I sell the 6.5 I will be taking the front bumper off of it and swapping them.
 

98BlackSierra

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My dad had an '88 RCLB Cheyenne in the same color. Its called Brandywine Metallic.
 

gstubbz

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Update with pictures! Started ripping the front of the truck off on Sunday, and the power went out on Sunday too. I lucked out because I can't go to work without power so I had yesterday off as well! We had a generator but the internet still didn't work so I couldn't post anything.

Sunday:
Put the new 350 (has an RV cam, MSD ignition or something like that) into the little garage we were working in, and pushed the chevy into the garage. Then we proceeded to start stripping down the front by taking the hood off, bumper, some engine accessories, fan, and core support. The grille is actually really clean on this truck, I don't even want to paint it.

Also bought a new clutch kit, oil, and coolant for the truck.

We didn't have a generator today, so we ended up using the flashlights on our phones and the under the hood light in the truck to get this far!!

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Monday:
Pulled pretty much everything off the engine, unbolted T-Case, unbolted transmission crossmember, remove front and rear driveshafts, unplug all the electronics, and took the engine/sm465 out of the truck!

Now with the power being out it gives me more time to work on my own stuff since I have the day off, but if I need any sort of auto part I am screwed. So about 4:30 or so we said f*** this cherry picker we were using because the o-rings were probably ruined and that thing would not work properly, so I drove to Reno in a snowstorm and made it to a Napa at 5:23pm, 7 minutes before they closed. Lucky me they had a bright yellow cherry picker so I bought it.

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Returned back to the garage and pulled the engine. I wanted to sneak the t-case along with the transmission however the sm465 shifter would not ever be able to move far enough forward to remove the NP241 tailshaft. Oh well, so we unbolted the T-Case. The sm465 shifter tower would still get stuck on a lip on the bottom of the cab but after some time we were able to pull the thing out.

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Checked the flywheel and determined that I need a new one so before I go back out to the truck I'll pick up a new one. As well as driveshaft straps, and ATF for the NP241.

Then loaded up, went home, found out we had power but no internet, slept, then went to work this morning and now I'm posting these photos :)

This truck has had a rough 100k, which is unfortunate but I'll make her nice again! When the engine blew it also blew a hole in my front diff. The unfortunate thing is this truck has 3.42s and I personally have never seen a 3/4 ton with 3.42s, only 3.73s and up. I might just take it out as it would give me more of a motive to do a SAS.

Here are some engine damage pictures for your pleasure:
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A lot of this stuff needs to be degreased, so at some point I will be cleaning everything up. I don't want my truck to be coated in grime!

So there is an update, more on it this weekend unless the power goes out again!
 

gstubbz

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Looks like you've got a good project! Can't wait to see more on this truck!

Thank you! I already like this truck a lot, more so than my 6.5!

My dad had an '88 RCLB Cheyenne in the same color. Its called Brandywine Metallic.

I'm glad you knew the color name because I would have had no idea. I made note of that so if I buy paint it will be the same color!
 

98BlackSierra

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Thank you! I already like this truck a lot, more so than my 6.5!



I'm glad you knew the color name because I would have had no idea. I made note of that so if I buy paint it will be the same color!

I have a 1989 sales brochure with all of the available colors lol. I never knew the color either until I bought it.
 

gstubbz

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I've been thinking about what I want to do to this thing, and make it how I want my truck to be. Just sort of a checklist for me. Not all of this stuff is happening overnight, as much as I wish it was!

Things I can do relatively quickly:
Vacuum the truck out
2015+ Chevy Mirrors (without the chrome)
Cab Lights (I already have lenses and the harness)
Red Bucket seats from my 94 6.5
Front Grille / Headlights / 6.5 bumper from my 94
Clean and paint the stock rims black with chrome lug nuts
Contractor toolbox (buddy has one so I'm taking it)
New deck with bluetooth and my 12" sub I haven't used since my 98 was wrecked
Fix the sagging headliner (it is in excellent shape, just sagging)
New bed, tailgate and drivers side door
New rear bumper
Plastic bedliner
New vinyl flooring

Long Term Plans:
Solid Axle Swap with square body axles, 4.10s (already have the ff rear axle, just need a front)
16.5" Rims with 37" military tires
NV4500
454 Vortec, if not 8.1L Vortec
98 red interior and dash
Pull dent from drivers side cab
Repaint the entire truck Brandywine Metallic
4 new factory style fender flares
New windshield, new rear window with a one piece glass window
Tinted extended cab and rear windows
Make the A/C work
Power Windows
01-06 2500HD Door badges
Overhead console with temp/compass

Next update will be this weekend. This week has been expensive after losing my phone and sinking my dodge in mud trying to rescue others, so I look forward to Saturday! I also hope my new iPhone 7 takes bitchin photos of the truck, wish I had this phone a week ago! My old phone was a 6 month old iPhone SE that I paid outright for so that sucks. Anyway, I'm going to try installing the new engine and maybe if I have enough time throw it all back together and drive it and see how she does. I'm a bit concerned about the hole in my front diff though, hopefully I can patch it and continue to use 4wd until I start the SAS eventually. What sucks is my parts truck for the 6.5 had a clean long bed that got thrashed when I was cleaning up my mess with the old block and other parts. I never thought I would own a longbed but that changed lol.

I was messing around in photoshop to give me an idea what painting the stock rims black would look like and I used the band-aid tool to clean all the imperfections on the side of the bed, I think it actually looks pretty good for some quick work. You can totally see the dent in the driver's door and the cab. At some point somebody signed the bed of this truck, hopefully it was someone famous!

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gstubbz

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Update!

Spent another $200 at Napa today for all this stuff. Good thing I know people at Napa so I had $50 or so knocked off my bill. Only thing not pictured is the flywheel and the wiring protector stuff (can't think of the name but it's black and protects wires).

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Went out to the truck, and I seriously burned over 3/4 of a gallon of Purple Power just cleaning the engine bay and transmission. I knocked off so much ****, there was at least a 1/4 of an inch of caked oil inside the bellhousing. The rear main on the blown engine was wrecked. Cleaned it up the best I could and spent most of my day cleaning. And cleaned the engine accessory bracket.

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Tyler was working on preparing the new engine, I brought bread out so he could take out the bearing which worked out great!

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Here he is doing all of the hard work while I looked like a dalmation spotted with oil all up my arms and face.

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And the engine with everything bolted on except the fan! Going to clean it up some more tomorrow.

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Going back out tomorrow morning, we will bolt the transmission and engine back together, and stab it back in. I still have to replace the rear axle u-joint because we demolished it removing the straps from the rear axle since they were stripped. And also hearing the engine run would be a plus! I have a new oil filter and oil so we will also change that tomorrow.
 
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