1989 Chevy K2500 ECLB 350/SM465 "CayenneCheyenne"

[gstubbz]

Everything must come to a halt, and Tyler took it out to Doyle today and it ate all of the oil in the trip so it sounds like the bearings are ruined.

I am blaming both him and myself due to the fact neither of us checked the oil earlier, and I actually have 3 quarts of oil sitting on my back seat in the Dodge just for this truck.

So, I am pretty pissed. My $267 at the DMV I can just kiss goodbye, as well as the thousands in parts into this thing.

At this point I think I might go with a 454 TBI. ****** part is that I still have to smog it, and with a ruined 350 that will never happen. Right now I'm liking a 6.5 cab swap... Smog exempt in the amazing state of California.

To be continued...


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[Jorge6.5]

Sounds like there were bigger problems already existing to have used all that oil in the first place

 

[cool_as_crap]

Dang that sucks, sorry to hear it man, after all that work you put into it.
You can cummins swap it if you really wanted and make it CA legal.

Or any diesel swap, once signed off by CARB, you shouldn't need to smog ever again.

 

[gstubbz]

From what I've read online I guess the intake gaskets on these 350s were prone to failing, and the engine was eating oil through the intake. Only logical thing I can think of since it didn't leak oil and the rear main was in good shape when we installed the engine.

Still lost with what I'm going to do, I don't need the truck to run since I have the Dodge so it's not the end of the world not having this thing run. I'm thinking I'll strip the truck down to the frame and get going on my SAS and whatever I may do engine wise. I liked that 350 too! I just wish I lived somewhere smog exempt or had this truck in for smog a week ago hoping it would have passed. I'm not ruling a Cummins out, but damn those engines are expensive! If I go the Cummins route I'd love to find one with a NV4500 behind it. I could go the 6.5 route but I want something mechanical rather than messing with all of these electronics.

Oh well. I'll figure out a game plan soon enough.

 

[gstubbz]

I looked at it today, and it's indeed rod knock. It's my vortec all over again!

Anyway, I think for simplicity I'm going to drop another 350 in it. There is a Suburban that is getting parted out in my area and the engine had 60k on it, $400 so that's what I'm thinking at that point, this way I can still try to smog it. I won't be picking up this engine probably for a few weeks though. I've been busy lately!


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[gstubbz]

Well I did pick some stuff up today. Not engine wise but other stuff I needed either way.

Grabbed a set of clean doors, grille, grille filler, front bumper, the bed, headlight harness, and interior pieces that I needed for $400 total. The grille I got only because it was super clean although I don't plan to make my truck a GMC but just good to have. The bumper and bed will be going on my 6.5. Tomorrow I'll be picking up everything else I didn't have much time today to pull stuff. Only bummer is that the interior is grey but I can paint some stuff red.

The truck had a ruined 350, was a 94 light duty 2500, I almost felt bad pulling parts since some old man owned it but the kid wouldn't sell it to me whole.

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[gstubbz]

I introduce you to the Christmas tree.

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Swapped both doors today, drivers side closes perfect with new door pins and bushings. The roller on the passenger side was pretty messed up. I replaced it with a new one I had. Passenger door closes but it's tough, I think the door bracket on the cab side is bent.

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As far as engine stuff goes, there's metal shavings on the dipstick. Really trying to not drive it around the property. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can start removing the engine and replacing the bearings so I can drive it again. I miss it. But first I need to get my 6.5 in a condition to sell it before I continue to mess with this truck.


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[gstubbz]

So I think I've come up with a game plan. The 6.5 has been sold so now I'm just down to this truck. I did make a mention of buying a C3500HD Crew Cab on the 6.5 thread, and if I buy that it will be on the backburner for a serious amount of time.

I'm going to end up pulling the engine in this truck, stripping it down and seeing how bad it is. If it's in rebuildable shape I'm going to just rebuild it. It'll be my first time ever, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot. I could have decided on a 454, but with my future plans of taking it offroad with a SAS I don't need the extra power a 454 could offer, or the weight in the front because of it. If I mildly build up a 350 I'll be perfectly happy, I don't plan to make this a trailer hauling truck that only stays on pavement. I love the power a Vortec 5.7 makes, and I would like to make this truck have a similar amount of power.

Plans for this build:
Vortec Heads, Vortec Carbed Intake with plate for TBI
Chevrolet Red/Black Valve Covers
Safety Orange Paint

I have to research more on what I can do to bump up power, I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to this stuff. I'm also having to read up on what the Vortec head swap requires as far as the intake manifold with TBI injectors. I don't want to go carbed, I'm a fan of fuel injection! I'd love to have a marine style setup with individual injectors that were controlled by a computer, but I don't know what this entails or if it's even possible without having a 96+ OBD2 truck to make it work properly due to the 2 injectors on a TBI vs the 8 on a Vortec. The only fear in the back of my head is what is the limit of what I can do while being "smog legal", and California is the Nazi state when it comes to smog laws.

I have a 411 PCM I bought years ago for my 98 and never got around to swapping them, however I don't think that would benefit me in any way with trying to make it work in this truck.

Anyone have any advice?

 

[SlowZ71]

Are you in a county that doesn't require emissions to renew registration? I thought there were some counties that were emissions exempt in the sierras? If you go to an inspection station where the people don't know what they're looking at, then you could get by with the carb intake and the tbi conversion plate. Otherwise, the only option for vortec heads is a gmpp intake that has provisions for egr, I bought one from jegs in 2012 for my Scottsdale and it was $369 back then. Not cheap, but the only remotely possible way of making it smog legal.


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[gstubbz]

Are you in a county that doesn't require emissions to renew registration? I thought there were some counties that were emissions exempt in the sierras? If you go to an inspection station where the people don't know what they're looking at, then you could get by with the carb intake and the tbi conversion plate. Otherwise, the only option for vortec heads is a gmpp intake that has provisions for egr, I bought one from jegs in 2012 for my Scottsdale and it was $369 back then. Not cheap, but the only remotely possible way of making it smog legal.


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Since it is still titled in Nevada I have to smog it to get it in my name. Once I've done that I never have to smog it in Lassen County again. I just wish it passed smog right before it started knocking!

I'm thinking the EGR vortec intake would be a good idea to keep it legal. At the service station I used to work at did smogs, and if it didn't have a CARB sticker for any of the aftermarket stuff it would fail the visual. He might let me skate by, but then again I don't want to sink a bunch of money into the motor to find out it won't pass after being rebuilt with some upgrades.