1994 Chev K1500 6.5 TD ECSB - Junkyard Rescue!

[gstubbz]

Yay another weekend update. Found some cool stuff, and spent a total of $110 at Pick N Pull for all the stuff below and an in line fuel pump for siphoning gas or whatever. I didn't expect to do my interior swap so soon but it's happening!

First up was a dash. I found this "neutral" color although I would have prefered grey but this one has the storage pocket on the passenger side where the airbag would be in 97+ Tahoes/Suburbans/half ton trucks. I also had the choice of a 95/96 dash but I don't like the cupholders and personally I think the 97+ looks better. This dash came out of a 97-00 K2500 which had a 350 and a nv4500. Too bad that transmission wasn't still there because I would have taken it! I took pieces off of four different trucks to make an almost complete dash, but I'm missing a headlight switch and the plastic pieces where the electronic 4x4 would be. Also, I found a fog light switch with the connector so I happily installed that into my junkyard dash. My antenna cable was also ruined and Tyler accidently cut the one in the parts truck when we were removing the dash so I figured I might as well take it while I can. To my surprise and happiness, I was not charged for all of the individual switches and dash pieces.

Next up were some seats. I looked all around and what I found were the best. There were some nice 2001+ Escalade seats but the controls were taken out of both of them there. These came out of a 97/98 k1500 Suburban. The drivers side has full power adjustments and the passenger side is only lumbar. The driver's seat armrest was also flipped backwards, but after some work we made it face the right direction although it's a little messed up but I can deal with it.

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And... a center console from a 97+ Tahoe. The "neutral" one I found was the cleanest, same color as the dash, and also still had a handle (although it's half broken) to open the center console.

So when I got back I started cleaning everything, the seats and center console came out great. The dash was nasty and dirty so I spent 45 minutes or so cleaning it the best I could. I even mounted the driver's side seat to the 6.5 tonight (all four bolt holes line up if you're curious), the passenger side lines up with two holes so I have to drill in the other two tomorrow. Center console will also be bolted in tomorrow.

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Before Dash Cleaning:

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After Dash Cleaning: (with my diesel gauge cluster that I bought months ago and I'm glad I did, there were no 6.5 trucks to be found)

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I am dreading the dash swap with the wiring but I think I'll be able to figure it out! I saved a bunch of pages from other forums on the interior swap, and when I complete this project I'll write up a separate how to guide. Only thing I'm missing at this point is the internal door skins and the door panels to complete the swap (also the mirrors and rear bench seat). This truck is a ****, has parts from many other trucks! The red seats don't bother me though, I like the offset of colors actually! Well besides the brown door panels.

 

[Sampuppy1]

Wow. I just spent a long ass time reading this thread. You're one dedicated feller. Much like myself. I'm subbing this.

Sent from a flagged XT1254
Tyler/T-Unit

 

[90halfton]

I'd give a nut to find seats like that around here.

 

[dave_erald]

My truck is the same deal, cab, box, axles, transfer case, interior, engine, transmission, turbo all from donor vehicles. Like Frankensteins monster in a way...but prettier.

And im with you on the dash thing, either 97+ with dash pocket, or what i would prefer is a Kodiak interior to be honest. Keep it up!

 

[gstubbz]

Thank you guys! It's been one hell of a project thus far, I should have taken @BowtieBrody 's advice and sold it. Oh well I'm married to it now (works out because real females suck!) so I might as well make it what I want. The seats were an awesome find, I'm stoked they are mine!

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So my plan today was to start the dash swap but I ended up not even touching that. I expected to wake up at 8am and go work on it but I didn't wake up until 11.

Rather than the dash swap I did bolt down the passenger seat and installed the center console (while gashing my finger pretty good on the console bracket). I also spent a fair amount of time cleaning the carpet although it still looks like ****, I managed to find some cloth floor mats out of a parts expedition at a friend's house so I cleaned them up and put them in the truck after I took the pic below. Here is a better daytime picture of the interior.

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So Tyler gave me an idea to wire in some USB ports into the console so I did exactly that. The biggest pain by far was wiring a positive wire from the junction block under the hood. I ended up routing it through a pre-existing hole in the firewall and under the carpet through the 4WD shifter into the console. That one wire took me forever to run under the carpet but at least it's done now! I also cleaned the 4WD shifter since I had taken it out and it looks much cleaner.

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The USB port install was pretty easy once the power was running into the console. My dumbass made sure the front door on the console would open with the USB ports installed but I didn't even think twice when I drilled the hole for the switch. Now that door doesn't open so I'll have to fix that. At the same time I also wired in a switch that lights up green and connected the wires under the driver seat into the same positive wire. In the future I plan to install a fuse junction in the positive wire just to be safe and not burn my truck to the ground or something. Once the seats were wired up I learned how to adjust it with the controls since it's the first truck I've had with them, my 98 only had lumbar support. I will also have to wire up the passenger side lumbar support at some point soon too. Tyler saw me messing with the power seat controls and said I looked like Stephen Hawking lol

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So I've been thinking a bit more about the dash swap, I think it will be pretty straight forward, I want to use the 95+ heater controls but I'll use the 94 controls for the meantime until I tackle that gremlin. As far as the smaller fuse box goes, I'm on the fence if I should rewire the smaller one or hide the 94 fuse block under the dash. Outside of that, I imagine wiring the cluster and headlight switches will be smooth sailing. All of the radio wires I'm probably going to strip out and start fresh not using the factory harness, since all the speakers are blown in the truck anyway and I'll be replacing all of them when the time comes. Wouldn't be too hard I imagine since all I need is the antenna, power, accessory power, dimming, and each individual speaker wire. I'm going to wait on the dash swap until I figure out why this damn thing won't drive in any other gear besides reverse or second.

And as far as the transmission issue goes, I'm lost. I tried messing with it today after replacing the VSS sensor and checking/cleaning all of the connectors on the transmission. I used the paperclip trick to try pulling codes and the only code I saw was 32, which relates to the vacuum stuff that the old engine had but the new one does not (for EGR and stuff, half tons have it, the 3/4 and up don't have EGR). Next step I'm thinking is some solenoids and a filter in the transmission which I'll do at some point this week.

 

[gstubbz]

Nothing exciting from today. We found out that there is power going to the transmission, so maybe tomorrow I'll drop the pan and check the shift solenoids and whatnot to see if they work, and ultimately making my truck have more than reverse and second gear... because it sucks! If they are bad I found a kit on eBay with a new internal wiring harness, shift solenoids, pressure switch and a few little other things for $170, so I'll probably just buy the kit if the solenoids are bad to freshen up the wiring a bit. Link if you're curious

Anyway, I replaced the door pins on the driver side. The roller was replaced months back and so were the door pins on the passenger door which closes great! The drivers side still manages to sag a bit, however I can completely close the door now with a little bit of force.

Once the transmission issue is dealt with it's pretty much done powertrain wise for the meantime. Then onto cosmetics: Dash swap, door panels, bed, and hopefully paint.

 

[deejaaa]

this is a great thread and really enjoying your progress.
heard the best place for the PMD is in the bumper nostril.
you could of done the battery bolt mod and not had to move the battery.
looking good!

 

[gstubbz]

this is a great thread and really enjoying your progress.
heard the best place for the PMD is in the bumper nostril.
you could of done the battery bolt mod and not had to move the battery.
looking good!

Thank you man! The battery bolt is a good idea but now everything is completely top post, however if I happen to buy another GMT400 I'll probably do that mod, I actually never heard about it so I looked it up online and now I know what it is.

As far as the PMD I have heard that is the best place for it too. If it gets too hot I'll move it to the bumper, but incase I fry the PMD I always have three in the glove box

 

[gstubbz]

So nothing really new lately, Tyler happened to have this push bar from a square body in his shed so whenever I get around to grabbing my welder we'll make some mounts and install it. Surprisingly it fits really well. Then I'll probably replace the lights on it and hook them up to the fog light switch when I install the 98 dash.

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Yeah my mirrors are still flipped out on the Dodge, haven't flipped them back down yet lol oh and I still need to wire up the front turn signals with pigtails from another junked harness.

 

[skylark]

this is a great thread and really enjoying your progress.
heard the best place for the PMD is in the bumper nostril.
you could of done the battery bolt mod and not had to move the battery.
looking good!

I have mine in the air box. I liked the idea of more throttle means more air moving through the air box and the pmd stays dry.