'88 GMC "Night Train" project

[ChrisAU]

Nice work and I love the truck!

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

Nice work and I love the truck!

Thank you. Ive grown to love it myself.

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

Its been awhile since I have updated this. Alot more has been getting done lately. Finally getting to where I can spend money on this truck, which I need to seeing as i drive it about 500 miles a week. I recently did more front end work but cannot access the pics right now so ill come back to that later.

Here it is getting some much needed brake attention. The brake light came on for a couple of days and then out of nowhere while I was pulling the trailer loaded with a customers kitchen (approx. 2.8k lbs + trailer) and lightly braking, the front left caliper locked up and scared the crap outta me. So I pulled over to find this leaky master cylinder. Luckily my dad has purchased almost every part hes ever needed with a lifetime warranty. So I walked into Oriellys and got a new Master and booster, they were originally bought as a single unit by my dad. I also took this time to delete the RWAL. My pedal feel is now better than I can ever remember it being since I learned how to drive in it 15 yrs ago. Onto the pics.

Old leaky master (replaced last time in '06)

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Used my MightyVac to suction out as much old brake fluid as i could. Which as you can see had gotten pretty dark which is strange cause the fluid was flushed only 2 years ago.

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Here is the hole the old booster occupied and the space that used to be consumed with the RWAL computer

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Here is how the new set came, I then unbolted the master from the booster and bench bleed it. Then proceeded to install the booster on the firewall and master onto the booster.

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After dealing with a high idle for many years that i could not solve, I had come to the conclusion that the throttle shaft bushings were far too worn and allowing to much play in the shaft. Therefore causing it to bind just before the blades fully closed. In my search for a used throttle body base with good bushing I found that the easiest way to tell if they worn is with all cables unhooked, slowly open throttle and if it squeaks then they are worn. Chances are if it squeaks then there is also some up and down play as well as left to right slop.

Heres the old throttle body next to the "new" one. Notice the amount of oil residue from the where the breather hose resides. This TB was cleaned spotless about 1.5 yrs ago. Is this a normal amount of buildup? Seems excessive to me. I may install a catch can.

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I was happy to see that the inside of the Intake manifold still appears to be very clean.

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It now idles and runs like a champ. Next things on my agenda are a new steering box (redhead), new windshield, and some updating lighting (while keeping the quad beams) Most of these will be happening within the next couple to 3 weeks as i consider these a saftey issue. I have a couple of drop components sitting around that I am holding off on installing until I make sure that I have safety and reliability covered.


Ive also been rolling around the idea of changing the wheels too something with beadlocks (or beadlock simulators) and some fender flares with about 5/7 drop. I wish i was decent at photoshoping. maybe someone here can help me out?

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

ohh yeah random shot during our little snow storm last night

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My kids using the bed as a snowball bunker. lol

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[Keepinitoldskool]

Last week i replaced all 4 ball joints with Duralast, i know i know, but at least they are lifetime warranty. If i have to replace them every 3-5 years so be it. I also replaced all 4 shocks under another one of my dads lifetime warranty purchases with Gabriel Ultras. I then put it all to the test immediately with a load of wood. Thats about 1.5 ricks of wood still fairly green, and it rode and drove beautifully.

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[Keepinitoldskool]

Started on a new project today. Ice been having reliability issues with my stock gauges so I picked up these.

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But I didn't like any of the process I could mount it, so I removed them from their mounting plate and started from scratch. I decided the best place would be the cubby hole that took the place of the factory radio. So here are the steps that I took. I will give the cardboard template to my dad and he will cut me a peice from stainless or carbon fiber at his work to replace it at a later time. I ran out of time to hook the gauges up today due to snow. I decided that the best way was to make a plate that I could sandwich between the cubby hole and its faceplate.

First I removed the cubby hole and took the faceplate off of it. Mine was just snapped together.

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Then I traced the body onto some cardboard and cut it out to make a blank.

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Then I traced out my gauges and cut their holes.

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Now my template is complete. Now to start on the cubby hole.

I used my handy snap on solder gun with a blade tip to do the cutting and shaping.

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I started with removing as much of the back as possible, which left me with this.

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Then I had to do some slight clearancing on the faceplate to make it fit, which I used the solder gun to cut then stand it with some 240 grit paper.

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It was at this point that I realized that the faceplate wouldn't snap back on because of the thickness off the cardboard so I took my sander to the front of the cubby body and made room for the template between the two. Then I assembled it and test fit it in the truck. I am happy with it and hope to completely finish next weekend.

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[Keepinitoldskool]

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[1994chevymanual]

nice ride!

 

[98BlackSierra]

That's pretty cool that your dad bought it new. Do you have any photos of it over the years? I have the truck my dad bought new in '98 as well as his '88 Cheyenne he bought in 1990. Its a cool feeling driving something that you grew up in.

 

[Defender]

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