Got a kick out of an old notepad

[L31MaxExpress]

The old 83 G20 actually surprised me how well it ran after sitting for years. The gas tank was almost empty, I dumped 5 gallons of fresh gas into it, put the battery in it. It turned over but would not fire. The fuel pump was not doing anything on the prime pulse. I hit it with some ether and it fired right up and to my surprise stayed running. The fuel pump relay had failed and as soon as it made oil pressure it got power and stayed running. No ticking and no smoking from that small block 383 that was in it. Even though it was short cycling a bit the ac kicked in and was blowing cool. It was one of those remind me why I even parked this pig moments.

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[DerekTheGreat]

Yeah, really. Stuff around here gets parked or scrapped due to rust, that thing looks mighty clean from those thumbnails. If only stuff like that could still be had for $750...

 

[Moofus02]

The old 83 G20 actually surprised me how well it ran after sitting for years. The gas tank was almost empty, I dumped 5 gallons of fresh gas into it, put the battery in it. It turned over but would not fire. The fuel pump was not doing anything on the prime pulse. I hit it with some ether and it fired right up and to my surprise stayed running. The fuel pump relay had failed and as soon as it made oil pressure it got power and stayed running. No ticking and no smoking from that small block 383 that was in it. Even though it was short cycling a bit the ac kicked in and was blowing cool. It was one of those remind me why I even parked this pig moments.

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I've had more of those old vans than I can count. Most G30 and a combo of carb and tbi. I loved them all but the tbi 5.7/4l80 extended wheelbase g30's were my favorite. I had a 98 G30 extended wheelbase cargo van vortec 5.7/4l80 373 gears i expedited with that had 420k miles when I retired it. That van was bare boned. No windows behind the front doors, no ac, tilt, cruise, had manual windows and locks. It pulled a trailer like nothing and I've had a much as 6500lbs in side it. It handled the weight fine but that really taxed the brakes lol. I'd like a clean extended g30 with an 8.1 or an older with 8.1/4l80 swap and sas

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Yeah, really. Stuff around here gets parked or scrapped due to rust, that thing looks mighty clean from those thumbnails. If only stuff like that could still be had for $750...

Agreed, my brother only gave $1000 for the 1980 Z/28 roller but that was a decade ago. I got that car from him through some trading as well. I bought the cylinder head, gaskets and volunteered labor into putting the 4.7L 2003 Dakota back together. He traded me that roller for my stake in the Dakota after he got married. After I finish the 87 G20, I am about to start on the 80. In the next year I have plans to get the 80 running, my neice wants the car and then possibly if I have the time help my brother in law get his 73 Nova that has been sitting in his garage for more than 10 years running. I have a Cadillac with an Oldsmobile 307 in it that has sat for 2 decades on a piece of property that once belonged to my grandfather that I want to see if it will light off as well at some point just to mess around. Would be nice if I could load that car on a trailer under its own power to be able to haul it off for scrap. The car itself is rough and the engine is beyond tired, but ran when it was parked. Mice have had a field day with it, but I know how to hotwire a HEI and GM starter to run the thing without using the OE harness.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

The 1980 is a pretty clean, straight, rust free car. That S10 was also clean and picked up dirt cheap back in the day with a bad spider. It was a 4.3 CPI. Good running truck too once the fuel spider was changed out.

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[L31MaxExpress]

The 87 has some surface rust in places. It was $500 van, played around in the fuse box to get the ECM power and it started. The TH400 was about 3 quarts low on fluid from a leaky pan. Topped it off, put air in the tires and drove it to the shop under its own power. Drove it a bit with the 305, then swapped a 6.0L into it and drove it. I sold the TBI 305 for $250. Needed the front end rebuilt and the 6.0L was a gutless and I had a buddy that kept begging me to sell it to him. So popped the 6.0L out, dropped the budget L31 in it and now working on a full front end rebuild. I will have $2500-3K in the thing when it is done including 5 new tires, maybe $4K after I build out the interior. I will likely do some budget body work to clean it up and seal it from rusting in the future as well. Rebuilt L31 with Proflow 4 injection, completely new exhaust system, rebuilt/ new front end, new brakes on all 4 corners, new engine wiring harness, new radiator, and completely rebuilt AC system. One cannot beat reliability on rebuilding a vehicle from the ground up. TH400 goes it will get built by me, same for the 8.5 10-bolt. I have seen people consistently asking over 5K for these vans with close to 200K on the OEM driveline that probably need to be blown apart and have the same stuff rebuilt and replaced that I have already changed on this unit. So have really not lost anything building it.

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[Moofus02]

The 87 has some surface rust in places. It was $500 van, played around in the fuse box to get the ECM power and it started. The TH400 was about 3 quarts low on fluid from a leaky pan. Topped it off, put air in the tires and drove it to the shop under its own power. Drove it a bit with the 305, then swapped a 6.0L into it and drove it. I sold the TBI 305 for $250. Needed the front end rebuilt and the 6.0L was a gutless and I had a buddy that kept begging me to sell it to him. So popped the 6.0L out, dropped the budget L31 in it and now working on a full front end rebuild. I will have $2500-3K in the thing when it is done including 5 new tires, maybe $4K after I build out the interior. I will likely do some budget body work to clean it up and seal it from rusting in the future as well. Rebuilt L31 with Proflow 4 injection, completely new exhaust system, rebuilt/ new front end, new brakes on all 4 corners, new engine wiring harness, new radiator, and completely rebuilt AC system. One cannot beat reliability on rebuilding a vehicle from the ground up. TH400 goes it will get built by me, same for the 8.5 10-bolt. I have seen people consistently asking over 5K for these vans with close to 200K on the OEM driveline that probably need to be blown apart and have the same stuff rebuilt and replaced that I have already changed on this unit. So have really not lost anything building it.

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What a sweet driver. Unless you've had one people don't understand what a nice comfortable ride they are. Being upgraded like you've done i bet it drives better than they did new

 

[L31MaxExpress]

What a sweet driver. Unless you've had one people don't understand what a nice comfortable ride they are. Being upgraded like you've done i bet it drives better than they did new

Yep, they literally ride nicer than most modern luxury cars even if you drop them down to 50 or 60 apect ratio sidewall and go to urethane bushings to firm up the handling. Add a rear sway bar and they handle dang near like a slot car compared to the way they were stock too. I have owned a few modern pickup trucks from GM, Dodge and Nissan that do not handle as well as my 97 Express does.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

One thing I also love about the older stuff is the fact they can sit for a couple of months and still start. Many newer vehicles with all their parasitic modules and what not have dead batteries in a month or less, I have a few that will not start in 2-3 weeks if they sit. The old stuff can sit sometimes 2 or 3 months or more and still have a functioning battery. Actually just tested the 97 after it sat for the past ~45 days. It has been sitting at the shop because of the 4L85Es fluid leak I have yet to address. It usually does not sit more than a week or two at most.

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[Supercharged111]

My 93 Camaro which is a gutted race car with only an ECM and my dad's 83 Monte can both sit for months on end like you say and fire right up. Well, the Monte not so much. The bowl empties itself after a week plus.