My new 1996 k2500 eclb

[96-1500]

So as you may or may not know, my old baby bit the dust a few days ago. It was a '96 k1500 rclb, 350 auto. Developed a bad bottom end knock and I decided that I'm not going to put an engine into a truck with a bad frame.

So, this '96 k2500 came along. Picked her up for $1200 which is hard to beat.

Specs:
'96 Cheyenne extended cab long box
5.7 litre Vortec with K&N intake
4L80-E, 14 bolt rear with 4.10 gears
4x4, but otherwise no options except AC.
Dual in single out dynomax exhaust
265/75R16 Kelly Safari TSRs with good tread
244'000km

Needs:
E-brake cable
Front bumper (installed today, need to get new/better pics)
Dr. side fender (came with truck, need to install)
Back bumper (will rob off old truck)
Tailgate (robbed off old truck)
Seat
Body work and paint job
Some other minor odds and ends

So here's some crappy cell phone pics. I'll get more soon, and will update with what I'm doing to the truck. She's a bit more difficult to park than my old half ton lol, give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around...
Drove it home today, works really good so far. About 100km of driving, worked great, handles great, way better than my old truck. Haven't calculated mileage yet but it didn't seem that bad. We'll see.

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Sorry about the picture quality. More to come.

 

[STEBS]

its a good thing it came with another fender... cuz thats ALOT of cancer

 

[96-1500]

Meh, not bad for this end of the country lol. The truck is actually pretty solid for the most part. Just swapped the fender today, it must have been from a pre-vortec truck because there were no holes for the computer, fusebox etc. Not too bad, about a 2 beer job.

 

[Horns]

She has a lot of potential.

 

[96-1500]

Yanked the old driver's side fender and threw that on on Friday. Also put a smoothie front bumper I had in my backyard in a pile of old GMT-400 doors I have. I need to throw out some junk lol.
Had to drill holes for the computer etc. I just supported everything with a rope, held the hood up with a couple chunks of firewood and went at 'er. Took about 3 hours to do the bumper and fender, everything was seized up pretty bad.

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[96-1500]

So she took to acting bad today. Over the past couple days it's been starting really hard, yesterday I shut it off at a gas station and couldn't get it to go at all. Just whirled over. Could hear the fuel pump running, I didn't think it was spark related, so I took the air cleaner crap off and squirted some gas down the intake and she fired right up and ran great down the road. Shut it off, and I had to do the same thing today to get 'er going. Got into town today and didn't it quit right in the middle of a big intersection....great. Get out, wave the traffic by, squirt more gas in, fire her up, then every time I would stop rolling (traffic lights etc.) it would quit again. Now when I jump on the gas going down the road it coughs and spits and wants to die. Finally got her home now, thinking it must be the fuel pump or filter.
****ing irritating to say the least...especially right out there in the middle of the road holding up 30 cars lol. I'm gonna see what I can do tomorrow to fix it. I've got my old truck for parts at least.

On another note, calculated my mileage a few days ago. Maybe the bad fuel issues are hurting it, but I'm getting 17.76 L/100km, or 13.24 mpg, mixed city, country road and 4 lane driving. Just about as bad mileage as I'll stand, I'm going to see what I can do to improve that. Gears are going to be happening before too long I think. My old truck would get around 16-19 mpg, as high as 21 on the 4 lane. This one doesn't seem to care if it's doing 50 or 110kmh, it's hard on gas. With those 4.10s she's revving around 2500 on the highway, my old truck would be like, 1700 or something with the 3.42s. I'm thinking I'll get some 3.73s for it.

 

[96-1500]

Got my good camera working with a new battery so I went out and snapped some pics

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Got a lot of minor rust repair and bodywork to do (needs rockers bad). Got a good bumper sitting on a parts truck and planning on painting the truck in the spring.

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GM Parking lot, my house.

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Most of my spare time I'm fixing old outboards like this one. Why, I don't know.

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[92gmc4x4]

Mint eclbs for the win!

 

[96-1500]

I wish mine was mint! Maybe one day when I'm rich and famous...

 

[96-1500]

Got a couple issues to fix with the truck before the snow flies any more than it has been. An oil cooler line started leaking on me the other day, and I think I've got a failing front actuator. Been a pain in the ass to get 'er into 4x4 lately, she'll go but it takes awhile, and flickers at first. I need to take a fine day and go over the truck.

That being said, the truck is working well. I was complaining about gas mileage recently but I've found that it doesn't seem to labour as hard when under heavy loads as my old half ton did, thus the drop in mileage when loaded is a lot less noticeable. I stretched her legs a little bit today with close to a ton of concrete blocks for a bit of a haul and the truck did extremely well. Almost no frame flex, squatted the springs a little but not much, and I had more than enough power to get up and go. These 4.10s are starting to grow on me.
I think when I really get into some more heavy duty work this winter and spring, I'll appreciate the heavier truck even more.