1988 GMC C3500 RCLB

[skylark]

This turned into fun... I get to yank the 350 out of my 85 and re-gasket it and do everything to it.. it’s a roller cam 350 too.

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So much fun in that hole!

 

[Caspian]

I got the last of the gaskets I needed for the 350 that’s gonna come out of my C10. Just the one piece pan gasket and a rear main seal cause that caused the leak and why I was gonna pull the engine out anyway.

I haven’t started pulling anything yet, I’ve been busy with house work and work itself lol.

Only thing left I’ve got to get is the melonized cam gear for the HEI distributor since this 350 has a roller cam.

Next update should be when I’ve started pulling the engine out of the C10 and cleaning it up.

 

[Caspian]

The 350 is out of the C3500. Radiator is plugged up full of mud. This truck had the engine oil cooler, I’m just gonna get a thicker radiator than the one that came out and run the transmission cooler. Not really gonna do anything with this truck that would require the oil cooler, plus it’s a 1-ton with a small block lol.

Next update will be when the other 350 is out and up front and on a stand.

 

[Caspian]

Pulled the 350 out of the C10 today, ordered the GM melonized distributor gear Friday, it’ll be here Monday. So long story but I’m pretty much done with this C10, I’m gonna pull what I want off of it and try to sell the rest of it whole and move on from it. Radiator looks the same as the one in the 3500 minus the stuff for the engine cooler which I won’t be reinstalling so I don’t have a worry about that.

I’ll have another update when the engine and transmission are in and I’ve started that next phase of this job lol

 

[Caspian]

I’ve been away for awhile again. Been busy with life. Finally got the Engine in! I got the roller 350 around to the front of my house, wound up selling the C10 for like $300 and got rid of it. This roller 350 wound up having flat tops in it, there was little to no carbon on the tops of them leading me to believe it was recently gone through. It got new gaskets, new rear oil seal, bolted the 062 vortecs on with the summit stage 1 intake. Took me a little bit to get it on, my brother reversed the damned clamshells and it was off for a bit until I figured that out... then I wound up taking the passenger side one off and lining the engine/trans up and bolting them together, then put the clamshell back on and dropped it down. Followed by the hood. Right now the accessories are going on.

I ordered a brand new radiator and upper and lower hoses and a Wix trans filter kit on Rockauto Friday. I’ve still got to determine if the cam has a fuel pump lobe or not, I have to cut the fuel line and put rubber hose on it. So I still have quite a bit to do. It finally looks like a truck again lol.

Also I don’t really care how crappy this stuff looks, the truck is gonna be a working truck anyway, so okay is better than nice in this case.

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[evilunclegrimace]

Yeah, it is when the selling price is $2,000 or less haha. That is pointer which indicates the truck might've had a harder life than most. Doesn't help GM put it in a stupid spot, if it had been put on the other side of that compartment they would have held up much better.


Good job on cleaning that, I haven't found something which is aggressive enough to remove the schmutz but gentle enough not to take the ink with it. I spy "GMC", your truck started life in Pontiac, MI. I'm kind of partial to trucks made there or in Flint. I also spotted "GT4" so your truck has a 3.73, or it did from the factory. No G80 though. Guess you could try the ole, "Mark the passenger side tire & then mark the pinion, then rotate said tire twice and count how many times the pinion crossed the mark" method to approximate the gear ratio. If it's close to 3.73, your truck could have the original axle. Every one ton truck I've seen has had a full floater. I've only seen one ton vans with semi floaters.

Back when these trucks were first released I worked at a GMC dealership and later a Chevrolet dealership and we sold hundreds of these trucks.
The only 1 ton trucks that had a full floating axles came with 454 or 6.2 in those years UNLESS it was special order. My personal '88 K3500 came with a 5.7/400 and had a 14 BSF.

 

[Caspian]

Back when these trucks were first released I worked at a GMC dealership and later a Chevrolet dealership and we sold hundreds of these trucks.
The only 1 ton trucks that had a full floating axles came with 454 or 6.2 in those years UNLESS it was special order. My personal '88 K3500 came with a 5.7/400 and had a 14 BSF.

Good to know, thanks!

Received the Radiator, Hoses, and Trans Filter Kit. Brother has been installing the accessories back on the engine each day that we've had better weather.. I've gotta make some battery cables for the truck, so I've gotta get some cable, solder pellets, the lugs, and terminals and get some knocked out. Still need to route the fuel hose and establish whether the camshaft will work with a mechanical fuel pump.

Barring I get my taxes sooner, they already have been approved, supposed to hit around Wednesday. Going to go look at a 1994 what's supposed to be a light duty K2500, it definitely has 6 lug wheels so it's either a K1500 or a LD K2500. Has a 350 and 4L60E. No title, but I have a dude that can handle that for me. Gonna offer $800 since they want $1000 for it and see if they'll bite.

Will have another update soon.

 

[Caspian]

Alright, everything is all in. I chased a problem with my HEI not getting energy, fixed that. Here's my dilemma I'm having. I've got a mechanical fuel pump bolted to this engine, all the lines ran. Bent me up a line for the outlet to the carburetor. Everything I've understood, if you unplug the fuel pump fuse from it's connector it should shut the pump off. I've unplugged the fuse, unplugged both relays and the pump still continues to pump gas with the key on. I had to put a regulator on it and I'm still getting too much fuel.. so with that said, and short of just unplugging the harness from the pump, is there anything I'm missing? This thing is so close to running it's not funny lol.

 

[Caspian]

Well, life got in the way.. I've been so busy with work, COVID BS and other things I put the truck on the back burner. I wound up trading the street demon for an Edelbrock 1406. Had to re-stab the distributor, and buy a new coil. Got her running today, it's not complete turn key yet. I just mocked it up, I'll have to run the HEI +12v to a keyed source instead of the battery. Next on the list is to order a new carrier bearing, u-joints, for now the studs and donut gaskets for the exhaust, and finish up filling the transmission and all that small crap. I've also got 3 new tires to install on it. Once all this is done, I've got to get a title via court order and a tag and we'll be good to go. Body work and such will be later on. Pics and video when I get a little farther along, IE it moving under it's own power again.