92 K2500 Revival

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Komet

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Nice score. Jeep steering shaft FTW!
Yeah, my buddy put that in because the rest of the steering is so worn out it was hard to get on the trailer, free upgrades! He asked me my preferred seat style a while back and I said buckets, so he snagged those out of the yard and put em in for me. Just noticed the driver's seat is powered and I have the harness.

Had a rainy day, went to work on the TPI refurbishment:
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Got this setup for free, plenum has been ported, runners have been smoothed. Came with an adjustable FPR and the diaphragm has seen fuel but is still very pliable so I'm going to run it. Got the FITech Ultimate TPI setup off Summit last night, it has its own fuse panel with a relay to run the fuel pump and stuff so it should cover all the functions no longer present in the vehicle.
 

Komet

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New Cardone wiper motor arrived, plugged it in and it works great so that was a correct diagnosis. Made in China part, but all new and $50 from rockauto so we'll see how it does. Waiting for a sunny day to install it.

Staying inside, I took one look at my intake runners and knew I didn't have enough carb cleaner, so I fired up the 'ol IROC-Z and went over to the parts store. One dremel wire wheel and two cans of berryman's later, I have clean runners. Reassembled the cleaned parts for storage until the L31 arrives:
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Didn't clean up the lower, as I need a different unit to bolt to vortec heads.
 

Komet

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Well a guy went on the lines and purchased some gear for phase 1.24 of the project, which is a fuel system. The fuel gauge was reading a little under half a tank of diesel and I hadn't gotten my buddy anything for Christmas yet, so I thought I'd get two birds stoned at the same time with this expert fuel removal station:
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He can have his diesel back in a can that actually pours. The classic Chinesium hand pump worked exactly as well as the last one I bought for this purpose; it's terrible, leaks profusely, pumps 0.224 ounces per actuation, and will probably split in half after the first job. I did bother to leave it indoors and wash it after this time though. Why am I always siphoning fuel in the snow?

Continued my electrical diagnostic journey, decided to pull the C100 connector, then decided that was a bad idea halfway through and then I was getting electrical instability in the cabin after trying to put it back how I found it. Cinched it up harder, still had some problems, pretty sure it was just a low battery from the cold and my various testing. I switched it out for a freshly charged unit and the electrical situation was normal again, fingers crossed I didn't make some vital mistake down in C100 land.

The fuel hose was covered in grey silt when I pulled it out of the tank. I was told "you're gonna want to pull the tank," so that was a true statement. I need a different pump anyhow, but I'm curious to see what horrors lurk below. The filler neck was brutally clearanced for diesel nozzles, and I'm sure that craftsmanship will continue. Did get about 6 gallons out, I'm sure there's more in there but my hose can't find it so it's as light as I can get it. Fuel gauge now reads max, must have bumped the sender with the hose in the tank but that means that circuit is operational.

Still haven't gotten the wipers back together, I've been waiting for the snow to leave before I dig into that. It's slippery out here.
 

Komet

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Had a break in the weather, installed the wiper motor. All modes work except for delay wipers. Sometimes I get delay, sometimes I get nothing. I sat in the truck and watched it not work, played with the window switches and opened the door, then they started working, then I switched delays and it stopped again. Pretty weird. At least I've got reliable low and high speed, but delay wipers were one of my perks for going with the gmt400 so eventually I want those operational. Lots of varying rain situations in my climate. Could be faulty pulse board. Could be faulty wiring. Could be lack of voltages from running off straight battery.

The rest of the electrical remains reliable, I can turn windows, locks, lights, radio, hvac, everything on and it doesn't freak out so I'm going to call that system revived. Decided to put the dash back together and hit everything with a cleaning rag and some sauce quick. Not like a full detail, but like can a guy peel back a filth layer or twelve? Even got out the toothbrush for the logo in the center of the steering wheel, thought it was supposed to be red and not brown. It still was red underneath, score. Starting to look like a respectable automobile in here:

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Opened up my FiTech Ultimate TPI deal and got the digical tuner passthrough boxalator communicating with my PC after 17 dark rituals of mystical driver signature enforcement disabling. Based on the names of the files, it seems like this was originally developed for the LS platform and they developed a different harness and tune for the TPI setup. Documentation is meh, seems like it hasn't been updated in 6 years but all the basics are there. Certainly enough information present to get the engine fired as far as I can tell after reading it all thrice.

Procrastinating on the fuel tank droppage. Wet and cold outside, dang ol chainsaw got my good slidin under vehicles cardboard all gasoliney and I'm trying to not get it wet.
 

Komet

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It's not supposed to freeze for a week so I busted out the pressure washer. Things are cleanerish under the hood:
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Some of the black paint was peeling off, clearly a no prep rattle can job. Got a substantial amount to flake off on the sides and in the bed:

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I'm tempted to leave the black parts that have survived and just prep and prime the fallen off areas. Or I could spend a thousand hours removing the black and see what truly lies beneath.
 

Komet

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It's not really working on cars season outside, but a guy noticed it was 45F and overcast today, which is good enough to unlock spray paintage. Did a full rebuild on the engine bay, it's looking snazzy:
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No expenses were spared in this operation, and by that I mean I only had a partial can of DE1635 in the garage but it was good enough to hit the major eyeball impacting areas. Got myself a hoist so I'm ready to receive the L31:
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It basically takes up my entire shop space, seems fine. Had to get in on that $60 off coupon at Hazard Frought, these things are getting expensive.
 

Komet

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A vortec tpi lower manifold popped up for sale an hour away from me, so I took the IROC-Z for a cruise and snagged that deal:

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Never installed, still in the wrapping, came with ARP bolts even. This is the Scoggin-Dickey unit produced in the Edelbrock foundry, seems like a really nice piece. Shiny stuff makes me nervous.

Six packs of Rustoleum Safety Green were back in stock at Home Depot so I got those in the mail with some sanding pads. I think Rustoleum really missed the mark on that name, I'd have called it Mint Condition.

There was a Forest Service Green suburban I wanted real bad a few years back but the timing wasn't right and I knew this truck was eventually going to need a home, so I figure its wasted paint is a perfect opportunity to have a fun color. I'd like to put the Silverado trim back on since that's what it is, so it's going to be a little more deluxe than what the trucks were typically specd out by the Forest Service for. Some of the suburbans got trim though, basically I'm going for this look:

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