88GMCtruck's 98 Silverado Towpig Build: "Black Fox"

[Cokeman95]

Bigger hole for the fuel nozzle.

I knew that geez I'm an idiot.

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[DanteGTZ]

Quick update for what little progress there has been. The truck does run and drive. I've driven it out of the garage and back in but it still needs a cooling system before I can run it lp longer than a minute. I will be running a Dodge radiator which will help with the coolant hose fitment.

The biggest reason I haven't been able to make more progress is twofold. First, I was planning on trying to fit the Dodge intercooler in the core support, but after cutting up a spare core support and trying to fit it in, it's ridiculously too big and would require the modification of Lights and all kinds of other items that I don't want to cut up. As a result, I've purchased a slightly smaller mishimoto intercooler and we'll be fitting it in front of the radiator.

The single biggest problem that has prevented major progress is the constant waiting on parts. I don't know if it has to do with the pandemic, or what, but anytime I order almost any part for this truck, it's taking the better part of a week to get. I won't get my intercooler piping and boot kit until Friday, and that was ordered last Friday. Same goes for a turbo drain tube which I'll mention in just a second.

So originally I was going to use the Dodge exhaust manifold. My Borg Warner K27 is set up as a direct drop in replacement for the second gen Dodge trucks and does fit in the K 3500. The problem is the exhaust housing. The tail end of the exhaust housing is probably an inch and a half longer than the factory hx35. Because of this, it puts the downpipe ridiculously close to the firewall, heater core hoses, and the AC accumulator. About a month ago, I picked up what is referred to as a conversion friendly manifold. It actually came off of an F700 truck and is used in the more industrial application. It drops the turbo down and puts it much closer to the block. Most of the Ford conversions use this manifold as the Dodge manifold won't fit. In any case, I had to make a few modifications to the wastegate actuator bracket so that it would clear the block, but I did move the turbo down. By changing the turbo location, my factory drain tube would no longer work. I had to buy a 3rd gen Dodge turbo drain tube which is flexible and will work with this new turbo location. Again, the waiting begins. It won't show up until next Tuesday, which means no matter how much progress I make between now and then, I won't be able to start the truck because I'll have no way to get oil from the turbo back into the engine. Yes, the waiting is killing me.

I also took some pictures of my air conditioning and alternator setup. This is a custom kit sold by Adventure World Northwest. It uses the Denso alternator off of the Dodge, and the Sanden AC compressor, also from the Dodge.

I'll be using an external voltage regulator for the alternator and I can still pull a tach signal from it as well. As for the compressor, I learned something interesting in my research. These compressors use interchangeable rear heads and as long as you keep the main body of the compressors the same, the heads can be swapped no problem. Dave had already installed a Sanden compressor on the truck originally and as luck would have it, it's the same series and style of compressor as the Dodge uses. I bought a brand new compressor and we'll be using the GM compressor head so that I can bolt all of my factory lines back up to the truck. I will have to make a few modifications to them, including shortening them, and I will be removing the expansion portion of the lineset for fitment purposes. I'm choosing to do this primarily to keep the pressure switch and connections and I nice convenient location right at the compressor. I'll also have to use a 1995 accumulator as the inlet is in a much better spot, pointing towards the new compressor location.

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[BlastingBat998]

This is the cleanest swap i have ever seen... Gives me real hope and inspiration for my 2500 Suburban.
Good luck!

 

[Supercharged111]

This is the cleanest swap i have ever seen... Gives me real hope and inspiration for my 2500 Suburban.
Good luck!

At this point, I don't think he needs luck. He's got it.

 

[BlastingBat998]

At this point, I don't think he needs luck. He's got it.

True.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Now I get it. I like that.

Very clever! I like it. My family always had GMC pickups but Chevy and GMC Burbs

 

[DanteGTZ]

More progress, albeit slow (shocker!). I ended up deciding to use the industrial manifold from an ~F700 truck instead of the Dodge manifold. The sole motivation for this was to gain clearance between the exhaust and AC lines and other hoses, as well as the firewall. The Dodge manifold fit, but this Borg K27 turbo's exhaust outlet is almost 2" further back than the stock HX35 which made the exhaust sit ridiculously close to the firewall as well as everything else. The industrial manifold fits closer to the block and drips the turbo down which gave me tons of clearance.

I ended up hacking up my 4" downpipe and reshaping it to fit the smaller space. This way it's still a 4" exhaust, all the way from front to back. I made it completely removable with vband clamps at either end. I also wrapped it with head wrap. I couldnt get the wrap perfect because of the vertical chop I had to do near the flange, but this will work fine for the time being. I mated the custom downpipe to the "bolt-on" 6.5TD 4" Diamond Eye exhaust. Finished it off with a reasonable 5" tip.

I'm still waiting on a size R drill bit and the 1/8" NPT tap for the pyro probe before I bolt everything up permanently. I want to drill it with the manifold off the truck to ensure shavings stay out of the turbo.

I also ordered gauges today. Following Dave's footsteps, I ordered the same style Speedhut gauges that he had in the truck before, except with red/orange needles. A deliberated a while on that one but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to have to swap in a 6.5 cluster to make the tach work. If I do, I probably will go with red/orange needles.

I'm so close but still a ways to go. Just trying to take small bites each week. I'm very slow with this kind of stuff because I 2nd guess everything and it seems like parts are taking FOREVER to arrive.

I'll update again later on.

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[Supercharged111]

I'm glad you have the luxury of being able to go slow. I second guess a lot of changes that I make too so I understand the pain.

 

[DanteGTZ]

I'm glad you have the luxury of being able to go slow. I second guess a lot of changes that I make too so I understand the pain.

It's a gift and a curse. I cannot wait to get this project done but my inability to make decisions coupled with my perfectionist nature are dragging the process out a bit. Thankfully my family has a truck I can use until I finish mine so I have one in the interim. The whole family misses OUR truck though!

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[JSlezak83]

I hate the analysis paralysis. It only seems to get worse the older I get. Spend forever doing something, only to hate it and redo a second or even third time.

Truck is looking great. I came across a B Series to Chevy adapter and converter on local Craigslist, and now I’m getting evil visions. Damn truck would be down for years if I attempted such a swap.