the_elegant_fox
Newbie
Hey all,
Thought I'd spin my journey out from the towing section, as it quickly turned into a build thread: https://www.gmt400.com/threads/thinking-gmt400-3500-dually-for-track-day-towing-thoughts.66809/
This is a wild trip so far and a cascade of questionable decisions. It's a 1994 crew cab, long bed, RWD, 454, dually that started out life as a diesel truck: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/280073804890277/
It's been in North and South Carolina as farm truck for it's entire 30 year life. I believe I'm the 4th owner. At some point The 6.5 was swapped for a 454 of unconfirmed origins. I had thought it was an original 454 truck until I went to look at it for the first time. It's not running really well, it chokes out and backfires. I only made it about 7 miles after buying it before it cut out on me. Thinking this mostly has to do with bad gas, not enough gas, and an out of tune carb. Since the truck was stranded on a hill, I had to get it towed to a shop. It's been at this shop for 2 months now. They're far behind and the lead owner and mechanic is passing kidney stones. I've only sat in the truck for 15m or so. I'll hopefully be collecting the truck at the end of this month and that's when I can ID the block VIN and overall status of the swap.
All power plant issues aside, the body and frame on this truck are really clean. No rust and the only paint wear is on the tailgate. The build goal is a reliable race car and project car hauler. Even if this needs to be repowered to achieve that, it's still a promising starting point. I think I can hobble this truck along on the 454 that's in it until it's better baselined or re-powered. I don't think going back to diesel is a great idea, if I need a new power plant, I'm thinking an ht502: https://www.chevrolet.com/performance-parts/crate-engines/big-block/ht-502
Oddities to fix first:
1. EFI harness hookup to re-enable use of the gauge cluster. Only working gauge now is an aftermarket tach on the dash
2. Figure out the fueling system. The PO installed an aluminum auxilary tank in the bed that was the primary operating tank since it was easier to spot the fuel levels. This means that either, it's been running on this tank only and the main diesel tank was bypassed or I've got a dual tank system. The PO claimed he could run it on both, but it's unconfirmed at the moment.
3. Cracked window
4. Various bit of trim and lights
Thought I'd spin my journey out from the towing section, as it quickly turned into a build thread: https://www.gmt400.com/threads/thinking-gmt400-3500-dually-for-track-day-towing-thoughts.66809/
This is a wild trip so far and a cascade of questionable decisions. It's a 1994 crew cab, long bed, RWD, 454, dually that started out life as a diesel truck: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/280073804890277/
It's been in North and South Carolina as farm truck for it's entire 30 year life. I believe I'm the 4th owner. At some point The 6.5 was swapped for a 454 of unconfirmed origins. I had thought it was an original 454 truck until I went to look at it for the first time. It's not running really well, it chokes out and backfires. I only made it about 7 miles after buying it before it cut out on me. Thinking this mostly has to do with bad gas, not enough gas, and an out of tune carb. Since the truck was stranded on a hill, I had to get it towed to a shop. It's been at this shop for 2 months now. They're far behind and the lead owner and mechanic is passing kidney stones. I've only sat in the truck for 15m or so. I'll hopefully be collecting the truck at the end of this month and that's when I can ID the block VIN and overall status of the swap.
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All power plant issues aside, the body and frame on this truck are really clean. No rust and the only paint wear is on the tailgate. The build goal is a reliable race car and project car hauler. Even if this needs to be repowered to achieve that, it's still a promising starting point. I think I can hobble this truck along on the 454 that's in it until it's better baselined or re-powered. I don't think going back to diesel is a great idea, if I need a new power plant, I'm thinking an ht502: https://www.chevrolet.com/performance-parts/crate-engines/big-block/ht-502
Oddities to fix first:
1. EFI harness hookup to re-enable use of the gauge cluster. Only working gauge now is an aftermarket tach on the dash
2. Figure out the fueling system. The PO installed an aluminum auxilary tank in the bed that was the primary operating tank since it was easier to spot the fuel levels. This means that either, it's been running on this tank only and the main diesel tank was bypassed or I've got a dual tank system. The PO claimed he could run it on both, but it's unconfirmed at the moment.
3. Cracked window
4. Various bit of trim and lights
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