Bought a CC Dually 454 Whipple

[Supercharged111]

Does anyone know how GM numbers their plugs? I need to go down 1 heat range. Tried with NGK but that PN didn't exist.

 

[Supercharged111]

So for anyone else looking for a colder plug, look no further than an NGK 4177 TR6. I finally got wise and went to my local dyno shop since they boost stuff day in and day out and he knew right off hand what I was after. So I got those and the manifolds in and while they don't pop in the engine bay, they certainly don't drag it down like before. I was very careful about not scratching the paint during install, note the welding gloves on the frame.

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That extra clear is looking good, I just wonder if heat will flatten it again as the shop that cleaned them did clear them prior to baking. I was gonna get new nuts but they were making people wait outside at Ace so I said **** that and just left.

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You can see the one small high spot that I shaved with a razor blade at the edge of the stud hole. The rest looked pretty good so I put the manifolds on to include the old EGR pipe. It didn't run like I thought it would, hopefully no leaks here.

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Wrench access here was my biggest concern, but with no downpipe in the way it was cake. Next was a downpipe repair I could only do off the truck.

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I managed this while trying to 360 weld the thing from underneath. Since I neglected to take an after shot, you'll just have to assume I'm a master welder. The hole is plugged I can promise that.

I got the downpipe even cleaner, neglected to take a pic, then proceeded to get my ass kicked hooking up the cat flange. Whatever I did with my muffler put a bunch of torsional tension on the whole system and made it a royal asspain to get all mated back together. What's strange about it is that I had that flange separated in my driveway and had zero trouble getting it back together. On the lift with all the tools in the world was a whole 'nuther story.

 

[Supercharged111]

The diff cover came out pretty much how I envisioned it, just that the scale on the cover seems to have created the hammertone as opposed to the paint itself.

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I was gonna install it, but the stubborn ass magnet in the case didn't seem to want to come out for cleaning. If anyone has any tips here I'm all ears. Going to fire it up, purge the trans, and with any luck get it the **** out of the shop.

 

[andy396]

That extra clear is looking good, I just wonder if heat will flatten it again as the shop that cleaned them did clear them prior to baking.

I’ll be super surprised if it stays shiny. I think the shine comes from the polymers of the paint. Once those manifolds come up to temp, the polymers bake off and all your left with are the high temp pigments.

You can see the one small high spot that I shaved with a razor blade at the edge of the stud hole. The rest looked pretty good so I put the manifolds on to include the old EGR pipe. It didn't run like I thought it would, hopefully no leaks here.

By JB Weld, I assume you mean the two part epoxy stuff? If so, maybe try some of that ceramic muffler paste next time. It’ll take the heat much better than the epoxy. That ceramic muffler paste was my best solution for leaks at the cat flange as well. I know JB weld sells the ceramic muffler paste as well as some other brands out there. If that’s what you used then never mind, that’s probably the best you’re going to be able to do as a patch job.

 

[Supercharged111]

I figured if it holds on blocks, we'll see. I wasn't sure if the muffler paste would hold it's shape here, but may have been overthinking it. I did paste the cat flange again as that seemed to work the last time.

 

[JSlezak83]

Next time...MarineTex. That epoxy is out of this world.

 

[Supercharged111]

Next time...MarineTex. That epoxy is out of this world.

Would you say it's. . . strong stuff?

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[Supercharged111]

Got the diff all buttoned up tonight and full of Royal Purple, took about 3.5ish quarts. I think my 9.5 takes about 2.75qt. It's nice not having that black housing with eyesore rusty cover bolted on.

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You might notice the aluminum wheel I up the spare location. That's the to tire with the gash, put the virgin spare in its place. Originally I was going to install an aftermarket cover, but then I saw Banks' video on how they suck. Hard.

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Next I snapped my plug wires back on with the heat shields, turns out they do serve a purpose. This is the cylinder that had the broken stud and dangling heat shield.

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This is where I did a lot of work on the plugs and manifold, so much easier to reach through here than from the top.

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I knocked out a bunch more piddly crap and fired the truck up. Lifters clattered for a bit then it shut up, I guess that 15W40 doesn't flow all that well cold after all. Tranny fluid was taking a long time to hit the bottle so I shut it down fearing I'd done something wrong, but when I took a look at the bottle it had just started to take fluid so I should have waited just a bit longer. It wouldn't restart as the battery was too low and all I had with me was a trickle charger so that was it for me. After the trans is purged, I can verify if the cat flange is leaking. If no, then front driveshaft goes back in. Once I stab the steering shaft into place, if I haven't screwed anything else up, I can go for a drive and be more sure that I did/didn't screw anything else up.

 

[Supercharged111]

FINALLY got this damn thing home!

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The spare has more tread than the other 5 tires combined.

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I pumped out 2.5ish gallons, would have done a little more but this left the trans at the perfect level.

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Tough to gauge the cleanliness by looking right at the fluid. Easier to tell by smell and by the residue sticking to the top of the jug. Don't wanna speak too soon, but I think this has solved my takeoff issue. Sometimes I'd hit the gas and it would rev and kinda take off, then sort of bump and go. I got the steering input shaft on wrong, or it was on wrong before. I need to get a closer look. And scrub the thing head to toe front to back inside and out. Rear brakes need more adjustment, I was hoping they'd do that on the way home. Looks like I need to throw it in reverse and get pumping.

 

[Supercharged111]

The manifolds did dull once they got some heat and that spare time cleaned up great. Next I turned my attention to the interior. Carpet was nasty.

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Seats weren't much better.

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I wish I could have gotten to this sooner, it's been this way since I bought it back in 2016! And there's plenty more I didn't get pics of.