Mad Customs

[0xDEADBEEF]

This is a father/son project that will eventually be my sons first truck. It had "madcustoms.com" stenciled on the dash so we've been calling it Mad Custom. As far as I can tell it was totally stock except for some flame graphics in the interior and dash cluster.

We totally replaced the entire suspension, steering, and brakes so it drives ok, but I think the dizzy in the 4.3 is shot so it sputters and pops like crazy and sets misfire codes. The 4.3 has ~ 250k miles and there was probably 2 quarts of oil in the intake tract and it smokes pretty bad. So we've just started a 5.3 swap.

The OBS came out when I was in high school and it made an impression on me, especially the RCSB. Seemed like a cool first vehicle.

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[RichLo]

Welcome!! be sure to keep us updated.

How old is your boy now?

 

[kennythewelder]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Welcome!! be sure to keep us updated.

How old is your boy now?

Thanks for the welcome. He's 14, about to be 15 so we've got some time.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Slow progress. I'm trying to make the boy do as much of the work as possible and hopefully imparting what little knowledge I have. He has to have all his homework and what not finished before we can work on it and it takes longer to do stuff, but we're not in a hurry. He's in autoshop at HS but already learned so much more on this project.

I think we're about 75% done with divorcing the engine and trans from the truck. Most of the wiring harness has been labeled and disconnected. I have a donor harness from the 5.3 but I haven't looked too far into what is kept and what is deleted so I'm making sure to label the original.

The only thing we have left is trans linkage and wiring, the exhaust, and the remaining connectors on the drivers side. I thought the harness disconnected at the passenger side but when I took the connector out it was glued together, so I have to change directions.

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[0xDEADBEEF]

This feels like enough work for the day. The trans has a bad leak from somewhere that made this job pretty unpleasant with years of trans fluid and dirt caked all over everything and falling in your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, etc...

We gotta get the frame side of the motor mounts swapped out for V8 mounts and then start going through the pages at lt1 swap to get the harness situation figured out, but that can wait. I'm tempted to just get that low buck Holley system that comes with a harness.

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[0xDEADBEEF]

Dropped off a bunch of parts to the machine shop. Originally I was going to do a home rebuild on it, but I decided to let them do it.

I think I'm going to get the trans rebuilt now too. It probably wouldn't live long behind the 5.3 and it's high mileage too. The fluid was all nasty and burnt as well.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Apparently I picked the slowest machine shop within 100 miles. They've had the engine since March and still haven't started working on it. They promised me it would be done at the end of the month, if it isn't I'm done with them.

I'm not even sure I trust them to do it right anymore.

I live a few miles from Texas Speed, I'm tempted to just get their cheapest short block.

 

[LovesDunes]

This feels like enough work for the day. The trans has a bad leak from somewhere that made this job pretty unpleasant with years of trans fluid and dirt caked all over everything and falling in your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, etc...

We gotta get the frame side of the motor mounts swapped out for V8 mounts and then start going through the pages at lt1 swap to get the harness situation figured out, but that can wait. I'm tempted to just get that low buck Holley system that comes with a harness.

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Cool project. Nice to hear there are still high schools offering auto mechanics.

Reworking the harness is not as bad as it might sound. You pull wires out of the old computer and install them into the new computer. You two will have a nice feeling of accomplishment, and save quite a bit of money doing it yourself.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

The auto shop program at the high school is actually really good, the goal of the program is that after 4 years of auto shop that you can get an entry level job right out of high school, but the first year is very basic.

The boy got his learner's permit this week.

The project is probably now stalled for the summer thanks to the delay getting the 5.3 machined. Too darned hot, for me anyways.