Steve, my 1995 K1500 Cowboy Cadillac.

[Supercharged111]

3 years? Damn. Makes me not feel so bad about my first car, a Crown Victoria that I motor swapped the ******* block 4.6 for a machine shop fresh 289. That took almost 2 years to get it moving.

 

[MIHELA]

While I was working on the truck my buddy painted up my spare fenders. I decided it was time to rip the old rusty ones off and replace my gross fender liner while I was in there.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[MIHELA]

Nice being able to pull in the garage for once!

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[MIHELA]

Now the real fun starts! So far the truck had only driven at very slow speeds around town. But something seemed off about the trans. I felt like it was binding and wouldn't go into 3rd. So looking at the apply chart, the only thing that would cause that is the intermediate sprag which is supposed to overrun in 3rd and 4th. So out the trans came. Turns out it was installed backwards. This is also when I found the hung valve. I spent a good chunk of vacation time getting it all sorted. Now it was ready to hit the highway!

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[MIHELA]

On August 10 I drove the truck to work for the first time. I was kind of cheating because my normal commute is 25 miles and I was working at a different store 10 miles away. I tweaked the tune a bit at work and drove it home. Still pretty rough, but it was exciting being able to really use it again.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[MIHELA]

So my trans is from a 1995, and the cooler lines with it. The radiator is out of a 97. 95, 96, and 97 all have different setups. 95 and 96 4L80E have the two cooler lines in front, but 96 switched to a larger pipe and flare on the trans cooler. 97 and up are center lube. I had to use adapters to hook the lines to the radiator, and they were kind of sketchy. I acquired the lower pipe and cooler to radiator pipe new, and I had my buddy get the correct fittings from the junkyard for the trans end and cooler, so I was able to correct the bottom radiator fitting. The upper has to be bent from scratch which I have yet to do.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[MIHELA]

So from the time it was broken in, I had been using the truck to drop off my grass clippings. On the way back from a run, I accelerated aggressively and felt a shudder so I let off. I didn't think much of it at the time. I drove the truck to work on the interstate the next day, my normal 25 mile commute for the first time.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[MIHELA]

It was obvious the truck wasn't running right, and rough so I popped the valve cover to check the rocker arms. I could see some damage to the lifters so I took the manifold off. What I found wasn't good. Two damaged lifters and dinged up pushrods. Fairly certain it was caused by valve float. Luckily I have a screen and magnets in the valley just in case. I believe they saved the engine.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[skylark]

It was obvious the truck wasn't running right, and rough so I popped the valve cover to check the rocker arms. I could see some damage to the lifters so I took the manifold off. What I found wasn't good. Two damaged lifters and dinged up pushrods. Fairly certain it was caused by valve float. Luckily I have a screen and magnets in the valley just in case. I believe they saved the engine.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Not going to deny, that sucks.

 

[MIHELA]

While I waited for new lifters and pushrods to come in I tackled the front suspension a bit. New upper control arms and bump stops. Once the new parts came in I broke in the new lifters and lowered the rev limiter in the tune.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach