Suggestions?

[jayden Richey]

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This is my 1990 GMC Sierra 1500 with a TBI350. Truck has 165,000 overall miles but only 20k miles on a crate motor TBI 350. I'm slowly turning it into the hot rod is wasn't ever meant to be. Got it for 1k because the fuel line got chewed through. simple $10 fix lol. I've fixed up the headliner, sterio system, some sketchy wiring and such, the norm. How should I go about speed mods? don't have a huge budget but would love some input.



Alright update, I ordered some things for the interior. What LED headlights would you guys recommend? Don't really know what would be best for this so let me know!

 

[Aarong23]

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This is my 1990 GMC Sierra 1500 with a TBI350. Truck has 165,000 overall miles but only 20k miles on a crate motor TBI 350. I'm slowly turning it into the hot rod is wasn't ever meant to be. Got it for 1k because the fuel line got chewed through. simple $10 fix lol. I've fixed up the headliner, sterio system, some sketchy wiring and such, the norm. How should I go about speed mods? don't have a huge budget but would love some input.



Alright update, I ordered some things for the interior. What LED headlights would you guys recommend? Don't really know what would be best for this so let me know!

As far as LED headlights go, that has been discussed thoroughly on this site, but the best that I can sum it up: there are no quality headlights for HID or LED conversions. The best you can do is buy a quality OEM housing and run some very good halogen bulbs. There is also a mod you can do where you can run your hi/low beams at the same time. This is just for for the headlights. You can buy LEDs for the tails and the running lights all day. I can't tell you how many HID kits I have seen retro fitted to halogen housings on these trucks and they have all been bad. Dangerous even. So until they make a quality aftermarket housing designed for LED/HID bulbs, we are pretty limited.

 

[df2x4]

Adding on to what was posted above...

You can modify the top mounting tabs on 9011 and 9012 HIR bulbs to fit in your 9005 and 9006 sockets. The filaments are in the exact same location so they throw light in the exact same way as the factory halogens and draw the exact same amount of power. Just a better, brighter design. Considering that your headlight housings don't have a glare cap over the low beam bulb position you'll only want to do this mod with a 9011 bulb for your high beams. The factory 9006 bulbs have a painted tip to reduce glare that the 9012 HIRs do not have.

That said, here's the best bulbs to run in your style of headlight housing. Both of these were recommended by the CandlePower Forums, and Daniel Stern of danielsternlighting.com.

Philips X-tremeVision 9006 low beams:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U1OLM1Q

Philips 9011 HIR high beams:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00480J5CW

And here's the tutorial on trimming the tab of the 9011 bulb to fit in your 9005 socket.
https://sep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-91565365470012_2267_311973

 

[BNielsen]

I gotta recommend the HIRs as well; with the 9011/9012 bulbs, upgraded housings with glare caps, 4Hi harness and an HD headlight harness my lights are as bright as any LED bulb while still retaining a good pattern.
Now if only I could get the damn things adjusted properly I'd be set; but the stupid cheap Chinesium bases don't want to get along with the adjustments I need to make.
I think total investment in the whole lighting upgrade is right around $150, I got the HIRs from my local parts store and Ebay, the headlights from Ebay, and the 4Hi kit and HD harness from LMC truck.

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And as far as speed mods go, start with a good solid tune up; all the ignition components, filters, fluids, etc. etc....then, go for a good free flowing exhaust; your truck being TBI; look into the Ultimate TBI mods, and a good throttle body spacer. I'm not very well versed in TBI performance but I'm sure someone else can step in and shine a little more light on the subject.

 

[Aarong23]

df2x4 was who I was thinking about when I wrote this. Along with shovelbill. He in my opinion, wrote the best thread about lighting in my opinion. It's on here somewhere if someone can find it. Sorry to hijack the thread. I know you didn't want this to be a comprehensive lighting thread. But to address your question about performance mods: 5.3/6.0 swap, cam, tune, full exhaust. You'll push 400+ hp and it'll be reliable. The ls based swap in my opinion is the gold standard. You get loads of power, reliability, fuel economy. It really is the optimal combination for the guy on a budget, myself included.

 

[df2x4]

Along with shovelbill. He in my opinion, wrote the best thread about lighting in my opinion. It's on here somewhere if someone can find it.

Here it is, all 218 pages of it.

Lots of rambling and story telling but lots of good information too.

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/spyder-headlamps-my-take-on-em-and-lighting-in-general.36647/