Big T

[Chevypoor]

Decided to start a Big T thread to chronicle the work.

Just a brief overview. Found this truck on Craigslist in Ferrum Va about 180 miles away. The PO was reluctant to sell because it ran so good but did want to pay somebody to do head gaskets and was a little overwhelmed by thought of doing it himself. Looked like an unmolested stock truck with original block, 294k, and no blowby. It did run good and I drove it all the way home with farm tags last weekend. Been looking for a 5spd for awhile and had almost given up on finding the right truck.

Started taking her apart last Sunday and finally had a chance to get back at it this evening. Got most of the front accessories off and the intake. It is the original 599 block! Headed to NJ this weekend to visit family so it looks like it will be next weekend before I get back it. Will be ordering parts and I hope to get her wrapped up next weekend.

 

[btfarm]

Looking forward to the discussion

Sent from my SCH-I535

 

[Will L.]

Going all the way through it or just the upper end? At 294 I would try some rapless rings for the long haul.

 

[Chevypoor]

Going all the way through it or just the upper end? At 294 I would try some rapless rings for the long haul.

The plan is to just do head gaskets.... sort of. I am going to run the pocket ported diamond cup heads from Gertie. Going to check the timing chain out as well. Replacing the damper pulley and balancer with new GM pieces. Unless I see something with the heads off I am going to leave the bottom end alone. The oil pressure was good and after a 180 mile drive at between 60-75 it puffed once real quick when I opened the fill cap and then nothing.... NO BLOWBY! Was stunned. Never had one with no blowby.

 

[Will L.]

Cool. No blow by is sweet for that mileage.

 

[Chevypoor]

Cool. No blow by is sweet for that mileage.

I was surprised. Gary has none cold but still has a little when warm. It also ran like a truck with no blow by. When
I shifted from 2 to 3 (as indicated on the shift knob, 4th is top gear) it would pin you to the seat and just pull. Test driven a couple of these 5 SPD's and none had that pull... Anxious to see how it runs with a few mods!

 

[Chevypoor]

Found some time on Sunday after we got home from NJ and yesterday afternoon to get the cylinder heads off.

The crossover pipe had hit something at some point in this trucks life and was crimped/ bent about 1/3 off the way shut. The pic does makes it look better than it really was. All the crossover bolts came off easily except one which broke. Everything looked real clean inside the ol girl when I popped the valve covers. The POs changed the oil it looks like! :thumbsup:

Got the heads off and found the problem- the bridge between the valves on the #2 and #8 cylinder was cracked. The #2 crack was bad enough that she was eating coolant. That explains the bubbles in the overflow and the lack of coolant in the oil. Now comes the fun part cleanup! Planning to run the crack free pocket ported heads from the earlier 6.2 build from Gertie. I thought now was also an awesome time to r&r the oil cooler lines and do an oil change- probably the easiest oil change I will ever do on a 4x4!

 

[JayTheCPA]

I thought now was also an awesome time to r&r the oil cooler lines and do an oil change- probably the easiest oil change I will ever do on a 4x4!

While everything is apart, get a remote oil filter kit and future oil changes will go even easier

 

[Chevypoor]

While everything is apart, get a remote oil filter kit and future oil changes will go even easier

I thought about it but the last remote filter I had leaked., thought I would keep it simple!

Got alot done this weekend. Got the heads prepped during the week and started with a dirty block. I had one issue when I realized the Fel Pro head gaskets had not showed up- I ordered them from Summit two weeks ago. Called the local parts store and they had one- one was not enough. Checked my gasket stash and fortunately I had a set of 6.5 Victor Reinz gaskets left over from an earlier project. They were in great shape and the fire rings looked larger than the Fel Pros. The block had some ethcing from the old gaskets- nothing you could fell with your finger nail but you could see the marks after cleaning with a die grinder and the 3m pads. Felt better using the VR gaskets with the larger fire rings. Cleaned and prepped the block decks. Made me a set of handles from some old rocker arm shafts- they made a huge difference wrestling the heads back onto the block. Installed new Fel Pro head bolts- since I was not pulling the block I went with bolts instead of studs, and went the torqueing procedure followed by the final quarter turn. Got the oil cooler lines on and changed the oil. Pulled the DMax fan, Hayden HD clutch, and the 2000 model year GM water pump from Gertie and installed them. Turned the fuel up a strong 3/8s turn. I went through the side of the IP like you do with 6.9/7.3 IDI Ferd- very easy with the heads off and I avoided the governor assembly in the top of the IP. Drilled out the tail cone on the IP- wow that was some strong/ hard steel. Gave the old drill press and the Drill Doctor a work out! Tapped and installed a brass 3/8" fitting. Installed the FFM from Gertie with FTB already done. Installed a set of Kennedy Diesel High Pop injectors I had that were left over from an earlier project. Installed the exhaust manifolds and the injector lines. Got the rest of the accessories on, a new GM balancer, a new GM damper pulley, a new tensioner, and a new belt. Decided to try some advice posted here on the Forum and see it will make a difference on start up. Left the injector line nuts loose at the injectors and spun the motor to prime the oil and the IP/ lines/ injectors. Tightened all the injector line nuts up and then spun it over again with no glows- got a nice mist from the injector holes. I also removed the snorkel in the fender- the first 6.5 I have had that still had the snorkel. Added some anti-freeze and topped the oil off. My wife was kind enough to get the wires ran for the gauges and install the brake controller.

Now all that is left is the exhaust, DP, A-Team turbo, air intake, finish the gauges, install a rear bumper, and the trans mount. Hope to be driving this beast again by the weekend!

 

[GM Guy]

Big T= my new favorite truck. Consequently, it is your only 5 speed.

Also, props on getting stuff done way quicker than I ever could!

So what is to become of Gertie?

let us know how the ATT and DB2 treats you! I am frankly thinking of putting the ATT on my 93, and running GM8 and the vac system on all the 94+ trucks.

Also, if you dont mind me asking, how much is the GM damper?

Leroy, if you are reading, how much is the Fluidampr these days?

IMO the Fluidampr is the one to run.

 

[Chevypoor]

Big T= my new favorite truck. Consequently, it is your only 5 speed.

Also, props on getting stuff done way quicker than I ever could!

So what is to become of Gertie?

let us know how the ATT and DB2 treats you! I am frankly thinking of putting the ATT on my 93, and running GM8 and the vac system on all the 94+ trucks.

Also, if you dont mind me asking, how much is the GM damper?

Leroy, if you are reading, how much is the Fluidampr these days?

IMO the Fluidampr is the one to run.

Thanks- I started working on the truck at 6:45am on Saturday and did not quit until almost 7pm that night. Ran into a few issues that slowed me down: had to drill and tap one bolt on the passenger exhaust manifold, the oil filter was seized-took an hour+ to break it loose, and then the drilling and tapping of the tail cone on the IP for FTB. Sunday was a solid 7hr day as well.

Gertie well I never expected to find Big T and unfortunately the inn is overfull so I am going to sell her with no motor. Still up in the air on pricing and what if any 6.5 parts/ GMT 400 parts will convey. I think it should sell well as the body and frame are in solid shape- 99% rust free. All the electrics work: cruise, power windows, etc.

I too am interested to see how the DB2 ATT combo works. I have been quite frustrated with the computer controlled units in tuning and gremlins. The mechanical seems more straight forward and I feel it will offer more power. The limited drive time I have had in this truck and other mechanical units seems to offer better throttle response than the electronic drive by wire throttle. The computer is fighting a battle with the upgrades in my opinion. The goal of a computer is clean smooth running with good emissions, economy, and low NVH. These items are not usually synonymous with power- drag cars/ race cars for example do not meet any of those criteria. I am not looking for a race truck but I could care less about emissions. Later down the road I may look into a Moose pump.

I think it was in the $120 range from Rock Auto. I agree on the fluid damper balancer. I think that is the direction I am going to head on the next balancer r&r.

Got a few things done before dark yesterday. Then yet another issue- the oil supply fitting/ adapter on the ATT broke. Parker was stumped what the fitting was so I called Dennis and he is going to get another out to me. Oh well, still need to tidy up/ finish the wiring (gauges & trailer plug), install the air intake, and rob the exhaust from Gertie.

 

[Chevypoor]

Got a couple more things done on Tuesday. Got the S&B Intake on from Leroy- Thanks! I had to massage the inner fender a bit with the BFH to get hood clearance and I had to swap the battery stud for a bolt from the bolt can for clearance. After those minor mods the intake fit great. Got the grille back on and I also cut an elbow off of a spare metal factory CDR supply line to hook up the CDR system. Slowly but surely chipping away at getting this wrapped up- for the moment. I have lots of things still to do but I want to get her up and running- then it is back to the other 93 K1500 for a bit of love!

 

[JayTheCPA]

My ATT install originally looked like that (compressor angled above the upper intake's plane).

By trimming some of the silicon off the outboard side of one of the 45* boots (IIRC ~1-1/2"), the ATT's compressor will turn parallel with the upper intake; cleaner look, less volume to compress, and shorter path for the air.

 

[Chevypoor]

My ATT install originally looked like that (compressor angled above the upper intake's plane).

By trimming some of the silicon off the outboard side of one of the 45* boots (IIRC ~1-1/2"), the ATT's compressor will turn parallel with the upper intake; cleaner look, less volume to compress, and shorter path for the air.

Great idea- I will have to look into that!

Finally finished the rest of the exhaust today- I pulled the Diamond Eye 4", the 2.5" Heath Crossover, and the 3" DP from Gertie. I also robbed the bumper from a soon to be scrapped 88 GMC and finished up some wiring. When I fired her up I discovered I had to fix a fuel leak. The FTB fitting on the IP was leaking. I tried three different fittings I had laying around and the third one seems to be holding- no leaks. Of course I had to r&r the intake- getting good at pulling the intake, only took 15mins to remove! I could not take the waiting for the snail mail to deliver my new turbo oil feed fitting(thanks for the help Dennis) any longer and I had to run this thing! So I welded the broken oil feed fitting up! It worked for the most part- did leak a bit but I was able to take a short test drive. Wow. I need to learn how to drive. Any more than a quarter throttle and less than 1600 rpms she will lay a smoke screen a WW II destroyer would be proud of! The egts also climb up to about 650 or so. However once she hits about 2000 grand hang on- when I hit third on the back gravel roads at about 50% throttle and almost 15psi the tires would not hold- she was getting sideways at about 35-40 mph! As long as I am easy on the throttle until the rpms are up she is virtually smoke free. All in all she runs great! She feels virtually the same as before with light throttle but once you lay the wood to her she really runs. Strangely I can hear a bit more whistle from the ATT now. Now I just need to do the trans mount and install the new turbo oil feed fitting- I do not want to drive it with it leaking. Gonna swap the rims from Gertie tomorrow and give her a wash. Will post pics on Monday!

 

[Chevypoor]

Well I decided to wait on the wash- was scared to lose any more paint! I did take her for a short drive again and snapped a few pics. I am very pleased with the way she runs. Smokes under 1800 rpms but I am learning my foot can control that. Can accelerate down the road in high gear from as low as 13-1400 with 1-3 psi and keep smoke free. Still trying to get used to the torque and the clutch, got ol long pause shift between 1st and 2nd. No need to use low gear and sometimes I can roll out from a stop sign in 2nd(3rd gear for a 95 and up NV4500) from about 1000 rpms or so and she pulls/ accelerates fine with no smoke with about 1/8- 1/4 throttle. No gear rattle either- just smooth steady acceleration.

Here is a summary of the work done to date: pocket ported heads with diamond cups, Kennedy diesel high pop injectors, pump turned up 3/8+, ATT, S&B cold air intake, stainless oil cooler lines, Bosch Duraterms, 2000 water pump, 190^ t-stat, Hayden HD fan clutch, DMax fan, new head gaskets, new head bolts, new GM harmonic balancer, new GM damper pulley, new tensioner, new belt, Heath 2.5" crossover, Diamond Eye 4" with 3" DP, used rear bumper, Auto Meter boost and pyro, new trailer brake controller, rims from a 2000 Suburban.

Took some pictures on the back roads as well. De cranked the torsion bars 2 turns after these taking these pics. Looked like the PO had them cranked a bit to clear the aftermarket rims it had.

 

[tanman_2006]

Looks good, the front did sit a hair high Imo.

Good to hear att works w/ your db2 nv4500 combo.

source unknown

 

[Chevypoor]

Looks good, the front did sit a hair high Imo.

Good to hear att works w/ your db2 nv4500 combo.

source unknown

Thanks! I may drop her another turn- a little rake is good for a working truck. Now I just need to get her painted.

So far no issues as long as I think about what my foot is doing. Even when she lays a smoke screen the egts do not climb to bad. The worst I have seen is about 700. Generally they seem to stay around 600 with moderate smoke and if my foot keeps the smoke down 550 or so. At cruise 450-500 seems about were she sits. She seems to run less boost at cruise than my auto did but the boost seems to climb quicker when I accelerate.

 

[GM Guy]

dang that looks nice!

I love a little rake on a truck, gives the "crouching tiger" effect.

Unlike the nose up cranked-to-the-sky t-bars, which gives the "fat labrador retriever dragging his ass across your living room carpet" effect.

So once you hit 3rd, it busts loose? (actual 3rd, or 4th? )

To reduce confusion I just call it a 5 speed, and deep low is 1st, OD is 5th. I think the stick pattern is more a driving aid than anything, because brouchures, etc call it a 5 speed.

 

[JayTheCPA]

Awesome! Now that we know an ATT plays well with the 5 speed, I have the next project: 4L80E to NV4500 in a '99 Burb :driving: :hihi:

 

[tanman_2006]

From what I've heard it works really well on ds4 nv4500's.

Hot db2's seem to smoke w/ att. Too much fuel down low.

source unknown