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What did you do with your GMT400 today...or yesterday....

dbrannon79 said:
Well the "Black Sheep" got somewhat of a face lift. Application of lipstick on a pig I guess I would call it. along with me trying to teach myself how to paint! there's more to be desired on the hood as I didn't get all the sanding marks out but it looks 10 times better than it did. also tried my hand at cutting a run in the paint too. used a razor blade and just about got it out. could use some more wet sanding but I'm not looking for show room floor results. polished the areas around the windshield and back glass but not doing the full roof.

on the hood I can still go back and fix all the sanding marks with some filler primer and block sanding along with a re-paint. maybe one day, but for now at least I git rid of all the splits in the old paint, even attempted to pull a dent in the front above the grille where the hood was dented in. used various size sockets, a block of wood and a hammer. got it enough so that vary minimal amount of bondo would be needed to make it perfect later on. The paint is too fresh to attempt wet sanding and buffing so that will happen later down the road.

But for now, it's good enough for me :) Not bad for an amateur in the back yard and on a windy day!

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Was this rattle can or actual spray equipment? Was this done outdoors?
 
Big T said:
Was this rattle can or actual spray equipment? Was this done outdoors?
Click to expand...
this was a quart can of rustolium gloss black I mixed 8:4:1 with some mineral spirits and hardener and used a hvlp gun from harbor freight. sprayed out in the back yard under my canopy. not the best I know plus I skipped out on some steps too. laid on about 4 coats so I could "play" with it.

later on I might come back and try guide coating and block sanding to get it looking better. I still need to wet sand the hood and use the polisher make it look better. there is a lot of over spray, the wind picked up while I was painting it. roof came out better than the hood even with all the rust pitting in the metal! Ive got one more spot of rust to tend to on the passenger door up on the front pillar yet. it's the worse area, there is a plastic lining running on the inside of that area of the door where it seals to the windshield pillar I need to remove. it's rusted badly under it in one area. I'm hoping I can clean that area up and use some kind of filler to make it smooth for the seal.
 
I had bought some Majic gloss tractor paint with reducer and hardener to use on the other truck's roof and hood last year. wanted to redo that truck but never got around to it. I figured doing this on the black truck would be a good practice round since I've only once before helped paint, never actually done it my self before LOL

when I do get around to doing that one, I will be doing all the steps priming, block sanding and all. still taking youtube classes learning LOL
 
@Will L. & @Big T
Thems is mighty fine words, and mighty encouraging too.
Making them huge payments on the CC keeps the bill below $15,000.00 and dropping even though I am still spending money on more parts.
IDK at the moment but I think I am close to being done purchasing up rated components to make this truck the most dependable unit on the road.
The next steps I would like to do is that 6L90E transmission conversion, if that transmission will mate to My transfer case.
If not then it will be the gear venders OD unit. If they still make one for the K series GM trucks.
If not then I guess scrounge for a used OD unit and then might have to do a rebuild on that.
Time will tell, I pray that God does not allow Me to falter. I would not want Vicki hung with this debt.
So far, my regular PA is mighty impressed with My physical condition, tells me it would be great if all the patients My age would be in this good of shape. 🤷😹
 
OK got the ‘99 Suburban rolling, but the switches behave as before with 4 Hi flashing with it in 4wd. Also no 4 Lo or AWD. Wayne said there is a relay in the front actuator which signals to the rest of the system that the front axle is locked. That relay is not working. So a new GM Genuine Actuator is on order.

I still need to set TDCO. Also need to recharge the ac system. Still one more heat shield blanket to install on a heater hose. It does run great:

 
OK I have a sound I’m tracing down. It changes with engine speed and with the wheels turning, so I believe it’s power steering. It was there before the engine change. What does TTS say?

While turning the steering, vehicle in park.

While revving the engine, vehicle in park:
 
Yup. also if the fluid got aireated (looks milky) let it sit over night usually does the trick, jack it up and turn the wheels with the engine off a few times keeping the fluid full. then start the engine and do the same. last time I ended up like this it took a while to get all the air out. sometimes an air pocket will get trapped in the booster, be sure to pump the pedal too when bleeding.
 
OK flushed the power steering pump. Fluid was pretty clear, but it was large bubbles followed by endless, solid fizzle that never went away. Removed the pump and she looked like an old worn out hoe. New one is ready to go in.

IMG_6220.jpegIMG_6219.jpegIMG_6221.jpeg

Also, our local mechanic Wayne got the replacement transmission installed in the 2014 4Runner. The truck is back to running good as new. Wayne said it would take him 4 hrs, but it took him 6. Said there were 6 bolts that were a challenge, but relative to a 10 year old car with 365K miles, it was nothing.

$800 for salvage takeout transmission with 43K miles delivered to Missoula for free.

$1,085 for removal and install.

$85 for rear main engine seal, front and rear transmission seals.

$85 for transmission fluid.

By comparison, a reman Aisin 750 transmission runs $2,700.

We did good on this.

Found another use for the tractor:

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Finished up the hood on the 93 today, wet sanded, blocked and polished. I first started out wet sanding by hand and got wore out quick! decided to attempt that with the rotary sander I bought at HF. I had grabbed some 800 grit, 1500 and 4000 wet dry disks for it. I found out real quick like that using this thing I need to start out with double what you would doing it by hand. it takes off material very quickly. I kinda took too much off on the last section of the hood but I was able to still make it look decent. got out the medium polish foam pad and got it looking real nice. I can still see a lot of the sanding gouges I made in areas but I plan on going over it again later on with some filler primer and blocking it out nice in the future. I didn't get a photo of it but, I will try to remember tomorrow.

tonight I had one thing left that needed addressed. day before yesterday I had driven the 93 up to down town Austin Texas (about 45 miles) on IH-35. with all the construction on the freeway and a cross wind I was reminded about the rag joint that has absolutely no rigidity left in the rubber.
I assume it's factory to the truck. I popped off the steering shaft, drilled out the steel rivets holding it, found the old steering shaft off the 95 I had which had a rag joint in really good shape. drilled out the rivets on it and installed the rubber onto the 93's shaft. I would have just used the whole shaft but the one on the 93 has a joint up on the column end.

IDK how or why, but this job of removing the rubber on both shafts and fixing the 93's shaft went smooth. I expected it to be a PIA and is why I waited so long to even mess with it! I did however end up cutting off the plastic cover, I never have liked those cone covers, they always seem to hold all the grease and oil saturating the rubber on the rag joint destroying them.
 
Big T said:
OK flushed the power steering pump. Fluid was pretty clear, but it was large bubbles followed by endless, solid fizzle that never went away. Removed the pump and she looked like an old worn out hoe. New one is ready to go in.

View attachment 90589View attachment 90590View attachment 90591

Also, our local mechanic Wayne got the replacement transmission installed in the 2014 4Runner. The truck is back to running good as new. Wayne said it would take him 4 hrs, but it took him 6. Said there were 6 bolts that were a challenge, but relative to a 10 year old car with 365K miles, it was nothing.

$800 for salvage takeout transmission with 43K miles delivered to Missoula for free.

$1,085 for removal and install.

$85 for rear main engine seal, front and rear transmission seals.

$85 for transmission fluid.

By comparison, a reman Aisin 750 transmission runs $2,700.

We did good on this.

Found another use for the tractor:

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Well dang.
Constant “fizzle” sounds like air intrusion like why you have a clear line out the ip return.

I think you have a loose fitting, bad hose clamp, split hose, etc on the suction side of the system.

It is possible a bad pump can do that but you might have has $7 worth of life in the old pump.

Watch for it in the new set up and if the bubble are there- thats a problem without sucking air before the pump.

Dexron3 is generally a better choice than the clear power steering fluid. Fully synthetic is better yet but the cost isn’t generally justified.
 
Will L. said:
Well dang.
Constant “fizzle” sounds like air intrusion like why you have a clear line out the ip return.

I think you have a loose fitting, bad hose clamp, split hose, etc on the suction side of the system.

It is possible a bad pump can do that but you might have has $7 worth of life in the old pump.

Watch for it in the new set up and if the bubble are there- thats a problem without sucking air before the pump.

Dexron3 is generally a better choice than the clear power steering fluid. Fully synthetic is better yet but the cost isn’t generally justified.
Click to expand...
Should I use the constant tension spring clamps vs the screw clamps?
 
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I had drained out the CKO provent oil catch can before the trip to Austin. today while I was playing with the truck I drained it again. I collected a little less than about 1/4 of a soda bottle worth of oil. about 4 ounces drained out for trip on the freeway totaling about 80-90 miles round trip. poured that back into the engine and added about 1/2 a quart to top off the oil.

driving on the road I can't tell that it's smoking out the tail pipe looking in the mirrors, but I did get told by one of my co-workers last week that "that's a smoky SOB"! he said when I hit the road accelerating, it left him in a cloud of smoke! I know it throws some black smoke under heavier acceleration, that's why I turned up the boost slightly (max is 10 but normal takeoff is about 6) I know the pump is turned up some by the PO, and have no idea how to turn it back down or how much. sitting idling doesn't smoke unless you goose the throttle.
 
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