86 chevy squarebody restore

catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
nccatfisher said:
Wrong, 6.2 was not the converted gasoline engine, it was a dedicated diesel engine and was the second generation diesel engine they put in those trucks. The first diesel they put in them was a converted 5.7 liter Olds engine. They put them in some cars also, Olds and Caddys.

Like I told Mike I know these trucks inside and out. They put those 6.2s in the first Hummers. There is a crap load of them still running. Their weak point was the plastic timing ring on the fuel pump. Other than that they were decent engines.
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Have you ever seen a short bed 2 wd truck with the 6.2? This truck supposedly only has 67K miles on it. This guy bought it from the widow of the original owner. He went to church with them. What caught my attention was how good the body was on the truck. Original owner must of took really good care of the truck because it had been pin stripped by hand at one time.
 
nccatfisher

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
catfishrus said:
Have you ever seen a short bed 2 wd truck with the 6.2? This truck supposedly only has 67K miles on it. This guy bought it from the widow of the original owner. He went to church with them. What caught my attention was how good the body was on the truck. Original owner must of took really good care of the truck because it had been pin stripped by hand at one time.
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Yep, dated a girl that had one. Never saw a 2Wd one though. If you remember the majority of those trucks were half ton.
 
pattersonj11

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
nccatfisher said:
Wrong, 6.2 was not the converted gasoline engine, it was a dedicated diesel engine and was the second generation diesel engine they put in those trucks. The first diesel they put in them was a converted 5.7 liter Olds engine. They put them in some cars also, Olds and Caddys.

Like I told Mike I know these trucks inside and out. They put those 6.2s in the first Hummers. There is a crap load of them still running. Their weak point was the plastic timing ring on the fuel pump. Other than that they were decent engines.
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Im confused. Ive seen very few 6.2 trucks and zero in a short bed 2wd body. Ive probably seen more in the old K5s than 1/2 ton trucks.

They werent exactly powerhouses. I dont see where I was wrong on what I had typed.

I didnt mean weak as in fragile or non reliable.
 
nccatfisher

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
pattersonj11 said:
Im confused. Ive seen very few 6.2 trucks and zero in a short bed 2wd body. Ive probably seen more in the old K5s than 1/2 ton trucks.

They werent exactly powerhouses. I dont see where I was wrong on what I had typed.

I didnt mean weak as in fragile or non reliable.
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I stand corrected, Mike was the one that actually called the 6.2 the converted gasoline engine, I thought it was you. As I stated the first engines they put in those trucks were 5.7 diesels (Olds) and they were converted. The second gen engines 6.2 was actually a Detroit Diesel.
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
I went back and took a second look at the diesel truck. Here is a few pictures. Just more than I want to put into it. I did notice the truck had a 700 R4 transmission. I will keep looking.

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catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Fellow came out Saturday and installed the windshield and back glass for me. My buddy and I put the headliner in it today. Old truck has come a long way to me. Getting close to finishing it up. I still have the cab steps to install and need to get some exhaust installed. Its been a great challenge and I sure have enjoyed it.
20230313_192758.jpg20230313_192835.jpg
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
I got my cab steps mounted. Put some Hagerty insurance on her and got me a tag. Yesterday I had the exhaust put on it. She might need some slight tuning since we put the exhaust on her. The steering seems to have too much play in it. I'm going try to adjust it. The factory style fuel pump quit on me this week. I put another one on it but I'm not sure I like it either. Might go back to the holley and put a regulator on it. Basically, down to some small gremlins to work out. sq4.jpeg
 
Eric Revo

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
That is one good looking rig...but I'm not sure I like the hood now 🤣 . You're going to get lots of looks and lots of offers for that one when you head off into the great unknown with that rig. I really hope to see some mud on those sidewalls pretty soon.
 

nchunter

Twelve Pointer
Tjm1534 said:
Has this motor been broken in ,if not please add zinc or Rotella t oil for the initial start.Of course you may have roller rockers but the zinc is a definite asset for the first 20 minutes. I hope you have a spec sheet on the build. Please find this info before you start it.
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I run rotella in my old chevys always
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Fixed some of my steering issue today. My right front hub was locked in. Moved it to the free position and the truck now turns better. Adjusted the timing and the idle. Picked up a new pressure regulator with a return line. I'm going back to the Holley fuel pump. The factory pumps aren't cutting it. Factory pump starts out at 4lbs of pressure. Holley calls for 6. The new factory pump is falling to 0 already while idling.
 
Eric Revo

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
catfishrus said:
Fixed some of my steering issue today. My right front hub was locked in. Moved it to the free position and the truck now turns better. Adjusted the timing and the idle. Picked up a new pressure regulator with a return line. I'm going back to the Holley fuel pump. The factory pumps aren't cutting it. Factory pump starts out at 4lbs of pressure. Holley calls for 6. The new factory pump is falling to 0 already while idling.
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Low fuel pump pressure cost me thousands in repairs on my Titan, new plugs, coils, stopped up cats x 4, new MAP sensor . Plus the actual cost of pulling the tank and installing the new pump.
It went undiagnosed for several years as there's no code thrown.
 
pattersonj11

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You are going to find out that there is just something about those trucks. You wont be able to leave home without people stopping you to comment or wanting to buy it.
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
pattersonj11 said:
You are going to find out that there is just something about those trucks. You wont be able to leave home without people stopping you to comment or wanting to buy it.
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Yep..I'm finding that out. I been picking about it being a chic magnet. My single neighbor has already stopped me to look at it. Then Friday evening my other neighbor's daughter was coming down the driveway as I was leaving in it. I motioned for her to come on, but she motioned for me to come on. I stopped beside her, and she said I seen it last week but today I had to look at it...LOL. She is a truck girl with OBS chevy 4 door big block truck. Friday as I was pulling up to the gas station, I had a fellow telling me how nice it was. When I came out the store two fellows was talking saying it was a c10 pickup. Actually, 4wd is a k10 pickup. All that I just turned a 100 miles on it. I'm not ready to sale.
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
catfishrus said:
Yep..I'm finding that out. I been picking about it being a chic magnet. My single neighbor has already stopped me to look at it. Then Friday evening my other neighbor's daughter was coming down the driveway as I was leaving in it. I motioned for her to come on, but she motioned for me to come on. I stopped beside her, and she said I seen it last week but today I had to look at it...LOL. She is a truck girl with OBS chevy 4 door big block truck. Friday as I was pulling up to the gas station, I had a fellow telling me how nice it was. When I came out the store two fellows was talking saying it was a c10 pickup. Actually, 4wd is a k10 pickup. All that I just turned a 100 miles on it. I'm not ready to sale.
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Yep, she's definitely a "panty-dropper", now where did you install the magnet?
 

Tjm1534

Spike
Wow,that truck is killer.I am so glad you are enjoying it ..My Suburban ls swap is very close to finished,got held up by a couple of key parts ,the Holley Terminator X and the Dakota digital dash.Two weeks maybe to work out the small bugs .I will post some pictures when it’s running.
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Finally got around to having the truck aligned. I can't help but laugh looking back on the alignment guy. He got me pointed straight but when I picked up the truck he told me the steering wheel was a 180 degrees out. In other words, its upside down going straight. Not a big deal because I know how to fix it but still you aligned the truck. Then he calls me later to ask me if I noticed the truck would turn more one way than it did another? I didn't but I went and checked it and sure enough...1 1/4 turns one way and 2 1/4 turns the other way. So, it's out 1/2 turn. Gear box is 3.5 turns from side to side. He said I needed to disconnect the pitman arm and find center on the gear box and put it back on. That was a no go. I figured it out last night. I had to adjust the drag link to get the center of the gear box to match center on the steering. That put me 1 3/4 turn both directions but I still had to readjust the steering wheel once again to be straight going straight. I think I got it. I love a good challenge. I'm just a little amazed how he aligned my truck but didn't do these two adjustments on an alignment job.

I been working on a couple gremlins. One was the transmission was leaking out the pan gasket. Pulled the pan and replaced the gasket yesterday. No leaks so far. Next issue is the temp reading. I started with a 180 degree thermo. and it would idle fine and run fine down the road fine. Come to a stop and within 10 seconds it would peg the needle on the gauge. I changed it to a 160 and now it will go to about 220 on the gauge when I come to a stop......SOMETIMES. If I set there for a short period of time it will go back down. I have checked the engine temp with an infrared thermometer and every thing is good. Little cooler on the intake and the heads are in the 160-165 range. I think I have a sensor issue. Picked up a new one today. Dummy me put one back leaf spring on backwards. Through the rear end out an inch going down the road. Wife was following me and caught that. Nothing makes a man madder than his wife calling him and telling him his truck is dog legging going down the road...LOL. I got that fixed before it went to the alignment shop.

On to the bright side. Trucks gets a lot of attention. The 383 is a strong engine. It gets between 10-12 MPG. The 3.73 gears will get out of the hole and get on down the road. The Posi traction unit works well. No issues with either differential which makes me happy since I'm rookie at that. Wife and I went to the Kannapolis cruise in a few weeks ago. I'm heading to Oakboro cruise in tonight. I got a little over 400 miles on it now. I'm really happy with it. This month made 1 year since we took her off the frame last year.
 
Infamous1

Infamous1

Eight Pointer
There's a big difference in an alignment guy and a tie rod twister. I done them for several years. I can get them pretty close by eye but those new machines will make anyone look good most of the time. I put a 2wd box on my K10 and switched it to cross over high steer. Seemed to make it drive better.
 

Tjm1534

Spike
I had an alignment guy do the same to me in High Point,aligned it with the wheel sideways.Laughed and said No get it straight.Period.
 

Tjm1534

Spike
This is my 1988 Sub,6.2 ls3 4l80 trans,205 twin stick transfer case swap.Everything is complete except it has been impossible to get a Holley terminator X harness.so I made the decision to go with a stock ecu and cut down wiring harness.Will get it tuned before cranking by a pro that does it all the time.He says this combo should get 20 plus mpg .The motor came out of a 2017 Escalade with 435 hp from the factory.I’m tired of waiting,it’s been ready to fire up just missing the Terminater harness for months.
 

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Tjm1534

Spike
It will get lots of hunting miles back and forth out west,this truck is completely new under the hood and all the drivetrain.A/C is all new all the gauges and steering. 4 wheel disc brakes will stop it
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Oakboro was a packed house last night. Met several locals that are restoring their squarebody trucks. Camaro friend of mine hung out with me. We were laughing because them squarebody trucks gets more comments than our 69 Camaros ever did..LOL.

oakboro.jpg
 
catfishrus

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Tjm1534 said:
Wow,I see some really good looking squares behind you,but I’m sure you’re truck can hold its on about anywhere.You killed it.
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Thanks. I only saw two other 4WD trucks. The guy standing in front of my truck is restoring one for his daughter or wife. He showed me some pictures. He took it to the frame also. Powder coating everything under it. He took the body to the bare metal also. There was a nice 87 K5 blazer. Oakboro is a good cruise in. Last Friday of every month. Starts at 5 but the cars start showing up at noon. The big crowd is a 1/2 mile behind me in the picture. I got there late at 4.
 
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