Toyman01 wrote: Cool!! Flipped breather lid so you can hear how much gas it's burning.
that was cool w/ Q-Jets back in the day
Toyman01 wrote: Cool!! Flipped breather lid so you can hear how much gas it's burning.
that was cool w/ Q-Jets back in the day
fasted58 wrote:Toyman01 wrote: Cool!! Flipped breather lid so you can hear how much gas it's burning.that was cool w/ Q-Jets back in the day
Back in the day hell. If I still owned a Q-jet car, the breather lid would be flipped. 
You still hear it with the TBI.
So, little bit of an update. I finally got around to doing some basic maintenance on the truck to make it "roadworthy". The gearbox got a full load of Redline MT-85, which hushed the synchros down considerably.
GM apparently decided a high-capacity oil pan would be good for a full ton dually truck, as the 454 took nearly 2 gallons of dino squeezings to fill its crankcase. Luckily, 15W-40 is cheap.
The speedo was intermittent, and the cruise was inop, so the suspect VSS was replaced. Both work fine now.
The PCV valve and grommets appeared original (as in, 23 years old), and someone had routed the intake breather tube down to around the oil pan (like a road tube, I guess, although it was not) so this was all replaced and put back to factory configuration with new pieces.
The SoftTopper from the ouotgoing F350 fit the K3500 almost exactly. The GM trucks of this vintage seem to have a slight taper towards the rear of the bed, necessitating a slight shortening of the rear flap securement rod, but otherwise, it looks pretty good.
Saturday I loaded the truck to the gills with garbage and recycling, put my daughter's car seat in the middle rear, and headed off for a daddy-daughter day at the dump. Mrs. VCH took off in her Chevrolet for the optometrist.
On the way home, the truck's tach started bounding, the temp gauge went to zero, and the engine seemed to be missing.
The plug wire seemed to have gotten bound up in the steering linkage, which yanked it off the plug. The coolant sensor wire (which I put back on in this picture) was collateral damage. The plug was too lengthy, so I shortened it before reconnecting. And everything was back to normal.
225,650 miles on the odometer- 37 of them by me.
When you say reconnected, did you recrimp that broken wire? I hate doing that but most of the time i see them anymore im working on a student's car that's too damn broke to buy a wire set.
That's actually a really solid looking truck, and a crew cab too! Nice find! I had a 1989 C1500 with the NV3500 and tbi 350; I know not really the same at all, but still, I was very impressed with the old GMT400 platform.
Vigo wrote: When you say reconnected, did you recrimp that broken wire? I hate doing that but most of the time i see them anymore im working on a student's car that's too damn broke to buy a wire set.
I re-crimped the spark plug wire after shortening it. I've made a few D-I-Y spark plug wire sets before; cutting and crimping plug wires is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
I'm also a big believer in dielectric grease. Anything electric gets a thin swab of it.
I just delivered my big stupid truck to it's new owner, rode my bike out of the bed and all 250 miles home before breakfast today. It was a great truck but I'm glad it's gone. I'm down to an 11yr old BMW wagon, 9yr old BMW moto, and my wife's '15 outback. People are going to think no one is home with all the space around here.
That's a shame, why'd you sell it?
In reply to skierd:
I sold both race cars, and the big enclosed trailer. Without anything over 10k lbs to tow around - a 6.6L diesel that isn't any fun to drive is just an insurance payment and too much money to pay for the "big truck" registration sitting in the driveway making shade.
Wow. After owning a tuned 7.3 ('99 F350 dually), there's no way I could go back to a big block gasser. I find the clackety clack and the turbo spool to be very soothing. Plus, the thing will flat out run.
gearheadE30 wrote: That's actually a really solid looking truck, and a crew cab too! Nice find! I had a 1989 C1500 with the NV3500 and tbi 350; I know not really the same at all, but still, I was very impressed with the old GMT400 platform.
Yes, I'm pretty happy with the GMT400 platform, too. Even after 20 years it still looks good, and the ride with the independent front 4x4 is nicer than my old F350.
Yes, I sold a 2000 F350 7.3 and replaced it with this. Honestly, The 454 drives pretty much like a diesel. You shift it around 2000 RPM, and it doesn't care. I don't even think the fuel economy will be that bad. I filled it up yesterday, put about 100 miles on it, A/C blowing, partially in rush hour traffic, and the gauge just started dipping down towards the end of the day. I bet it was getting 12 mpg or so. My 7.3 used to only manage 14 to 16.
Huckleberry wrote: In reply to skierd: I sold both race cars, and the big enclosed trailer. Without anything over 10k lbs to tow around - a 6.6L diesel that isn't any fun to drive is just an insurance payment and too much money to pay for the "big truck" registration sitting in the driveway making shade.
Pretty much my logic, too. The F350 was a big old chunk of money killing grass in my yard. I downsized to a single open car hauler, but still need a truck for various odd jobs around the house (like picking up a cord of firewood yesterday).
Between what I sold my 7.3 for and what I have into this K3500 so far, I'm $9k to the good. And the 7.3 was a money pit. I can only surmise what big, expensive, diesel thing was going to break on it next.
Insurance on the two trucks is nearly identical- about $400 per year (we have two other vehicles on that policy). Which reminds me...I need to turn in the plates and cancel the F350.
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