83 K10 Survivor, Part 2

[Wwes]

Greenlee, did you make any modifications to the fuse box in the 83 to get it to work with the TBI engine harness?

Sure does look like matrix algebra.

[Greenlee]

Originally Posted by Wwes

Greenlee, did you make any modifications to the fuse box in the 83 to get it to work with the TBI engine harness?

Sure does look like matrix algebra.

I had an 89’ Suburban for parts. I took the entire wiring harness out of the Suburban, including the fuse box, and used it in the truck. It was tedious, but pretty much plug and play. The only wiring I used from the truck was the harness for the power windows and locks. I also saved the harness for dual tanks, but have never used it since I’m only running one tank.

[Wwes]

Thanks - I have the interior harness/fuse box as well, and considered doing the same. I'm trying to sister the two together though, to limited success thus far.

Today I had to run another wire but now my computer has power. Once I get the timing set correctly it should run.

[Wwes]

Wish I could say it was running.

I've had no luck getting to that point. I have fuel. I have spark. What I don't have is correct timing.

It will hit on multiple cylinders when cranking. I've set the TDC at 0, and confirmed it correct by watching the valves and doing a compression test.

I've checked the firing order when TDC is at 0, at 1 is the first cylinder on the distributor. The timing light immediately strobes when cranking and continues pulsing.

I have power at the computer. The fuel injectors fire during cranking.

But it won't start. I'm at a loss.

Here's a picture to keep me motivated, dreaming of the day the 350 TBI fires right up like I remember hearing in my grandfathers' garage.

[daddyjeep]

I have been there.... wait, I am there now with a 98 engine in a Tahoe. The little bit of research I have done leads me to fuel pressure. Have you verified that you have adequate pressure to the TB? I will be putting the same engine in the Jeep soon too so all this trouble shooting will help me out there.

[Wwes]

Good question, I'm not sure of the exact pressure but it does have a very nice cone of fuel while cranking. I'll try the starting fluid trick to see if that works.

When I restabbed the distributor in my 350 Vortec, I remember there was a mark in the housing that set to TDC rotor. This TBI engine doesn't have a distributor mark, so it's more like "get close and hope". I also have a backup distributor, ignition module, and coil and will try replacing those piecemeal to see if I have a bad one. The spark does look healthy, however.

[Wwes]

Got to an "almost start" which is good enough for now (more below).

The timing is on, and correct. The metered fuel out of the TBI was the problem. I had run the tank nearly dry, and it wasn't putting enough fuel down the throat. Switched to the other tank, and it immediately hit, but appeared now to be flooding with too much fuel, as I was cranking without coolant. Got a nice fire in the exhaust manifold, so I've stopped there until I can get the core support/radiator/exhaust installed and should fire up then.

Spent part of yesterday removing excessive wiring. Got the old EGR bleed wiring removed. I had to cut the 4WD indicator light, so will figure out how to wire that up next.



Also working on the pulse wipers, they don't work, and the washer doesn't work either.

[Wwes]

I've not been happy with the direction this build is going. The goal is to have a 1983 K10 that roughly has 1987 innards, 350 TBI, and looks period correct, showroom ready.

Well, I took some shortcuts to "save time" that lead me down the wrong path, For instance, I bought a full engine and interior harness from a 1988 Suburban. I hacked both of them up, trying to make them work with my 1983 interior harness, to limited success. Mainly because I dreaded getting further into this wiring project.

Last weekend I decided I had enough, and was going to fix all the hacks I've done, and implement the full 1988 harnesses on my truck.

Below is my fixing up the fuse box and instrument panel harness. It had a couple wire breaks, and some self-inflicted damage, so I repaired it back to new. I used my modern Chevy truck as a workbench.

I then installed this harness under the dash. It was much easier than I expected, and pretty simple to follow. Having full factory service manuals helps as well.

For the first time, my SERVICE ENGINE SOON light works, the fuel pump relay controls the fuel pumps (three seconds and off), and everything I've tested so far works except the interior courtesy lights.

I also fixed all the hacks from my engine harness and now it's ready to fire up and move onto the next phase - the body work.

[Wwes]

Got her running today. Something was off, as I suspected.....

....The harmonic balancer has shifted, leaving the timing marks incorrect. It just didn't make sense that it wouldn't run, so finally I stabbed the distributor checking TDC at #1, having used my compression tester and watching the valve action. It started right up.

But now there is another problem. I rewired the entire truck so the fuel pump is controlled by the relay, which means 3 second prime, the oil pressure switch closes to turn on the pump. The switch doesn't close, so it runs and then dies.

Also, my dash gauge shows 0 oil pressure, and the gauge looks OK. I could replace both switches, but the chance of them both being wrong seems low.

Starting to think the engine is just a dud and considering options at this point.

[Dads79GMC]

I'm not looking forward to dealing with wiring on my Dad's build. Great job!!!

[Wwes]

Don't sweat it, the wiring was the easiest part. It's all logical and mostly simple to figure out what goes where.

[Wwes]

After a frustrating February and busy March, I decided to give the old truck another go. It would start, then die immediately. I figured it was fuel starvation, but when I jumped the fuel relay it did the same thing.

The wife picked up a harmonic balancer for me, so I figured I'd at least try to get it timed correctly yesterday.

The balancer went on OK, I put a new driver side manifold with the O2 sensor bung, wired that up, and then went to start it. Nothing. No spark.

Threw a spare distributor on, no change.

Finally set the timing to TDC 0, stabbed the distributor correctly, with a new cap and rotor. She fired right up!

I even drove out of the driveway today for the first time since July.

She starts right up and idles well. Chasing down a few random noises but it's idling smooth, the computer is now controlling the timing, and the idle is right at 1000 cold and 650 warm.

I'm happy as a pig in slop right now!

[LT7A]

Great news man! I got a little worried that you had about had it with this rig. I think the vision for it is awesome. The drivability and fuel efficiency of the fuel injection will be really nice to have in the earlier body. Keep on it!

[Greenlee]

Glad to hear you got her running! That’s a great feeling.

[Wwes]

I was never going to give up, but I had definitely grown frustrated. Amazing how it all came together so quickly.

I've purchased two different Chinese (POS) core supports to replace the factory one, which has some rotted areas under the battery tray. However, I was not pleased with either one, and decided to fix the original as best I could. So I drug it out from behind the shed and got to work. Here's what I started with.

[Wwes]

After sandblasting, wire wheeling, cutting off some of the worse rust, and painting this is what I ended up with. If I had the skills, I'd have preferred to add some new metal, but this will be strong enough and should work now that I've coated the rust.

[Wwes]

And finally, I buttoned up the engine compartment, checked the fitment of all the A/C lines (but I'm missing the manifold assembly bolt and need to find one), and here's the finished mechanical project.

It sure is great to hear that engine fire up, and it has the sounds just like I remember. A good ol' GM TBI, I grew up listening to these things crank up all over town, and so glad to have one in my driveway. I have three other newer LS-powered trucks/SUVs if I really want to go fast.

[Wwes]

Made more progress tonight, first started out by fixing the dash cluster. The original cluster will be re-used, but the ammeter never worked. So I ended up using my backup cluster and putting the ammeter in, and it works good now. I also used the gear selector from the newer cluster, as I like it better.

Next, I fixed the 4WD indicator light on the dash. The light connects to the transfer case switch, which I cut the wires and need to resplice them. The harness is combined with the removed EGR bleed harness, so I separated them and now I have a usable 4WD light on the dash.

Finally, I am wrapping up my A/C system install. I had to splice in the connector for the A/C clutch; the 83 has two wires, one for the clutch, and one for the idle increase solenoid on the carb. The new TBI system has two wires on the opposite side of the harness, so that when the A/C clutch is engaged, the computer knows so it can increase the idle speed a bit. Here's my handi-work cutting and splicing the connectors.

And I was missing my A/C manifold bulkhead connector bolt - luckily the local junkyard had a pancake compressor and the owner just gave me the bolt. Good guys.

[Wwes]

One step forward, one half step back.

Got the A/C system reassembled. The GMT-400 I got the engine out of has a provision for a high-side switch on the back of the compressor, and the p/o broke the switch off. Now I have to replace the switch, but it doesn't have wiring. At least it will allow me to draw a vacuum and charge the system.


Two problems discovered when I backed the truck out of the garage 1) it wouldn't start, and 2) it is now leaking transmission fluid from the dipstick grommet.

Regarding #1, I've got a short somewhere in the ignition. Likely the same cause of my previous issues. The engine just loses spark. I jiggled around the distributor, and it started right up. But now I have a random misfire on #1, and it's due to the lack of "pulsing" to that plug. I'm going to try a junkyard AC delco distributor, with a new AC delco cap and rotor.

[Wwes]

Well, I've been stumped. The truck was running so good, and occasionally would just fail to start when warm. It was like it didn't have spark at all, even though I'd see it when testing the plugs. I was also getting popping when using the computer to control the timing.

I purchased a JY AC Delco distributor, installed, to no change.

Finally, one day in mid June I was messing with it, it would start, and when I'd set the timing and connect the bypass wire, it wouldn't start at all. I unhooked the battery and left it alone until today.

I set the base timing to 0, unhooked the timing bypass, and it started right up. Ran it until warm, then hooked up the timing bypass (shut down, battery disconnected 2 mins, etc). It wouldn't hardly run. I did buy an extra JY computer for a 5.7, so I set the base timing to 0, swapped computers.

It started right up, and ran even better after hooking up the timing bypass wire!

That leads me to believe it was a computer problem all along. For good measure, I fixed the engine to body ground strap. Hopefully can get an exhaust system on it, and proceed to the next phase of the project.

[Wwes]

And here's the exhaust. Rented a trailer and took it up to the local muffler place, the guys put a magnaflow system on it. Got a good price and good service. It's been having a fairly steady transmission drip and when they put it on the lift, it was easy to see that the lower cooler line was leaking around the fitting. It seems it had worked its way loose, so that's fixed and she's filled back up. Took the dogs for a short country ride tonight, it's like being in a dream right now.

So, next phase is fixing the rust, maybe some amateur body work, and a new interior. Amex is going to love me next month.

[Wwes]

Time for an update. The old truck sat all winter. I started it up once a month and it always ran ok.

About a month ago I decided to get it road ready. This involved charging the battery fully, adding the rear bumper, checking all the lights, and verifying all safety parts. Then, I got insurance and an antique tag for it. The first time I took it for a drive, I was like "wow this is old". Parked it for a few days, then decided to do the test I had in mind all along - a 200 mile road trip to visit a good friend on the other side of the state for the day. I grabbed my big girl, filled up both tanks, and let her rip.

Truck drove great. Even drove back after dark. I might have a voltage regulator issue (some dim lights and a discharge showing on ammeter, along with a Check engine light - would last about 5 seconds and then go away). About halfway through the night portion, it all started working fine. About 1/3 of the drive was out of cell-service as well, so I was glad to be confident in the old truck.

So that's where we are today, it runs and drives fine, would like to get a full paint and interior refresh done shortly.

[Wwes]

I should also mention that I did get a couple quotes for the body work. I ended up not going with either shop though - one I felt didn't listen to my desires (for instance, I have a GM right door to replace the bad one, and the guy said he'd prefer to just buy aftermarket parts - yeah right).

Another shop was too busy to get to it this decade, so good for them. I'll keep looking and now that its' driving I'll be able to venture out further.

[Low Elco]

Congrats!

[82Diesel]

Really nice work! I am following