1986 Short bed 2WD

[cochino12]

truck is looking great!!

[MalibuSSwagon]

Thanks everyone, it's amazing how the truck gathers stares and thumbs up from everyone with just the lowering job done.

Originally Posted by bigwheel15

Quick question, id assume the grill you have currently is the correct one for your year, 85-87 with a few sections painted black; am I correct? I really like it.

You are correct, it's a 85-87 Silverado grille, which have all the stainless trim pieces on them. I removed the trim, painted everything that wasn't stainless black, and re-assembled. Looks mean! Only thing I wished I had done was the dual headlights, but this looks good enough to rock until I find a clean core support to swap.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Still daily driving the C10.



Need to update/change some things that are bugging me. Haven't decided on Vortec 350 or making the jump to a 4.8/5.3 yet.

[jpnh]

[MalibuSSwagon]

Well truck fans, I am looking for some options on issues I have.

First of all, the steering is extremely sensitive and if I don't grip the wheel tightly with both hands, the truck wanders all over the place. I tried to address this by replacing the tie rods, pitman and idler arm, and getting an alignment but this did not improve by much. I did retain the cheap parts store lower balljoints I put in 3 years ago, but the boots fell apart not long after and now the balljoints are making alot of noise, specially clunking, after daily driving it through all the winter weather we've been getting the past month. So ordered up some Moog lower ball joints, going to install those and shake down / grease the front end. See what happens but I fear the alignment is off, the shop that did the alignment tried to blame the problem on my cheap A/T tires. May not be far from the truth.

Next, the engine is just bothering me. It's the original 305 that I swapped on TPI intake manifold on top. Also did new lifters and RV cam. Runs good. Smokes on startup, headers leak, there seems to be a vacuum leak of some sort, and EGR valve might be junk. Not surprising considering I did this swap with a $50 manifold off craigslist and whatever extra TPI junk I could scrounge up.

Option 1, tear down 305 to the block and redo heads, lap in the valves and put on new seals, check all mating surfaces on TPI intake, new gaskets, new EGR valve and solenoid or delete EGR. Put it all together and hope it solves my problem.

Option 2, replacement. Can't afford new on my budget (got a house, need to keep cash in savings) Considering used engines:
-Vortec 350
-Vortec 8100
-4.8L/5.3L

All choices have their pros and cons. I don't drive the truck all that much, put about 13k miles on it in 5 years, but I'm thinking I'd drive it more if it ran and drove better. So gas mileage factors in, however this isn't strictly a toy, I use it for towing cars and household chores, etc. So need something with power. I've used my Dad's 2k Z71 with the 5.3L for towing, it does quite well.

[Hankster]

I want to put a 8.1 LS in something soooo bad! Do it! Please!

[MalibuSSwagon]

It may become reality. I posted on Facebook about the 8100 as a goof. Then one of my buddies messages me and says his boss is wanting to get rid of a 2003 GMC 3500 with an 8100, 52k and loads of rust. Going to go cheap as it doesn't run due to a faulty crank sensor. Won't find out more for a few weeks as his shop is closed until Jan 7th.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Also, my girlfriend is pretty cool.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Closing the deal on the 8.1L donor truck this Saturday and hauling it home, if everything works out. Which is almost good timing as the starter on the C10 kicked the bucket, had to push it into the garage.

[laidlow91]

very nice!!!

give me a shout if you need a hand

[MalibuSSwagon]

I'll let you know. My plan is to get it outta the truck and onto a stand. Tear it down, replace the broken crank sensor, paint it and make it pretty, do all the TSBs on it, and get it in the truck. Gotta put some cash aside as the 8.1L flywheel and a nice clutch aren't cheap. Shooting for April to get it all done and running.

[bohmankid]

That's awesome, post more pics when you can.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Well picked this up on a whim, it was cheap. Needs headgasket and it's been pretty picked over, supposedly has 110k miles.

[jpnh]

Cool

[MalibuSSwagon]

Ok so that 4.8L was a bust, needs much work to be good.

I bought the 8.1L dually, got it running, going to sell it whole. No 8.1 for the C10

So, I bought this. A complete running engine this time around. 2000 5.3L, runs great. This one is it.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Finished prepping the 5.3L and the wiring harness. So it's now swap day. Removed the engine Saturday with help from my gf and buddy.



Now I left he 4 speed just hanging out in the truck. Ideas on how to get the engine and trans mated?

[OutlawDrifter]

there are quite a few write-ups about how to do this on ls1tech.com

there is an over the counter flywheel you can use to make it happen. the bell housing will bolt up with 1 less bolt. as long as you use the adapter plates that allow the 1" setback it should all fall together. not sure on the truck oil pan, you may need to use the gm muscle car pan(H3 pan).

[MalibuSSwagon]

I have the flywheel, clutch kit, all the proper ARP bolts and the 1" setback plates on hand. Got that covered. Just wondering if I should try to mate them together with the trans sitting in the truck, or pull the trans out to mate it up, or?

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

I have the flywheel, clutch kit, all the proper ARP bolts and the 1" setback plates on hand. Got that covered. Just wondering if I should try to mate them together with the trans sitting in the truck, or pull the trans out to mate it up, or?

my mistake, i thought your question was in regards to how to get them mated up!

since you have the core support and everything out of the way, it would be easier to put the two together on the floor and then stab them both in at the same time. i did this on my camaro, if you have any clearance issues, just raise the tail end of the pickup up.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Well engine is in, a friend of mine is going to loan me a transmission jack so I can stab the 4 speed back in this week. Woo!

[MalibuSSwagon]

Overdue for an update here.

Back in April I bought this 2000 Silverado for parts.



Tore it apart in about a week and came away with this 5.3L for nothing after selling off the rest of the truck. Bonuses it came with were new water pump, alternator and starter. Score!



There wasn't much left of the Silverado after I was done.



So I spent about 3 weeks or so cleaning the engine, new valve cover, oil pan and valley pan gaskets. Came out nice.

Then mid-May comes around. Had some fun with the old TPI 305 before pulling it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWAi0778w7U

Then next day pulled the 305 with some help. I spent the next month and half installing the 5.3L. I even kept the SM465 behind it. It's cool but needs more gears now. Shoutout to my friend laidlow91, he helped with removing the 305 and also made the exhaust pipes to connect the LS manifolds to the exhaust I already had on the truck, cut up the mandrel bent Silverado y-pipe to make them. Use every bit of the animal that you can.

Installed!



Had it done on the fourth of July, running but not driving. Had some issues with the clutch hydraulics, installed new master, slave and line about a month ago. I also had to install the old 86 PS pump as the 2000 pump was junk. Direct swap however using the 2000 reservoir, and used the newer hardware as the 86 pump is a metric pump.

At this point I'm really happy with it. Still need to swap out the O2 sensors, reused the old ones and one has a bad heater circuit.

[Hankster]

Dang. that looks factory in there! I like that color too!

[jpnh]

Looks good

[MalibuSSwagon]

My towrig hard at work.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Not much is happening besides I've been driving it! Everyday to work for the past couple months. 5.3L is the best thing I ever did to this truck.

Also a couple of weekends ago a couple of buddies and I went to Hemmings Musclepalooza at Lebonon Valley. It was pretty fun even if we got rained out early, it's also the farthest I've ever driven the truck. Was chasing and somewhat keeping up with my buddy in his LS1 six speed WS6 most of the time. Also took the chance to stop at Hemmings HQ on the way home, cool place to stop if you find yourself in the area.



Also, good news everyone. I finally put the wheels in motion for Project 2016. I ordered the CPP trailing arm conversion kit last night. I ordered it sans fancy trailing arms as i'm on a budget. I bought factory arms off ebay from California a couple months ago, and I'm planning on ordering the springs and other related pieces I need from Performance online. Going with a 3.5/5 drop, already have the front 2.5 spindles so getting 1" drop front springs to replace the sagging originals. I have used Nascar Aero 59 wheels that a friend gave me (well I had to buy a car to get them) complete with authentic wear and tear. For tires I'm looking at 295/50/15 on all 4 corners. End result I'm shooting for a streetable version of this truck: