71 GMC engine swap-arino

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by Kalums

There was some serious finger crossing and praying. My first suggestion, grade 8 bolt to hold on the dipstick is a no go, the head is too "tall", go with a grade 5. Second suggestion make sure you put rtv on the shaft where it goes into the block AFTER you dry fit it a few times and before you secure the manifolds and dipstick in place. Also you have to kinda do both at the same time(bolting down the dipstick and putting in a few of the manifold bolts) ... It is a hassle but it works. And finally good luck.

Good to know about the RTV on the Dipstick/Engine connection. Last time I had my headers off, the Dipstick was not connected right. [It was held onto a plugwire separator with baling wire.]
Since the Starter on the 350 in my '71 Jimmy burned out after only 16 years, and I have to pull the Passenger Side header to get at it, It's time to do the Dipstick right. On my 1998 crate motor, I had the option to mount the Dipstick on either side. I chose Right since its less crowded there, and its on the right on my 292 in the other truck.
And in true Mission Creep style, I'm going to have the headers sandblasted and painted since they're coming off anyway.

[Kalums]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Good to know about the RTV on the Dipstick/Engine connection. Last time I had my headers off, the Dipstick was not connected right. [It was held onto a plugwire separator with baling wire.]
Since the Starter on the 350 in my '71 Jimmy burned out after only 16 years, and I have to pull the Passenger Side header to get at it, It's time to do the Dipstick right. On my 1998 crate motor, I had the option to mount the Dipstick on either side. I chose Right since its less crowded there, and its on the right on my 292 in the other truck.
And in true Mission Creep style, I'm going to have the headers sandblasted and painted since they're coming off anyway.

Sounds like you got a handle on it👍 good luck.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Kalums

There was some serious finger crossing and praying. My first suggestion, grade 8 bolt to hold on the dipstick is a no go, the head is too "tall", go with a grade 5. Second suggestion make sure you put rtv on the shaft where it goes into the block AFTER you dry fit it a few times and before you secure the manifolds and dipstick in place. Also you have to kinda do both at the same time(bolting down the dipstick and putting in a few of the manifold bolts) ... It is a hassle but it works. And finally good luck.

Thank you. Sounds like a challenging task!

[Kalums]

Ok guys... Anyone know of a working upper radiator hose? And Water neck? The original hose is about 4 inches too short and rubs on the side of the CS144 ( A CS144 off a 2000 Escalde works with 5/16 2-3/4,long grade 8 bolt in the passenger side bolt hole fits perfectly. Might want to get a 1 inch longer serpentine too). The original water neck points directly at the Alternator and the replacement I bought points to the driver's side, up at a135 degree angle and forward about 10 degrees so if I had an original hose(Dayco 70935) that was about 4 inches longer it would work fine... Any suggestions are appreciated. I'm currently looking at Napa hoses 7575 or 7595.

[Kalums]

So I haven't fallen off a cliff yet, still kicking. All I've been doing lately is a TON of rewiring. This new CS144 is a lot more amperage so... I've had to upgrade about 70% of the wires in the stock "loom". It is very tedious, no real picture taking of soldering/splicing/heatshrinking. I would love to know what I'm supposed to do with the "F" wire on this alternator plug though, I'd hate to burn up a new alternator.

Also I will update when I remember to, on the part number for the upper radiator hose, found one at NAPA that fit perfectly with my new water neck.

[MARKDTN]

Originally Posted by Kalums

So I haven't fallen off a cliff yet, still kicking. All I've been doing lately is a TON of rewiring. This new CS144 is a lot more amperage so... I've had to upgrade about 70% of the wires in the stock "loom". It is very tedious, no real picture taking of soldering/splicing/heatshrinking. I would love to know what I'm supposed to do with the "F" wire on this alternator plug though, I'd hate to burn up a new alternator.

Also I will update when I remember to, on the part number for the upper radiator hose, found one at NAPA that fit perfectly with my new water neck.

https://www.gtoforum.com/threads/cs1...wiring.144094/

The first post shows what wires go where.

[Kalums]

Originally Posted by MARKDTN

https://www.gtoforum.com/threads/cs1...wiring.144094/

The first post shows what wires go where.

So according to that forum/post, if I don't have a light I use "L" and wire and a resistor to my brown wire from the fuse box (used to go to the external regulator) and since I never had a "no charge" light "F" is unused and should be capped off... Correct?

And thank you for finding that I've been searching for almost a week and didn't find much at all about the "F" wire and nothing definitive. So thank you X a million. 👍

[Kalums]

So during all this "poking around" under my hood... I noticed something odd, the transmission lines for my TH350 seem to be wrong, or at least the trans cooler is hooked up backwards? So my understanding is upper line on the transmission goes to the upper hole on radiator and lower goes to lower ( upper line is "in" to the transmission and lower is out?) ... Yes? Well mine has the upper line going to the upper hole on the radiator, but the lower line is cut and hose spliced in for a trans-cooler that has, at some point, single handedly guaranteed the front underside of this truck to never rust... Then the cooler is: line from trans to top of cooler and bottom of cooler to bottom of radiator... That doesn't seem correct to me... Again not sure that is supposed to go that way *scratches head*

Also when putting in a brake controller (Tekonsha prodigy p2) the red wire goes to which wire on my brake switch? I've got white, grey, orange w/white strip I believe

[Kalums]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

I don't think that it makes a lot of difference, though I've seen claims that the trans warms up faster because the coolant is warming the fluid first, before going to the extra cooler in cold weather. I'm not convinced of that. The trans and engine would be coming up to temp in a somewhat parallel time frame. Maybe someone with a factory trans cooler in addition to the radiator intercooler can chime in.

So I actually ended up talking to a local transmission shop and the guy whips out a Hayden manual that said it is supposed to be hooked up to the return line "so the cooling effect" is essentially doubled... So pressurised side (out from trans-bottom hard line) goes into the radiator( unless you bypass radiator) then tap the top line ( return line, out of the top radiator) to the bottom of external cooler, then top of external cooler to return line - top line in the transmission. Ended up getting a new 9x13" cooler( way more than I probably need but it was $40 because the package had water damage, mine had a crack in the neck of the bottom hose when he pressurised it. But take this all with a grain of salt because I live in the desert... Where "cold" is NOT a thing, LOL.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Kalums

So I actually ended up talking to a local transmission shop and the guy whips out a Hayden manual that said it is supposed to be hooked up to the return line "so the cooling effect" is essentially doubled... So pressurised side (out from trans-bottom hard line) goes into the radiator( unless you bypass radiator) then tap the top line ( return line, out of the top radiator) to the bottom of external cooler, then top of external cooler to return line - top line in the transmission. Ended up getting a new 9x13" cooler( way more than I probably need but it was $40 because the package had water damage, mine had a crack in the neck of the bottom hose when he pressurised it. But take this all with a grain of salt because I live in the desert... Where "cold" is NOT a thing, LOL.

Funny. You copied that not long before I deleted it, because I wasn't too sure of what I said.

[Kalums]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Funny. You copied that not long before I deleted it, because I wasn't too sure of what I said.

*laughs* sorry...

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Kalums

*laughs* sorry...

Eh, no worries. If I'm wrong, I'll own up to it.