1986 GMC S-15

[Andrew_S]

Truck updates,

First thing up, fixing this trans once and for all.

While it was out I pulled the clutch to fix an oil pan gasket leak.

Cleaned up the bellhousing,

Had the flywheel cut and rotary ground,

After a full new set of syncro's (defective parts) it's back up and running.

Camper back on the '86 and ran the diesel heater for 30 mins to give it a good heat cycle.

Couple of small things to tidy up on the camper prior to any big adventures.

Time to make one good HP30 out of the two of these.

Got everything mocked up. Doing a WJ knuckle swap for high steer and better brakes. Just need the spacer to complete the swap.

Next up is fully welding the truss and installing the arb locker. Also actively looking for an 8.8 right now.

 

[Todd780]

This looks good! Recipe?

 

[Andrew_S]

This looks good! Recipe?

This is the recipe - https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12792/fish-roll-sauce/
Just don't add the 3 cups of water. Great for any white fish.

First trip of the year for us,

Making our own little suez canal

Somewhere between ice fishing and open water?

Went well below freezing but we were super comfy

Found some good ice

Scouting a new area for Mushrooms

Found this old 4 point shed burned in the fire.

Picked up a set of rollers for the new axles for $75. Turned out to be a nice set of rims with almost new studded winters.

 

[Andrew_S]

Had a buddy come over last week to do some repairs on his aluminum topper.
Check out this absolutely mint '91? with 60,000 original km's on it.
Ford's aren't normally my thing but this truck is something else.

After our 1 night outing 2 weeks ago, we left for a 7 day trip last week. The destination was the sunshine coast.

The first night we ended up at a rec site about 1/3 of the way towards the coast. Beautiful spot on the lake all to ourselves.

I stupidly only brought my open water gear but had to try my luck regardless.

We woke up to a balmy -8*c or somewhere around 17f the first morning.

Nothing a little fire and a warm breakfast couldn't fix.

Later that day we loaded up onto the horseshoe bay ferry. Was really surprised to be put in line with the "big rigs" lol. Apparently we are considered oversize...

Couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

First stop was Davis bay,

Second was Sergeants bay

 

[Andrew_S]

We spent the second night at Homecite Creek rec site, friggin beautiful spot.
They opened the rec site for just the long weekend and somehow miraculously we had the place entirely to ourselves again.

Pictures don't even come close to doing these old cedars justice

One of the Karst sites, essentially a cave.

They had just completely redone every site and we had the luxury of being the first ones to enjoy it.

Couldn't help but get creative with my hunting knife and create a site host for the place.

Next day was a hike through this beautiful arbutus grove.

This was both of our first time seeing these trees. They are so different than anything else. They naturally shed their bark and are a broad leaf evergreen.

A bunch of these old relics that have long since died and completely covered in moss on the way into skookumchuck rapids

Another Ferry ride over to Saltery bay this time

We ended up at Kartoum Lake for the 3rd night. Right on the lake and next to a river for perfect white noise all night.

Near the site we found this old stump that had nursed 5+ new cedars.

Even the dead trees support so much life in this forest. This one had Fern growing over 50' high off the moss.

The river created this really impressive log jam/dam

Ended the day with an evening paddle

 

[Andrew_S]

Of our 7 day trip the forecast was calling for 4 days of rain.
The 4th day it rained in the morning, we decided to enjoy the site and area for another night.
I managed to get a load of firewood from a nearby peninsula

We then went for a 4 hour paddle when the weather broke.

Paddled right by this bald eagle scouting for fish and he never even flinched.

Ended up paddling upstream a little ways.

For a rain-day we sure lucked out.

We got back to camp, started a nice big fire and then the skies opened up again. It was about as good as timing gets.
The wifey making a venison smoky in this pic.

This is the typical set up for us right now, minus the cooler. We pack fairly light imo.

 

[Andrew_S]

The next morning the weather broke and it was time to move on.

We bypassed this little lake but it was very tempting to drop the canoe.

Short hike down to Lois River and it was absolutely ripping.

We then proceeded to the most northern point you could drive on this route. This section of road lived up to it's title.

After an incredibly steep couple of km's of broken up gravel road we arrived at Sarah's point. Fortunately made it back out without issue.

We then hit the bushroads and checked out Haslam Lake. Pit stop for a quick lunch.

Ended up camping at Dodd lake, again all by ourselves the 5th night.

The forecast went from 4 days of rain to just clear sunny skies.

As we were cooking breakfast this woodpecker fell out of the top of a nearby tree to it's death. Very strange incident.

Exploring some more of the area we found this perfect little home made campsite.

These old cedars make for a hell-of-a dock.

Next stop was Goat Lake

There wasn't much that was going to stop me from getting on this lake.

Really neat to see the root structure exposed and the little tree growing on top.

paddled up river and tried a little fishing

 

[Andrew_S]

spent our final night on Klein lake

Lucked out on the way home. One of the last cars to get on the Ferry! Full load...

and a rough idea of our route.

The truck and camper did great. Need to do a couple of small maintenance things to both before the next outing.

 

[Todd780]

Had a buddy come over last week to do some repairs on his aluminum topper.
Check out this absolutely mint '91? with 60,000 original km's on it.
Ford's aren't normally my thing but this truck is something else.

After our 1 night outing 2 weeks ago, we left for a 7 day trip last week. The destination was the sunshine coast.

The first night we ended up at a rec site about 1/3 of the way towards the coast. Beautiful spot on the lake all to ourselves.

I stupidly only brought my open water gear but had to try my luck regardless.

We woke up to a balmy -8*c or somewhere around 17f the first morning.

Nothing a little fire and a warm breakfast couldn't fix.

Later that day we loaded up onto the horseshoe bay ferry. Was really surprised to be put in line with the "big rigs" lol. Apparently we are considered oversize...

Couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

First stop was Davis bay,

Second was Sergeants bay

That Ford is nice! Looks like a fun day! Was that near the Great Bear rain forest?

 

[ITTOG]

The pictures of your wife by those cedars were awesome. I have never seen them that big.

That woodpecker probably had a brain aneurysm. I don't know how that doesn't happen to them more often!

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Andrew_S]

That Ford is nice! Looks like a fun day! Was that near the Great Bear rain forest?

I had to check a map to be sure but no it was not the protected area. We were just slightly south of the border.

The pictures of your wife by those cedars were awesome. I have never seen them that big.

That woodpecker probably had a brain aneurysm. I don't know how that doesn't happen to them more often!

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Yea man those Cedars are so beautiful. That woodpecker was certainly interesting. I guess if you spend enough time outdoors wildlife is bound to drop dead in your presence eventually.


Bit of catching up to do here,

Truck got a bit more maintenance,
Some jobs just turn into tragic sagas
Speedo was jumping all over the place, so pulled the speedo cable (involves disassembly of the entire dash cluster)

Sure enough cable is all gunked up with bad grease. Removed cable, blew out sheath with brake clean/compressed air, soaked cable for a while in brake clean blew it off and sprayed it down with black graphite. Reinstall, better but not perfect.

After repeating this process 3 more times I gave up and bought a new speedo cable. All was right in the world again, it was mint, for 50 kilometers.


Then no speedo at all. Upon inspection the new cable sheared off in the sheath, qualittttty. To make matters worse, the trans acts up without this installed (no speed sensor reading) and the torque converter doesn't lock out. We were planning on leaving for a trip and this was apparently the last 100"speedo cable in existence... Finally after calling every parts store a few times, I found one. The truck also got a new set of plugs while I was at it.

This has been on the list forever but the company has been out of stock forever +a year. Finally ordered this ksuspension headlight upgrade harness. Really nice set up that increased the headlight brightness x2.

Brought my old brass rad to a local shop to ask about having it upgraded to a triple core. Once I was told the price ($500+) I decided to change my plans.

Truck had a pretty decent oil leak. Did the valve cover gaskets and that seemed to help a lot. Haven't verified yet if the leak is 100% gone.

The engine bay needs a serious wash. So much dust and mud over the last couple of years.

Also replaced the door seals. Since doing the new pins and bushings the passenger door had a bit of a whistle. Its so quiet now.

 

[Andrew_S]

In the midst of all that we did a few mushroom picking days.

while picking I came across this super rare Rubber Boa,

These rock walls are always honey holes at the base.

Reaping the rewards

Some of the terrain

Collected a big piece of the puzzle for the solid axle swap

These explorer 8.8's are such a good bang for the buck. $130 for disc brakes, 8.8 ring gear, 31 spline axles, tough to beat.

It's going to take a minute to collect the rest of the stuff but I've settled on a list of parts and it's just a matter of time.

 

[Andrew_S]

Last post, we just completed a 6 day trip up the northern Kootenay Region

First night out, only caught a Kokanee

Unreal scenery up here

Day 2, paddling up an inlet off revy lake

No fish

Day 3 & 4 - Kinbasket Lake

Finding "the" spot

3 days of just sleeping, eating, fishing and watching the fire.

Stuffffed full of flying ants

Unreal conditions

They drain Kinbasket down over 100' every winter for power. Crazy to look at the mapping and it label you in the blue where you are camping.

This water is not warm...

Releasing a little yellow boat we found on the sunshine coast for someone else to find.

Mica is dry...

First ones down this road for the season. Had to skirt by a number avalanches and rock slides.

Admiring some of the massive moose rubs.

 

[Andrew_S]

Found a new beautiful campsite

The wifey inspecting a washout/slide

Big mouth creek inlet

Found a single morel at the airstrip rec site.

Re-found a new campsite, mint spot

Frog falls - 3 valley gap area

Ran into a grizzly for the first time ever in the backcountry, fortunately we were in the truck.

Made this tight little spot work that night,

Rocks and a i phone level works perfect,

We watched this cow moose stomp around in the lake for nearly an hour.

Views from bed,

The next morning

This little guy came over to join us for breakfast

 

[Andrew_S]

Truly the last post this time,

last day, soliddd bridge

Cool surprise at this site, giant swing set

Skunk cabbage

Liver lake

Kidney lake,

Noisy Creek

Made the 1000km trip without issue. Camper worked flawlessly. Great trip.