My 1990 Chevy K1500

[vargsmetal]

More progress on the swing out. It should be done and painted this week.

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[vargsmetal]

Finished up the swing out, got it painted and installed. Far from perfect but it works. Still need to make the jerry can basket and drop down table for it.

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[vargsmetal]

As soon as the bumper was bolted back on we hit the road for New Hampshire for Northeast Adventure Company's Syrup Safari. Two days of awesome wheeling in new hampshire/vermont.

I had problems with my 4wd linkage so I took it off and shifted it under the truck at the beginning and end of every trail. The modified stock shifter doesn't have enough throw for it to really lock into the 4lo/4hi ranges, so I'm looking at swapping to a cable unit. I also think the cooling fan wiring arrangement needs to be looked at as it seemed like it was only kicking on at the high temp trigger. Still, engine only ran up to 205 and the trans peaked at 170.

The truck ran great and continues to surprise me at how well it does. But, it's still a fullsize in New England so it took a beating. Definitely need to make some sliders next.

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[BritKLR]

I love old K series Chevys! Well done and thanks for showing the capability of these tough old trucks!

 

[vargsmetal]

Last week started on monday with Fourwheeler magazine's Overland Adventure East 2019 in Pennsylvania at Rausch Creek Offroad park. We had some time there and then the trip took us down to Twin Mountain Offroad park in West Virginia. There were lots of hold ups with such a large group of 25 rigs and the camera crew setting up but the OEX guides did a great job keeping us moving. Definitely met a lot of great people and got to see some parts of the country I haven't been to yet.

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[vargsmetal]

We got back from the Fourwheeler trip Thursday night, and then on Friday we left for Maine for Northeast Adventure Company's Leaf Peepers tour. As always we had a great time with the NAC crew and got to see some awesome sights around the White Mountains.

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[vargsmetal]

This past weekend was Northeast Adventure Company's Rally event in partnership with New England Overland. Around 35 rigs showed up to a farm in NH to hang out, go wheeling around the area, and eat good food. There were two routes and I chose the harder side and set off with a small group.

The truck did great although as usual I did run into a few spots where I wish I had a locker. Just took a little left foot braking and readjustment to get over some obstacles. It rained off and on all weekend so there were lots of water holes that were deeper than they looked. Definitely had a blast. There was a handful of professional photographers in attendance and Andrew Hyland happened to be leading the the group i was in so he got some beautiful shots of my junker.

 

[glwright]

Love the trip report and Build thread all in one. Makes me want to tinker with my '94. You mentioned sliding mounts for the 5.3L, where were you able to find those? I was tossing aroudn the idea of dropping one of those in to replace my 4.3L.

 

[vargsmetal]

Love the trip report and Build thread all in one. Makes me want to tinker with my '94. You mentioned sliding mounts for the 5.3L, where were you able to find those? I was tossing aroudn the idea of dropping one of those in to replace my 4.3L.

The engine mounts are Dirty Dingo. If I were to do it I'd make my own mounts to put the engine up where it should be. If you're not changing the transmission you can use standard 1in setback plates.

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[chilliwak]

WOW cool pics Mr Varg. Me like. Cheers, Chilli... ?

 

[glwright]

The engine mounts are Dirty Dingo. If I were to do it I'd make my own mounts to put the engine up where it should be. If you're not changing the transmission you can use standard 1in setback plates.

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Not sure if the 5.3L will match up to the 5 speed that I have, but I guess that's something to look at. I just assumed to swap both but that hadn't crossed my mind. Thanks for the info.

 

[vargsmetal]

The LS engine platform can mount up to basically any transmission that came with a sbc. You're usually missing one of the bellhousing bolt holes but that's no problem. The one caveat is the early iron head 6.0L and some early 4.8L with the long crank flange which is not easy to find a flywheel for.

I'm building a 92 C1500 with a 02 4.8 and the original 5spd that was in the truck with a 4.3L. I'm using the Sachs NFW1050 flywheel with a stock 02 4.8 clutch/pressure plate. Your tuner will need to know you're using a manual trans. Besides that theres not much else to it.

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[nitro_rat]

Don't tell anybody but I usually only use the four bottom bell housing bolts anyway. They're common between the old small and big Chevy, BOP (Biuck Olds Pontiac, also Caddy) and the newer LS stuff. YMMV but it's worked for me...

 

[vargsmetal]

Don't tell anybody but I usually only use the four bottom bell housing bolts anyway. They're common between the old small and big Chevy, BOP (Biuck Olds Pontiac, also Caddy) and the newer LS stuff. YMMV but it's worked for me...

The upper ones are usually cracked or broken off completely on the newer transmissions anyway. Seems like 2000 and up they changed the case composition and they just disintegrate up here in the salt. I've got a 4L80e that's missing two of the upper bolt holes. I was going to get a racing steel bellhousing and cut the aluminum back for the next build. If nothing else I'd feel better about hanging a 205 off the back of it that way.

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[vargsmetal]

Long time with no update. This truck is still cruising around and I haven't done much to it but maintenance. I had a scare last winter when I lost forward and reverse on a icy hill climb in NH. Turned out it was just low fluid, and then I had some delayed engagement issues caused by the trans electrical connector being full of mud... must not have been fully engaged and sealed.

Beyond that I've started a whole new project to be my offroad rig, and we've added a 2016 4Runner to the stable. Those will probably take over adventure duties, and the ext cab will be my daily driver/backup.

Some random pics from the winter:

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