Larry's 1978 K10
- Thread starter Larry
- Start date
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
A few pages back (and a couple years ago), I mentioned that I was building a K5 Blazer as well. Well, that is still in the works although progression has been slow due to other distractions like the K10 wanting A LOT of attention the past couple years.
The idea of this K5 was intended to be the opposite of the K10 and Suburban where I wanted it to be light and CHEAP! I had planned to use a 292 Straight 6 (w/SM45/NP205) running on a Holley Sniper EFI system but when I opened the 292 it was complete dud. The cam lobes were practically worn off in half and the rod and main bearings were total onion skins. It really made no sense to toss money into rebuilding a 292 when I had a ready to run TBI 350 out of a donor truck and engine harness left over from the Suburban so I prepped a TBI 350 for it. Well, that 350 idea lasted almost 2 years then the natural progression of how things work around here, a big block L29 Vortec 454 worked its way into the plans. So, now I have both a 350 and 454 ready to go for something. The Blazer itself isn’t pretty, but it’s a 100% rust free, has a title and I got it for next nothing by rebuilding a few transfercases for a friend
This is the L05 TBI 350 I prepped in the winter of 2019 for it. It will get used in something else someday
Then a few months ago a refreshed a good running used L29 454. This engine was actually destine for Rob’s K5 until an 8.1L fell into his hands
It got the usual reseal/refresh treatment and I swapped on a 24x reluctor wheel in order to run the better 0411 ECM like the 8.1s and early LS engines use. Those ECMs have much more tuneability than the black box ECM L29s normally use.
I was so jealous of how sweet Rob’s 8.1 turned out all dressed in Chevrolet Orange I had to do the same to this monster
Well, now that the engine plan got changed to a BBC that drove two other required changes. With the original idea of being “light” and “cheap” I prepped a 4:10 9.5” semi floater from a cheap farm truck I bought for the doors and front clip. Now with BBC power I felt the need to step up the rear axle game to a full-floater. Normally, I’d go straight to a 10.5” 14 bolt full floater but a Dana 60 from a 1972 C20 fell into my possession for almost free so I decided to do something different and go that route. Going the Dana 60 route opens more options for selectable lockers anyway and a significant gain in ground clearance over the big pig 10.5" 14BFF. I’m seriously thinking of a cable operated OX locker for this guy
The next change was to the trans. I figured since I was going the BBC route, I might as well sell the refreshed 465 and pick up a 4500. I still need to pull the 205 back apart and swap the input gear to the shorter 32 spline version. I actually made a 100 bux by selling the 465 and buying a 4500. That doesn't happen very often!
This was the 465 I refreshed for it. Pretty much the only thing left that I will be using out of this pile is the 205
Also built a new steering column for it as well with all new guts inside
Early on I built a front Dana 44 with a Detroit Truetrac and added early D44 knuckles for cross-over steering. The 9.5” semi floater is pictured here as well, which is for sale BTW.
Early D44 passenger knuckle prepped for xover steering
Basically, I have just about everything to put this thing together from major components to many boxes of ORD goodies, except a Howell Engine harness to run the L29 and the time to screw it all together. Once it actually gets its turn into the garage it should come together fairly quickly……BUT, I got distracted by yet a different project ? (that I’ll tell about next time....and everyone is going to laugh) so the Blazer got pushed back a while longer…..I’m still collecting parts though and building components as I get time
The idea of this K5 was intended to be the opposite of the K10 and Suburban where I wanted it to be light and CHEAP! I had planned to use a 292 Straight 6 (w/SM45/NP205) running on a Holley Sniper EFI system but when I opened the 292 it was complete dud. The cam lobes were practically worn off in half and the rod and main bearings were total onion skins. It really made no sense to toss money into rebuilding a 292 when I had a ready to run TBI 350 out of a donor truck and engine harness left over from the Suburban so I prepped a TBI 350 for it. Well, that 350 idea lasted almost 2 years then the natural progression of how things work around here, a big block L29 Vortec 454 worked its way into the plans. So, now I have both a 350 and 454 ready to go for something. The Blazer itself isn’t pretty, but it’s a 100% rust free, has a title and I got it for next nothing by rebuilding a few transfercases for a friend
This is the L05 TBI 350 I prepped in the winter of 2019 for it. It will get used in something else someday
Then a few months ago a refreshed a good running used L29 454. This engine was actually destine for Rob’s K5 until an 8.1L fell into his hands
It got the usual reseal/refresh treatment and I swapped on a 24x reluctor wheel in order to run the better 0411 ECM like the 8.1s and early LS engines use. Those ECMs have much more tuneability than the black box ECM L29s normally use.
I was so jealous of how sweet Rob’s 8.1 turned out all dressed in Chevrolet Orange I had to do the same to this monster
Well, now that the engine plan got changed to a BBC that drove two other required changes. With the original idea of being “light” and “cheap” I prepped a 4:10 9.5” semi floater from a cheap farm truck I bought for the doors and front clip. Now with BBC power I felt the need to step up the rear axle game to a full-floater. Normally, I’d go straight to a 10.5” 14 bolt full floater but a Dana 60 from a 1972 C20 fell into my possession for almost free so I decided to do something different and go that route. Going the Dana 60 route opens more options for selectable lockers anyway and a significant gain in ground clearance over the big pig 10.5" 14BFF. I’m seriously thinking of a cable operated OX locker for this guy
The next change was to the trans. I figured since I was going the BBC route, I might as well sell the refreshed 465 and pick up a 4500. I still need to pull the 205 back apart and swap the input gear to the shorter 32 spline version. I actually made a 100 bux by selling the 465 and buying a 4500. That doesn't happen very often!
This was the 465 I refreshed for it. Pretty much the only thing left that I will be using out of this pile is the 205
Also built a new steering column for it as well with all new guts inside
Early on I built a front Dana 44 with a Detroit Truetrac and added early D44 knuckles for cross-over steering. The 9.5” semi floater is pictured here as well, which is for sale BTW.
Early D44 passenger knuckle prepped for xover steering
Basically, I have just about everything to put this thing together from major components to many boxes of ORD goodies, except a Howell Engine harness to run the L29 and the time to screw it all together. Once it actually gets its turn into the garage it should come together fairly quickly……BUT, I got distracted by yet a different project ? (that I’ll tell about next time....and everyone is going to laugh) so the Blazer got pushed back a while longer…..I’m still collecting parts though and building components as I get time
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Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
The only problem is I am a hoarder and don’t get rid of much very often ? . The only thing up for grabs is the 9.5” rear axle with 4:10s. Its on CL and Marketplace now
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Hahaha of course. When you post these "refreshed" transmissions, are you doing the refresh yourself? Back when I had my last 465 I couldnt find a single shop in all of Arizona that would rebuild or even refresh it.
zoomad75
K5 Camper guy
Funny you should say something about nobody wanting to work on manual transmissions down there. One of our mutual friends that is in Phoenix sent me a message when I found out I was getting a rebuilt nv4500. He was looking for one for his son's S10 and he mentioned nobody there does that kind of work.
There does happen to be one in Denver that was suggested to me and that's where I got mine from. The shop is strictly manual trans and t-case units only.
Good luck trying to get anything from Larry too. He's like an old junkyard dog when it comes to that stuff. Though there is decidedly less junk at his place.
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
Yes...I do it all myself. The 465 was a known good trans but it was a leaker. I just had to rip it down to reseal. The inside looked practically new so there was no need to pull the mainshaft out or anything. Same with the 4500
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Whats the shop called? As you know Im more than willing to drive to Denver for parts! ?
Regcabguy
Oil eater.
Amazing work.A few pages back (and a couple years ago), I mentioned that I was building a K5 Blazer as well. Well, that is still in the works although progression has been slow due to other distractions like the K10 wanting A LOT of attention the past couple years.
The idea of this K5 was intended to be the opposite of the K10 and Suburban where I wanted it to be light and CHEAP! I had planned to use a 292 Straight 6 (w/SM45/NP205) running on a Holley Sniper EFI system but when I opened the 292 it was complete dud. The cam lobes were practically worn off in half and the rod and main bearings were total onion skins. It really made no sense to toss money into rebuilding a 292 when I had a ready to run TBI 350 out of a donor truck and engine harness left over from the Suburban so I prepped a TBI 350 for it. Well, that 350 idea lasted almost 2 years then the natural progression of how things work around here, a big block L29 Vortec 454 worked its way into the plans. So, now I have both a 350 and 454 ready to go for something. The Blazer itself isn’t pretty, but it’s a 100% rust free, has a title and I got it for next nothing by rebuilding a few transfercases for a friend
This is the L05 TBI 350 I prepped in the winter of 2019 for it. It will get used in something else someday
Then a few months ago a refreshed a good running used L29 454. This engine was actually destine for Rob’s K5 until an 8.1L fell into his hands
It got the usual reseal/refresh treatment and I swapped on a 24x reluctor wheel in order to run the better 0411 ECM like the 8.1s and early LS engines use. Those ECMs have much more tuneability than the black box ECM L29s normally use.
I was so jealous of how sweet Rob’s 8.1 turned out all dressed in Chevrolet Orange I had to do the same to this monster
Well, now that the engine plan got changed to a BBC that drove two other required changes. With the original idea of being “light” and “cheap” I prepped a 4:10 9.5” semi floater from a cheap farm truck I bought for the doors and front clip. Now with BBC power I felt the need to step up the rear axle game to a full-floater. Normally, I’d go straight to a 10.5” 14 bolt full floater but a Dana 60 from a 1972 C20 fell into my possession for almost free so I decided to do something different and go that route. Going the Dana 60 route opens more options for selectable lockers anyway and a significant gain in ground clearance over the big pig 10.5" 14BFF. I’m seriously thinking of a cable operated OX locker for this guy
The next change was to the trans. I figured since I was going the BBC route, I might as well sell the refreshed 465 and pick up a 4500. I still need to pull the 205 back apart and swap the input gear to the shorter 32 spline version. I actually made a 100 bux by selling the 465 and buying a 4500. That doesn't happen very often!
This was the 465 I refreshed for it. Pretty much the only thing left that I will be using out of this pile is the 205
Also built a new steering column for it as well with all new guts inside
Early on I built a front Dana 44 with a Detroit Truetrac and added early D44 knuckles for cross-over steering. The 9.5” semi floater is pictured here as well, which is for sale BTW.
Early D44 passenger knuckle prepped for xover steering
Basically, I have just about everything to put this thing together from major components to many boxes of ORD goodies, except a Howell Engine harness to run the L29 and the time to screw it all together. Once it actually gets its turn into the garage it should come together fairly quickly……BUT, I got distracted by yet a different project ? (that I’ll tell about next time....and everyone is going to laugh) so the Blazer got pushed back a while longer…..I’m still collecting parts though and building components as I get time
zoomad75
K5 Camper guy
Steve’s Transmission and Gears.
All they do is manual transmissions and transfer cases.
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
On to more of the story of recent history and the lead in to my latest project(s)
A friend brought over his L29/4L80E Suburban with transmission shifting issues. The biggest issue is it uses a NP208 transfercase with a speedo cable where as the 4L80E needs a VSS signal. He had a Dakota Digital voltage generator installed but it never work correctly. As luck would have it I met a guy on Instagram that was beginning to create a cable to VSS retrofit kit for 208s and early 241s and asked if I could to a test fitment for him. This Suburban was the perfect candidate for that!
This is the kit although the VSS sensor in this picture is the wrong one to work with the kit. These kits are now available for purchase if anyone would like to do a cable to VSS swap on a 208 or 241 at Walters Engineering and Performance. Its a great kit!
His Howell harness came with a VSS circuit, it just needed to be hooked up properly
I really hate aftermarket crap. Dakota Digital stuff is so overrated
Unfortunately, this VSS kit came a little too late for this 4L80E as the wonky shifting caused internal damage to the trans that now needs to be corrected.
So what does any of this have to do with my latest projects that has caused the K5 to get pushed to the back burner?? Well, while working on Andy’s Suburban I mentioned to him that I would like to have an 80s/early 90s Japanese mini truck to play with. He said he thought there was one sitting on his dad’s ranch but it was very rough and hadn’t been driven since the mid-2000s. A few weeks later he texts me the pictures below
I told him, “I’ll take it!”. He said it was very rough but his dad would take a couple hundred for it. At that point he wasn’t really sure what was wrong with it but I didn’t really care as the bones were good and it had a title! I figured if the engine was dead, I could drop in the TBI 350 or a L96 6.0L and make a little sleeper out of it although I’d rather fix the original 4 banger for use as a cheap run around truck with gas being so ridiculous right now.
As luck would have it, it was almost a month before we could carve in sometime to go retrieve the little truck. While we were driving to his dad’s ranch he tells me he dad said there is a second 4x4 Nissan sitting in a barn but it needed an engine and curious if I was interested in that one too. I said “Hell, ya!”
After we loaded the gray one we went by the barn to see this gem. I bought it on the spot but it would be a few weeks before I could get back to pick it up. 700 bux for 2 Hardbody’s with titles was a deal! The white one is a 1987 that was built in Japan.
Here is the US built 1989 2wd after I unloaded it at home. It's name is Juan....Juan the Nissan. Since the white one was built in Japan, its name is Wong. Wong the Nissong....brothers from different mothers ?
While we were loading the 2wd his dad told me the back story of the two Nissans. Apparently, he bought the pair from a neighbor’s estate sale back in 2009. He said the 2wd never ran and he suspected the pick-up coil in the distributor was dead and hard to find. The license plates expired in 2006 and the oil change sticker was from 2005, and only about a 1,000 miles ago! ?
He said his wife drove the 1987 4x4 around the ranch up until the engine started knocking a few years ago. The license plates on that one expired in 2017 so I assume it has been parked since around 2016.
More later
A friend brought over his L29/4L80E Suburban with transmission shifting issues. The biggest issue is it uses a NP208 transfercase with a speedo cable where as the 4L80E needs a VSS signal. He had a Dakota Digital voltage generator installed but it never work correctly. As luck would have it I met a guy on Instagram that was beginning to create a cable to VSS retrofit kit for 208s and early 241s and asked if I could to a test fitment for him. This Suburban was the perfect candidate for that!
This is the kit although the VSS sensor in this picture is the wrong one to work with the kit. These kits are now available for purchase if anyone would like to do a cable to VSS swap on a 208 or 241 at Walters Engineering and Performance. Its a great kit!
His Howell harness came with a VSS circuit, it just needed to be hooked up properly
I really hate aftermarket crap. Dakota Digital stuff is so overrated
Unfortunately, this VSS kit came a little too late for this 4L80E as the wonky shifting caused internal damage to the trans that now needs to be corrected.
So what does any of this have to do with my latest projects that has caused the K5 to get pushed to the back burner?? Well, while working on Andy’s Suburban I mentioned to him that I would like to have an 80s/early 90s Japanese mini truck to play with. He said he thought there was one sitting on his dad’s ranch but it was very rough and hadn’t been driven since the mid-2000s. A few weeks later he texts me the pictures below
I told him, “I’ll take it!”. He said it was very rough but his dad would take a couple hundred for it. At that point he wasn’t really sure what was wrong with it but I didn’t really care as the bones were good and it had a title! I figured if the engine was dead, I could drop in the TBI 350 or a L96 6.0L and make a little sleeper out of it although I’d rather fix the original 4 banger for use as a cheap run around truck with gas being so ridiculous right now.
As luck would have it, it was almost a month before we could carve in sometime to go retrieve the little truck. While we were driving to his dad’s ranch he tells me he dad said there is a second 4x4 Nissan sitting in a barn but it needed an engine and curious if I was interested in that one too. I said “Hell, ya!”
After we loaded the gray one we went by the barn to see this gem. I bought it on the spot but it would be a few weeks before I could get back to pick it up. 700 bux for 2 Hardbody’s with titles was a deal! The white one is a 1987 that was built in Japan.
Here is the US built 1989 2wd after I unloaded it at home. It's name is Juan....Juan the Nissan. Since the white one was built in Japan, its name is Wong. Wong the Nissong....brothers from different mothers ?
While we were loading the 2wd his dad told me the back story of the two Nissans. Apparently, he bought the pair from a neighbor’s estate sale back in 2009. He said the 2wd never ran and he suspected the pick-up coil in the distributor was dead and hard to find. The license plates expired in 2006 and the oil change sticker was from 2005, and only about a 1,000 miles ago! ?
He said his wife drove the 1987 4x4 around the ranch up until the engine started knocking a few years ago. The license plates on that one expired in 2017 so I assume it has been parked since around 2016.
More later
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
Hehe, that’s no lie! I didn’t let grass grow under my feet on Juan though and wheeled it in the shop a couple days later. Once it got into the shop I gave it a once over and came up with a long spreadsheet of parts it obviously needed like door handles, window regulators, replacements for the missing alternator and turn signal switch, etc.. Given it has sat for 17 years I figured a fresh fuel pump and every hose on the truck would need to be replaced too. I bet I kept RockAuto in business for most of March.
The old guy I got it from said the pickup coil was dead so I tried to take the distributor apart to replace it but I had no idea what I was doing and ended up breaking the hell out of the distributor but found another an eBay for $20. As it turns out these Z24i distributors (and throttle bodies/injector) are very hard come by and when you do find them they cost a fortune so finding a dizzy for 20 bux was a nice surprise. Now knowing what I know about Z24i engines, Wong won't be keeping its Z24i.....
Since it sat for at least a decade with the air cleaner off I figured I’d better pull the intake and clean out the head and cylinders the best I could plus having the intake off made it easier to replace all those pesky hoses under it. I found the engine harness and typical Nissan fuse links were in pretty sad shape so I did a lot of rework to those as well.
Harness clean-up
The fuel pump was super simple and pretty much identical to an early 90’s GM fuel pump
And I pruned away all of the pesky air injection smog crap while I was there
In the end, the engine came put pretty slick....ran better than expected too!
While it was torn down I replaced the brakes all around, repacked bearings, service the rear axle and had to have a new right rear wheel bearing pressed on. Once that was all done I moved my efforts to the inside for a major cleanup.
Typical early Nissan Hardbodys have a speedo needle that starts to point North with age. I replaced the speedo needle with a bobby pin ?
I gave the cluster a major cleaning and buffed the lens then replaced all the bulbs with LED bits. Turned out nice.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the wheels. I stripped the paint off the wheels and gave them a fresh coat of argent paint then ordered some new Thailand hub caps. Apparently, these D21s were still built for immerging markets right up to 2013 so a lot of parts can still be ordered by way of Thailand. It was a weird feeling buying a complete set of tires for under $400 out the door with mounting and balancing. Hell, 4 of those was barely 1.5 of the tires I just put on the K10.
Before my buddies came over to help lift the bed on I gave it a good power washing and fresh coat of paint
It got new exhaust too
I couldn’t resist dropping the front torsion bars down a bit to give it a rake
So tiny
The interior cleaned up really well
Even gave it some modern amenities like a modern stereo with Bluetooth, USB and replaced the old 12v cigarette lighter with USBs
It turned out to be almost 60 days from a ranch rescue to a little errand runner with a little over 1500 bux into it but I had so much fun! It is crazy how simple and fun these little trucks are to work on. You can almost take the entire thing apart with 10, 12 and 17MM tools. Hell, I don’t think I ever used my 12mm wrench or socket before I got this thing ?. As crazy as it sounds, it was a nice departure from the typical GM project. I've done so many GM truck projects they're almost get boring and not much of a challenge. This thing was like working on a space ship as I didn't know jack ********** about Nissans and it seems nobody else does either by perusing Facebook groups and discussion forums and having a Chilton's Service Manual is like having nothing at all. There is pretty solid Z24i Facebook group but it takes a lot of time to separate the straw from manure as there is so much garbage information mixed into an ounce of good stuff. I seriously think I could get better technical advise from my 8 year old daughter than some of the clowns out there that are the so called D21 experts ?♂️
So, I’ve driven it around a bit and it has a few small things that still need worked out like the right rear wheel bearing I just had pressed on howling like a wolf….and a new trans output seal leak that started but overall it is pretty tight…..and smooth! I totally didn’t expect it to be a smooth little cruiser at 55 MPH.
Now.....Juan is 99% done, its time to move on to Wong ?