My 1990 Chevy K1500

vargsmetal

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

6e1518b11edda0cf767754954287c33e.jpg


9b87f7c8bc1285c98829c177075fe276.jpg
b635b41e7363a5080e9f3c8238ef455d.jpg


2af4fe889ed8eefd5abdc6d7075f9b2a.jpg


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

vargsmetal

Active member
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.

d0a69e1b3973a6d556448fc0716d5020.jpg


77997aadeaec0665352f8deb71b6f52c.jpg


27b3660cf649797f8b55f2806dab818f.jpg


811d5285e7a71f203eaf6cb3ae79d86a.jpg


2a367e1104a02165c2dccd0325d08420.jpg


7351fd74bf0db3980241a5cdf589431e.jpg


ac642cf23fde0708ee0fdaea8396962a.jpg


08ff602f5fd57662db7d3f03f1cd2aa3.jpg


2f8316d113bef58fafff0d2cec618bae.jpg


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

BritKLR

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

vargsmetal

Active member
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.

ff956728eba2fc66b791ddd31cfe739b.jpg



4187e63388ef6c181d01466a69c42461.jpg


47436c6e87aabc726d2db1e55eae5fc3.jpg



a6759556587055dd3b4c94d24c8668a6.jpg


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

vargsmetal

Active member
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.

26d6c87e51f48a893e911a2bb1f3d88c.jpg


c4e25f871cf98c5f8ab70cf338495ac5.jpg


b69cad816e4c62865a9aaf8022280fbe.jpg


efb8d390e770ad58783841bea2b0be71.jpg


2980413fb39b8b5bd055a850722985bb.jpg


41ddb1f527b9a6897b119d8341f0122f.jpg


4274ac7145c3fcd2ae3cdfcdbcaa57ed.jpg


f57c99ffffc062681721cf446920951e.jpg


0bd4326ef88d2a4d45e642d0d3e6373f.jpg


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

vargsmetal

Active member
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.

955994e875b2b08c92e3ac4e2bbebfe0.jpg

4fd6d7449f9fc83d07835243d60a5f62.jpg
7f230121512e044ec27ec84d83c5f50b.jpg
72116c392949c743967c34b56eeec118.jpg
6a4c96b038262b27d661014d5465b0d3.jpg
f50cd24f633aec412d823f73802368ea.jpg
 
Last edited:

glwright

Member
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

Active member
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.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

glwright

Member
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.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
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

Active member
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.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

nitro_rat

Lunchbox Lockers
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

Active member
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.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

vargsmetal

Active member
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:

b1f4a24c32885b996715ee0ce9f98972.jpg


f4c98bf5ec137da0d9285745de4a6651.jpg


5180be49c3bd6d2a5be23311f316e5de.jpg


f93320a33b2c443e104a963ecb26b1d7.jpg


6eb8cec97503f83ce09f7a280298aeaf.jpg


491d4b4172c1fac0c7b4bd12105e5e99.jpg


b385bdec84c4d83d8c968eb698da7976.jpg


52dfda5bbfdf6fc1b2eb5cb4ebd13663.jpg


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,422
Messages
2,874,270
Members
224,720
Latest member
Bad Taste
Top