84 Short Bed diesel. Project Driver.

[rs74]

Figured I should make a thread here on the short bed I just bought. I had been looking for a roller since I still have the engine and trans out of my other short bed. Looked for a nice long bed for a while and found nothing worth looking at. I figured I would just wait until something came along. Then this truck came up for sale. Not at all what I was looking for. Colors were all wrong, it was a diesel but the price was right. I almost went and looked at another that I was thinking about but decided against it even though I liked the trucks looks better than this one. Well I bought the everything is opposite of what I wanted truck.

Anyway this is just going to be a daily driver for the time being. It's a 6.2, 700r4, 3.08 geared short bed. 95% rust free. It has two spots on the tailgate that need fixed and there is a little rust that formed under the seam sealer in the drivers door jam. That should be the easier fix vs. the tailgate. It does have little specs of surface rust here and there. Going to break the rust killer out and try to take care of as much of it as I can for now.

I have only had it three days and today was the first day I could try to get to cleaning it up a little. I own a mobile truck washing business so getting it cleaned up was pretty easy for the most part. Alot better than now that it has had a bath.

Now for the laundry list of things it needs. Interior is completely trashed. I looked today at a couple of yards and found nothing along with calling a couple of others. So I am kicking around the idea of putting a Burgundy interior in it to clean it up a little. Even though it has a bronze paint on the interior I am probably going to do the swap to get me buy for awhile. It is in tons better shape than the tan in it now. Outside work includes probably putting a set of my rallies on it when I get a set of white lettered tires. Going to take off the side trim and have a buddy buff it out for me. That way when I can get some new side trim then it ready to be put on. I would like to give it a 2.5/4 drop but that will be after I get other things done. The biggest thing it needs is a transmission. I talked to a guy today who has a newer style 700r4 that he said he could build instead of building the older style that is in it. I degreased the engine bay while I was washing it today. That will give me a good point to see what gaskets or anything that I might need to replace. It had some oil build up in the compartment. Needs a front windshield and might see about putting either a new slider in the back or a one piece rear window. Not sure yet on that.

Other than that I am just going to drive it once ready. Not going crazy on this truck. I still have my 85 short bed to get finished. It is currently on hold due to me building up my business. I pretty much sold all of my extra trucks including my 03 Chevy crew cab daily driver to fund the business which meant putting the short bed on hold. So this diesel pretty much replaces my crew cab. I don't need anything new to drive. As long as it is reliable and not an eyesore inside or out. I can't stand the interior now so that is one thing that will change first. It does still have first gear so I have been able to see how the brakes are and how it steers and handles somewhat. Pretty peppy in first gear. Well enough with the chat. Here are just a few pics. I should also say that I have a 85-87 GMC grill located that is supposed to be brand new. Going to try to get it next week. Will probably put that one in the K30 and the one that is in the K30 now into this truck. I think I also have the matching bezels for it already. The same style of grill that is in the pic of my K30 in my avatar. The grill in it now has two broken tabs on the bottom and is all faded out.

[rs74]

One more. The rest are on my phone.

[rs74]

Might put these wheels on for a while since they have new 295/50's on them until I get a set of tires for the rallies. Same cab the interior is coming out of too unless I find a nice tan or Mahogany interior real soon.

[rs74]

The interior on this thing is not salvageable to me. The tops of the door panels and kick panels are falling apart. Chalking I think it's called. The dash is all busted up, carpet is in bad shape and the seat fabric is gone. Headliner fabric gone too. So I have the old cab off my 85 short bed that I will be taking the interior out of. It's not A1 shape but far better. I kind of miss the burgundy anyway. I will just have to do something about the cargo light switch that is in this truck. The burgundy doesn't have a provision for a switch but I am sure I can carefully take care of that or try to find another one that does have it.

[rs74]

I started swapping over the burgundy interior today. Looks better already. Still have to do the carpet, rear plastic trim, seat belts and still have to find a burgundy cloth seat. I do have a charcoal vinyl seat to use if needed until I can find a cloth burgundy seat. I need to buy a new drivers window switch since the one that was in it had the passenger switch broke. I also shot some wd40 in the track wheels then some red grease on them. Made them work better until I put the passenger side door panel on then it seemed to slow it down a little bit. Not sure if the rubber on the door panel is pressing against the glass as it goes up or what. That's all so far other than I tested a small spot on the paint with some wax. Took some oxidation off. Going to have a friend buff it out when I am ready.

[rs74]

Not the best of colors together but it is in better shape than what it had.

[rs74]

Sorry I can only load two pics at a time. Just looking at the pics and realized I have to put in the kick panels too.

[rs74]

Got a little more done today on the interior. I was able to get the kick panels, the rest of the interior trim and carpet swapped over. Going to try to get the carpet steam cleaned over the weekend so I can get the seat belts put in and get a seat back in it. No pics yet though.

[rs74]

The rest of the interior is all in except for the trim panel that has the cargo lamp switch in it. I have to modify the new one since it came out of a truck that didn't have that switch in the panel. I put a gray vinyl seat in that I have since the tan seat was trashed and had a very cheap slip cover on it that didn't have any straps to tie it down. Here are a couple of pics and a before and after.

[rs74]

Pics

[rs74]

Steam cleaned the carpet before putting in. Came out pretty good.

[rs74]

Now I have to figure out what I am going to do about a transmission. I am really not wanting to spend the money on to rebuild the 700r4 at this time since I am not sure if I will be keeping this one or not. I have a 350 transmission with lockup in the garage that I am trying to find out if I can get a diesel torque converter and governor for it so I can maybe put it in. I am looking for a set of rallies with tires on it too. I have found a couple of sets but not sure if they are what I am after. Being a bit picky even though they are used. Found one set that has tires on it that I like but the rims are painted. Not really wanting to repaint them. Found another set that has the GMC center caps which is a plus but has tires on it that are cracking. So I think the search goes on.

[UKNOWME]

Good interior transformation. Keep the Outlaw 2 wheels until you can rinds some rallies. Those Progressive saw blades are not appealing.

[rs74]

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

Good interior transformation. Keep the Outlaw 2 wheels until you can rinds some rallies. Those Progressive saw blades are not appealing.

I am going to keep them on there for now. If I don't find another set of rallies to put on before I start driving it then I will have to put the others on. The Outlaws have no tread and the others have new tires on them. I am looking for a set of rallies though. Not really wanting either rims on there.

[rs74]

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

Good interior transformation.

Thanks. Even though this wouldn't be my first choice of colors it does look a lot better. This truck is just a low budget driver. Not sure if it's going to be a keeper or not until I can get it on the road and put a few miles on it. While the mileage of the diesel would be nice I am not sure if I will like it or not.

[farmall]

I would drive that.
How many miles on it?
Let us know what your mpg is.
I think all 3 spoke wheels should be melted.

[rs74]

Originally Posted by farmall

I would drive that.
How many miles on it?
Let us know what your mpg is.
I think all 3 spoke wheels should be melted.

Not sure on the miles. Can't remember what the odometer says. I would say it is 100,000 plus what ever the odometer says. Still has the factory duals on it from what I can tell. It is a pretty tight truck. Steering is tight and the engine has very good throttle response and low end torque. It only has first gear. I took it out in front of the house and from about a 5-10 roll I stood on it and left a set of posi marks so I was a bit impressed with it. I don't normally drive my vehicles hard but when I get one I will see how it will run under pressure so I can see weak points. Although it does seem to smoke a little more than I like. I don't remember my 6.2 K30 smoking like this. It gets a little better once warmed up but still smokes more than I like and stinks more than my K30 did.

These rims must be like the old cab visors. Although I don't mind either one it seems like others don't like them at all. Lol.

[crashz]

I really like the interior color combo now. I know its not stock and it seems strange, but the two colors look like the compliment each other. Plus neither color over-runs the interior. I wonder what other stock color combos would look good together?

The build is coming along nicely. Good job!

Edit - I can understand abou the need to run the tires down on those hideous rims. I would too. But I pray that you can find some nice rally's soon!

BTW- the smoke and smell are probably injectors getting tired. Pretty common after 100K miles and are often neglected. Once you start running it on the road, see if it clears up, even with a little Stanadyne additive. If not you may want to change them, as overtime they can reduce fuel economy and eventually cause damage.

[mrolds88]

Originally Posted by rs74

I have a 350 transmission with lockup in the garage that I am trying to find out if I can get a diesel torque converter and governor for it so I can maybe put it in.

I would look at a 79/80 Olds Cutlass with a 350 Diesel or even the same years C10 pickup.

[rs74]

Originally Posted by crashz

I really like the interior color combo now. I know its not stock and it seems strange, but the two colors look like the compliment each other. Plus neither color over-runs the interior. I wonder what other stock color combos would look good together?

The build is coming along nicely. Good job!

Edit - I can understand abou the need to run the tires down on those hideous rims. I would too. But I pray that you can find some nice rally's soon!

BTW- the smoke and smell are probably injectors getting tired. Pretty common after 100K miles and are often neglected. Once you start running it on the road, see if it clears up, even with a little Stanadyne additive. If not you may want to change them, as overtime they can reduce fuel economy and eventually cause damage.

Thanks for the info on the injectors. I appreciate it. It looks like I can get new Bosch or Delphi injectors for between $40-50 each and new AC Delco's for $110 each. I was maybe thinking about worn valve seats but wasn't really sure since I have never really worked on one of these.

[rs74]

I may have found my problem. I had forgot that years ago I had this same issue with a 350 turbo. On that transmission I found that the governor gear had a melted spot on it. Once I remembered that I pulled the governor on the 700 today and found this.

I picked up another gear today and going to drill it out so I can put in on tomorrow. Hopefully there are no issue after that. If all is good then I will put a new filter and fluid in it and see how it goes.

[rs74]

I have to say after putting on the new governor gear and driving the truck for two days I am quite impressed with it. The new gear allowed the transmission to finally shift out of first since the gear was broken. The transmission works but doesn't alway catch overdrive. Sometimes it will be like it completely misses overdrive so I have to down shift to drive and let it catch then up shift back to overdrive. I am going to change the fluid and filter and going to add a bottle of Lucas.

Other than that I am quite impressed with the diesel engine in this short bed. It runs pretty dang good although it smokes a little when on the throttle. The engine pulls really well. It came factory with 3.08 gears so I am assuming that is what is still in there. I am wondering if this truck only has 138,000 miles on it by the way it runs and the odometer numbers seem to be pretty straight across.

I need to put a set of tires on it since it has what feels like a broken belt. I am going to put a set of wheels off my other short bed on it tomorrow along with the trans. fluid change. The wheels are 15x10's with 295/50's all the way around. The tires are new but I still want to get a set of rallies and put a different set of tires on it. I have a vacuum line broke off the firewall not letting the heater to switch positions. Hopefully that is all it is. The little line is broke in two. I am going to just get a little piece of rubber line to splice them back together. A radiator and heater core flush is coming too. While on the lift tomorrow I can get a better look at the underneath of the truck. Will check the front end and anything else out that I can while under there. I know I have a bad ground on the drivers tank. It reads past full but the passenger tank reads like it should. I want to get that fixed so I can see what kind of mileage this little truck gets. More to come.

[rs74]

Changed the trans fluid, filter and a bottle of Lucas trans fix to see if it helps any. Changed the oil and filter along with a new air filter. Fixed a broken vacuum line in the engine compartment but that was only half of the fix for the heater. Still working trying to figure out the rest of the issue. I put another set of wheels on it. They are a lot shorter than the 31x10.50's that were on it. There is a lot of space in the wheel well now. Needs lowered. Checked the ground on the drivers tank and it is intact so not sure why drivers side tank won't read on fuel gauge. Sending unit maybe? Going to have the alternator tested tomorrow. Gauge now reading right so I need to see if it's weak. So got a bunch done for a monday. Let's see what Tuesday brings.

[rs74]

Been having charging problems. The gauge said so anyways. Sometimes it would show good and other times not. Took it in to be tested. It failed. I found out someone had put on a 37 amp alternator on this diesel with dual batteries and all power accessories. Not good enough for me so I have a 94 or 95 amp alternator coming in the morning.

I put the center caps on the wheels I just put on and stood back for a look. Definitely needs either lowered a bit or find something else to put on it. Looks like there is too much gap between the truck and wheels. Of course I went from 31x10.50's to 295/50/15's too.

[rs74]

I got the alternator today and all is good now. Went up and got it titled and plated today and put on another 75 miles. Going to start driving it everday and making a list of the things it needs yet. So far vent wing latches, drivers power window switch, headliner redone have front end checked out so I can align it etc.