80 Chevy k10 build

[nbpro]

Good looking build keep up the good work

[Mattman2010]

Thanks for the comment nbpro.

I did go get my welder on Tuesday, It is really nice and will make body work very nice.


Now I have a few questions, My truck has a TH350C in it, I have been told not to run the controller because it tends to be the leading cause of the transmission to go out, is this true or not? I ask this because the cable going to the lockup feature of the transmission is not hooked up, and I think lastnight I finally found the controller.


That is right above the break booster, It has a vacuum line on one end, and a electrical plug on the other, and then from there is a wire that goes about half way down the firewall and that is where it is cut off at. People have told me it will be fine to run without the lockup feature working, but I have thought about hooking it up, and then putting a switch on it so if I am towing something I can have it lockup at highway speeds so that i can put more power to the ground.

Next thing is the EGR canister that mounts to the core support, I am putting this back on for the fact that the fuel tank has a vent line that hooks up to it. Idk where all of the other lines go, there is one that says "Carb bowl" and I am not sure what that means. The 350 has all of its stuff removed because the truck it came out of didnt even have this canister, Is there a better way to do a fuel vent, or is this the best way? I would assume i need to plug all the holes I dont use, and run a line to the carb?


I am hoping to get it started today, I really need to figure out that canister, but for now it will work fine without hooking it up. I just want to get it running.

I am torn between decisions, should I just throw the truck back together for now, and drive it till winter is over and then do the body work, or should I just go about tearing out the interior now, fixing the rust, changing the front fenders out, and painting it now? I am afraid that it will get to cold and I wont want to work on it, and it would be nice to have the 4x4 if it does snow.

I will be getting it tagged some time this week because the PO only gave me a few months before I had to tag it. I guess he knew it needed that much work so he signed the title Aug 28, so now I have to tag it, or pay penalties. I don't think it will be more than $150!

[Mattman2010]

Well I almost got it to run today, I got it timed, got the fuel pump wired up, and turned the key, and fuel started spraying out of the top. The needle valve was not seated. So I took the top part of the carb off. My dad tried to see if he couldn't get it to seal with holding it down with a screw driver. So I turned the key and it didn't leak, when he went to let the pressure off, there was enough built up that it send it flying. So now I have to go buy another one, and try it again. I have to buy a whole new rebuild kit though, so it will be a few days before it gets here.

So by the end of this week it should be driving around.... I hope haha

[MTCK]

Man that sounds like a lot of pressure. Sure you have the right fuel pump? Do you have a gauge you can stick on it to see what you're getting at the carb?

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Man that sounds like a lot of pressure. Sure you have the right fuel pump? Do you have a gauge you can stick on it to see what you're getting at the carb?

Yeah, my dad and I are thinking that is a lot of pressure. Not sure if it is the right pump. It came off of my k20, it was sending fuel to the mechanical pump, so I am not sure. I do not have a gauge, I need to look into getting one. I will have to figure that out before I go about sending the new needle valve flying through the air. I figured sense everything was going so good at first that something wasnt going to end up working right, we tend to have that problem where we get some done, and then something messes up and we have to quit for the day.

[MTCK]

I know the feeling... Keep plugging away and you'll get it. A pressure regulator might be another alternative to a different pump.

[benoit454]

as for your 350 c if it's an actual cable that's not for lockup that's for passing gear and hooks to the side of the carb. I really don't see how a controller is going to help a 350c without the TC locking up is just like a regular th350 that they made for years, it doesn't lock up nor does it burn up because it doesn't lock up. If you want it to work and lock up and save a tiny bit of fuel maybe on the highway get a check or make your own.

As for the charcoal can if you don't have to pass emissions ditch it, you can leave the line from the tank open or put a little breather or filter on it and it'll vent. I was told some of the can lines let air in, others probably go to other smog junk, in your case I think you just need the tank line to it, and the carb down line to the carb bowl. The rest I would say leave open they may be the ones that let air in, if it smells bad like gas with them open then plug them.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by benoit454

as for your 350 c if it's an actual cable that's not for lockup that's for passing gear and hooks to the side of the carb. I really don't see how a controller is going to help a 350c without the TC locking up is just like a regular th350 that they made for years, it doesn't lock up nor does it burn up because it doesn't lock up. If you want it to work and lock up and save a tiny bit of fuel maybe on the highway get a check or make your own.

There is a wire on the drivers side of the transmission, I know about the vacuum line on the passenger goes to the carb, I got it hooked up. I couldnt find the controller because I wasnt really sure what I was looking for, but after finally looking around I found the controller for the lockup feature. I am not worried about the gas, I am just thinking about hooking it up and putting a switch on it so that if I am pulling a trailer or something I can have it lockup so that there is more power being used to pull the trailer.

Originally Posted by benoit454

As for the charcoal can if you don't have to pass emissions ditch it, you can leave the line from the tank open or put a little breather or filter on it and it'll vent. I was told some of the can lines let air in, others probably go to other smog junk, in your case I think you just need the tank line to it, and the carb down line to the carb bowl. The rest I would say leave open they may be the ones that let air in, if it smells bad like gas with them open then plug them.

Yeah, my truck doesn't need inspected at all. Hoping to run it without cats. I am just afraid that if I just put a breather or filter on it that gas fumes will be getting out of the tank, and in the end I will be losing gas. I figured with the canister I would be at least keeping some of the fumes, and then sucking them into the carb and burning them, and not losing my hard earned money.

[Mattman2010]

Well last night I went down to install the new needle and seat, before we put the carb all the way back together my dad hooked up the float and all and just held it all down. I turned the key, and it still leaked. So after some messing around with it, my dad decided to push down on the metal pin that the float pivots on. I turned the key again, and no fuel was leaking. So the metal pin that holds the float somehow got bent and the top of the carb was not holding it down far enough for the needle valve to seal.

So then after we got the carb all back together, We went to start it. It started backfiring, so we got to looking, and I guess when we timed it we had it a full 360 degrees off, we had #6 set as the first. so after moving the wires around instead of pulling the distributor again, she fired right up.

I will try to get a video of it driving tonight if I get the breaks bleed. It sounds really nice even though it is just open headers.

[Jonboy]

How is your Dad doing?

[Mattman2010]

He is doing good, a month after his quadruple bypass he ended up having to go back and get some stints put in. He says he is doing better, but he still isn't back all the way. He has been going down and helping me with my truck. We work to his limits, and sometime he doesn't know when that is.

[Mattman2010]

Well I hit another problem again. I was bleeding my breaks last night and was having trouble with the rears. Tried to take the drum break off of the drivers side, and it is stuck on there good. The passenger side drum break came off easy. I need to replace the breaks because it looks like the breaks that came factory on the truck are still on it.

[1985-GMC]

It probably has a pretty good lip in there, you will need to adjust the adjuster in so you can get past that lip.

[benoit454]

looseing fumes aint gonna hurt anything other then smelling them or venting them into the air, it aint gonna loose gas or make any difference in gas mileage. if you are that worried about saving gas you need an overdrive trans. don't tow, hook up all the emissions stuff. etc. the wire on the DS of the trans is the tcc solenoid wires/switch whichever it's called. I don't know much about them I usually get rid of that lockup junk.

If you want more power for trailer pulling you might want to look into a shift kit, they have you enlarge holes to allow more oil or pressure and help feed the clutch better for more power, I guess more pressure to hold it applied or locked up so to speak in 3rd gear.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

It probably has a pretty good lip in there, you will need to adjust the adjuster in so you can get past that lip.

The thing is, I cant break it loose from the axle, so I cant even get to the adjuster. That is the problem.

Originally Posted by benoit454

looseing fumes aint gonna hurt anything other then smelling them or venting them into the air, it aint gonna loose gas or make any difference in gas mileage. if you are that worried about saving gas you need an overdrive trans. don't tow, hook up all the emissions stuff. etc. the wire on the DS of the trans is the tcc solenoid wires/switch whichever it's called. I don't know much about them I usually get rid of that lockup junk.

If you want more power for trailer pulling you might want to look into a shift kit, they have you enlarge holes to allow more oil or pressure and help feed the clutch better for more power, I guess more pressure to hold it applied or locked up so to speak in 3rd gear.

I just went ahead and put a hose on it and will let it vent that way. Im not worried about gas milage, I just didn't want a lot of fumes (vaporized gas) get out of the tank on hot days.

Sense I have a TH350C transmission (torque converter locks up) I might connect everything, but have a switch so that I can either have it lockup, or turn it off so it wont lockup. That way if I want to I can have it lockup.

[Jonboy]

Just be careful not to let it slip too much, or you risk burning up the transmission. This would also make it a good call to mount an auxillary trans cooler.

[gregg72340]

Originally Posted by Mattman2010

The thing is, I cant break it loose from the axle, so I cant even get to the adjuster. That is the problem.



I just went ahead and put a hose on it and will let it vent that way. Im not worried about gas milage, I just didn't want a lot of fumes (vaporized gas) get out of the tank on hot days.

Sense I have a TH350C transmission (torque converter locks up) I might connect everything, but have a switch so that I can either have it lockup, or turn it off so it wont lockup. That way if I want to I can have it lockup.

Nice Build so far, like what you are doing. There should be an access hole on the backing plate probably with a rubber plug in it at the 6:00 position, pop that plug out and you should be able to get to the adjuster easily

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

Just be careful not to let it slip too much, or you risk burning up the transmission. This would also make it a good call to mount an auxillary trans cooler.

what do you mean by letting it slip? are you saying if I dont use the lockup feature i could burn it up?

[Jonboy]

Yeah. The TCC is torque converter clutch. If it is not locked up, it is slipping. The friction causes heat, and heat is the enemy of an automatic transmission.

[gregg72340]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

Yeah. The TCC is torque converter clutch. If it is not locked up, it is slipping. The friction causes heat, and heat is the enemy of an automatic transmission.

And rain makes corn and corn makes whisky............whisky makes my baby.........Sorry guys i couldnt resist doin that Lol, I read your response so quick it just fit

[benoit454]

If it's gonna burn up because it aint locked up then every th350 NOT a th350c ever made would never last and burn up. They all slip unless they got a clutch and slippage could cause heat and such and will tear it up, but the way that was said like you have to have it lock up or else it'll burn up, I find a hard time on that one because they made non lockup 350s for years.

I've got threee vehicles with no charcoal can and on hot days you don't smell anything, I never do. I smelled it on my 88 before I removed the can, now I smell nothing.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by benoit454

If it's gonna burn up because it aint locked up then every th350 NOT a th350c ever made would never last and burn up. They all slip unless they got a clutch and slippage could cause heat and such and will tear it up, but the way that was said like you have to have it lock up or else it'll burn up, I find a hard time on that one because they made non lockup 350s for years.

Yeah I have heard that if I dont lock it up it will act just like a TH350, and they dont lockup. The lockup feature on the TH350C just locks up the TQ so that you can run 300-500 RPM slower at highway speeds. And get some better gas mileage, but not much. I have also had several people tell me that the lock up feature was the reason their transmission went bad.

Originally Posted by benoit454

I've got threee vehicles with no charcoal can and on hot days you don't smell anything, I never do. I smelled it on my 88 before I removed the can, now I smell nothing.

Alright, I haven't ever done any of this before, it was just something I was thinking about. I am running it without the canister, but I think the line might be plugged up because when I remove the filler hose cap, it sucks in a lot of air.

[1985-GMC]

Originally Posted by gregg72340

There should be an access hole on the backing plate probably with a rubber plug in it at the 6:00 position, pop that plug out and you should be able to get to the adjuster easily

Yep what ^ he said. The original plugs were usually metal if don't see a rubber one.

[Mattman2010]

Well I was talking to my dad about it, and he says that is not what is holding it, because the drum wont even move, and if it was caught on the breaks it would move about a 1/4 of a inch or so. I have not gotten it to slide on the axle at all.

[1985-GMC]

Then you need a bigger hammer!