CL score: Van load of parts

[tkeduk8r]

Great article... Ive ben watching this closely and just found out yesterday I inherited the districts old 89 GMC van!!! its not at large dispacemtn (305) its got a few more miles (145K) and the tires arent as nice, but I got the same wheel and everything is pretty much unmolested... Is there any way you can throw a list together of everthing you pulled off the donor as far as engine /harness goes???? I dont know what Ill use it in yet, BUT when gas skyrockets again, I think that would be a one piece roller 305 and Im thinking 21-22 MPG out of it could be a possibility.... no what to put it in????
--Mike

[DirtyLarry]

Mike,

Sounds like another great score. 145K isn’t that bad. My dad’s 1990 G-van that he bought new and always ran on Exxon Superflow 10/30 oil has around 215K on the original 5.7L and it doesn’t even use oil between oil changes. It does sound like the pistons are swapping holes when you start it on a really cold day though. It is on its 4th 700R4, 2nd rear axle, a pile of electric fuel pumps, at least 2 water pumps and as recently an ABS isolation dump valve .

Well, I did grab the engine and interior wiring harnesses from the donor G-van but elected not to use rework them for use in the C20 mainly because the harness was extremely stiff and the end connectors were really brittle. Many of the end connectors actually broke to pieces as I was unplugging sensors. After all, the harness is 18 years old. For $325 I chose to go with a new Howell Engine Development harness rather than mess with the crusty ole G-van harness. The Howell harness came with the wrong TPS and VSS sensor end connectors so I took the connectors apart and soldered new terminals on them and reused the G-van weather pack connectors (about the only 2 that didn’t break) as I am not a big fan of splicing wires.

Being that you are in MN where they throw roadsalt on the road like it is free, you’re G-van harness will probably have some corrosion growing in it as well. I would recommend just going the route of the new harness with any cash you recover by scrapping the body and selling other parts from the van.

As far as other items from the van used, I used the engine, trans, serp belt (a fresh looking Goodyear Gatorback belt to boot), hoses, fuel lines, power steering pump, remote ps reservoir, alternator, engine mounts and probably a few other things I am forgetting. Oh, yeah…I also put the G-van side marker lights on the truck as well. The previous pictures pretty much sum up what all I used. About the only new items I used were a Lokar shift linkage and a synthetic hose to connect the PS reservoir to the pump, paint, fuel line o-rings, as well as tune up parts and a fresh fuel filter. Heck, even G-van air filter was pretty clean. Used purchased parts were the fuel pump and the 1976 engine mount towers.

The TBI 5.0L/700R4 sounds like a great powertrain for your wife’s 1969! 3:73 gears sounds like a nice gear set for a 5.0L and 700R4. A TBI 5.0L in MN will run about as strong as a 5.7L does at my altitude. TBI engines are certainly not the strongest engines around but they are responsive, rather economical and durable as an anvil.

[DirtyLarry]

This morning I finally got my pile of style back from my buddy who took over a month to get around to hooking up the exhaust. The drive back from his place was actually the maiden voyage for this powertrain so I was a bit nervous as it is quite a drive from his place to mine so I threw a tow strap in my Silverado that my dad and I took out there to pick it up just in case it had to be plucked off the side of the road along the way.

Luckily, it ran great but I do have two issues to sort through though. First, the idle seems a bit fast even when the engine gets warm. 1000 RPM’s is too high. It should be more like 700 RPM. No check engine light or anything but I quickly poked a paper clip in the ALDL to see if it had any codes. Which it didn’t other than flash code 12, which is normal. Going to pull it in the garage tomorrow and toss the scan tool on it to make sure it is actually going into closed loop and then check for vacuum leaks and what not.

The second issue is that the transmission down shift pattern when coasting to a stop feels like an Allison transmission. You can feel it downshift through all the gears and the torque converter unlocking is very evident. If feels like you are driving a friggen school bus or U-Haul truck the way it hops around. Hard to explain, but it doesn’t shift like any other 700R4 I’ve ever driven. The upshift performance feels about perfect but I haven’t really ratted on it yet. Guess I’ll start looking over the TV cable adjustment first on that one.

Besides those two little things the old terd really runs well. I can’t believe how quiet it is going down the highway now instead of hearing the pistons swapping holes with the old 350 and TH350 at highway speeds.

Ah, yeah one more thing…the thermactor dealeo on the air cleaner needs to be dealt with. It is stuck shut and rattles like crazy.

[Longhorn Man]

The TV adjustment.... if you never disconnected it, then i would leave it alone. The high idle could be causing the shifting issues.

[LuckyHenriksen]

Nice swap! I like how detailed your write up was, and that motor sure cleaned up nice

[DirtyLarry]

Got it all figured out today. One of my buddy’s just moved back from Phoenix so we hung out and played with the old dog for a few hours while the wife was out Christmas shopping. We quickly found a vinyl vacuum line cracked near the EGR valve, fixed a few welds that my exhaust buddy missed that was causing an exhaust leak and rigged up the thermactor dealeo on the air cleaner assembly to stay open all the time. Also adjusted the TV cable. With the combination of all those tweeks she runs like a dream now.

I was surprised my Tech 2 actually communicated with an old OBD I system although 1990 was too old so I had to lie to the tool and tell it we were monitoring a 1992. The data flow looked right on the money.



Starts nice! One would never guess this ratty old truck was sporting a tight little TBI 5.7L.

YouTube - TBI 5.7L in 1972 C20

[LuckyHenriksen]

Awesome. Im jealous, I want a reliable motor

[cjracing15]

That sounds great. I hope mine sounds that good when I start it.

[DirtyLarry]

Digging up an old thread from years ago (last post December 2008!).


I saw my old ’72 Beater truck rolling around town a few weeks ago while I was eating lunch outside on a warm winter day at the local corner burrito joint (I sold it in March of 2009). It looked pretty much the same but dirtier with more patina (roof was almost completely white with more orange showing through) and the winter sand dirty brown grim all over it (no white roadsalt residue in this area!). Glad to see the original grill was still in one piece as I watched her go by. Watching it leave the stop light sounded like the TBI 5.7L was still running strong. It kinda made me sad hearing it and seeing it in action.

TBI 5.7L swaps are pretty much old news in these high horse power LS engine swap days but this old mess really turn out nice for what it was and performed much better than any stock carbureted 350 ever could. Kinda miss the ole girl. Seeing it around town is like seeing an ex-nympho girlfriend when you see her around town with another guy. Just had to sit back and grin and hurt a little deep down inside.

I’m kinda disappointed the guy that bought it didn’t come to this forum to tell the rest of the story as he said he would. He claimed to have grandiose plans for it including paint, wheels, etc. I still have parts at home that I told him he could have next time he was in the area. That was over 3 years ago and I never heard from him again.

Life moves on but like an ex, I hope I don’t ever see her around town again! None the less, very entertaining and makes for a topic of discussion in our truck threads

[rambler]

I remember this thread from way back,, and I had to laugh at this..

"Kinda miss the ole girl. Seeing it around town is like seeing an ex-nympho girlfriend when you see her around town with another guy. Just had to sit back and grin and hurt a little deep down inside"

I know how you feel..

[dukcaln]

all that work and you sold it.... man I would moss it too...LOL

[awbrown]

What ? No air conditioniong?? does the engine have the brackets for an AC compresor??

[Katrina/10]

Originally Posted by rambler

I remember this thread from way back,, and I had to laugh at this..

"Kinda miss the ole girl. Seeing it around town is like seeing an ex-nympho girlfriend when you see her around town with another guy. Just had to sit back and grin and hurt a little deep down inside"

I know how you feel..

Just thinking the same thing!

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by awbrown

What ? No air conditioniong?? does the engine have the brackets for an AC compresor??

Yeah, the truck did not have A/C but all of the serpentine brackets from the era of the engine donor had provisions for A/C. Vehicles that didn’t have A/C got an A/C compressor delete bracket like I used on this truck.