Project 66: Stickin' With The Stepside

[84GMC15tepside]

After the first motor seized from a thrust bearing failure, I picked up an even better engine. 350 with 2,000 miles on a rebuild, out of a Chevelle. About 360 horse. So I dropped it in and it fired up with no issues at all.

[84GMC15tepside]

I put in the bench seat, bled the brakes, and got to drive it for the first time... ever. Really weird and awesome feeling since I am so much more used to it sitting than running and driving lol.

[84GMC15tepside]

My father and I trailered it out. Hit no traffic and it just sprinkled in New York and a little in Michigan. 14 hour drive all said and done. I put a car cover on the truck and it glued itself to the front end/windshield, while the back of it eventually ripped and flapped in the wind haha. Must of looked pretty funny going down the highway. Last picture is the truck in its new home

[LT7A]

Congratulations on your new job for 'The General'! You've made a lot of good progress on the truck too. I was glad to see that you stuck with it through the setbacks.

Originally Posted by

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It looks like the new motor is really 'going to bat for you'.

[84GMC15tepside]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Congratulations on your new job for 'The General'! You've made a lot of good progress on the truck too. I was glad to see that you stuck with it through the setbacks.

It looks like the new motor is really 'going to bat for you'.

Thank you! I've learned over the years, especially with this project, to never give up. Perseverance is key, even when all odds seem against you

[Hankster]

That Engine looks great! I know the feeling of driving one for the first time. There is nothing else like it!

[Greenlee]

Nice build! Congrats on the new job.

[84GMC15tepside]

I need to keep up with my progress! Life has been going by fast.

My focus right now is getting the truck road worthy. Major things that need to get done are wiring for lights, mounting the read fenders, fixing the throttle linkage, among a million little things.

Here is my headlight wire harness, during the fix. It was in surprisingly good condition. I cleaned it up, retape the splices, new blinker lights, etc.



My tail light harness is another story. It's basically unusable. Anyone know where I can find a good tail light harness for a stepside? I need all the wiring from the dash - back. I tried searching for what I need with no luck.

[84GMC15tepside]

The transmission was leaking at the speedometer hook-up location. So I took it out (it's called a speedo bullet for an auto transmission because it looks like a bullet. Not sure what to call it here). It has the speedometer pinion seal and the outer o-ring seal. Going to replace both.

new speedo pinion seal: Rock auto: SKF 4010, Alternate/OEM Part Number(s): 2235366, 326563

new outer o-ring: went to the hardware store and got it.

[84GMC15tepside]

When it warms up, I'll get some better pictures of the truck. I realize I haven't posted good pictures of the entire truck for a long time.

[84GMC15tepside]

Speedo leak, pic rotated counter clockwise

[RDrancher]

Nice project.

I'm jealous of your seat. My wife wants a bench in our Burb and it happens to be blue. Hard to find around here in decent shape.

[84GMC15tepside]

Originally Posted by RDrancher

Nice project.

I'm jealous of your seat. My wife wants a bench in our Burb and it happens to be blue. Hard to find around here in decent shape.

Thanks! Yeah the original one was trash so I scored mine off craigslist, all redone

[84GMC15tepside]

EDIT TO POST #84

The SKF seal DOES NOT WORK. Too big and it has a metal housing. So I went to a local auto parts store and gave them the number on the original seal (I can get that # for anyone interested).

The following is the part number for speedo speedometer pinion seal for A833 NP440 MY6 4 speed OD (all the key words in case someone is searching in the future): SO-13 by ATP. You can see it the difference between the old orange seal and the tighter black seal!





I just put it in tonight and I will update once I add tranny fluid.

[84GMC15tepside]

Pic from the weekend.

[D13]

Awesome read.
Curious what gear was in it factory? I'm seriously contemplating a 250/A833 build and wondering how it drove. Keith's truck has the injected 4.3 which is more powerful than a 250.
BTW PM me, I'm a Tech Center guy and when the weather cleans up I'd love to look at your truck. Mebbe I'll fix the fuel leaks and drive the 87 diesel in and you can laugh at it.

[84GMC15tepside]

Originally Posted by D13

Awesome read.
Curious what gear was in it factory? I'm seriously contemplating a 250/A833 build and wondering how it drove. Keith's truck has the injected 4.3 which is more powerful than a 250.
BTW PM me, I'm a Tech Center guy and when the weather cleans up I'd love to look at your truck. Mebbe I'll fix the fuel leaks and drive the 87 diesel in and you can laugh at it.

Thank you. TBH I never drove the truck before I started taking it apart! I got it before I got my license. But when my father had it as a DD in the 90s, he said it was a really smooth combo, but naturally the stock 250 didn't have much power. The truck didn't have a SPID and I didn't check the gearing before I took it apart. I would assume 3.42?? I was going to enter my vin at the GM heritage center so I should be able to find out.

And haha sounds good! I'd love to check it out, and your other rides.

[84GMC15tepside]

Such a nice weekend! 65 and sunny both days... can't beat it. I was out all afternoon, both days working on the truck. It felt good to wear shorts and a t-shirt lol.

[84GMC15tepside]

I realize how lucky I am to have gone the harder route of using GM parts only (where I can). It's amazing looking back how much crap I have gotten from replacement parts companies. For example, the stock clutch rod from the pedal to the z-bar is worn on the ends after 30 years of use. It's pretty sloppy. I bought a new replacement over the summer and gave it a quick look-over. All seemed good. Of course, I didn't attempt to put it in until yesterday... and the ends have a smaller OD than the original clutch rod. Even more slop!

Looks like I'll have a welder fill in the worn spots and I'll file it down to size.

[84GMC15tepside]

So I got the clutch rod welded and I put it in. I drove around the neighborhood... OMG is this thing sweet! Runs like a top, goes and sounds great, shifts like butter.

Just have to finish a couple of things before it's ready for the road: sticky throttle cable, install coolant overflow, put in the headlights/taillights, put on rear fenders, get the exhaust on, ETC. Pictures to come soon.

[84GMC15tepside]

Back again with more updates. I put in my wiring harnesses, headlights, tail lights. Overall the wiring went smooth but I still have a couple issues to chase down. The left blinker blinks but not correctly like the right side, the reverse lights do not come on, and the rear driver light is dim. Couple problems could just be grounds.

[84GMC15tepside]

I was having a hard time finding a GM driver side fender. Mine was OK but the nuts on the fender all needed to be replaced. I eventually found a complete California stepside bed in really good shape down in Ohio. It happened to be near a Summit Racing shop and distribution center so I had to stop by...

[84GMC15tepside]

Here it is with the front clip complete and the bed on... And I officially named her Roxanne

[84GMC15tepside]

So this is how it should look for the summer. Current task list: put on tailgate and rear bumper, fix electrical issues, put on the exhaust, and a bunch of little things as you all know.

[84GMC15tepside]

Here are some pics just before putting the bed on. Got lots of work done this Saturday. My buddy helped with the rear shocks as I was prepping the bed. He had a nifty idea to use a sleeve on the shock extenders instead of the ugly hardware that came with the kit. $10 later, I ended up buying nice looking sleeve bushings from the hardware store. lol. You can see when the flip kit was put in, the mounting bracket had to be trimmed a little to clear the shock extender hardware.