New guy here! 1986 GMC C3500.

[TwoFiftyShifter]

Yeah sounds good, I travel east on I84 like every weekend to see my girl, whatever works.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Close to every other weekend I'm down in Westchester. My girlfriend goes to school down there, haha. We'll work something out. Weekends start to get busy starting in the spring. Thats when wheeling season starts, which is why I'm trying to haul ass on getting this rig built. It has to pull my Jeep (eventually two, once I get a large enough trailer) back an forth on 1-4 hour trips to the trails. Thats the only reason I got a 1-ton dually. Once a little more progress is made I'll start a build thread. Hopefully this weekend I'll get the exhaust fixed up (for now), some new plugs installed, fluids changed and Tuesday I'll rip off the carb to rebuild and clean.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Here is a shot of the interior (pay no attention to the dirty floor and stockpile of parts in the passenger side, haha) It is pretty clean overall, but it was a farm truck for sure.... I found pieces of hay behind the seat.

[Matt Man]

Originally Posted by Kenbo-Slice

Here is a shot of the interior (pay no attention to the dirty floor and stockpile of parts in the passenger side, haha) It is pretty clean overall, but it was a farm truck for sure.... I found pieces of hay behind the seat.

Wow thats a clean floorboard for a northern truck!!!! nice rig btw i love them reg cab duallys.

[justpball]

Welcome and nice rig

[Kenbo-Slice]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

Yeah Matt, I was surprised at how clean the truck is body-wise. The ONLY spots that there is rust (other than just surface scale) are the rockers and the inner fenders. The floor of the bed is dented to hell, but again.... It was a farm truck haha. The frame is solid, even the sheet metal underneath is all solid.

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

Awesome dually and a loaded one at that, power everything! I see that NAPA trailer brake controller hanging down under the dash too, my flatbed had the same one in it when I got the truck and its been workin great.

[1973GMC_1500]

Nice truck!
You stole those fuel tanks, LOL.
What is the light(s) above the speedo / fuel gauges? On the diesels it's Glow Plugs and Water In Fuel, but I always wondered why most 454s has a light there as well.

[Kenbo-Slice]

The two lights above the speedo on my truck are high-beam indicators. Power everything indeed, haha! I did A LOT of work on it today. Mainly because I blew a brake line in the rear, and then a couple wires for the plugs and distributor got messed up.

All in all today...The rear brakes, new plugs, new wires, temporary exhaust (that actually sounds GREAT) and front brakes were all done. I need new calipers up front, and the calipers that I went to put on today were the wrong ones..... So tomorrow I have another project haha. Still a ton to do on this thing...

[Kenbo-Slice]

Yesterday I tore into the truck a bit more, here are some pictures of the process.

Changing spark plugs and installing new plug wires.


Throwing some 35" boggers in the back just to see what it would look like, haha. (they are for a Jeep. I would keep them if the load rating was heavier)


The dreaded #8 plug........ The A/C unit was RIGHT in the way and I realized how big the engine compartment is on this beast. Solution: a diagonal 2X4 to lay my chest on so I can get right in there. Haha, simple yet I didn't think of it until I fought with the plug for a good 10 minutes.


After it all was done, I took it for a spin since my idle was turned up a bit, I had new plugs/wires, the brakes worked again and I had a sweet sounding exhaust.

[MrBeast]

Welcome to the board. They are great trucks man, I am fixing to stuff a Cummins in my 85, there is a lot you can do with them, and man they last forever.

Build it right and it should last you for years to come.

[1973GMC_1500]

The two lights above the speedo on my truck are high-beam indicators.

I'm talking about the big rectangular box at the top of the dash bezel. I thought it had something to do with emissions.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Ohhhhhh, haha. I honestly have no idea..... It may be emissions related but I'm not sure. I'm stripping all the stuff for emisssions on the truck since It isn't being used at the moment anyway. I'll check and see if the Chilton manual says anything about it.

[86454k30]

The square gauge above the speedometer is the check engine light...seems to be 1986 only. The diesels have a similar gauge for water in fuel and glow plugs but, on the gas rigs it is a check engine light.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Haha, fair enough. Well I'm glad that I didn't know what it was for then!

[MrBeast]

My 85 has that indicator pannel there as well, it is where the check engine light is.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Hey guys, quick question.... I'm new to this whole actually having power game haha. What would be a good cam to put into the 454 for towing? I'm going to be estimating here, but the trailers that I'll be pulling will be between 6,000 and 14,000lbs. I don't want to have anything too extreme, but a little more low end would be welcome. I don't feel like re-gearing the axle (not yet at least) because I dont want to be cruising down the road with the rpm's at 4k.

[1973GMC_1500]

Check engine, interesting. Never been around any of these 80s trucks with big-block power (unless you count 6.2's)
It would be interesting to have 454 power for towing

[Kenbo-Slice]

Well your signature says you have a 79' crew cab dually in need of an engine........ GET A 454!! haha.

[Sarge261]

I'll check in from NY too. I am on board with setting up a meet. Not too sure I would be able to bring Zues but I will be there.

Thats a nice lookin truck you have there, I was lookin for a dually 4x4, but that was a virtually impossible find around here.

Also I see you're a Volunteer Fireman..good for you, I am a chief up here. Stay safe and hopefully our paths will cross someday.

Sarge

[MrBeast]

Id take a good hard look at RV cam's, you want to look at one for an early 70's non emissions motor home. They were setup for making boat loads of torque because they were a van chassis that was always going to be loaded down heavy.

I wouldnt regear your rear end, instead id look really hard at a NV4500 swap. If you check my build thread you can get all the details there. It cost me less than 1500.00 to do.

[Mike C]

Nice truck. I have an '86 K30 with 454 I am fooling with. I would not run a cam with more than 210 degrees duration at .050 which would be like a Comp 260 cam. I run a Crane 266 in my Jimmy which is 210@ .050 and is one of the best mods I have done (dropping from 228 at .050 which had the powerband all wrong.) This put power in a sweet spot for the SM465 which is what my K30 is equipped with as well.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Hey Mike do you have any pics of your Willys and M38A1? I'd like to see them!

Oh, and thank you for the info. I want to do a new timing set, so I figured that a new cam would be smart since I'll have the front of the motor torn down anyway.

[Mike C]

Sure thing.

[Kenbo-Slice]

Originally Posted by Sarge261

I'll check in from NY too. I am on board with setting up a meet. Not too sure I would be able to bring Zues but I will be there.

Thats a nice lookin truck you have there, I was lookin for a dually 4x4, but that was a virtually impossible find around here.

Also I see you're a Volunteer Fireman..good for you, I am a chief up here. Stay safe and hopefully our paths will cross someday.

Sarge

Ya never know Sarge..... I don't know how far upstate you are, but I just drove the Jeep to Canada last month. I may have passed ya on the highway!

Oh and Mike, Thanks for the pic! Amazing!!! That 44 is great, but that M38A1 has a MEAN stance!