The 283 Rebuild Begins

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by jason65

Glad to hear it Mac. You did a good job breathing some life into your ol pick-up.

Thanks, Jason - it'll never be a show rig, but that's okay - she's quickly paying her way back now. The only very minor glitch is you can't make corners too tight, because the front springs I bought are over two inches shorter and I'm running 235's (60's) T/A radials all the way around. Not a biggie - may go to 195's (60's) in the front for a bit more clearance.

Mac.

[MacAttack]

Going on eight months now after rebuilding the 283 and my boy's using the old C10 six days a week in his landscaping business - and now we've started hauling the boat to the ocean on Sundays. So far - everything's running great and I'm really glad I put the time and money into the old girl.

Thanks for all your help, guys.

[daverod]

Sorry about the 12 years. Good to see the trucks getttin it done. So your about ready for another project huh?

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by daverod

So your about ready for another project huh?

I have a bone-stock 327 on an engine dolly in the garage that's calling to me.

[jason65]

Thats the proof of a job well done Mac. Glad your happy with it and enjoying it.

[Alan's Classic]

Originally Posted by jason65

Thats the proof of a job well done Mac. Glad your happy with it and enjoying it.

[Alan's Classic]

Glad to see a post from ya Mac. Glad things are working out well with the truck.

[MacAttack]

Rear end is making noise on tight turn corners. Put a post in the Engine & Drive-line Section to try and get some information. It's more annoying than anything. Doubt if it's really tearing anything up in the Posi.

Mac.

[protrash64]

I would add GM posi additive. Only one that works as far as Ive heard.

[daverod]

Good to see ya still kickin. miss ya . When's the next build?

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by daverod

When's the next build?

Well - I've got the 327 on an engine dolly - buried in the back of my garage that's been calling to me. I picked it up - complete - for a hundred bucks, some time back from a guy at the shop. It might be an anchor or - with any luck - something to throw a great deal of money at, again.

We'll see this winter.

Mac.

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by protrash64

I would add GM posi additive.

Yep - everybody says that.

Unfortunately, from what I've heard - it's not compatible with that Valvoline synthetic that's in the pumpkin presently. Friday the truck's going to H.B.Trans and they'll flush it out - put the normal hypoid in and, of course, the GM posi additive.

You know I can't just have a simple fix and there has to be much blood-letting, teeth gnashing and screaming tears before everything settles back down anyway.

[4dranch]

Congrats Mac...

[MacAttack]

I'm back - sort of - been sick for a bit.

Truck is doing fine and now that the weather is warming up my son and I are starting to go fishing, towing my boat - sometimes on the freeway - like this last Saturday.

60 mph is fairly easy, although I've got a minor problem of a slight pre-det knock, despite running premium and '104' additive, just in case (remember my paranoid nature).

The pinging only happens going up grades - so I'm hoping it's a timing thing.

Any advice you guys can give will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mac.

[justcuz]

It is probably timing. What is it set at initial? It should be somewhere between 4 and 10 degrees. Need to check a book if you have one. 8 is a good place to start. Basically if you are going up hills the vacuum advance is supposed to allow you to keep a constant speed without the pinging. As you accelerate vacuum drops retarding the timing as you climb the grade. If the vacuum advance is working you have too much advance. You can check the vacuum advance by using a vacuum pump on the advance mechanism and seeing if it moves with the distributor cap off.

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by justcuz

It is probably timing. What is it set at initial? It should be somewhere between 4 and 10 degrees. Need to check a book if you have one. 8 is a good place to start.

Yeah - that's what I thought. The distributor is a GM HEI unit and the rebuilt engine has about 3.500 miles. Runs fine on the street unless it's towing the boat and pushed hard - then it starts to protest a bit. Will the timing change mess with the starting? Fires instantly now.

[justcuz]

No it should not hurt it. Modern TBI engines are set at zero and start instantly too. As long as you are not retarded you should be fine. I would back the timing off a couple degrees at a time and see when the pinging stops. If that does not help, put it back to where it was and check your vacuum advance.

[Alan's Classic]

Nice to see ya posting. Let us know if the timing fixes your problem.
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[justcuz]

it could be a game stopper if not fixed. Preignition can do serious damage to an engine. You don't want to mess it up with those few miles on it.

[jason65]

I was wearing my Jack's shirt the other day and thought agout you and wondered how your ole truck was holding up. Good to see it's still kicking.

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by jason65

Good to see it's still kicking.

Glad to hear from you kid - yeah "The Tan" is still going to work every day.

[MacAttack]

Let a buddy of mine have the truck for a couple of hours on Saturday morning. He put a set of platinum plugs in the '283' and moved the timing back a bit.

That was it. It runs like a bat out of h*%@ now.

Haven't hooked the boat and trailer up to it, but there's a steep grade near my place - that sets up on a bluff and I went up that sucker five times - flat out - without a single ping.

Later on - i washed the truck and took her out on the 405 for a blast and got her up to about 75 without a sweat - but then the front end started to shake just a bit - so I backed out of it. As we never tow above 65 - because of the law - that front end work can come later.

Thanks for the great advise guys - another small block saved from a dummy.

Mac

[MikeS.]

Well Hell, this was a great read. Thanks for the novel Mac, I'm looking forward to the sequel.

I've got a 63 Burb coming, it has a 283 in it. I was thinking of putting a 327 or a 350 in it but now I don't know. Guess I'll drive it some 1st.

[MacAttack]

FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR THE '283'

Hope you're all well.

Mac

[Alan's Classic]

Congrats!!! I'm good. Glad to hear from ya.
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