Project: Rufus Restoration

[Rusbuilt]

Man that wiring looks like fun! Ouch!

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by slosteve

Is that a 'drive by wire' throttle assembly?

The throttle assembly is drive by wire as mcmlxix pointed out. I will likely mount the ecm, tac, and engine fuse box under the dash behind the radio.

Originally Posted by Rusbuilt

Man that wiring looks like fun! Ouch!

It's not as bad as it looks. Plenty of research and I finally almost know what I'm doing! The true test will be when it's time to fire. We shall see.

Rus, it doesn't look like I'll be able to make the swap meet this coming weekend. If anything else comes up in the near future, please let me know. I'd like to meet the local guys sometime.

[DBear]

Off base question.....what brand tires are those on the rear of the rolling chassis? Truck is looking great!

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by DBear

Off base question.....what brand tires are those on the rear of the rolling chassis? Truck is looking great!

I don't really know off hand what brand they are. They were on the truck when I bought it a couple years ago. I'll check next time I can, and let you know.

[Rusbuilt]

Originally Posted by shearjs

Rus, it doesn't look like I'll be able to make the swap meet this coming weekend. If anything else comes up in the near future, please let me know. I'd like to meet the local guys sometime.

Its ok friend there will be other times I'm sure!

[slosteve]

Originally Posted by shearjs

The throttle assembly is drive by wire as mcmlxix pointed out.

It's not as bad as it looks. Plenty of research and I finally almost know what I'm doing! The true test will be when it's time to fire. We shall see. .

I'm using a 2006 Trailblazer I6 in one of my projects; I got all of the harness to where it passed through the firewall which is where the interior fire had fried it, and the drive by wire pedal assembly.
I also have to go through my harness and delete the wiring that I don't need, which I'm not sure of. Did you use a wiring schematic and if so where did you get it?

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by slosteve

I'm using a 2006 Trailblazer I6 in one of my projects; I got all of the harness to where it passed through the firewall which is where the interior fire had fried it, and the drive by wire pedal assembly.
I also have to go through my harness and delete the wiring that I don't need, which I'm not sure of. Did you use a wiring schematic and if so where did you get it?

I used information gathered from lt1swap.com and from various other builds on this site to determine which steps to take next. Lt1swap had the pinouts needed to determine which wires to keep, which to eliminate, and so on. There's plenty of info on the net, it's just sometimes difficult to find exactly what you're looking for. I'm happy to help if there's any info you need from me.
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[shearjs]

I've been gathering parts the past several weeks, but I just haven't had the time to get in the garage. My wiring harness is ready for a test run, and I've had my ecu reflashed and ready to go. New plugs, wires, oil, and filter are in a box and ready to go on. Purchased an auxilary battery box to put my battery on the driver side, and utilize some more of my LS wiring. Also picked up a rear disc brake kit from Truckmanloco. Now, if i could just make some time to get my hands dirty.

[shearjs]

Just picked up a rebuilt tilt from 70shortfleet (les). This packaging was unbelievable. I dont' know where my project would be without this site. It truly is a great place, with great people.

[steelhorse]

Nice looking truck. The old 54 is pretty cool to,my stepdad has one that I have been trying to get from him for years.

[69sinker]

Great build, are those thorleys 323's (1 7/8)and what color of blue is that, looks awesome
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[shearjs]

Originally Posted by steelhorse

Nice looking truck. The old 54 is pretty cool to,my stepdad has one that I have been trying to get from him for years.

The 54 was a lot of fun. Look forward to the day that I get it on the road again.

Originally Posted by 69sinker

Great build, are those thorleys 323's (1 7/8)and what color of blue is that, looks awesome
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The headers have the 1-7/8" primaries. I can't remember the part number off the top of my head, but they were the newer ones at the time. I've had them since this time last year, and have yet to hear that engine sing. Hopefully soon. The color is imperial blue metallic. It's the dark blue they've been putting on the new body style Camaros, as well as some other vehicles I'm sure. I saw a project a while back that had midnight blue metallic, and fell in love with it, so I wanted something similar, and that's whe.re I ended up. Glad you like it. Can't wait to see the truck with some color.

[Rusbuilt]

WOW! Nice tilt column!

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by Rusbuilt

WOW! Nice tilt column!

Thanks buddy. Can't wait to see a little blue paint on it.

[shearjs]

UPDATE!!!!

She's alive!! Finally got a chance to see some action from all that time spent tangled up in wiring. It's still needs some rearranging and combining, but my harness is finally where it needs to be. After a few minor issues, we were able to get the beast to fire, and what a relief it finally was to hear her purr. Also got the tilt column painted and installed. I got caught up in the moment a little, so my camera man skills need some work, but you should be able to get the jist of it. Enjoy!

First Start Up!!

I posted a link to the video on my FB account. I don't know how to embed the video here, so if anyone can enlighten me, please do.

[67cheby]

AWESOME congrats on bringing her to life !

[Rusbuilt]

the link says the content is unavailable. Do you have a youtube account? If not its free then you can link it here!

[shearjs]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

AWESOME congrats on bringing her to life !

Thanks buddy. You'll be firing that new beast of yours in no time.

Originally Posted by Rusbuilt

the link says the content is unavailable. Do you have a youtube account? If not its free then you can link it here!

Maybe this will work.

First Start Up!!

[Rusbuilt]

Sounds great!!

[shearjs]

Put in a few hours with pops and made some progress over the previous weekend. Recently ordered a Lokar column cable shift and was able to get it mostly installed. I'm having a little trouble getting the gear indicator on the column to match up exactly with the actual gears on the tranny. It may just need more adjusting though. Also spent some time trying to figure out where to mount the ecu inside of the cab. We searched high and low for a spot under the dash, but just never really found a place that I really liked, so I decided to mount it under the seat, just behind the transmission hump. Hopefully it works out at that location. We also figured out a dilemma we've been pondering on regarding which rearend to use. Since the truck was originally a long bed GMC, it had a leaf rear suspension, with the narrow rearend. The donor frame we used came from a 72 stepside with a trailing arm suspension and the wider rear end. I had initially planned on using the wide rearend, but found a crack in the pumpkin and decided to go with the narrow. Bought same axle mounts from ECE a while back, and finally got those welding into place. Swapped in some 5 lug Mosers and bolted on the rear caliper brackets. Still need to get some rear rotors on order but that should finish up the rear end, aside from brake lines for now. I plan on doing a gear swap and a posi at some point, but the current goal is to just get back on the road. Also measured for a new driveshaft and plan to get that order in soon. All that progress and only 1 picture. What a shame.

[Rusbuilt]

Still great progress though! We do need more pictures, you should be ashamed of yourself! lol

[shearjs]

Got a weekend with Pops coming up, so I'll make sure to document some progress this time around. I've been collecting some parts and put together a small list of things that need to get done soon. I'd like to have my exhaust figured out this weekend, and at the very least, tacked together. Also have a new power steering gear box to install, so that I can return the core for a few $ back in my pocket. Picked up a high hump trans cover that will hopefully allow me to raise the tailshaft on my trans a couple degrees at the very least, to reduce the difference between that and the pinion angle. I also recently picked up an American Autowire Classic Update kit, but I likely won't dive into that for a few more weeks. And for the biggest news, I have a sale pending on my motorcycle, so if that goes through in the next couple wks, I'll have plenty more new parts!!

[Rusbuilt]

Sweet! can't wait to see updated pics!

[JRANGER]

^_^ yeah...You sir have been slacking on the pics..Remember April 13th...Come visit

[shearjs]

I made a trip up to KY over the weekend to spend some time with pops in the garage. We were able to complete the weekend's agenda and get everything done that was on the to do list. First on the ticket was swapping in a remanufactured power steering gear box from napa. Next up was getting the back half of the exhaust mocked up and welded into position. My welding skills need some serious practice, but we were able to get it together. It may not be the prettiest but it'll at least be functional. Also took some 1/8" steel and bent up a mount for my LS computer. I took a page out of BuckSS book and created a mount similar to the one he made for his '68. And best of all, I remembered to take pictures!