'72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion

[rickcdewitt]

are you going to stay with 3.54 gears with those tires? nice to see another somewhat local build,i'm up near ukiah.

[RThree]

Originally Posted by rickcdewitt

are you going to stay with 3.54 gears with those tires? nice to see another somewhat local build,i'm up near ukiah.

That's the plan, the NV4500 I put in is the early (1993) version that has a lower gear ratio so it should work out well. I'm looking for better gas mileage.

[Vintage Windmills]

subscribed, I like your project and longhorns!

[RThree]

Hey guys, I'm finally back at this project after getting distracted this last year. The big delay recently was trying to find a cross member for my 292 to sit on after taking out the 2wd front assembly it sat on previously. After poking around and being laughed at for trying to find an original 292 4wd cross member it dawned on me that it had been sitting in the yard this whole time in the original 2wd cross member.

I figured I would cut it out of the front 2wd cross member assembly and fabricate my own 4wd cross member from it. A couple cut-off wheels later and a little time in the sandblasting room i had it out and cleaned up. Then with the help of my Dad we clean up the edges ground down the factory spot welded tabs down on the inside and made it look pretty. I think it turned out pretty well!

[RThree]

This weekend the plan is to get it painted, drill the new holes and mount it in the truck so we can set the engine down on it. Once that is done we can mount the transmission and start working on driveshafts!

[nobolt]

welcome back!
i bet you're happy you didn't get rid of the front end.

[RThree]

Originally Posted by nobolt

welcome back!
i bet you're happy you didn't get rid of the front end.

Yeah I definitely am! I tried to sell it as a whole a couple times but thankfully they all fell through. But now the outer parts are back up for sale!

[rickcdewitt]

Nice simple solution for the 292 crossmember.did you decide against the 454?

[RThree]

Originally Posted by rickcdewitt

Nice simple solution for the 292 crossmember.did you decide against the 454?

For now I'm staying with the 292, I have heard nothing but good things about this engine. But the dream is still the 454, the sound and power that engine makes is just amazing!

[RThree]

Today I got the engine set where i want it so that if I do decide in the future to swap out the 292 for a 454 there will be enough room front to back. I started test fitting my newly created cross member and began drilling holes. Next steps once it is all mounted is to start drilling holes for the transmission cross member. once thats done its on to fitting drive shafts!

[tommys72]

Nice build, i haven't checked in on this one in a bit. Looking good!

[El Dorado Jim]

you are doing a great job, i will be following the rest of your build

[7dee2]

Nice, glad you're getting it sorted out!

[RThree]

Alright, I got my cross member installed and it was looking great! Then I got the Dana 60 cross over steering kit from OffRoadDesign.com and installed it. Its exactly what i wanted and looks great.... until you turn about 3/4s of the way to the right. The cross over tie rod hits the front of the cross member we just created. Oh well its always something. Seems ill need to trim about an inch or so off the front of the cross member to get the clearance i need. 1 step forward...

[Ol Blue K20]

Aw s@# !! Always something.

[Dieselwrencher]

Awesome build you have going here! Have you been able to make any progress on the truck lately?

[RThree]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Awesome build you have going here! Have you been able to make any progress on the truck lately?

Thank you! And also thank you for the reminder to post a little progress!

Well we finally got her moved into a garage! So that was a big step. We also got the custom cross member issue resolved by trimming a little off one side so the high steer kit will work. We also got the leaf spring mounts welded back onto the rear dana 60 axle, on and the front dana 60 we had to weld on a longer centering pins on the leaf springs so it would extend though the 7 deg wedge we installed to get the right angle for the lift. Then i got the shock mount brackets drilled and mounted to the frame.

We decided to keep the carrier bearing and cross member for the drive shaft since the angles should work pretty well, we just had to shorten the output drive shaft from the 205 transfer case to the carrier bearing.

Next its onto the breaks. I ended up mounting the E-Brake brackets to the rear 4wd leaf spring shackles and i think they fit pretty well there. I am sitting down to order some new breaklines for the rear axle and the front also. After that its time to see if this little 292 will still fireup after a few years!

[RThree]

Few more photos.

[Dieselwrencher]

It's looking very nice. Have you gotten any lock outs for the D60 yet? I'd ditch those auto locking ones asap.

[fishnixon]

Just read the build...nice job! I needed the info, as I am considering this setup for “Dumptruck Dolly”, my 292 powered C30 (currently) dumper. I’ll stay tuned for your build.

[RThree]

Well... after my wife and I had our first child this year and things are finally starting to settle down its back to work on the truck. its been a while but we have progress!

I decided the 6" lift was a little to high for my liking, so I have pulled that out and switched to a 4" lift which is much better. Unfortunately that means the cross over steering had to be removed because the 2" drop causing it to hit the our custom 4x4 292 cross member... two steps forward one back. Oh well so instead i went with a 4" steering block from Rough Country to counter the bumper steer which seems to be working well.

I got the brake lines taken care of with the Off Roast Design braided stainless steel flex lines which i really like because they look like stock hoses unless your close up. Then this past weekend we were able start her up and drove her around the field a little bit! EVERYTHING WORKS!!! after 4 years of sitting the engine only need about 3 min of love to fire up and ran like a champ.

This week its off to the muffler shop, does anybody have recommendations for what muffler setup sounds good on on 292? my current plan is to do a single pipe dump right behind the cab with a Magnaflow... but i am open to suggestions.

[Dieselwrencher]

Congrats on the new child and the truck is looking great! I have heard thrush mufflers on lead sleds with 6 cylinders and they sounded pretty nice!

[RThree]

Well been working a lot on getting the engine dusted off and tuned in, rebuilt the Monojet carburetor which was WAY out of adjustment and that helped out quite a bit, also replaced the throttle cable as it was in pretty bad shape but that is about all i had to do. Had a single exhaust installed which dumps out under the bed with a Flowmaster 40 series muffler I had laying around to keep the cost down. here is a short video of how it sounds now.

https://youtu.be/BLo_5nW8LGE

Still sounds like its chugging a little bit but i don't have much experience with 292s so im not sure if that is just how a they sound any input is appreciated!

I am also finding that my gear ratios are far to tall for this little engine to manage so Im looking into swapping in a set of 4.10s and removing the 3.56s which will match my front axle anyways.

The sway bar is going on this weekend ill post some pictures of that, ill be doubling up the front cross member so create a mounting point. Im hoping helps with some steering issues.

Another day another couple dollars gone, but hey you have to have something to blow your money on!

[Dieselwrencher]

A little here and a little there! It sounds pretty good. I bet the 292 doesn't like the big tires and 3.56s that well. The 4.10s will help a bunch.

[RThree]

Hey guys I need some help... my 292 is running like crap. You can hear it here https://youtu.be/BLo_5nW8LGE

We tested it with a heat gun as it warmed up and it seemed that cylinder 5 and 6 are not firing. We then pulled the spark plugs wires for 5 and 6 as it was running and nothing changed confirming that they are not firing.

Cylinders 5 and 6 have 120psi and 135psi of compression respectively which seems goods, we have confirmed solid spark on each cyclnder and the mono jet carb has been rebuilds and adjusted and the other 4 cylinders are firing right along.... so we’re lost HELP!

Any suggestions?