"Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Damien

Ken, thank you for the thourogh write-up on refinishing the door panels. I'm anxious to see the final results. Your experience is giving me confidence I can recolor a set of panels I have and finally get rid of the Suburban door panels.

Its my pleasure to pass along my experience and knowledge. I have found that you can do complete color changes, or restore existing color. The key to durability is meticulous preparation. Be patient, and persistent for great results.

[N2TRUX]

And its gone....

[ElGracho]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

And its gone....

Sold? Trailer or truck?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

And its gone....

Originally Posted by ElGracho

Sold? Trailer or truck?

The 18' trailer. The truck is not for sale...

[N2TRUX]

Well, there goes another one. I had a guy really hot to buy my 18' trailer, but he was second in line. The 18 sold to first in line, so I offered my 20' to next up. He said he wanted to come look at it.

I spent the evening wire wheeling the fenders and light brackets. They got a few coats of primer and I sprayed gloss by work light. I put the finishing touches on and wrapped up around midnight. This morning he brought me a stack of cash and the 20' went down the road as well.


Soooo, anyone near Houston have an 18' or 20' dovetail trailer for sale? Message me with what you have.

[Mpiersd]

you sure put a lot of work into selling a trailer.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Mpiersd

you sure put a lot of work into selling a trailer.

I dont let anything leave my driveway without a complete detail. I sell them as if I were the buyer.

[N2TRUX]

I finally got my trailer sales behind me along with a list of things around the house that needed attention. I managed to get some quality time with Jake on Sunday morning. The starter solenoid had been slowly going out. I bought a new starter a few weeks back, but never got time to replace it.

I realize a starter change shouldnt take long, but I always plan for the worse. Fortunately it went without any issues.

[N2TRUX]

We took a bit of time to clean the area behind the starter. Nothing major, just a quick clean up. It appears I have a valve cover gasket thats seeping. I'll get to that after I run a compression test to varify the validity of the motor.

The new starter did the trick. A short bump of the key and it starts right up. The more I play with this old big block, the more I want to see what potential its got.

[N2TRUX]

With the truck starting properly we decided to move on to another issue. We had previously stripped and loomed the tail light bed harness. We had installed new lights at that time as well. Unfortunately they never worked because the frame harness had a different style plug.

It seems there was a difference between the 84 frame harness plug and the 87 bed harness plug. I managed to source the later style plug from a friend, but we never got around to doing the install.

With a box full of United Pacific LED lights waiting to be put in place we knew the first step would be to get the existing system working. Chris cut the old harness to the correct length and spliced the later style plug in place.

Yes, I know the amber bulb is not correct.

[N2TRUX]

Once we verified the system worked correctly the lense went back in and we tested the United Pacific LED blinkers in the mirrors.

Heres a link to the lights in action- LINK

[BabyBlue]

Crew looks good Ken. I just bought a pair of those side mirrors for one of my projects as well. They are awesome.

Question for you. I may have missed it but are you going to be trying the new Mar-K trim? I would really like to see someone give a review on it because I personally haven't seen it aside from pics on the Syndicate S2, and those Mar-K peeps haven't ever replied to me after three separate occasions of trying to contact them and leaving messages. Looks like they finally put them for sale on the website at the hefty price of $2000/set. If not Mar-K, then are you getting the stuff from LMC/USA-1 or what?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by BabyBlue

Crew looks good Ken. I just bought a pair of those side mirrors for one of my projects as well. They are awesome.

Question for you. I may have missed it but are you going to be trying the new Mar-K trim? I would really like to see someone give a review on it because I personally haven't seen it aside from pics on the Syndicate S2, and those Mar-K peeps haven't ever replied to me after three separate occasions of trying to contact them and leaving messages. Looks like they finally put them for sale on the website at the hefty price of $2000/set. If not Mar-K, then are you getting the stuff from LMC/USA-1 or what?

Thanks for the kind words. I had not seen the latest prices posted by Mar_k . I did have a piece of the sidemolding in my hands at the C10 Nationals. I feel its certainly as good as NOS and probably better. It will be up to the consumer to decide if it's a good value.

[N2TRUX]

I recently discovered a clogged fuel filter and a bad plug wire. Repairing those issues along with adjusting the choke made the truck start and run much better.
Unfortunately the constant cranking had taken its toll and killed the starter. Chris and I replaced the starter and cleaned the area while we were at it. Initially i thought I had a seeping rear main seal. It appears that the oil is coming from both of the valve covers, not the rear seal.

[N2TRUX]

With the new starter installed it only took a bump of the key and it busted off. I'm getting some warm feelings toward this smog dog.Its as ugly as can be right now, but if you squint really hard you can see some potential.

[N2TRUX]

I have been considering my options for a motor from day one. I researched several different platforms and the pros and cons of each. There is no doubt the LS was the best bang for the buck. Due to that platform aging, the LT willl soon be the best way to go.

With that said, I still wanted to know what potential the existing powertrain has. I decided to run a compression test and change the plugs as well. The plugs told me a I have a carb that needs rebuilt, and there is no oil consumption.

I started with the passenger side and noticed that it had Motocraft plugs in it. No biggie, I wont blame that for lack of power. When I got to the drivers side I found a bank full of A/C Delco plugs. I have no idea why someone would do that. It now has a set of A/C Delco gapped at .40 all the way around.

[blazer2007]

are the mirrors metal or plastic and where did you buy them,might have missed it on your thread

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by blazer2007

are the mirrors metal or plastic and where did you buy them,might have missed it on your thread

They are the United Pacific mirrors-
LINK

They offer several different styles that are exact replicas of the OEM mirrors in style. The quality of casting and plating exceeds OEM quality.

They do sell the 73-87 "Sport mirrors" in regular or LED- LINK

I opted for the 70-72 style due to it being about an inch larger. Link

[N2TRUX]

Back in February when I was getting Jake ready for LST I realized how bad it sucked not having mirrors to use while backing up. I installed the stock rear view mirror and it immediately fell on the floor. The mirror mount has been on the truck all this time and it falls off when I really need it.

The OEM rear view was in bad shape. The mirror was de-laminating inside and basically useless. I called my buddy Donny Clark to see what he may have from a later Burb and he said they were all bad like that.

That prompted some conversation on what was a good replacement. He mentioned that most late model non GM mirrors came with "HomeLink" built it. Hmm? My shop has two garage door lifts that are HomeLink compatible. That sound like a feature I would like to have.

I got on eBay and did some research. Sure enough almost any import car that is not GM has a version of the GenTex mirror with HomeLink built in. They also have autodim, and the GNTX313 has a built in compass module as well.Basically these are a self contained unit that only require a 3 wire hook up.

I need to pick up a glue kit to put the mounting tab back on the windshield, but i'm on step closer to adding more modern amenities in this olf truck.

*Pic from seller, not mine.

[GRAY GOOSE]

Do you happen to have the part number for the mirrors you are using? Thanks Ken I like the top one.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by GRAY GOOSE

Do you happen to have the part number for the mirrors you are using? Thanks Ken I like the top one.

I'm using the 70-72 which is part #C707202-LED
The smaller 73-80 is part #C738710-LED

[N2TRUX]

Its been a crazy week again and every evening has been filled with prepping for the holiday weekend. I had pool equipment issues that required my attention. My prinkler system decided to die so I installed a new controller on it.

After spending a couple of hours adjusting my sprinkler heads, I finally got some shop time. It was brief, but better than none.

[N2TRUX]

I decided I wanted to start on the mock up and install of the United Pacific Longbeach LED lights up front. To do that I needed to get the existing lights working.

I pulled the original 84 headlight harness from storage and began to the transformation. I removed all of the original loom and cloth tape.

[N2TRUX]

I cleaned the bulkhead plug as well. I'm not sure what the factory uses to seal the opening in the harness plug, but it didn't want to come off. With some persistence and liberal amounts of brake cleaner I managed to get the task accomplished

[N2TRUX]

I laid the loom out and taped it to see how it will flow. I cut excess wire and soldered the splice. Eventually I will add weather proof connectors and loom.