Knomadd '71 SWB C-10

[knomadd]

Pulled Brutus outside for a bit and finally took a walk around video. It's nice to finally have the power steering system bled and working right. FYI, if you run hydroboost with a GM power steering pump made for a hydroboost application, make sure you put the hydroboost return on the top port and the steering return on the bottom port. If you swap it, there's too much agitation in the fluid and it causes "cavitation."

71 C10 6.0L LS swap - walk around - Youtube

[Advanced Design]

Very nice! Good advice on the hydroboost return too.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! It turned out so clean and sounds great too!

[Vic1947]

Sounds (and looks) great, Duane. I'm living vicariously thru other builds since mine is bogged down with wires running everywhere. Having an actual running truck represents a lot of work. Way to go!

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Very nice! Good advice on the hydroboost return too.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Very nice! It turned out so clean and sounds great too!

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Sounds (and looks) great, Duane. I'm living vicariously thru other builds since mine is bogged down with wires running everywhere. Having an actual running truck represents a lot of work. Way to go!

Thanks guys!

I got to drive the truck to the inspection place and back home. The motor now has 63 miles on it (61 when it was installed). It sure does have some power! The transmission shifts weirdly though. I'm not sure if I just need to add some more fluid or if I need the tuner to make adjustments. I'll be topping off the fluids this weekend and making a few adjustments (my reverse lights are on in drive, so I need to move the NSS), but I can't legally drive it until Monday. I need to go renew my registration, and they're closed today in observance of Veterans Day.

Once I have my renewed registration, I'll be data logging with HP Tuners and sending my tune back to the tuner for adjusting. I'm hoping I can learn from what he's done to the file from stock to now, and again after he makes some changes.

[OKGMC4]

You had asked me about an adapter for a card MAF and said you could weld stainless. MA Performance makes one but I'm not sure if this is the kind you'd need?

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by OKGMC4

You had asked me about an adapter for a card MAF and said you could weld stainless. MA Performance makes one but I'm not sure if this is the kind you'd need?

Sweet, thanks! I'll have to look into this. It might be cheaper to rebuild one in stainless than to pay someone to weld my aluminum tubes together.

[knomadd]

So I got it running, inspected and registered, so I took it to a local show in a nearby town for its first outing...

[knomadd]

Here are a few pics from the show...

[Dieselwrencher]

Awesome! That has to be a good feeling. I'm jealous you have weather nice enough to still do fun stuff.

[knomadd]

Thanks Ryan, but I do miss snow sometimes. Especially around Christmas. But I bet your summers are nicer than mine! Sometimes I think I need to take summers off while you'll be enjoying nicer weather.

[Dieselwrencher]

I think you'd get a surprise if you come here in June through September. My Uncle from Brazoria always rants about how we have it so easy with no heat and humidity. That's why every time he's up here, his azz is in the house in the ac most of the time.

[Bennett68C10]

Truck looks awesome Duane, congrats on being able to drive and enjoy that new LS motor.

[sduckworth13]

Awesome Job!!! That engine sounds great!!!

[mcbassin]

Congrats Duane! All that hard work finally paying off. Great job on the whole project

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

I think you'd get a surprise if you come here in June through September. My Uncle from Brazoria always rants about how we have it so easy with no heat and humidity. That's why every time he's up here, his azz is in the house in the ac most of the time.

I bet you can tell I've never been to your neck of the woods.

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Truck looks awesome Duane, congrats on being able to drive and enjoy that new LS motor.

Thanks Keith. I'm still not really driving it yet... I'll post more below.

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Awesome Job!!! That engine sounds great!!!

Thanks Scott!

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Congrats Duane! All that hard work finally paying off. Great job on the whole project

Thanks Mike!

Update: I've been dealing with an ultra high fuel trim (30 to 34 long term with 16-28 short term) which says I have a really lean condition. For those who don't know (like I didn't) the fuel trims should be close to 0, but never more than about +/- 10. Negative is rich, positive is lean.

Research says I have either unmetered air (vacuum leak) or lack of fuel (low pressure). I've removed and reinstalled the intake, added a fuel pressure sensor from Dakota Digital (61.7 psi at idle), and replaced the MAF sensor in case it was dirty and giving a bad reading. None of these things changed the trims.

I'm contacting my tuner to see if he made an adjustment for the cold air intake since it's a 3.5" tube. I don't know what the van would have had, but I bet it wasn't that large. I'm also trying to borrow a smoke tester to check for leaks, but I'm waiting for now.

If anyone has any ideas I should try, I'm all ears (or eyes since I'll be reading them).

[gringoloco]

Sounds like you’re on the right track. My first instincts say vacuum leak or MAF issue, which is what you’re focused on. Keep us posted

[knomadd]

We got the tune figured out finally! It was the MAF sensor tables in the tune. It was reading too much air for the system, thinking it was lean. Once that was adjusted (about 4 times) everything is now in the -7 to -3 range, slightly rich, but good for a performance type tune.

It's been a couple weeks since that was fixed, but I caught a nasty cold that hung around for a while. I was finally able to drive it to work today




It runs like a scalded dog! I took it for a quick run after lunch and at about 3/4 throttle it accelerated HARD! Man this thing's going to be fun!

[knomadd]

Oh yeah, and I ordered wheels during Black Friday sales and just got confirmation that they will be here the day after Christmas. Now I just need to find the tires I want. I'll be out of state, visiting family in Oregon from Christmas through New Years, so it'll have to wait until then.

Here are the new wheels:

[Dieselwrencher]

Sorry to hear about the cold. Those things can really knock the wind out of ya! Very nice to hear you got it running good and it was nothing major. Nice new wheels! Hopefully someone can put them away for you while you're out of town so no one decides to walk off with them.

[Advanced Design]

Duane, glad you nailed the tune down. Gotta be fun to drive. Truck looks awesome and the DD gauges coloring is spot on with the blue. Truck envy could set in here...

[knomadd]

Oh man this thing is awesome to drive!!! I have put just over 110 miles on it in the last month (not counting the week between Christmas and New Years Day). My wife even took it to work today!!!

Oh, and it's time for an update... I got my new wheels just before we left for Christmas. Ordered the tires while we were away and had them mounted the day after we got back in town. 19x8 with 245/50R19 front, 20x10 with 295/40R20 rear. And it rides much nicer than it did with the 22s. Enough talk, time for some pics!

[TexasLS1]

LOVE the new wheels, excellent choice!! Totally cool that your wife wanted to drive it to work

[ANDRES]

Friend! Good day! What is the cost of the wheels? And where did you buy them?
Greetings from Argentina!

[Vic1947]

New hoops look great, Duane! I really like the way they fit the wheelwells.