1991 V3500 Project Heavy Hauler

[joe231]

Gotta ask...
How much was shipping on the door panels? And how much were the panels?
I need a set

[MTCK]

Originally Posted by joe231

Gotta ask...
How much was shipping on the door panels? And how much were the panels?
I need a set

Hey did my wife put you up to this??? The panels were a little under $200 and shipping was a little over $100. I was able to use the power door panels in the rear but no way up front. I'll get the front and rear fabric parts covered in the same material.

[joe231]

Lol
Thanks!

[y5mgisi]

I cant wait to see how you install the heated seat elements.

[MTCK]

I'm going to hand them to the upholstery shop and tell them which direction to point the cords! The switches and relays will go in the center console.

[MTCK]

Finally got a little work done. My dad was in town this weekend so it was fun to do a little work with him. We bled the brakes after installing my ORD lines, but still had a mushy pedal so I grabbed a bleeding kit from napa and bench bled them. Lots of gunk came out of the brake lines.

[MTCK]

I installed the speaker pods. They fit great and feel solid. No parking brake clearance issues once I adjusted it. I also put the drivers door together buttoned up the seat belts in the rear.

Not pictured are working license plate lights and a new 7 - pin trailer wiring plug.

[joe231]

Very nice!!

[MTCK]

Thanks guys. Man she is a lot quieter now! Still a lot of wind noise but that is expected with these trucks.

[Greenlee]

Looking good!

[MTCK]

Thanks Greenlee. Truck has been getting lots of work done to it lately so today it had to return the favor. About an 11k lbs machine plus whatever the trailer weighs. I need more power!

[Greenlee]

Nice! Looks like it's not squatting the rear end much.

When I was a kid my dad had a Case backhoe that probably weighed about 12,000 lbs. We pulled it all over with the place with a 78' Chevy 3/4 ton. I'm sure we needed more power and more suspension, but we didn't know any better.

[COS399]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Thanks Greenlee. Truck has been getting lots of work done to it lately so today it had to return the favor. About an 11k lbs machine plus whatever the trailer weighs. I need more power!

So, will you truck be moving over to the diesel conversion section????

Looking good. Keep it up.

[whitels1]

Originally Posted by COS399

So, will you truck be moving over to the diesel conversion section????

Looking good. Keep it up.

LSx Section...you mean?

[MTCK]

Greenlee you are right - I have hauled bigger loads with smaller trucks, but this 350 is just soooo tired. Thank goodness for 4.56 years. Got any pics of the Case and old 3/4 ton?

COS and Dave you guys are both close, but no cigar. Keeping spark plugs but not an LS motor. Hint on page one maybe?

Just calc'd my fuel mileage through a tank of fuel. Only about 15 miles were with a trailer. 8 mpg. Can't get much worse than that.

[MTCK]

Decided to stop tempting fate and wired up a new trailer brake controller. Tekonsha prodigy 2. I'll report on how it works tomorrow. I mounted the controller using the holes for the OBD port so I didn't need to drill any holes. No pictures since the website won't upload from my phone.

[hardcore4life]

So you're planning an 8.1 swap I take it?

[MTCK]

Originally Posted by hardcore4life

So you're planning an 8.1 swap I take it?

Yup, that's the plan. Not looking great for this winter as I haven't found any shop space and this truck is about 10' too long to fit in my garage.

[DirtyLarry]

Very cool Marcus! Somehow I missed this thread of yours. Looks like a very clean rig to play with. Love the Suburban interior and the swapped in tilt column in there too.….same color of Suburban seats I have in the K10. That rubber floor mat is a killer to work with huh? That is the same mat in my K10 and it is tough as nails to work with. You almost need a blow torch and chainsaw to cut and mold it. Looks like it turned out great. You will like that mat as it is practically impossible to hurt it.

Let me know when you want to start talking 8.1L stuff. You know I have the recipe at hand and it is fresh in my mind again as I am doing one in the Polar Bear Suburban this winter. Right now I’m still working on the engine internals and gathering install bits. This one is getting a Raylar cam just to see how much more a cam really wakes up an 8.1. Hope to install the engine around Decemberish.

Subscribed!

[MTCK]

Thanks Larry, yeah that mat is a PITA, but bulletproof. I'm still not 100% happy with how it is laying near the firewall, but the rest of it has settled down. That's exciting about the Raylar cam. They have some pretty cool vids of some wild 8.1's on their web site.

I've actually been referencing your good write up on CK5 quite a bit as I plan. Do you have a good source for purchasing new workhorse parts with "reasonable" shipping? I'm going to try using the in-tank sending units for the fuel system and the AC Delco EP241 pumps along with a direct replacement switch rated at 65 psi. Check out the data sheet link below. I think the previous version of this part from Pollak was not rated for as much pressure.

http://products.pollakaftermarket.co...S_41-revdd.pdf

It is supposed to plug right in where the stock 87-91 valve goes using the stock switch. The three tank setup is intriguing, though I would need a loan to put 80 gallons in at a time if I added a suburban tank in the rear. $135 was bad enough last week...

[DirtyLarry]

Yeah, I hear you. I am not real happy with the way mine lays near the trans tunnel but it is as good as it will get being it is so stiff and thick.

Hehe, I know I am excited to try a RayLar cam! Should be interesting.

I might have a source for Workhorse parts. Let me know what specifically you would need. In all reality, if you’re not running A/C there really isn’t anything that Workhorse has that you can’t find through GM, Ebay or salvage yards. The highly sought after high mount A/C brackets through Workhorse are now extinct. All gone… the only ones to be found now would be from G-van engines at salvage yards or from PSI who now builds the 8.1L and 8.8L.

The pressure rating of the Pollak switch valve is not the issue. The issue comes in where the return port in the switch valve is too small (5/16) and the 8.1L’s with the return type fuel rail use a large return line much larger than 5/16. I think the return line on the 8.1L is around 10mm but in any event, the return ports on the switch valve are too small and restrict the fuel return which drives up head pressure. I tried to use the Pollak valve but the little ports caused the head pressure to run at 100 psi. Once I disconnected the return line from the switch valve the fuel pressure went down to normal. In the end, I gave up on the idea of using a switch valve. Instead I have an EP241 on a 1987 TBI sending unit in the right side tank which is just a storage tank. That pump transfers fuel to the LH tank byway of a switch on the dash.

Now, if you used a later model 8.1L with the returnless fuel rail you might be able to figure out a work around with that switch valve. I’ve never really researched the returnless fuel rails as I prefer the return type because they have an adjustable fuel regular built into the rail. The 8.1L I’m doing for the Suburban had the later type returnless fuel rail but I took it off and purchased a new return type fuel rail for it because I like having the adjustable regulator. 8.1L’s love higher than stock fuel pressure. They really respond well to 67-68 psi fuel pressure.

BTW…. The fuel pumps you would need to run an 8.1L are actually the EP381. The EP381 will fit on your existing sending units no different than the pumps that are on them now. You probably read where I had an EP241 but that was back when I was running the truck on a marine MEFI-4 ECM which runs on lower fuel pressure (~40 psi) like the old school TPI engine. I ran the EP241 for a short while after converting it to the MAF OBDII harness on a truck P59 ECM which requires around 62 psi but found the EP241 did not maintain fuel pressure at wide open throttle so I swapped in an EP381. Problem sovled. Confused even more now? BTW....the old EP241 pump that used to supply the engine actually lives in the RH tank now and is used just as a transfer pump.

[MTCK]

It's been getting worked, that is for sure. Just got my SEM dye. Lead time is about a month, but I'm just happy I found a guy who knows how to ship paint to AK.

[DirtyLarry]

WOW! 12,700! That’s heavy, unless you were on a Canadian scale . The funny thing is it isn’t even squatting that badly. Got to love K30s

Glad you finally got your paint. Not sure if you are planning to paint the center console or not but I haven’t had any luck with any of the SEM products on the center console (or Duplicolor for that matter). SEM works great everywhere else (door panels, dash, kick panels, sun visors, etc.) but whatever plastic the console is made out of nothing will stick to it. Everything just scratches off like a lottery ticket. I’ve tried a couple different SEM paints/dyes and well as prep products. The console looks horrible right now after a year of off-road travel so I was thinking of buying some vinyl that matches the seats to cover the console with. Not what I would prefer to do but maybe the only way to keep that damn console dark gray instead of its molded light gray. One thing about it, when it is time to repaint console it is easy to get the old paint off. Just spray it down with the power washer and all the SEM paint flies right off

[MTCK]

I had a similar experience when I tried colorbond dye on my 77's console. It was pretty scratched up after two years. I'm hoping the SEM GM medium gray is close to the slate gray (89) suburban interior I have so I don't have to dye it. I'll need to do all the headliner trim pieces and front door panels - maybe the rear door panels and dash pad. We'll see. Maybe I should have named this truck 50 shades of gray...

[MTCK]

For fear of being redundant... The weather warmed up and dump trailer came available so I hauled off the last of my grubbing. Hauled a little more than 35k lbs, 386 miles of driving in total, about half of that with 7k trailer in tow. Another 50 or so miles with 18k of trailer and skid steer in tow.

Motor has developed a pretty noticeable knock and I used about a quart of oil over the ~400 miles. Everything else worked flawlessly. Had to use 4wd just about every time to get out of my driveway, but was good after that. I get a loud rubbing noise under hard acceleration in 1st gear. I think it might be the fan hitting the shroud, and may try placing my gopro under the hood and seeing if I can make it happen. I would not be surprised if the motor mounts are shot - the t-case shifter sure moves a lot.