need help with motivation.

[daddys72jimmy]

i worked for a yr anda half on my 72 jimmy. putting in a big block, new Painless wiring 3/4 ton with disk all the way around, lights, gauges, paint job and suspention, drove it for ahundred miles or so, then blew motor. im so pissed. my elec. fan switch failed and overheated. now has a loud knocking and water in oil. now gotta pull big block( prolly no good) and put a small block back in, have to buy another small block since i sold one for parts for the big block. oh well. shes been sitting for about two months now. im tired of looking at it. looking for motivation to pull bigblock. thanks guys.

[addicted2dunes]

Just don't do what I did with my 72 Jimmy 4x4..... blew my small block up, dropped in a big block, blew that up in about two weeks. Ran out of funds, then bought a 2x4 frame, hacked the hell out of my Jimmy and now it's been sitting for about 3-4 years.

Before:



After:

[daddys72jimmy]

thats a sad story. mine is sitting under a tarp waiting for the new carport to be installed

[Critter]

I know how you feel, I come and go with my efforts. When things seem impossible I lay off of it for a week or so and don't get on this site either. Then I come back and look around, that usually gets me fired up again. I also have a folder of nice blazer pics that I have collected around the internet, that is my screen saver on this computer. Staring at them gets me motivated. Either way, don't feel bad if you need to take a break and come back to it when you are ready. It's definitely a labor of love!

[addicted2dunes]

The problem with big blocks is when they get hot they spin the main bearings in the block. If yours turns over freely you might have just blown the head gaskets, when the bearings go it makes for a lot of resistance.

[daddys72jimmy]

ya i like to collect pics around the internet also, thanks.
Anybody got pics of the stage your truck is at and maybe explain why your truck has been sitting, maybe seeing and hearing other people problems will motivate us. thanks

[daddys72jimmy]

my motor will trun and run for that matter, but theres a knocking and water in oil. fixing the head gasket would be easier than replacing the whole thing, you think?

[addicted2dunes]

Originally Posted by daddys72jimmy

my motor will trun and run for that matter, but theres a knocking and water in oil. fixing the head gasket would be easier than replacing the whole thing, you think?

May be a cracked head, but sounds like a head gasket to me, the knocking is because one cylinder isn't firing doe to the water in the cylinder.

Pull the heads and see how your cylinders look, if they look good (not burned) have the heads checked, then reinstall.

[addicted2dunes]

When you overheated, did you shut it down or did it die on you?

[daddys72jimmy]

well, i wasnt driving, it had a small noise at first, thinking it maybe just needed a valve adjustment,( ima noob wen comes to inner motor stuff) but it was idleing one day and overheated. then knockin or noise got louder. i popped the valve covers off and notice the gooy tan color splueg on top of cover.(assuming its water)

[addicted2dunes]

Yeah, I'd pull the heads, might just have been bad head gaskets or a warped head.

[daddys72jimmy]

a buddy and i tor it down and put new gaskets before i put it in. hope it is somthin as "simple" as your talkin, that would be nice. wen i get a wkend i will pop thos heads, thanks

[addicted2dunes]

Head gaskets are the only way water can get into the oil easily. Or cracked head or block. Do you have a pressure tester? If so pull your plugs, pressurize the radiator then crank it over, if water squirts out of one of the plug holes you have a bad head gasket on that side (or head).

You can also do a block test too if you have a block test kit: http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/hea..._leak_test.htm

[addicted2dunes]

Here's some more info: http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/pre...m_failures.htm

[daddys72jimmy]

thanks for the info man, ill make a trip up to my napa auto. ill keep updating caouse if this doent work out and i have to pull the motor, ill prolly box in frame up front and a new motor crossmember from dyi4x or ORD. thanks again

[mstrav1973]

im almost done with mine after a year and half. if I blow my small block (which is the same one from before I tore it apart), I think I would just buy a crate motor rather then fixing it.

Matt

[Tom Vogel]

When you and your buddy placed the head gaskets, did you chase and blow out the head bolt holes in the block 'and' put some permatex on the bolts that go into the coolant jackets? If not, it could be as simple as that. Have those heads checked for cracks just in case though. Also, is that a "new" radiator? If not, get it tanked and blown out, it should be a four core too.

[daddys72jimmy]

i dont remember, i just remember gettin new head bolts. ill ask him later today if he remembers. the radiator was in the truck wen i got, it is a 4 core but old, thanks for help. hopefully will get a chance soon to take heads off. im adding on to my house and getting a new shop, so the jimmy has to sit on the back burner till i get the other stuff done. thanks
mstrav1973, nice rig man, i like the color.

[mstrav1973]

I saw that you and I had similar colors and figured even though its not a blaze it could motivate you to not give up. Remember, half the fun of these old trucks is the fact that we can actually open the hood and know what every part is. Think about how much research we do just to figure out what someone did to our trucks 40 years ago, thats why its a hobby. Breaking stuff is half the fun, its just sometimes when you just get finished with things that dont work it bums you out a bit but in the end we always make it better then before.

Matt

[daddys72jimmy]

not given up, just to get in the mood. wen my shop is finished im sure ill get motivated. thanks