'94 Chevy 1500

[TireSmoker]

Well, I've been keeping my eyes open for a truck, and Paul found me a real nice one. This is my third vehicle from Classic Chevy.

It's a '94 Chevy 1500 short-bed, 2WD, 5.0, automatic. 87k miles. It's *mint*. The pics almost don't do it justice, but take a look at how clean this thing is. You can see the reflection of the Classic sign in the hood on the driver's side pic.

Note: Classic did NOT detail this thing -- this is the way the guy traded it in.

I got out the door for $4110.50 (tax, title, yada yada yada). I don't think I could've done much better.

It's light on options -- pretty much just A/C, V8, and aluminum wheels, but it's sooooo clean it's unreal, especially for a truck that has been in Ohio it's entire life (according to Car Fax). Note the firewall.

-Dave

[ttamrettus]

it's got DUAL's.

Where's the gun rack?

(seriously. it's really NICE)

[TireSmoker]

Unfortunately, it's a single to the muffler, and duals from there. But it does have a real nice tone, esp. for a bone-stock 305. And it all looks brand new, from the Y-pipe on back.

You live in Georgia -- find me a rebel flag for the front plate. They sell 'em at all the gas stations, right?

-Dave

[MostMint]

Unfortunately, it's a single to the muffler, and duals from there. But it does have a real nice tone, esp. for a bone-stock 305. And it all looks brand new, from the Y-pipe on back.

Looks pretty good. That graphic on the side doesn't look bad. Probably not worth the trouble to remove it.

You know, if you sell the bed you could get enough money to buy some wood for a flat bed in the back, and some exhaust stacks (think semi truck) out the back directly behind the cab. Then you could get the "back off" mudflaps. Add a mullet and a case of Busch (cans please) and you are good to go!

[TireSmoker]

So it's been a little over 3 years and I've done absolutely nothing to this truck except change the oil and recently, a set of spark plugs. It's near 100k miles and still runs perfect. Ever since mostmint read the trouble-code (TPS sensor) and I re-seated the connector, I haven't had to deal the the check engine light.

The windshield has acquired a crack up the middle. I'll try to get that replaced this winter. The actuator for one of the HVAC air doors is clicking -- it sounds like someone banging the inside of the dash every time you turn the key on and off. Gotta get GM part # 89018370
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/3498618-post5.html

I'm hearing a small exhaust leak, and despite the brand-new Y-pipe when I first bought it, the studs in the manifold now look all corroded. If I pull all that stuff apart, I'd like to replace the manifolds with some shorty headers. They're 160 or so from Summit, plus I'm sure I'll have to have someone re-work the Y-pipe.

I'm going to need a set of tires soon and I'm going to change to something different, maybe a set of 275-60-15s. I asked Mostmint to see what he can get them for in the Firestone Indy 500 line. Tirerack lists them at $93/each. If anyone sees a set of the 454ss/Sport wheels, like these, or maybe these pics are better let me know.

I think I plan on keeping this truck a few more years, and if I do, I'd like to lower it. A 2/4 drop using spindles in front and new hangars/shackles in the rear can be done for around $500. I dunno how much 4 inches would benefit me in terms of loading a tractor or motorcycle in the back, but I think it'd look cooler. If I do end up lowering it, I'll obviously ditch the running boards.

I anticipate daily driving this thing at some point, maybe after I get rid of the GTP (whenever that happens to be -- next spring?)

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

Wow, almost a year since my last post on this vehicle.

Lucky for me, the truck came with a previous-owner-installed K&N (yeah, K&N) air filter. I know I cleaned it once when I lived in Lyndhurst, but upon inspection, it was time once again. Cleaned it out good with compressed air, from the inside out. I sprayed the K&N cleaner on it, let it soak, and then rinsed with water, again from the inside out. After a re-oil, I'm back in business.

Well, the exhaust tick has gotten more annoying. When I got back from vacation in August, one of the tailpipes was almost dragging on the ground. This summer, I scored a nice deal at the Canfield swap meet for a pair of long-tube, ceramic coated headers, plus a complete exhaust system (complete to tailpipes) for $225. One of the headers even has a bung for the O2 sensor, although it is the driver's side header with the bung and current O2 is on the passenger side. No provision for a cat, though. We'll see how that plays out. I went and got my e-check last saturday and started removing parts later that night.

Getting the old manifolds isn't quite as obvious as it would seem, as I had to pull the power steering pump pulley, then the pump itself, so that the accessory mounting bracket could be removed (the bracket mounted to the two forward exhaust manifold studs/bolts. The good news is that all of the bolts into the head broke free with relative ease, although the threads from one bolt are gone.

The exhaust manifold-to-Y-pipe studs are pretty well corroded too. I got 3 of them to spin off, I cut one with my whizzer-wheel, but the two remaining (one on each side, of course) are going to be difficult. I may just hack up the Y-pipe instead.

To be continued. Pictures to come..

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

So far, nothing on this job has been terribly difficult, it's just that there's been lots of minor things.

Exhaust system, meet SawZZZZall.

After the studs not coming apart, I decided to just cut the pipe right below the manifold. Once the Y-pipe and cat were out, I went to remove the O2 sensor and it would. not. budge. We even tried heating it up and using penetrating oil, but it wouldn't budge. New O2 sensor was $51. "Punching out" the blank inside the header's O2 bung took at least a half hour.

Both of the rear-most bolts in the head needed a tap run into them, because the bolts that came out looked really funky and the header bolts wouldn't start. It wouldn't be the last time the tap was used.

We started with the driver's side header and it was in within, probably minutes. The passenger wasn't as easy. Once we wriggled it into place, one of the tubes was hitting the frame. We marked it up with a marker, pulled the header out, banged the area, re-installed the header, found it needed more clearancing, rinse, repeat.

Once the headers were in, we of course had to test them out, before the mufflers were installed.

After acquiring some collector gaskets at Autozone, collector bolts (stainless) at Turney's, we set out to put on the rest of the exhaust. Again, ran into problems. The mounts on the used exhaust didn't line up with my factory mounts. After browsing the exhaust parts at Turney's, we were able to come up with a decent setup.

The bad news is that the tailpipes seem too short. For the pieces to meet, the pipe ends up in front of the mud flap. I might just have to get some made up.

The other bad news is that now the truck has a serious miss under load. I did a quick check of the plug wires for firing order and reseated them on the plugs, to no avail. The plugs have less than 10k on them, although the wires are the same as when I got the truck.

I'll try checking the wires with an ohm meter and hopefully one or more will be bad. The wires from the Chevelle would also interchange as a quick test.

Many thanks to VeeDub for the assist this weekend.

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

Ok, I know this is a pictures crowd, so here we go..







I also managed to find a real nice set of the 454SS/Sport wheels that I've been wanting. One of them needs a little bit of polishing, but the other 3 are real nice.



I also did a quick test tonight, starting the engine up and shooting my infrared thermometer at each header tube. The middle tubes seemed cooler than the outer tubes, but there was only a 30-degree split on a range of 150s-180s. This was at idle, in park, engine relatively cold. I guess I need to brake torque it and check the readings again. If my suspicion is right, some cylinders are lean, and that pipe will be hotter.

-Dave

[Fred32v]

Looks good, but will it be ready for Saturday? Have you run this truck before?

[GMJohnny]

Beat Fred, open up those headers at the strip!!!!

[TireSmoker]

No, I've never run this truck before, but I don't think its 305 will hang with Fred's LS-powered beast. I'm sure mine is lighter though, being a regular cab and 2WD.

I'm wondering if I need to buy a chip for this thing with the long-tube headers. Checking out TBIchips.com

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

IMO the FI will accomodate for the better exhaust. Heck, my '83 turbo car took 15psi without too much trouble, and it was 6-7psi stock. I never touched the computer or the injectors...

-BP

[TireSmoker]

IMO the FI will accomodate for the better exhaust. Heck, my '83 turbo car took 15psi without too much trouble, and it was 6-7psi stock. I never touched the computer or the injectors...

-BP

A more accurate comparison might be your S-10 (n/a) -- didn't you use the power programmer after all your exhaust work?

All I know for sure is thing runs like crap now.

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

A more efficient exhaust will force the other operations to be more efficient, so if any of the ignition system is in question, do a complete tune up, put some 89 octane in it, and then see how it runs. If your wires, plugs, or cap/rotor are old, replace them...

My S-10 is still running stock stuff. The power programmer adjusts the timing from what I understand, and doesn't necessarily mess with the fuel mapping. It has a set up to run on 87 or 92 octane (I run the premium setting), and it's good for about 4hp (according to their charts). I'm pretty sure it just brings the timing in sooner and more aggresively.

As CamaroBob once told me, "the most common carburetor problem, is a bad ignition system". Replace carburetor with FI, but the point is the same.

-BP

[wxo]

How about putting a code scanner on it to see if the PCM is telling you something?