1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Thought I'd just take a few mins to show off my ride.

1986 Custom Deluxe shorty 2WD.

Factory ordered options:
305 V8
SM465 4 speed
Power steering
2.73 gears
Deluxe Instrument cluster

I added:
Galant bucket seats to replace the aweful plastic seats
Hella Driving lights on the front pushbar
Factory front sway bar
CD player
Receiver hitch
88-94 Steering wheel

I've had this thing July 09, haven't done much besides maintenance and fix things the PO did. Replaced the overkill double pumper with a 1406 Edelbrock, tuned it, new balljoints, shocks, rubber cab mounts. Its low mileage, 93K now, and no rot thru, just a lot of surface rust to take care of. Thing tow awesome as well! Love the four speed.

Also the glove box was signed by Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Not too bad for free, huh?

When I got it -
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0324.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0323.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0320.jpg

It came with these sweet racing seats

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0316.jpg

I switched them for these seats I had laying around

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0325.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0326.jpg

Hurricane wheels my pops gave me, used to be on his old 84 20 yrs ago. They have sat in storage since, have all new center caps for them too.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0327.jpg

Stock caps I found
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0442.jpg

As it currently sits
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0492.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0494.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0505.jpg

I'd like to do a 5.3 LS swap in the future, some OEM buckets, new carpet, and a paint job of course. Paint job is getting done this spring.

Enjoy

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Those seats look like they fit well - and would be awesome if they were recovered as low back buckets. Did you put together some custom brackets for those?

Also, those wheels look good... can't wait to see them on the truck.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

The seats do fit pretty good, not happy with the brackets I made, thinking I should re-do them. My buddy gave me the seats, he didn't want them for his car anymore.

The wheels are super nice, need some refinishing on the clear coat,but they have only had 1 set on tires ever mounted on them. Plus being discontinued makes them extra special.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Missing a mud flap?

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

With gas prices going up by the minute, I dont think I can afford to not do the LS 5.3L swap. 13 mpg vs 20-22, no contest. Plus the ease and reliability of the newer engine makes this a more viable backup vehicle.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

I like tha look of tha caps & steel wheels..that push bar is cool too..

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

A little while ago I blasted the worst rust off the drivers side.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1311669193

Then hit it with some etch primer.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1311669252

Yup I did the whole bedside at one point, removed the rear bumper and all. Then I spraybomb'd it flat black, yeah I know, but guess what its already scratched up from being used as a truck should be used. At least it has rust no more.

Also picked up a dual headlight core support for $15, its got a little rust.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Fed up with the carb. Pulled this out of storage. 86 TPI system, 1985 Z28 Valve covers. Needs some cleaning

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0714.jpg

Figure this will hold me over until I have the time and space to do an LS swap.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Nice truck! Looks SO MUCH BETTER w/o the visor and roll bar.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Thanks man


Found a 1227730 ECM today, need to go back to the junkyard tomorrow and pull an 87 truck TBI harness to re-pin for TPI. Will be alot easier than rebuilding the 85 TPI harness I have and fitting it to the truck.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

raw materials for new EFI harness.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0715.jpg

1985 Z28 TPI harness. 1990 speed density ECM, with connectors. Various extra connecters.

Progress

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0716.jpg

Modifying for stand alone connection. Stripping out unused circuits, Will be adding a fuse block for fuel pump, power, etc.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Harness done. Hope it works!

My Dad is telling me to install a new cam while the truck is apart. Not certain it's worth the money as I am planning on a 5.3 swap in a few years.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Well pulled the dashpad and glove box to start running wiring.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0719.jpg

Then decided it was a nice day to go to the car wash and powerwash the engine.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0718.jpg

Also finished up the harness.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0717.jpg

Waiting on parts to come in, new EFI tank, sender, Z28 hi pressure fuel pump.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Just ordered Melling RV cam, Speedpro lifers, and double roller timing chain. :metal:

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Those 10 spoke aluminum wheels look like "Western Bullets". Always liked them back in the day. I put that Melling cam in a 4x4 a few years back, did good.

Just a thought if you planning on putting the EFI and cam in at the same time, you might want to put the cam in now and get it broke in first; then put the efi on. Just so you know you have something reliable to start up good to break the cam in.

Got a picture of the glove box door?

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

I'm gonna break in the cam on the EFI, shouldn't be too bad. I have a base tune to run it on.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

New 16 gal EFI tank, coated with bedliner for extra weather resistance

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0735.jpg

Intake soaking in hot Purple Power bath

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0736.jpg

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Lots of work done so far, looks really good!!

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

After the bath, cleaned up and painted the intake. Duplicolor Graphite wheel paint with a nice clear coat on top. EGR valve flat blacked

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0750.jpg

Aww yea

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0752.jpg

New Melling MTC1 RV cam, Speed Pro lifers, double roller timing chain.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0755.jpg

Mr Injector fuel injector rebuild kit for Bosch injectors. Highly recommended, he includes an extra set of parts in case you break something. In my case I destroyed a pintle cap.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0757.jpg

I cleaned the injectors by soaking them in fuel injector cleaner, the type you dump in a tank of gas. They came out squeaky clean after an overnight soak. Flushed them out using compressed air, then rebuilt them using the new parts. This is a very helpful page if you are looking to save a few bucks doing this yourself. http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/DIYF...orCleaning.htm


Done!

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0777.jpg

------------------------------
Pulling the patient in for surgery.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0763.jpg

First of all, we need to shed some light on the subject here. I found this worked out very well. Used some stiff wire to make loops to hold this light up.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0773.jpg

Old and busted

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0766.jpg

Good bye carb! Hopefully I do not have to deal with you again.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0767.jpg

500 lb intake gone! that was painful to remove.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0768.jpg

Hot tip for those removing the cam from your square with the engine in. GM put this bar down the exact middle of the core support, conveniently in line with the cam.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0770.jpg

Great design GM, thanks. I hammered the bar forward just enough for me to be able to angle the cam out of the block. Putting in the new cam was a similar story, but with sticky assembly lube.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0771.jpg

Double roller chain on! The original GM chain was worn to hell, I believe I was the source my the stumbling issue the engine was having. Also the fuel pump lobe was completely wiped off the cam. Wowzers.

Valley cleaned up, new lifters in!

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0772.jpg

Shiny fuel pump block off installed!

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0774.jpg

Moving along in the reassembly phase, lower intake manifold and fuel rail in.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0778.jpg


Lets pause for a moment and reflect on why it is great to work on a truck in a crowded garage.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0781.jpg


Got lucky at the junkyard and scored full length braided GM fuel lines off a 91 TBI pickup. Got all this line and an S10 throttle cable for $10.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0779.jpg

Getting closer - distributor stabbed in, Wiring harness run and mostly wrapped.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0780.jpg

Awesome.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0782.jpg

Fuel line routing is coming along.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/102_0783.jpg

And we are at today.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Good progress! What's gonna go in the wagon now??

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Looks great! I always wanted to do that back in the day when those injection systems were all over the place but never did.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Oh don't worry, I had a spare TPI system I picked up for cheap off c-list. The Malibu's TPI is being worked over now.

I love the look of these Tuned Port intakes. Thanks! Your truck looks great, it's going to be another year at least until I can completely redo my truck.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0787.jpg

Well its pretty much all together and ready to fire up, except for a couple wires.

I did a little pondering and searching around, figured out my truck is equipped with a 42 amp Delco 10SI alternator. Well thats barely enough to run a carb'd vehicle, never mind a fuel injected beast towing a trailer with electric brakes. So picked up everything I need to convert to a CS144 140 amp alternator and upgrade the electrical system.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0803.jpg

CS144 from a 93 Caddy Fleetwood, pulled the battery cable from the car for kicks. Buss bar from a TBI truck, couple of fuse holders from TBI vehicles, 6ft of 8 AWG wire from the Home Depot, bunch of ring terminals and resistors from a local electrical supply house. It was a good day.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

CS144 checked out good at the parts store!

Engine bay as of today.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0806.jpg

LC-1 connected and ziptied in place. Also you can see my sweet fuel pump relay/ESC module bracket that i snagged from an 86 Trans Am.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0805.jpg

Wiring is done, time to fire it up!

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

You've done a very nice job! I like that graphite paint on the intake.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Thank you. I think I may paint the alternator to match.

IT RUNS! Once I put the distributor in the correct location, and replaced the incorrect fuel pump relay with an OEM fan relay.

Runs like hell! At a nice healthy ozone depleting 10:1 A/F ratio! lol. Mostly because I started with a stock 350 AUJP tune and modified it slightly for a 305. Guess I need to turn down those fuel maps.


Oh yea also need to adjust the valves again. But the cam is broken in!

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Well after resolving a couple of mechanical issues, and some electrical issues, its alive.

I replaced the cap and rotor to solve a no spark on 2 cylinders. Adjusted valve lash per factory procedure.

Now I was getting a solid check engine light, no diagnostic mode and rev limited to 4k rpm. After checking all my pinouts, did a bit of diagnostic on the memcal. Re-did the big ground on the back of the head. Nothing. Replaced the computer with a used re-maned Delco from an 88 Corsica. I used the V6 memcal in the computer, and the ecu checked out. I could run diag mode and pull codes. Awesome. So I put in my hacked memcal and gave it a try. Back to the same old issues. Ah ha, issue is with my soldering on the chip socket. Resoldered all the joints, guess what? ECU is normal, not stuck in limp mode no more!

After disabling the anti-theft, it fired right up. Running a stock 92 Z28 w/ G92 option tune; this tune is more aggressive to work with the higher lift cam installed with that package. Still needs work to agree with my RV cam. However once closed loop kicked in, smooth running. So much more power than before, I can spin the tires all the way thru first, on gravel anyways. I am onto the tuning portion once I get my ALDL datalogging cable.

Also finally found a seat for the truck to replace those terrible Mitsubishi seats. Found this in a 1998 Caddy Fleetwood Limited.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0807.jpg

Heated, full power split bench. Only a tiny bit of wear on the drivers side. The cup holder hides away in the arm rest when not needed. Oh yea thats right I'll finally have cup holders! Pulled the set from the pickapart for $50.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Updates:

Working on finalizing the tune. Then its off to the shop for a new exhaust.

Got the Caddy seats mounted, they are nice. Need to tweak the mounts as I'm not happy with the seating position. My measurements were also off so there is quite a gap between the seats, need to build a console to close the gap.

I am considering a rear gear change and overdrive transmission after these things are accomplished. Also a rear spring upgrade as well, either overload springs or new HD spring packs.

Once I get a house, I am going to put this apart for rust repair and paint. really only needs new cab corners, rest of the sheet metal is solid

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Found out I don't like leather, sweaty ass sucks! Looking for Suburban buckets and console.

Picked up a 2WD NV4500 for 350 today, guy in town was selling it. Its a rebuild with 3k miles on it out of a 96 1 ton diesel. Got the shifter, but sadly no bellhousing.

http://images.craigslist.org/5Le5Id5...f34678145d.jpg

The VSS was also included. :metal:

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

found this unicorn for a steal today.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0842.jpg

Gauge cluster with tach out of a 85 C60 w/ V8 gas engine. I already cleaned everything up, housing is painted with chrome paint and ready to install the speedo and oil gauge from the pickup cluster.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0846.jpg

Hybrid cluster completed! Installed my original speedo, and oil pressure gauge into the tach cluster case. Used the original bezel and lens as well. Plugged it in, wired up the tach and it works! No re-pinning needed.


Also I used the SES light and "overspeed" lens from the C60.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...y/100_0848.jpg

I should mention I did not pin these lights into the cluster, rather I used GM marker lamp holders wired separately into the TPI ECM. The "Overspeed" light will be my shift light ;). Sadly this leaves me without a "brake" warning lamp. Working on that one.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Great find! Every truck around here seems to already have the cluster harvested from it.

Wouldn't worry too much about not having a brake light... You'll know if the brakes don't work :). Only thing maybe is if you somehow have a parking brake that works it might be nice to have the light...

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Did you use the original printed circuit board or the C65 one ?

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

I'm going to put a round LED in the middle between the speedo and tach

I used the C60 printed circuit

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Kick ass, nice job so far.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

You ever get the seats installed , interested in how they look in there.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

I did get them installed, there is a 10 inch gap between the seats but they are pretty much buckets anyways. They are really comfortable, I'll have to get pics.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Sorry its been awhile, I've just been distracted.

Terrible pic of seats in the truck

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...psf0bb3f95.jpg

In other news:

Sold the NV4500 in December. I got laid off so it didn't seem wise to spend $1k to swap in a transmission I didn't need (still have 2.73 rear gears). On the bright side, sold it for $50 more than I paid for it.

Decided that I hated the wiring harness I made for it, it was a Camaro harness so it was way too long, most of it coiled up under the dashboard. So I pulled it all out and build a new harness. Also made a proper mount for my MAP sensor, its now hanging off the side of the plenum. Cleaned up the engine bay by mounting the fuel pump relay, ESC module, and fuses under the dash.

I suspected for a while that my Innovate LC-1 was not exactly accurate and may be causing some of my tuning issues. The LC-1 was also providing the narrowband signal to the computer. Some internet searching confirmed my suspicion, so I removed it and installed the OEM o2 sensor I bought for this project. My fears were confirmed when I fired it up; without changing the tune that was running ok before, the truck was spewing black smoke out the tailpipe and running rough as hell. WTF. Now if my laptop would just boot up, I could get a proper tune on this thing. Anyone wanna buy a lightly used LC-1? ;)

Hmm....what else? Oh yes I installed electric fans today. I got a dual fan setup out of a Ford Windstar, apparently both fans together flow 4400 CFM. I figured that was enough. :p Plus, after some trimming, they fit the stock rad quite well. I'll have a writeup coming soon. I'm hoping to gain 1 mpg with that setup installed, plus clears space in front for a future supercharger install. :D

Stay tuned.

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

I am sooo totally freakin jealous of that gauge cluster! Those arent easy to come by. I picked up a 1980 factory tach cluster a while back, but the housing totally fell apart on me. workin on tracking one of those down now.

Great work on the TPI! I like that idea. I think im gonna stick with the new Holley avenger for now though haha :)

Re: 1986 Short bed 2WD
 

Wired up the fans, and got a stock Camaro tune loaded on the ECU. Runs amazing!

That is actually the 2nd tach cluster I found. I found an older mid 70's one, sold it because the tach didn't work, and I didn't like the style of the gauges.