Thanks I am pretty stoked with it to. Cant wait to get it registered so I can take it out and play a little. Been a while since ive driven it full time.

Thanks scoop I need it. Lets just hope this motor is all I pray it to be lol.
I did a compression check yesterday and it looks good.
1=175
2=170
3=180
4=175

So its pretty much right on cept for 2 being a tad bit low. I think once I drive it some it will even out since the motor has been sitting for a bit. We will see.
When I test driving it yesterday I got on it a little, like to 4800 rpm and it white smoked on me which freaked me out. Then it stopped and hasnt started again. I think I really did blow out the pipes.

 

Well I went in to get smogged and dang it if one of my plug wires was acting up. Ended up with much lower CO's but HC's were high. Put a new set of wires on it and it seems to be running fine. I bought a high flow cat for it which should be in this morning. If it doesnt pass after this then im callin the wrecker !!!!!!!

 

wrecker eh.........so do you want my phone number now or later LMAO!!!

 

Just got cat in this afternoon and will have it installed tomorrow morning. Then we will see. Ya I am frustrated big time but I think with new cat and getting the truck to run smoother I should pass. BLAH !!!

 

Hey man, best of luck on that. Im lucky we dont have to do smog checks down here in Alabama. There's no way mine would pass with this riggy 20r carb I have on it at the moment.

This is my 3rd engine in this thing in less than a year. I have nearly $3ooo.oo in a $800.oo dollar truck. If the engine goes this time, i'm going to part it out and start building a chevy 4.3 EFI. The body is just too good to let it go.

 

Heres a pic of my truck after its 1st bath in like 4 yrs lol


here is the valve cover I am painting. Gonna put a few more coats on it then a clear. Should look amazing.

 

I will personally come slap you in the face if you part that truck out or sell it. Then I'll buy it from you! I guess in Cali those may be easier to come by, but you'd only find a truck with a paint job like that around here if it was always kept in a garage and rarely driven in the winter. And vehicles hold up pretty well around here.

That thing is nice. I realized you've got to worry about smog there, but please.

 

Paint isnt that nice. It is a very thin and its peeling all over the place. I had planed on repainting it white this summer but at this point I am FLAT out of money. I have spent more on this truck then its worth at this point. I put a new cat on today and still failed smog AGAIN !!! Its either my new carb is crap or I have some sort of smog causing this. I am flat out of ideas on this as of today. Its got a pretty good higher rpm miss which makes no sense since I have been thru this motor. I talked to a mech friend of mine and he wants a good deal of money to me to check it out and fix it. At this point until I can get someone to look at it for free and tell me what to fix or just go to dmv and non op it for a while. Here is cali you cant have a vehicle sitting unless its non op or insured.

 

It looks like we are both up that legendary proverbial creek. Don't worry, you can borrow my paddle tho. Just hang in there man, that truck is cherry.

 

I think with a truck this old it would hard not to have more money into it than it's worth. My rebuilt transmission is worth as much as my whole truck, and that's just the beginning of the money I've put into it.

 

I guess whats got me the most frustrated is almost every part on this engine is new. Wish I could use a dyno to test it without smogging it so I can tune it and check things myself. I can run pretest but they are almost as expensive as the test itself. Gonna go beg a some friends for help.

 

Ok so I think I have it figured out. I believe it was me being a dumb ars. I forgot to put RTV on the head and manifold faces. So that would explain the poss. that the air leak was coming from there. I am letting it sit over night then tomorrow I will fire her up and cross my fingers.

 

Good job Look clean i did the same Exact thing with mine but i have a 83 short bed, i also painted the motor the same color you painted the valve cover in the last post good work hows it run?

 

Running very well now. Ive put a good 2k miles on it or more and not a single issue. Now I just need to get the dents fixed and put a new paint job on her and she will be perfect until I wheel.

 

Sorry to hear about your trouble getting it passed, but it looks great! Seems you only have two options.

Option 1: You can move up here to Oregon territory and not worry about smog checks. Obviously, this would require completely rearranging your life and finding a new job. But with unemployment at 15-25% (depending on the county), and rain 9 out of 12 months a year, this might not make sense in your situation.

Option B: I will drive down there and haul your troubles away free of charge. Just think of all the money and hassle I'll be saving you!

On a serious note, did you really paint your valve cover right on your tailgate without putting even a piece of cardboard down for the overspray? I know a bed is made to be used, but the rest of your rig's paint is so nice I hate to see it get ruined.

 

what i was thinking

 

I should take some pics of my paint close up. If it was original paint then I would have never done that but it was a repaint and they never even roughed the paint below it. I use to paint for a living and I can tell ya this paint is bad !! so I really didnt care since I knew I was going to be painting it the right way soon.
If I get another digital camera I will post some pics where the paint is pealing off. It is just flaking off all over the place. Rust was painted over ect ect. When I do paint this truck I am gonna strip it clean do the body work, tear out the interior and spray it all so it all will match. I have access to a media blaster but due to noise restrictions I dont have any where to use it. You should read my post on the damage I found on this rig.