My Stepside.

[Redbird]

Been chasing a frequent but random pop/sneeze on her for the last few months. After starting with the simple stuff, and not finding the problem, I started digging deeper.
Found this last weekend...

What made it really fun was when I went to pull the lifter (#7-exhaust), the cup fell off and dropped into the oil drainback hole in the lifter valley...
Swish! no rim, all net... well Fuck Had to pull the pan too :
Picked up these Tuesday, along with the intake gaskets. Waiting on the special order pan gasket.

I discovered some galling on one of the rocker rollers, and coupled with a rocker failure a while back, I decided to replace the rocker set as well.

 

[DesmoBro]

Ready for an LS swap yet?

 

[Maritime]

Well shit, hope it goes ok. Make her better than new ;D

 

[irk miller]

Hey, cool. I had no idea this thread existed. Brothers in arms.

 

[Redbird]

Ready for an LS swap yet?

Always, and when one presents itself that the budget will allow, it'll happen.
In the meantime though, I'm hoping to pull the trigger on a Fuel Injection kit soon

Mike... On it
Eric... It's a sickness

 

[VonYinzer]

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/pts/5646386404.html

 

[irk miller]

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/pts/5646386404.html

I hope that's the truck motor and not the transverse Malibu motor. LS4s aren't one to get, but the Vortec 5300 is a great motor. Heads are just as good as 5.7 heads. They made a ton of 5300s, so they can be had for super cheap.

 

[DesmoBro]

I hope that's the truck motor and not the transverse Malibu motor. LS4s aren't one to get, but the Vortec 5300 is a great motor. Heads are just as good as 5.7 heads. They made a ton of 5300s, so they can be had for super cheap.

Yup junk yard around here has em for $200

 

[Redbird]

Just a block isn't too difficult, but I'll need a complete motor (top to bottom, and all brackets/accessories). Which can be found as well. Then I need to factor in all the items needed for the swap (mounts, harnesses, stand alone ecm, etc). Then think about new air filter, exhaust system, etc. It all starts to add up quickly for a "simple LS upgrade".

Currently though, she only sees weekend duty, and the Gen I small block that's in it is perfectly adequate. So an LS engine would have to be REAL cheap to make the budget

 

[DesmoBro]

At the junk yard here if you buy the motor its already out but they let you take the ecu and anything else off the truck you need for a week or so for the $200. This dude on utube sloppy mechanics Turbod a junkyard 5.3 on the cheap! With ebay turbos and his own plumbing....guy works at a dyno shop....cranked the boost to 28 psi just to see how much it could handle.....dude was smoking tires @ 65 mph.... Until the top went pop.....anyways hes now keeping the boost under 28 psi

 

[DesmoBro]

https://youtu.be/WFbRoxd-PRU

 

[Redbird]

Well about three weeks ago, while the Stepside was parked in the driveway, and I was at work, some assclown backed into her.
Took out one of the headlights, the grill, the turnsignal, the headlight bezel, the stainless molding, and pushed in the filler panel.

Rather than just replacing the damaged pieces (and have some parts look "newer/nicer" than the others), I decided to just replace the entire assemblies.
All the parts are now in.

Installation is this weekends project.

 

[Redbird]

And all back together.

Changed up the headlights a little. "Black" fixtures, and installed LED bulbs.

 

[Maritime]

Nice.

 

[whynot]

Wow, purdy truck........

 

[Redbird]

Bye Bye Baby

Been kinda bored with the Stepside for a while now. So I started riding around with a For Sale sign in the window back in March, asking $9500.
Had a few tire kickers, but nobody serious. Even had a guy give me a deposit, but he couldn't get the financing and bowed out.
The next day a guy knocks on my door, serious about buying her. Told me all about how his kids (boys, ages 9 and 12) wanted an old truck for the three of them to cruise around in. And how the boys did all sorts of odd jobs to scrape together $3k towards the purchase. We shook hands on $8K, and off she went to her new home.
I got to meet the boys for the actual purchase (that's the three of them driving it away), and I'm glad it went to people who are as excited about owning it as I was. And (aside from the new owner messaging me with questions/help with stuff I'd done/recommendations on purchases), I know I'll still see it around (and at local Cruise Nights) because the new owners live less than a 1/2mile from me.
So, closing out the Stepside adventure, and moving on to something new.
I'm thinkin about a Jeep TJ next

 

[cb360j]

Careful, once you get a jeep you will be hooked.

 

[SONICJK]

Never thought I'd see the day!
All good things must come to an end.
Agreed on the jeep, I got out of jeeps because it's way too easy to spend waaay too much money.

I got to the point that my next mod was ~5k and i was seriously considering it.
A motorcycle habit is much much cheaper haha.

 

[cb360j]

Never thought I'd see the day!
All good things must come to an end.
Agreed on the jeep, I got out of jeeps because it's way too easy to spend waaay too much money.

I got to the point that my next mod was ~5k and i was seriously considering it.
A motorcycle habit is much much cheaper haha.

And the jeep parts are so easily justifiable. Jeep parts, motorcycles, and custom rifles are my biggest expenses

 

[Redbird]

Careful, once you get a jeep you will be hooked.

My brother has had several. Currently has an 05 TJ that I borrow all the time.
Which is what got me interested in one of my own

Never thought I'd see the day!
All good things must come to an end.
Agreed on the jeep, I got out of jeeps because it's way too easy to spend waaay too much money.

I got to the point that my next mod was ~5k and i was seriously considering it.
A motorcycle habit is much much cheaper haha.

Yea, I had that truck 14 years. Had a lot of fun in her. It was weird following it to transfer the title. I'd never driven behind it before
And I know how quickly you can drop money on Jeeps, I've seen my brother do it. I'm not looking for anything too crazy. Mild lift, nice tires, etc. Not lookin to do Moab, but it'll definitely see mud and trails. But then again, plans do tend to evolve over time


Hey, it just occurred to me... this is the first time that I haven't owned a car that required Two Keys