Well, the Ol' Girl got hurt. A couple of weekends ago, I threw the bike in the back of the truck and headed to a benefit car show about 50 miles from me. After the show, on the way out of the parking lot I noticed she was running a little warm. So I kept an eye on it and continued on. Right about the time I got to the interstate, the temp started climbing. I eased into a gas station to check the radiator, thinking I must've developed a leak in a hose. When I stepped out of the truck I noticed puffs of "smoke" coming from underneath. I kneeled down to investigate, and I see it "smoking" out of one side. At that point I started smelling it. That sickening sweet smell of hot coolant. And I thought to myself "Oh that's not good". I figured since I was going to have to call a towtruck anyway, I might as well try and limp her as close to home as I could. So I topped her off with water, and pulled the dipstick... still clear.
She made it to about 10 miles from the house before the temp climbed high enough for me to pull over. I topped off the radiator, and pulled the dipstick again. This time it looked like chocolate milk. I thought to myself "And that's even worse". Being so close to home, I decided to just push on. Running mostly on only 6 cylinders, she drug her ass home under her own power
I weighed my options of rebuild or replace for a week, and decided a GM Performance crate engine was the best choice. My bro offered up his garage to perform the swap. So once again I topped off the radiator, got her cranked over, and drove her the 10 or so miles to his house. And once again, the ol girl drug her ass there under her own power
I love my truck
Once at his house I snapped a few pics.
Blubblubblubblubbahblubblub...
(the sound of a V8 running on 6 and drowning in her own fluids)
Milkshake anyone?
These arrived Friday afternoon.
GM Performance 350/290hp
Assorted goodies from Summit, Jegs, and the local parts joint.
Working solo, Friday was all about lump removal.
Almost there...
Success...
And did it
without removing the hood
Saturday and Sunday were all about Detailing.
Pressure washed.
Mostly painted. (not all parts/brackets are shown)
Unnecessary wiring removed.
(the truck was originally equipped with a 305 and an electronic quadrajet and distributor)
I also got the old motor stripped of everything that needed to go onto the new motor.
Next weekend will see everything coming together