It's a Start

[crashtech]

Hi everyone, I'm Jon from Southern Idaho. I think I've always kind of liked square bodies ever since my grandpa bought his new in '73. It was a blue/turquoise metallic 3/4 ton with a 454, always had a camper on it, and sometimes an aluminum boat on top of that. He loved that truck, and I thought it was cool, too. But most of my teenage years were more along hotrodder lines, so even though I have owned a couple of longbeds, an '84 and an '83, this time around, when it came time to find a truck, I wanted a little shortbed. Like a musclecar that can haul a fridge if you need it to.

So I found an '86 Sierra Classic shortbed with some of the stuff I wanted, A/C and cruise control, etc. It's got a 305 now, but I have a '97 Vortec 350 all rebuilt and ready to go in. I've gone through the suspension, lowered it just a bit, put some musclecar wheels it, and put a 3:73 in it, but it's in these final prep steps to getting that Vortec in there that I want to reach out for help. Even though I run a little shop, there's always a cleanest and best way to do things, like the best way to convert the dual tank fuel system to in-tank electric pumps, and what's needed (or even if it's wise) to use the serpentine system off the '97 truck that came with the Vortec 350 core. I don't know how much I'll get to post here, since my own stuff always comes last, but hey, it's a start.

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[shiftpro]

Beautiful little truck Jonathan. Welcome to the forum.
And nice shop! Clean! The wet floor makes for great photos too, I don't know if you did that on purpose but it worked anyway.

If you wanted a hot rod truck... should have plunked in a BB.
You still can!

 

[HotRodPC]

Welcome to GMSB !!! Sweet Truck !!! I'm all for getting rid of the Wee O Five and getting that Vortec 350 installed. You'll like alot more when that's done.

 

[WFO]

Welcome from the Texas Panhandle.

 

[Charlie]

 

[82sbshortbed]

 

[Camar068]

Welcome! Nice truck.

Gas tank relocation if you like, I went with the 31 gallon: http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/write-up-gas-tank-relocation.663/

Nice video on the tank swap I found:

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Might convert to electric fans and add a trans cooler. Other mods in my signature also.

 

[1973c10]

Welcome aboard

 

[Old77]

 

[crashtech]

First, thanks to everyone for the warm welcome! I hope I can contribute a little back. Though I don't have a lot of truck specific knowledge, I've been in the collision repair industry for a good long while.

Beautiful little truck Jonathan. Welcome to the forum.
And nice shop! Clean! The wet floor makes for great photos too, I don't know if you did that on purpose but it worked anyway.

If you wanted a hot rod truck... should have plunked in a BB.
You still can!

Thanks for the kind words! I do like big blocks, I have a '66 Olds F-85 with a roller cammed .060" over 455 that makes absolutely stupid power for the street! I guess I am going for something a little different this time. Believe it or not, though I've worked on dozens of them, I've never owned anything with a souped up SBC. The Vortec has 9.9:1, a 218°/226°@050" roller, a marine Edelbrock high rise, and Doug's tri-y headers, it should make around 400 at the flywheel. I think that ought to be hot rod enough, but calm enough for the wife to drive now and then.

Welcome! Nice truck.

Gas tank relocation if you like, I went with the 31 gallon: http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/write-up-gas-tank-relocation.663/

Nice video on the tank swap I found:

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Might convert to electric fans and add a trans cooler. Other mods in my signature also.

Thanks for the tip! I was really hoping to keep the cutting and modding on this little shortbed to a minimum, though in the end a single tank is much simpler. I'd like to figure out if any of the '87s with TBI had dual tanks, if so, I can pull the wiring and sender/fuel pump modules and adapt it to my truck.