Old77's 1989 S10 tinkering project

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
Maybe the gauge reads lower than it should? In which case, warm could actually be really hot.
:shrug: today it definitely read hot but no coolant overflowed and nothing burst or anything. Definitely wasn't happy. I'm going to go out and check on it again here in a bit.
 

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
Well, just hopped in it. Hasn't ran since this morning so it's cold and she's definitely down a cylinder. You can hear it and it's lacking power. So I'm having it towed from work to my house and I'll start poking at it and decide what to do from there. Not sure if it's a lifter or valve or what. Was driving fun and normal the first half of my trip to work this morning. :shrug: She does have 267,*** miles on the clock so could be just about anything.
 

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
I’ve got coolant coming out of the exhaust. Looks like head gasket failure
You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,610
Reaction score
28,831
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
I’ve got coolant coming out of the exhaust. Looks like head gasket failure
You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach

Well that's unfortunate. It could also be a cracked head or block. Taking it apart should provide answers.
 

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
Well that's unfortunate. It could also be a cracked head or block. Taking it apart should provide answers.
Agreed. I’m going to start taking it apart before assuming anything. If it’s a cracked block there’s some big boy decisions to be made then
 

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
And here come the LS guys!!! TAKE COVER!!!!! lol
Eventually I do have plans to V8 swap (possibly LS/possibly not) but was not planning on that this early since its main purpose is still to be my kids first rig while they save for their own vehicle. If I throw a V8 of any kind in this thing that is no longer going to be a thing lol
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,610
Reaction score
28,831
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Honestly, I'm certainly not any kind of LS fan boy, but this is an application that an LS would probably be my first choice in a swap. Not the typical junkyard 5.3, but something way more fun like an LS3. Just for an example.
 

78C10BigTen

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2017
Posts
16,022
Reaction score
25,564
Location
pennsylvannia
First Name
Ted
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 BIG TEN
Engine Size
350
Eventually I do have plans to V8 swap (possibly LS/possibly not) but was not planning on that this early since its main purpose is still to be my kids first rig while they save for their own vehicle. If I throw a V8 of any kind in this thing that is no longer going to be a thing lol
Chuck a factory 4.3 in it! I LOVE mine! Runs like a raped ape!
 

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
So that's when you will ask your wife what to do? :shrug:
LOL We will discuss for sure. She did suggest pulling the S10 into the garage (giving up her garage space) while I tear into it. That's a big deal for her so gotta give her props and supporting the efforts as well as she can. I'm going to get it moved into the garage today. We'll see what happens.
 

Old77

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Aug 19, 2010
Posts
28,490
Reaction score
9,555
Location
Kansas City, Mo
First Name
Jacob
Truck Year
1977/1990/1991
Truck Model
C10 longbed/R1500 Burb/R3500 Dually
Engine Size
350/350/454
Another quandry I'm having is a buddy of mine has been asking me for a while to sell the truck to him. Part of my brain wants to start tearing into it and get the thing torn down but then the lazy part of my brain wants it to leave the driveway LOL He's got plans for it (if I sold it to him) and it'd go to a good home but I have plans for it, too, and never have had plans to sell it. If I was to sell it, there's a K5 for sale local for $4,000 that I'd probably try and go haggle on to get. I don't know......... Just spewing out the dialogue that's in my head.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
44,409
Posts
956,875
Members
36,727
Latest member
jmcbil24
Top