1990 454 SS Pickup

[bucket]

I recently acquired a '90 454 SS and this will be my progress thread. There's no grand plans for the truck, just to leave it relatively stock and return it to it's former glory.

It all started when a friend of mine bought a pair of trucks from the same seller and got me in on the deal. The purpose was for resale, a '94 shortbed C1500 and this SS. I'm sure many of you have seen my for sale ad. I decided to keep the 454 SS.

Here's how the truck was purchased:

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Missing centercaps, missing air dam and missing fog lights. And a terrible engine noise that sounded like a rod knock and spun bearing. Also some kind of thin bedliner as paint. But the body is straight.

Then a cleanup and correct parts installed:

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The cluster bezel has been painted to match the interior, I kinda dig it. The driver seat has one little hole in the side bolster.

The dash has no cracks, which believe is uncommon these days.

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We tried to sell the truck without doing any engine work. There wasn't much interest. Eventually, we gave in and got our hands dirty...

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

This is nice. I agree on the bezel. Had it been done poorly, that whole concept could have quickly flown south for the winter, but it looks like it was done with care. I would normally want to go back to the Delco tuner/display and EQ/tape deck, but the work here was also done well, and I don’t think I’d have the heart to mess with it. That dashboard is amazing.

 

[bucket]

Sometime last week, we pushed my Camaro out of the garage to begin assembling the replacement engine. It's a '91 (gen 5) stock shortblock with 90k on it. The heads are stock '91 heads that have been treated to a valve job and they have been shaved to get the compression up some from the terrible 8.0:1 ratio.

Here's a pic of me cleaning the deck surface of the block, proving that I occasionally actually work on something, lol.

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The gen 5 big block has non-adjustsble valvetrain and due to the heads being shaved, an ARP stud kit was required so the valves could be adjusted properly.

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At this time, I had not yet decided I was going to keep the truck, so to keep within the resale budget, I had removed my Comp roller cam and springs to install the stock stuff. Yep, nylon timing sprocket and tiny cam. Oh well.

 

[bucket]

We also decided to paint the engine black like original. I liked the orange, but was still planning on an unknown buyer, so black it was. Even though I ended up with my engine back, I'm happy with the choice.

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Then on Friday evening, several friends came over and we got the truck in the garage to prep for engine removal.

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And out it comes:

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[bucket]

This is nice. I agree on the bezel. Had it been done poorly, that whole concept could have quickly flown south for the winter, but it looks like it was done with care. I would normally want to go back to the Delco tuner/display and EQ/tape deck, but the work here was also done well, and I don’t think I’d have the heart to mess with it. That dashboard is amazing.

If I come across a factory stereo setup, I'd gladly switch it back. I have a bunch of CD's still, but for most driving, I'm happy with a regular ol tuner. That and I like the look of Delco radios.

 

[78C10BigTen]

This is nice. I agree on the bezel. Had it been done poorly, that whole concept could have quickly flown south for the winter, but it looks like it was done with care. I would normally want to go back to the Delco tuner/display and EQ/tape deck, but the work here was also done well, and I don’t think I’d have the heart to mess with it. That dashboard is amazing.

The bezel that goes around the aftermarket stereo is a kit. Both my 94 burb and 90 gmt400 had one, they look clean and work good.

 

[78C10BigTen]

If I come across a factory stereo setup, I'd gladly switch it back. I have a bunch of CD's still, but for most driving, I'm happy with a regular ol tuner. That and I like the look of Delco radios.

I may still have one.... the little square one up about the heater controls?

 

[bucket]

I may still have one.... the little square one up about the heater controls?

Yep. Push buttons and a digital display. It just seems "right" for a '90.

Side note, this truck has a cubby as part of the aftermarket kit. The '94 we just sold had a stamped steel knock-off plate where the stock radio was. I thought it was odd that the different companies didn't just copy each other.

 

[gotyourgoat]

Great space to actually get work done. Wish I had a garage like yours.

It was nice of Action Bronson to stop by and help out.

 

[bucket]

Great space to actually get work done. Wish I had a garage like yours.

It was nice of Action Bronson to stop by and help out.

Ha, I had to look up who that was. I see the resemblance

 

[78C10BigTen]

Yep. Push buttons and a digital display. It just seems "right" for a '90.

Side note, this truck has a cubby as part of the aftermarket kit. The '94 we just sold had a stamped steel knock-off plate where the stock radio was. I thought it was odd that the different companies didn't just copy each other.

I have the cubby also, i snatched that up in a junk yard actually. When i get back up my moms house ill look for that radio for ya

 

[bucket]

Saturday was spent getting everything ready to stick the replacement engine. Things like painting the intake, water pump and valve covers.

I also had the tedious work of replacing all 6 exhaust manifold studs that broke off.

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While doing that, one of the manifolds slipped out of the vice and hit the floor. The fall clobbered one of the air Injection tubes, so I decided to just make them all non functional. There were no plans to reinstall the smog pump, so this way there will be no exhaust flutter noise with the lines still in the manifolds.

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[bucket]

We were going from a mark IV block to a gen 5 block, which apparently the flexplate differs for the two. I read all kinds of things online about the differences. Some people said they were the same, some said the balance was different, some said the bolt pattern was different and others said the crank register was a different size. No concrete answers to be found. So we bought a new flexplate for the '91 replacement engine.

Having the two types side by side, here's the definitive answer:

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They are identical other than the balance weight. The gen 5 engine needs a heavier weight than the mark IV engine.

 

[bucket]

Almost ready to go in:

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And going in the next day:

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Got it in and everything under the truck buttoned up, working on the top side:

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I also chose to delete the heater hose that was plumbed through the factory TBI adapter. It's a highly probable leak point and I wanted it gone, lol. I happened to have a heater hose in stock that went from the intake and directly to the heater core. The fit was perfect but I don't remember the application unfortunately. It's a GM hose though.

 

[bucket]

Then that leads us to Monday evening. Got everything buttoned up, with the exception of the smog pump and associated hoses.

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I had a belt in stock (sometimes I absolutely love being a hoarder) that was the perfect length for not running a smog pump. I also removed the smooth idler pulley that was located under the AC compressor as it no longer served a purpose. Here's the part # for the shorter belt:

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