Any good hacks/upgrades you've come up with for our trucks

[Dougnsalem]

Extra back up lights in the bumper

Can I ask how you cut the holes out for the backup lights? Those came out nice and clean. Look great!

 

[yevgenievich]

Can I ask how you cut the holes out for the backup lights? Those came out nice and clean. Look great!

Thanks, used a hole saw. Can use a drill instead, but was easier to put it on a mill

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[Frankenchevy]

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what are you using the remaining round opening for?

 

[Honky Kong jr]

what are you using the remaining round opening for?

That’s where the exhaust comes out there’s one on each side.

 

[Frankenchevy]

That’s where the exhaust comes out there’s one on each side.

that's what i was secretly hoping!

first thing that popped in my head when thinking about the blazer tank was where the exhaust and spare tire would go.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Additional door seal to kill wind noise

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What size weatherstripping did you use and where’d you get it?

 

[yevgenievich]

What size weatherstripping did you use and where’d you get it?

Can either use 3/4 foam general weather stripping or order the original style from lmc. Was option on early squares(73-78 or so)

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Can either use 3/4 foam general weather stripping or order the original style from lmc. Was option on early squares(73-78 or so)

Thanks!

 

[yevgenievich]

Small tach instead of clock or trans temp gauge instead of clock.

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[chengny]

Thanks, used a hole saw. Can use a drill instead, but was easier to put it on a mill

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I hope you were able to recoat the raw steel - if not with chrome, at least with POR-15 or some other type of weather resistant epoxy. If not, all your hard work will be for naught. I have had a couple of those FEY bumpers in the past and they had very short service lives before rusting right through.


The quality of the steel used to manufacture auto parts these days is awful. By now it has literally been "through the mill" so many times, it hardly resembles what it was when it first came out of the US Steel foundry. All steel nowadays is recycled in China. It comes in from the US (and every other industrial nation on earth) in big bulker tankers. These ships are filled with steel of all different qualities, former uses and formulations - and most of it is contaminated with oil and coatings.

When they off-load for smelting in China, do you imagine for a minute that there is any quality control? Do you think any effort at all is made to cull lower quality steel from the supply stream or clean the heavy coatings/oil from the quality steel before it is smelted? There isn't.

It all gets melted together and while it is molten, all those impurities come off the surface of the steel and are mixed in with it. Once they are blended in, they essentially become an additive of the steel - and an inferior alloy is the result. This steel is then rolled out and shipped around the world. It goes to the manufacturers of autos, appliances, heavy equipment, farm vehicles, even shipbuilders. At some point the product reaches the end of it's useful life and it gets sent to the scrap yards. These big steel scrap yards are right on the water in large port cities. In the US, most goes out through LA. When enough is accumulated here comes an empty bulker to take it back to the Far East where the process is repeated.

It doesn't take too many times through the refineries before it's junk and yet that is what they continue to use to make the products that we buy.

Sorry for this rant, I will now get down off my soapbox.

 

[Dougnsalem]

Small tach instead of clock or trans temp gauge instead of clock.

What did you use to cover the face of your instrument cluster bezel? That looks pretty good. Mine is slathered in bondo, and I'm getting kinda tired of working on it....

 

[yevgenievich]

Clear coated the edges. Been over a year with no signs of rust

I hope you were able to recoat the raw steel - if not with chrome, at least with POR-15 or some other type of weather resistant epoxy. If not, all your hard work will be for naught. I have had a couple of those FEY bumpers in the past and they had very short service lives before rusting right through.


The quality of the steel used to manufacture auto parts these days is awful. By now it has literally been "through the mill" so many times, it hardly resembles what it was when it first came out of the US Steel foundry. All steel nowadays is recycled in China. It comes in from the US (and every other industrial nation on earth) in big bulker tankers. These ships are filled with steel of all different qualities, former uses and formulations - and most of it is contaminated with oil and coatings.

When they off-load for smelting in China, do you imagine for a minute that there is any quality control? Do you think any effort at all is made to cull lower quality steel from the supply stream or clean the heavy coatings/oil from the quality steel before it is smelted? There isn't.

It all gets melted together and while it is molten, all those impurities come off the surface of the steel and are mixed in with it. Once they are blended in, they essentially become an additive of the steel - and an inferior alloy is the result. This steel is then rolled out and shipped around the world. It goes to the manufacturers of autos, appliances, heavy equipment, farm vehicles, even shipbuilders. At some point the product reaches the end of it's useful life and it gets sent to the scrap yards. These big steel scrap yards are right on the water in large port cities. In the US, most goes out through LA. When enough is accumulated here comes an empty bulker to take it back to the Far East where the process is repeated.

It doesn't take too many times through the refineries before it's junk and yet that is what they continue to use to make the products that we buy.

Sorry for this rant, I will now get down off my soapbox.

 

[roundhouse]

Good info in this thread

 

[bluex]

With the exception of troublesome power steering pumps my serpentine belt system upgrade is one of my favorites. It wasnt necessarily cheap though.

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[Dougnsalem]

With the exception of troublesome power steering pumps my serpentine belt system upgrade is one of my favorites. It wasnt necessarily cheap though.

That looks really sharp! Did you do a writeup on what you did? If so, a link in your post would be awesome! I found a thread on a conversion but it didn't go too much into detail about what's required....

EDIT: Great thread on your build! Serp belt swap starts at post 114 for anyone looking....

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/78-gmc-forever-build.16379/page-3