GMC Savana, Plus a Chevy Express Now Too

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.

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Man, I forgot all about these things:
You must be registered for see images attach


I don't remember what that trim level was, but I remember seeing them on the lot in '01 or '02. I need to find one of those in the junkyard. Body colored grille, fancy bumper facia and fogs... yes please.
 

78C10BigTen

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2017
Posts
15,920
Reaction score
25,240
Location
pennsylvannia
First Name
Ted
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 BIG TEN
Engine Size
350
Man, I forgot all about these things:
You must be registered for see images attach


I don't remember what that trim level was, but I remember seeing them on the lot in '01 or '02. I need to find one of those in the junkyard. Body colored grille, fancy bumper facia and fogs... yes please.
So a richer mans rape van?? Lol
 

78C10BigTen

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2017
Posts
15,920
Reaction score
25,240
Location
pennsylvannia
First Name
Ted
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10 BIG TEN
Engine Size
350
Nah, nah, nah. Everyone knows that rape vans don't have windows like a passenger van does :rofl:
A vans a van unless its a "VAN" man!!!
 

Attachments

  • Chevy-van-2.jog_-1.jpg
    Chevy-van-2.jog_-1.jpg
    58 KB · Views: 63
  • cheechchongnextmovie2019.jpg
    cheechchongnextmovie2019.jpg
    107 KB · Views: 75
  • d95ccb0bef9c5a8c549f469d42a55de622cfa4be.jpg
    d95ccb0bef9c5a8c549f469d42a55de622cfa4be.jpg
    63.4 KB · Views: 71

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Well alrighty, 2 years later and I'm finally doing intake gaskets and a tune-up on the white van. Now in my defense, we did move and I had been occupied by that, lol. Mostly I've just been using the white van as a mobile unit for keeping my camping stuff in, along with an occasional drive down the road. It also drove itself to the new house 1.5 years ago and drove fantastic. But anyway, on to pictures.

You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach


They were still original GM gaskets, and they were toast too.
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
The original spider injector was in place too. I've had a nice fresh donor vortec intake sitting around for a while, complete with a fresh updated style injector spider. So that's what I'm using since the updated injectors really aren't removable once they are installed.

You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach


^the updated style only has about 1k on it, but mice had nested in the intake and that's what a bunch of the mess is.
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Intake assembled as a unit, with new seals, updated spider injector and gasket surfaces cleaned.

You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach


Ready to clean.
You must be registered for see images attach


New gaskets in place. They are the steel Felpro gaskets, not the crappy plastic garbage.
You must be registered for see images attach


Intake installed, ready to plug everything in and hook up all the hoses.
You must be registered for see images attach
 

Attachments

  • 20231017_235334.jpg
    20231017_235334.jpg
    148.2 KB · Views: 37

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
And as far as the yellow van goes, it's doing well. Getting close to 200k already.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Well it runs again. I was concerned that I never found a definite cause of why it was so hard to start before. It had a tendency to buck and kick back at the starter when cranking and there was a dead miss too, usually. As if it was sucking coolant directly into one cylinder, or had a bent pushrod or something. The plugs were worn and fouled, but none were washed with coolant. There were traces of coolant in the intake manifold ports, but it appeared to be from crankcase vapors pulled in through the PCV. Valve train was fine.

So with all that, I halfway expected it to still have major troubles starting. But it fired right up, albeit only running on 7 cylinders. One cylinder didn't want to party until around 3k or so, which was a bit concerning. After it started getting some temperature in it, I gave her the 'ol hillbilly tune-up and it actually smoothed out after a few good revs and it runs great now.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach
 

SirRobyn0

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Posts
6,755
Reaction score
11,402
Location
In the woods in Western Washington
First Name
Rob
Truck Year
1984
Truck Model
C20
Engine Size
305
I've always enjoyed those terms, the ones I use the most:
Mexican tune up: Revving a carbureted engine up to around 3K or so and closing the choke off fully until the engine RPM is close to stalling, let the choke open until it revs up repeat a few times, in a effort to clear a little crap out of the carb.
Italian tune up: (and you have to pronounce it Eye-talin tune up) trickling drips of water down the carburetor while revving the engine to 1,500RPM or so, in an effort to decarbonize the engine. Following that a hard run on the road at high RPM
Collectively sometimes called poor mans tune up.
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
The white van is all buttoned back up and perfectly roadworthy again. I took it on a 10 mile test drive, at speeds up to 70+ and it did fantastic. I also tossed an amber beacon on it, mostly to get the wife's attention when I drove it over to the house.

You must be registered for see images attach
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
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
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 finally remembered to get a picture in the daylight. Too bad it's white, lol. I'm kind of wanting to paint it, maybe yellow to match the other van. Besides my time, I could do it for around 150 bucks including sand paper. That's using "tractor" paint.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

SirRobyn0

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Posts
6,755
Reaction score
11,402
Location
In the woods in Western Washington
First Name
Rob
Truck Year
1984
Truck Model
C20
Engine Size
305
I finally remembered to get a picture in the daylight. Too bad it's white, lol. I'm kind of wanting to paint it, maybe yellow to match the other van. Besides my time, I could do it for around 150 bucks including sand paper. That's using "tractor" paint.

You must be registered for see images attach
My wife has had a white minivan since 2005. I had a black Buick in the 90's and swore I'd never own another black vehicle, so we choose white for her minivan not realizing that it's just as bad if not worse than black where it comes to showing dirt, but at least it doesn't radiate heat like black, but I agree white is not the best color.
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,396
Reaction score
28,178
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
My wife has had a white minivan since 2005. I had a black Buick in the 90's and swore I'd never own another black vehicle, so we choose white for her minivan not realizing that it's just as bad if not worse than black where it comes to showing dirt, but at least it doesn't radiate heat like black, but I agree white is not the best color.

I don't hate white paint, unless it's on a modern truck or van. Nobody anymore can think for themselves, they are just like "durr.. it's a work truck and work trucks are white, dee dee dee". Drives me nuts... pick a color and be distinctive for crying out loud. And the "better for signage" excuse doesn't fly either. Signs and decals show up on any color, not just white.

/rant
 

HotWheelsBurban

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2023
Posts
2,379
Reaction score
5,589
Location
Houston, Texas
First Name
Carol
Truck Year
1990
Truck Model
R2500 Suburban
Engine Size
350
I finally remembered to get a picture in the daylight. Too bad it's white, lol. I'm kind of wanting to paint it, maybe yellow to match the other van. Besides my time, I could do it for around 150 bucks including sand paper. That's using "tractor" paint.

You must be registered for see images attach
My wife has had a white minivan since 2005. I had a black Buick in the 90's and swore I'd never own another black vehicle, so we choose white for her minivan not realizing that it's just as bad if not worse than black where it comes to showing dirt, but at least it doesn't radiate heat like black, but I agree white is not the best color.
Having had a white Suburban and a black one, my personal preference for color on trucks that get driven a lot, is the pewter and gold colors. They don't show dirt too bad, and they are shiny when they are freshly washed (or driven in the rain).
Not gonna lie, that black Burb looked sweet and badass when it was clean...but that lasted about half an hour, and washing/scrubbing it took most of a day.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
44,067
Posts
948,702
Members
36,134
Latest member
gtewolf79
Top