Mudded & Flooded in the PacNW

[Sundevildaddy]

Hey All, just dropping in to toss my Heya's, Hiya's and Hello's.

Been coasting, climbing and crushing in Square Bodies my whole life.

Die Hard Bowtie, and more specifically, Square Body, Family.

Proudest moment: Both teenage daughters started fighting over who get's Dad's Pick-m-up. (Finally settled down when I promised to help them build one for each .)


Current Offering:

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1984 K20 Camper Special
6.2L "J" (379ci - MilSpec)
Twin Goose neck custom Air can (removed Factory resonator/can)
TH400 Kitted
3.83
Quad (4) Ford (hey, they have to be used for something other than paperweights) Commercial Deep Cycle Batteries
Twin high output Alternators
Factory Lift w/ 5,000lb Leafs in rear
Boxed Frame
CAT Fuel/Water 20m filtration and 12v inline heater(to replace Stanadyne) and electric pump
Disk Upgrade all around
20/20/101 gallon tanks (twin factory w/ in-bed "L" service tank)
Moon visor, chrome smoker shields and bug bar
Diamondplate Contractors Box
**Upcoming Upgrades:
Lift Kit (2" Leaf w/ Balancers)
Under/Over kit (can never go too slow/fast)
Compressor and Bags (can never carry/tow too much)
Headache Rack
Polished Intake
HMMWV headers (pre-95/6.5l)
Siderail inserts/weld-overs
6k Wench Bumper, 6k Rear Step Bumper
Line-x undercarriage (again), bed, interior floorboard, lower quarter of body and bed rails.
--The point: Carry anything, Haul anything, Go anywhere, Do anything.. all at 28MPG. Factory appearance, with a HD twist
--
1985 K-5
Fully Loaded with everything..... but the motor Looking for another "J" series
--
Fondly Missing my:
1991 'burban - Fully loaded, SB 350, TH350, 4" lift, 35's. Like new with 54k miles // stolen 5/08
1978 Coca-Cola service truck (c20) - Repainted, by hand, White on Black fade (top to bottom), black interior, SB350 (my Ol'Mans truck)
1985 Chevrolet K-30 Custom Deluxe Crew Cab Fleetside (Brown Beast)
--
For all the hater's of the 6.2 (j):
I will kindly smile and nod anytime I hear someone smack-talk the 6.2j, for I know of very few other rigs with 532k miles, and has gone the past 5 years, as a daily driver, without needing any more than a steering pump... and I still get better mileage than you

 

[crazy4offroad]

Welcome to the forum! Awesome sounding truck, I've been tossing around the idea of an oil burner engine (besides the worn out rings in my 350 lol). Enjoy your stay and post lots of pics!!

 

[bucket]

Boxed frame, eh? How do you like that? A big improvement and well worth the trouble?

 

[Irishman999]

Welcome! Alot of members here seem to be fans of the 6.2 diesel. A suburban at my parents house has one I was planning on swapping into my pickup, it seemed to move the Burb very well.

 

[davbell22602]

Welcome

 

[Sundevildaddy]

Thank you to everyone for the warm welcomes.. makes the cold n wet here in the Puget Sound a little more tolerable

 

[Sundevildaddy]

Welcome to the forum! Awesome sounding truck, I've been tossing around the idea of an oil burner engine (besides the worn out rings in my 350 lol). Enjoy your stay and post lots of pics!!

@crazy4offroad: The 6.2 is a great motor, regardless what ppl say (remember, the more trash ppl talk, the more jealous they are )
If you ever want to run a Bomber, ensure it's the (J) vin. I run a quart of used motor oil (strained at home with coffee filters) in each tank, and a tank of Red every quarter (3 mo.) -- helps keep the IP and upper end lubed up and running great! As a fellow off-roader, take my word: Never over-revving/flooding or over-flowing on a rocky vert again is worth it's weight in gold! lol
~Sun

 

[Sundevildaddy]

Boxed frame: Soooo worth it!

Boxed frame, eh? How do you like that? A big improvement and well worth the trouble?

Definitely, if you are in to using your Boxer for what they were made for: Heavy Work ;-)

Definitely keeps flex to a minimum, and from what I've found, keeps the load balanced extremely well.

I've rolled a frame, previously, from a hyped up 454 in a '97 2500 /// RIP Ol'girl
definitely keeps torque rolling down, helps in heavy bed loads, and really doesn't (if it's done right) get in the way when working on the undercarriage.

In short: Well worth the time and money spent on boxing it in

 

[Sundevildaddy]

Welcome! Alot of members here seem to be fans of the 6.2 diesel. A suburban at my parents house has one I was planning on swapping into my pickup, it seemed to move the Burb very well.

Definitely! Be sure of a couple of things (I'm sure you know, already):

Swap out your gauge cluster from the Burb, as the Water sensor and Glow dummy lights can be a lifesaver and tell-tales (water: lifesaver, Glow: tell-tales of low coolant/air-trap/short in system)

Wire up a secondary/backup "push-start/momentary" style switch to your relay, as the 6.2's have an issue with Cold/Hot start plug control. (on the solenoid, there should be 4 posts, typically: (2) on each side (hot lead/feeder), and (2) front (double ground).. wire your switch to both ground terminals

If the Burb has the 700R4 - junk it or keep for a 4.3L, and go with a TH400. The 700 just can't keep up with the constant torque (lesson learned the hard way .)

Scrap the Stanadyne filter on the firewall. It's great when in near new condition, but loses it's seal too easily (introducing air). I went down to my local CAT dealer (John Deere offers similar parts, also they offer the Glow Plug controller, which is hard to find!) I swapped to a CAT 20 Micron 12" can filter and base, and upgraded my fuel line size.. so much higher flow rate.. feels like a 4bbl 350!

When swapping the motors, before installing the 6.2, spray your firewall with Rubber coating (like Line-x or similar bed coating).. stock gassers don't have the sound-proofing the factory detroits do, so the noise will be noticeable/annoying

Also, make sure the block is a vin code J (379ci)! C series is a converted 350ci, and has loads of problems!

Lastly, don't expect to break any land-speed records! The great thing about Diesels: They love higher RPMs (vin J red-lines at 3600rpm), but don't have much HP. The difference is in the extended Torque range/Power-band. That, and the fact that they could care less how much weight you throw at them, they'll push through regardless, without wearing out. Also, they love a little actual "Oil" run through the tank now and again (save that IP and upper end!.. green Diesel [#2] is too dry)

Ooph! Longer reply than I intended, but hope it helps!

~Sun

 

[HotRodPC]

When you refer to the J and the C, is the J the Detroit, and the C the converter Olds 350??? Just an FYI, anyone have a Olds 350 Diesel, I'll take that block. You can have the heads and all the junk, just want the block for a possible gas motor.

Nice to hear the girls fighting over it. You got the right idea. A good excuse to build 2 more.

 

[HotRodPC]

I wasn't aware that the 6.2 truck got more sound proofing. More of a reason for me to build my 85 K10 that was OEM 6.2 but later converter to gas. I'll be putting it back together gas too.

I'll forever agree a TH400 is much stronger than any GM trans built, but... I'd personally feel a 700r4 can be built and modified to withstand a 6.2 being they aren't powerhouses or torque monsters. I'd also think the 700r4 and the OD will be good for the 6.2 since they don't care for high rpm much.

Certainly does appear you have some of the "work arounds" handeled on the 6.2. If I didn't already have to many projects in mind, I'd like to do a 6.2, and I'd damn sure rock a CUCV with a 6.2 if I ever get the chance and can afford it someday.

BTW, Welcome to GMSB, and thanks for all your input. Feel free to add more info often, and post up lots of pics. Gotta love Squarebody porn to be a part of this group, and unlike most forums, plenty of room to post your pics.

 

[Irishman999]

Definitely! Be sure of a couple of things (I'm sure you know, already):

Swap out your gauge cluster from the Burb, as the Water sensor and Glow dummy lights can be a lifesaver and tell-tales (water: lifesaver, Glow: tell-tales of low coolant/air-trap/short in system)

Wire up a secondary/backup "push-start/momentary" style switch to your relay, as the 6.2's have an issue with Cold/Hot start plug control. (on the solenoid, there should be 4 posts, typically: (2) on each side (hot lead/feeder), and (2) front (double ground).. wire your switch to both ground terminals

If the Burb has the 700R4 - junk it or keep for a 4.3L, and go with a TH400. The 700 just can't keep up with the constant torque (lesson learned the hard way .)

Scrap the Stanadyne filter on the firewall. It's great when in near new condition, but loses it's seal too easily (introducing air). I went down to my local CAT dealer (John Deere offers similar parts, also they offer the Glow Plug controller, which is hard to find!) I swapped to a CAT 20 Micron 12" can filter and base, and upgraded my fuel line size.. so much higher flow rate.. feels like a 4bbl 350!

When swapping the motors, before installing the 6.2, spray your firewall with Rubber coating (like Line-x or similar bed coating).. stock gassers don't have the sound-proofing the factory detroits do, so the noise will be noticeable/annoying

Also, make sure the block is a vin code J (379ci)! C series is a converted 350ci, and has loads of problems!

Lastly, don't expect to break any land-speed records! The great thing about Diesels: They love higher RPMs (vin J red-lines at 3600rpm), but don't have much HP. The difference is in the extended Torque range/Power-band. That, and the fact that they could care less how much weight you throw at them, they'll push through regardless, without wearing out. Also, they love a little actual "Oil" run through the tank now and again (save that IP and upper end!.. green Diesel [#2] is too dry)

Ooph! Longer reply than I intended, but hope it helps!

~Sun

THanks for the info! I started losing confidence in my swapping idea after I found a can of ether in the back seat of the Suburban. As suspected after getting it going and driving it around for a while she would not start on its own. I was reading that a certain glow plug controller out of a powerstroke worked great when adapted in place of the junk GM unit, I was starting to get some of this stuff together a couple years ago for the swap but kept the 305. I thought about pulling the 6.2 anyways and rebuilding it but figured it would be cheaper and more satisfying to build a decently nasty 350 and just drive the truck less.


And then..... My dad ended up with a 83 1 ton crew cab duelly square with a dealer installed 6.2 with less than 30 thousand miles on it. After hearing one thats in good shape start and run its kinda tempting to find one. I was also telling my dad I herd they were not good for towing alot of weight and his response was kinda like "Oh yeah?", I guess he has been using the truck to haul **** loads of batteries to a recycling place with no problems.

 

[Sundevildaddy]

When you refer to the J and the C, is the J the Detroit, and the C the converter Olds 350??? Just an FYI, anyone have a Olds 350 Diesel, I'll take that block. You can have the heads and all the junk, just want the block for a possible gas motor.

Nice to hear the girls fighting over it. You got the right idea. A good excuse to build 2 more.

That's correct: The J vin is the Detroit, built and bread. It was installed both at the D plant and the Canada plant.
The C is the 350, converted. Extremely easy to mod back.
Anyone with a C vin, I would recommend swapping back to the gasser, the J though.. a little tinkering and you'll find out what a gem you have.

Ya, I need to build two more.. then two more.. for.. uh.. backup >.> lol

 

[Sundevildaddy]

THanks for the info! I started losing confidence in my swapping idea after I found a can of ether in the back seat of the Suburban. As suspected after getting it going and driving it around for a while she would not start on its own. I was reading that a certain glow plug controller out of a powerstroke worked great when adapted in place of the junk GM unit, .......

Here's where I got my controller. http://www.performancedieselgarage.com/cgi-bin/products/exec/search.cgi?search=1&perpage=5&marknew=1&euro_numbers=0&lfield12_keyword=1984&lfield2_keyword=Chevy%2FGMC&lfield13_keyword=6.2L&lfield4_keyword=Glow+Plug+Controller&lfield6_keyword=&search=++Search+Listings++&pagenum=1&pagenum=1
Something I did find out though, and it was only after having issues with the new controller (and lots of hunting around on the web), is that the 6.2s have a lot of Hot/Cold start issues. Most times, this has been traced back to the wiring harness or air pockets in the block. Mine worked perfect for approx 2 months, then started giving me occasional delayed activations. Might be worthwhile to install a "momentary" switch/button on the dash. Just don't hold the Glow plugs on for more than 10 seconds at a time.

 

[HotRodPC]

So Sundevil, you seem to know a bit about the 6.2 Squares. As said above, I have a 85 K10 that was originally a 6.2. It had been converter to gas in the past. I bought the truck wo a powertrain. The pricks who pulled the motor, hacked the engine bay wiring harness at the firewall. I'll have to replace it. Are you aware if the pinout off the plug is close enough that if I was to get a gas truck wiring harness, would it work for the dizzy hot, guages, alternator, starters etc? I've got a powertrain for this truck now. Just a matter of bolting it in and wiring it up. Thanks for any info you can provide.