What have you done to your square lately??

[Redfish]

I am kind of aggravated, I had to replace my alternator. About 2 years and less then 5K miles ago I installed a (supposed to be) brand new, AC Delco alternator. From day one I thought it had bad bearings and over time it got worse and worse. Was squalling like hell at the end. Went back with the O'Reilly's junk alternator. I guess I will wait and see what happens.

Also irritated that on both alternators I had to grind down the housing to make the spacer at the bottom fit.

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[Grit dog]

That's what I wanna do when the day comes to paint mine, stick with 21/29 but add some metallic and/or pearl to both to spice it up a tad

I was under the gun and didn’t have time to screw anything up when I painted. And I’m far from a pro or proficient so I canned that idea.
Check out that Patriot blue Dodge color though. I think it’s a premade solution. I had a little left from repainting a truck about 20 years ago and used a little to paint something recently and it’s damn close to same shade of navy blue as 29.

 

[Strick]

Making it look like a truck again. Getting closer.

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[Ricko1966]

It appears the catalytic converter is not required on a vehicle as old as mine, or any of ours, here in VA.
If deleting the cat won't mess with the driveability of the truck it is the cheapest option. (It seems like there is only one O2 sensor I have seen and it is directly below the exhaust manifold. I saw it and laid my hands on it because I was going to replace it but gave up. When buying the O2 sensor only upstream was available for 1987 Chevy V10 5.7L V8.)

FWIW even if a catalytic converter is not inspected in VA. It is still a violation of federal law to remove it and not replace it. Chances of getting caught just about zero. I'd still put a modern converter back on it,they remove over 90 percent of the carbon monoxide and a lot of the smell from the exhaust,and modern converters don't rob power.

 

[78C10BigTen]

Moved the 76 back into the shop, it was hanging out in a friend’s unit while we did the work on his Dodge. Pulled it on the lift and took a look underneath.

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Keep in mind this truck was daily driven from 2017 to early 2023. I really was not great about washing it, so the salt got to it somewhat. Frame is still excellent, the body/bed is looking pretty rough again. But truthfully it was more or less that way when I got the truck, just hidden. It’ll get some love, planning to pull the engine at some point to reseal it again and give everything a good once over.

Might need some new leaf springs at some point too.

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Since fuel tanks have been the hot topic round here lately, I replaced both of them in 2017, six years of daily driving including Missouri winters, did not paint them or coat them and still look like new.

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Truck looks good in my book!!! ALOT better then mine!!

 

[JamesSam]

FWIW even if a catalytic converter is not inspected in VA. It is still a violation of federal law to remove it and not replace it. Chances of getting caught just about zero. I'd still put a modern converter back on it,they remove over 90 percent of the carbon monoxide and a lot of the smell from the exhaust,and modern converters don't rob power.

All the ones I have found are cut and weld required.

 

[Ricko1966]

All the ones I have found are cut and weld required.

Plenty of them out there you could clamp on,or use band clamps.

 

[JamesSam]

Bought a fuel filter to see which attachments I could use on the truck with the pressure tester guage I borrowed: a Betooll 0-140 psi kit. Nothing fits GM TBI from it. Does anyone have an affordable, or reliable definite go to kit they recommend that has an attachment to test GM TBI?

 

[Redfish]

All the ones I have found are cut and weld required.

It cannot be that expensive to take your truck to a local muffler shop and have them weld up your exhaust. When I got my truck the PO had cobbled together an awful mess of piping. I brought it to a local guy and when he finally understood that I wanted the exhaust to look like he had done it in 1987, he ran new pipes from the mufflers back. I don't remember what it cost but it was less than I expected.

 

[bucket]

If @bucket thinks it’s your pump (on the good side) I wonder why.
And @Redfish recalled both your pumps are new(er).
Seems like you’re throwing parts before diagnosing both tanks/pumps etc. or is the other tank leaking anyway and has to come down regardless?
fuel pressure. Is easy test.
Non working pump and or switch or wiring, I’d diagnose that first before tearing in with the demolition tools and creating another side project (cat/exh pipe) that will also be time consuming for you.
JMO with what I know about the issue again or still.

What I've gotten from all of it is that the truck often sputters, stumbles, etc. Many other parts have been replaced. I don't recall exactly which post it was, but there was one that screamed "low fuel pressure" to me. It's also my understanding that only one tank was working, despite the pumps being previously replaced in both of them. Cheap pumps tend to fail at an alarming rate. Sometimes they are weak right out of the box. When it comes to the lower pressure TBI pumps, sometimes they will die a slow and miserable death, with hard-to-diagnose driveability issues along the way. Lack of power at the top end may go unnoticed because power can gradually fall off over time. Eventually, it can get low enough to start causing a slew of other problems that are an effect but not a cause (like injector spray pattern). A TBI small block can run (poorly) with as little as 6 psi. But like you said, sometimes they simply just quit working all at once too.

Personally, if I didn't have the means to properly test the fuel pressure, I would first replace the pump in the tank that currently works. If that fixes the problem, I'd then start getting the 2nd tank operational.

 

[Ricko1966]

Bought a fuel filter to see which attachments I could use on the truck with the pressure tester guage I borrowed: a Betooll 0-140 psi kit. Nothing fits GM TBI from it. Does anyone have an affordable, or reliable definite go to kit they recommend that has an attachment to test GM TBI?

This and a couple hunks of hose with clamps. Doesn't even need to be this,just a tee you can clamp in place with hoses in place of fuel filter. That's the cheap way, you can buy the correct fitting to go between the fuel line and throttle body. Supposedly the 38.00 action kit on amazon has the throttle body fitting.

 

[JamesSam]

What I've gotten from all of it is that the truck often sputters, stumbles, etc. Many other parts have been replaced. I don't recall exactly which post it was, but there was one that screamed "low fuel pressure" to me. It's also my understanding that only one tank was working, despite the pumps being previously replaced in both of them. Cheap pumps tend to fail at an alarming rate. Sometimes they are weak right out of the box. When it comes to the lower pressure TBI pumps, sometimes they will die a slow and miserable death, with hard-to-diagnose driveability issues along the way. Lack of power at the top end may go unnoticed because power can gradually fall off over time. Eventually, it can get low enough to start causing a slew of other problems that are an effect but not a cause (like injector spray pattern). A TBI small block can run (poorly) with as little as 6 psi. But like you said, sometimes they simply just quit working all at once too.

Personally, if I didn't have the means to properly test the fuel pressure, I would first replace the pump in the tank that currently works. If that fixes the problem, I'd then start getting the 2nd tank operational.

Something makes me think this could be it. This video randomly popped in to my Y Toob feed and it seems likely what my truck has going on. It's just a guy talking but what he shows you is what I will be looking for when I finally do swap out tank and fuel pumps.https://youtu.be/a8ksy3kEaHs?si=qmm8FBnwPoFBKqJV

 

[JamesSam]

Something makes me think this could be it. This video randomly popped in to my Y Toob feed and it seems likely what my truck has going on. It's just a guy talking but what he shows you is what I will be looking for when I finally do swap out tank and fuel pumps.https://youtu.be/a8ksy3kEaHs?si=qmm8FBnwPoFBKqJV

That didn't translate as well as I thought it would but if you hover over what should be a link, it will give you an option to open and watch...

 

[JamesSam]

This and a couple hunks of hose with clamps. Doesn't even need to be this,just a tee you can clamp in place with hoses in place of fuel filter. That's the cheap way you can buy the correct fitting to go between the fuel line and throttle body. Supposedly the 38.00 action kit on amazon has the throttle body fitting.

I think I can rig that up from this kit actually.

 

[Ajax19]

Chasing day light but got it welded together enough to pull off and finish it on the bench supposed to start raining here soon so I was really rushing the welds I'm going to grind em and do another pass

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