1982 k30, sticking around

[red]

Is that fuel filter mounted upside down ?

Can't see it in the picture but at the bottom of the metal section there is a drain for the water separator on the housing, it's right side up. Wondered the same thing when I first saw it on the truck haha.


Couple items should be here tomorrow for the truck. 60G glowplugs, glowplug removal tool, FRB 5 lift pump, mudflaps. Already have 2 winches and another fuel filter base sitting here waiting to be installed on the truck. Plan for the weekend is to secure the flatbed to the frame, maybe remove it's wheel wells, install the mudflaps, then fuel system mods. Going to relocate the current fuel filter base to just over the fuel tank and plumb it in as a primary filter. Then the FRB 5 lift pump will be mounted there as well, and a final filter mounted in the engine bay using standard spin on filters. If all that gets done then the rear driveshaft will get taken care of and the glowplugs after that.

 

[deejaaa]

...... glowplug removal tool, ..........

from leroy? i got one from him and it worked like a charm.

 

[red]

Yep from Leroy. Truck takes alot of cranking to start now (mix of always losing prime and bad glow plugs) so planning to address that on sunday with the lift pump/filters and the glow plugs.

Was delayed with having to run errands today so didn't get as much completed as planned. But the entire deck of the flatbed is now attached to the subframe and the center mounts/frame reinforcement brackets are attached. Welded the mount to the flatbed subframe and used the mag drill to create the holes for bolting it to the truck frame. The welded section of the truck frame is in the middle of the plate (roughly).

Also, really wish I'd gotten a mag drill before. The little bastard is amazing!

 

[Jaryd]

Dude you ain't kidding. Mag drills are amazing. With the magnet you can mount that sucker anyway you want to. It works good with a drill bit or hole saw. I have one on my work truck and use it all the time on mill-right jobs. I wish we would have had one years ago. It makes a job much easier.

Good job on the truck. What you are doing with the bed is going to look tuff.

 

[MrMarty51]

Had a mag drill at the shop where I worked. That thing was a real labor saver for sure.
It did not have a standard drill chuck, it used the rota broach bits. Talk about perfect holes. LOL

 

[red]

This one has the carbide cutters or can install a adapter for a standard drill chuck. Using the cutters, have sizes from 7/16-1". This model weighs about 18 pounds so it handles pretty well.

With the subframe for the flatbed, it's from a military 5 ton dump truck so way overkill haha. There is a hydraulic tank built into the front of it and the pump still works (PTO driven). Will be nice to have onboard hydraulics on both the pickup and the m816 wrecker.

Installed new 60G glow plugs with amazingly no problems, none of the old plugs were swollen. Only current problem left with the glowplug system is that it kicks the plugs on again after the truck starts for the first time in the mornings. Thinking of going to a manual setup anyways since the 60G's are self limiting.

The old mechanical lift pump was certainly dead. Truck fired up alot easier after the FRB-5 lift pump install (before the new plugs). Has noticeably more power when driving now as well. Ended up plumbing the fuel filter assembly after the pump because it wouldn't suction through it. Could use a rock guard for protection. I like how easily visible the filter is, simple to check when it's dirty or if there's another problem.




Wiring is only temporary. Want to keep it organized/sealed well so adding a second fuse block and a electrical bulkhead fitting to run wires into the cab, instead of the usual grommet setup.

 

[EWC]

Glows should keep cycling after start for a time . This is called " after glow " . Now if they keep cycling or don't shut off , that is a problem .

 

[red]

Ah, been awhile since I've messed with a glow plug engine (working on drilling rigs, class 8 trucks, yellow iron for the last few years). Learn something new every day

 

[MrMarty51]

I had carbon built up in the threads of one glow plug hole, thought it was messed up threads. New glow plug was not wanting to go in without a lot of force.
I got an expndable spark plug hole chaser, cleared it out and the new glow plug went in without using a wrench, until I tightened it. LOL

 

[red]

Got some replacement 235/85/16"s installed and had to widen the bed in order to cover the wheels. So those huge wheel wells finally got chopped off. Used some of the frame from the m51 dump truck as the outside edges of the bed. Need to buy some plate to fill in the holes from where the wheel wells were and finish assembling the main parts of the flatbed.

 

[MrMarty51]

I did not put wheel wells on My 59 Dodge W100, instead I had a set of overload springs I installed.
When I installed a little wider one piece wheels I had to cut the beds edge rail to make room for the wider tires.
I now tink if I had installed a frame rail for more clearance it would have been a lot better. It works okay as it is though.
There is a pretty good load hanging from the side, other wise there would be quite a bit more clearance. The truck is a 1/2 ton, came with one ton axles from the factory but only 1/2 ton springs.

 

[red]

Well flatbed plans changed a bit. Was searching the local classifieds and found a guy selling a 1970's F350 with a 12 ft flatbed for cheap, and managed to buy just the flatbed for $250.





So chopped it down to 8ft long and have some of the mounts built for it. Will build the middle mounts/frame reinforcement plates tomorrow. Looks better in my opinion and saves alot of labor. The head board will be built differently later. Same with the rear section and the bumper will be deleted at that point.

 

[MrMarty51]

That is looking real nice. Good score on the flat bed too.

 

[deejaaa]

looking like a work horse once again.

 

[Ed HD]

Looks good Red! Lots of good work.

Maybe build the spare 6.2 boost ready and swap it in with a turbo?

Sucks about the whole roommate situation. What prompted your move from TX to UT? Quite a major life change.

 

[red]

Looks good Red! Lots of good work.

Maybe build the spare 6.2 boost ready and swap it in with a turbo?

Sucks about the whole roommate situation. What prompted your move from TX to UT? Quite a major life change.

Might do that with the spare 6.2 since I have a hx35 sitting in the garage, could at least use it as a mock up engine. A turbo won't happen until at least next summer with all the other projects that have priority.

Haha well I moved up here when the oilfield collapsed in 2015. Company I was working for shut down in west Texas (Lariat Drilling) so I was trying to decide where to go. Couple friends are still stationed up here so headed this way for the nice change in scenery, and decided to use my GI Bill to slow things down a bit and go to school. It's not permanent, will be moving again in a few years most likely. Wherever I move to is where I'm planning to settle in. Buy some land, build a house, etc. Might go back to Texas around either San Antonio or east of Dallas areas. As of a few days ago the only debt I have left is the motorcycle so I can start saving up for land soon.

 

[red]

Drove the truck round trip to Dallas over Thanksgiving (truck has made 2 trips to Texas so far). Yes, cruising at 60mph that drive takes 2 days each way, slow. And fuel economy has dropped to about 15mpg empty and 13mpg with about 1500 pounds of extra stuff. Overdrive is in the plans.

Alternator died during the trip and couldn't find an exact copy to the alternator that was in the truck. Replacement works but the mount isn't right so it wobbles some. And the glow plug controller decided to act up on the return trip, would activate the glow plugs roughly every 30 seconds (turn on for a second or 2). So I unplugged it at the solenoid during the drive. Think I'll go ahead and do the manual setup since 60G's are what's in the engine anyways.



Speaking of engines, ran across a good deal for this trucks future. Will create a new thread when it's install gets closer. Isuzu 4bd1t that comes with modified chevy k30 engine mounts and basically a complete spare engine for parts minus a second block/head.

 

[MrMarty51]

That`ll be an interesting swap.

 

[WarWagon]

I'd turbo the 6.2 first and spend time on other projects instead.

 

[Will L.]

What overdrive is in the plans?