1988 franken-truck

[88gmcfrakentruck]

Alright guys I’m here for ideas, advice, and knowledge I may be lacking in. I have a 1988 GMC short wheelbase pickup. I bought it from a guy who said “it’s one we put together”… it has the 305cid 5.0L TBI bolted to a THM700-R4 transmission bolted to a four wheel drive transfer case. The title says GMT400. It has been built as a k1500. I can’t install the front drive shaft because the oil filter is in the way.
I also have bought a Tonawanda 454 out of a ‘95 suburban 2500. I’m planning on putting the big block in it eventually.

 

[JayTheCPA]

Welcome to TTS!

Good information!

Question: what is the question?

From the details, it looks like one goal is to install 4WD but the oil filter is in the way. In OE form, the GMT400's oil filter was probably an afterthought as there is *extremely* little room for removing it due to the front driveshaft. Best bets for remedying this odd engineering is to install a remote filter. Better yet, get a dual remote filter which incorporates a bypass filter.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

The truck is on a 4x4 chassis equipped with transfer case, front differential, and a brand new complete front end suspension. When I bought the truck the guy said the front drive shaft for the four wheel drive needed a new U-joint and he had taken it out. After crawling under the truck I realized he was full of sh*t. The entire oil filter is completely in the way. What can I do to compensate this issue? Find a smaller oil filter or a bracket to relocate it? I’m not sure.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

The oil filter nearly touches the front yolk. If the shaft and u-joint w/bolts were there it would hit.

 

[SnowDrift]

Typically the 4wd version has an adapter that positions the filter so it screws on horizontally, not vertically as your photo indicates.

It appears to be about $20-50 worth of parts you're missing, but if I'm right, it's also an easy fix.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

Nothing on this truck is original. It was put together from other vehicles.
Thank you for your input. Is that adapter something I can pick up at a parts house or is something more likely to be ordered offline

 

[Will L.]

Idk if site sponsors here sell remote oil filter kits for that engine-
But Summit Racing does.

There is a gm 90° adapter you could buy- but they suck honestly. Get the remote kit. You remove the oil filter and screw on the aluminum housing in its place. Then install two hoses from there to wherever you want your filter. Then a couple 1/4” bolts to hold the new filter mount. Spin on the filter and add oil. Easy peasy 3 hours.
Then all future oil changes are nicer. But you will need a little more oil than original - no biggie.

Here is a generic picture from Google search to give the idea.

 

[Husker6.5]

OR, there's the ZERO DOLLAR solution of get the BFH and put a huge honkin' dent in the filter so the driveshaft yoke clears!

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

It crossed my mind to that thank you for that info. Definitely an easy fix relocating the filter. I just pulled the heads in record time, for me anyway. 3hrs.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

Do you have any recommendations for me on buying a new engine wiring harness? This one has been chopped, screwed, spliced and rigged into a headache…

 

[Husker6.5]

I'm looking at all of that what appears to be flash surface rust in #7 cylinder and #7 combustion chamber in those two photos and I'm wondering wth, head gasket leak?

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

Yes. I managed to blow a head gasket one morning on the way to work. Had a young man, high school age, riding my ass and no matter what I did he wouldn’t back off. So when he finally decided to try and pass I hammered down and the result of that I developed a skip. Kept driving the truck with it skipping and it slowly started smoking/ steaming out the tail pipe. It just slowly got worse until I decided to park it. It’s been sitting now almost 2 years. I finally have some time to work on it. I haven’t fixed it before now because of time and the insane gas prices and this truck hates ethanol. Makes it labor knock/ spark knock.

 

[JayTheCPA]

Had a young man, high school age, riding my ass and no matter what I did he wouldn’t back off.

I let morons ride my tail all they want. A big-ole stainless steel bumper will do a lot more to the other vehicle than what the other vehicle will do to it. The current daily driver has a manual transmission mated to a hefty diesel, so it can dump speed rather fast without touching the brakes. Bonus to the deal is the rear bumper is a massive aftermarket stainless unit, so the fools get a good reflection of themselves as they get closer. Nice touch is that trying to high-beam me only results in a mirror effect. To add entertainment value of tailgaters, I now have dash cams to recount events. I weigh around 4 tons, empty, so it is somebody else's stupidity should they cause a collision.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

I am that guy 90%. Nonchalant, ignore most stupidity. It was just one of them days the way he was driving began to infuriate me.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

Okay so check this out. I stripped the intake and throttle body to clean it all up. When I took the throttle body apart from the little riser I found the probable cause of the skip and labor knocking.

 

[88gmcfrakentruck]

I don’t think it supposed to be missing in the middle. It looks as if it had broken out. Possibly when I hammered down on the throttle.

 

[SnowDrift]

Does the throttle body whistle? If so, it probably won't with the spacer out once it's running again.

 

[Husker6.5]

I let morons ride my tail all they want. A big-ole stainless steel bumper will do a lot more to the other vehicle than what the other vehicle will do to it. The current daily driver has a manual transmission mated to a hefty diesel, so it can dump speed rather fast without touching the brakes. Bonus to the deal is the rear bumper is a massive aftermarket stainless unit, so the fools get a good reflection of themselves as they get closer. Nice touch is that trying to high-beam me only results in a mirror effect. To add entertainment value of tailgaters, I now have dash cams to recount events. I weigh around 4 tons, empty, so it is somebody else's stupidity should they cause a collision.

Like the idiot behind me who wasn't paying attention in the left hand turn lane. Vehicles were closing up waiting on the red turn arrow to turn green, and they must not have been paying attention (car w/4 teenage girls in it) as I pulled up about 6' all of a sudden I feel shudder. The Money Maker now had a new rear ornament, the front end of a Chevy Corsica wrapped around/under the ¼" diamond plate steel step bumper of my Rawson Koenig utility box! Plastic Corsica pieces everywhere and an ever-growing puddle of antifreeze from the radiator impaled on the receiver hitch! Evidently as I crept forward and they were yakking, one of them saw me begin to creep forward and said "Go!" and the driver gunned it right into the back of 9,000lbs of stopped 1994 C2500HD!

 

[Will L.]

 

[Husker6.5]

Ok, @Will L., how many times do you have to be told to QUIT leaving your Hummer out at the Nevada Test Site? That radiation will STILL cause things to mutate!