Project Gallopin' Gerdy

[Chevypoor]

Dad's 05 LLY said:
Sorry to hear about your pup. Glad he survived, hope he gets fixed up soon.

We are to. When we found him we were real worried. He is slowly coming around. He is learning to walk with his front mostly while the back heals. He is still on mandatory crate rest. I think it is going to be a long process for him to fully recover. He is tough though.... hardly a wimper.

Burning Oil said:
The good thing about buying one that needs all that work is you get to start fresh and build it like you want with all the good stuff.

I agree and the upside if ( fingers crossed ) the tranny and the rest of the trucks mechanicals are ok then it is a bargain. Should have around $5800 in the truck including purchase price. Then there is the security of going through it and knowing what has been done to it.

3500 GMC said:
Gonna be a nice rig.

Thanks!

The plan is to sell our 02 8.1L Suburban and replace it with this truck. We love the big beast but the it has way to many electronic gizmos and the wife wants a gooseneck horse trailer. Sometimes when we are picking up hay or other materials with our 18' flatbed we need to idle so we end up shutting the truck down and then restarting alot. I was never one to let a gasser sit and idle.

 

[Chevypoor]

It alive..... :driving:: After 8+ years and an almost gas conversion it alive!!!

Mounted the Walbro pump and filter earlier in the week. I took some scrap 1/4 angle iron I had laying and made a plate to bolt everything on. Then I welded a smaller piece of angle iron onto the bottom of the first piece. I then welded the second piece of angle iron to the frame. I had just enough room above the torsion bar to mount everything.

Finished hooking up the turbo and the rest of the accessories. Installed the new 2.5" crossover pipe. Installed the Diamond Eye 4" exhaust and 3" downpipe.

I thought I would never get all the air out of the system. Never tried starting a 6.5 with new everything. There was not a drop of diesel in any of the lines. It took 5hrs of crankin' ( and letting the starter cool ) to get out all the air but she finally fired up. Have a few minor bugs to sort out but she took her first run to get fuel. The smartest thing the previous owner had done was drain the tank. I put 5 gals in from a can to start her up and at the fueling station she took just over 30. Still need to hook up the gauges. May have to take out the brand new radiator :mad2::mad2: as the tranny cooler is leaking. Tightened the lines an 1/8 or so hope that solves the problem. Need to change the rest of the fluids ( axles, tranny, etc. ) and fix a small exhaust leak but everything is looking up

Installed the new chip from Heath and swapped on the old school mirrors from the 93 as the pasenger side mirror was missing its mirror. I think the old school mirrors look great on the ol' girl and best of all they were free

Thanks to all the vendors here Leroy Diesel, Heath, Kennedy Diesel, and Walking J for your quick delivery and excellent parts. Thanks to all the rest of the vendors I used that do not support the site but were also spot on in there delivery and quality... except maybe the radiator :mad2:

 

[btfarm]

:thumbsup: Good for you! Congrats!

 

[Burning oil]

Great! That deserves a video.

 

[3500GMC]

I like the OPS umbilical cord.... And the rest of the truck.. A good spit shine and she'll be standing tall. Good work.

 

[Chevypoor]

Thanks for all the support. It is a great feeling to bring one back from the dead.

3500GMC
I like the OPS umbilical cord

The way it should have been done from the start. Thanks Leroy!

 

[Burning oil]

No problem, Thank you!

 

[Chevypoor]

Over the last week and a half I have been working on finishing up some details. I got the gauges hooked up and replaced the tranny pan with a Derale pan. Ended up doing an idler arm, front brake rotors, calipers, hoses and pads. Replace a section of rear brake line. Brake light and ABS light is still but she stops like a champ with good pedal feel. Put on the rims and tires from the 02 Suburban that I recently totaled. Been driving around the backroads and the only issue is the trans seems to sometimes slip. Might be getting the tranny from the Suburban too . Here is a couple of pics of her with her new shoes.

 

[Powar]

Those PY0s look great on the truck.

It's nice that you had one on deck to 'replace' the Suburban!

 

[Chevypoor]

Looks the ol girl is down for more surgery. I was running her a little hard on the backroads today and several lifters collapsed/ exploded. Got back down to almost a bare block today and the rotating assembly seems fine. I am going to take the block out and go through it with a fine tooth comb. I broke my own rules on this one... I always remove the block and inspect everything before putting one back on the road, especially the ones that have sat.

Although pushing the ATT to almost 24psi was probably not a good idea.

 

[tanman_2006]

24psi? How did you spool the big snail that high?

Source Unknown

 

[Chevypoor]

I was pretty surprised myself... maybe the gauge is off but it is a brand new Autometer. At the time she was turnin north of 80mph at about 3200rpm with my foot to the carpet. I had been wondering what would happen at full throttle... it was good and bad. Truck broke but boy was she hauling the mail.

She first lost power then shut off. To get her started I had to bleed the system. I guess she was pulling more fuel than the Walbro would supply.:dunno: She ran like that but she sounded and smelled awful. Might of spun a bearing as well... the oil pressure was reading way low. I guess we will know when I pull her completely apart.

Never in 10plus years of shadetree work have seen lifters come apart like that. Two of them were actually jammed pretty hard in the lifter body itself. I actually had to tug pretty good to get them to come loose.

 

[tanman_2006]

Eww, sucks about the engine. Hopefully you can repeat the power # after the rebuild.

 

[DieselCash]

You should pull an oil sample.

 

[Chevypoor]

Diesel Cash said:You should pull an oil sample

I can see tiny flakes of metal in the oil on the dipstick. I suspect when the lifters went the oil pressure dropped and the mains were starved. It was still running with some oil pressure so there is a good chance the crank is fine and it still had oil pressure that went up with rpm.

I have one head off. I am yanking the whole block this time. This is the 2nd 6.5 I have resurrected. The first one was a 2wd and I pulled the oil pan to inspect the bearings and such. On the numerous gas motors I have worked on I have always pulled the entire motor apart to inspect everything. Broke my own rules... got in a hurry, got cocky... not happy that I took a short cut and I could have avoided this situation.

Always chuckled at the guys who would go to the wrecking yard and yank a motor. Then they would but the motor in without a teardown/ inspection and then have problems. I guess it is payback.

 

[Chevypoor]

tanman_2006
Eww, sucks about the engine. Hopefully you can repeat the power # after the rebuild.

Thanks. I hope so too. I was amazed at getting 24psi. I think that is a record for the ATT.

 

[Ed HD]

Good luck with it. Hope it's not too expensive. Definitely send off a sample to Blackstone or someone similar.

 

[Chevypoor]

Well I have pulled the 6.5 out and she spun all five bearings and collapsed/ exploded 5 lifters. The crank is trashed and cam is looking a little worn. The block is in great shape as are the pistons. But my wallet is depleted from the upgrades and mods done to the truck so I decided to use the 599 6.2 from the 93 parts truck. The plan is to re ring, install new bearings, "borrow" the 6.5 precups, a new oil pump and clean the block up. The good news is the 6.2 block has provisions for an oil return and the heads look identical to the 95 6.5 heads except for the cups. As a bit of insurance I plan to run ARP head studs. Here are a few pics of the 6.2 teardown. Everything looks great so far. Minimal ridge and very clean for a 245K motor. I am assuming the discoloration on the pistons and in the chambers is from worn out injectors.

 

[Chevypoor]

Had a chance yesterday to pull the other head and get her on the engine stand. I am amazed at how clean this motor is inside. So far everything is looking good. Some of the parts should be in today so I am hoping to get her cleaned up this weekend and maybe start putting her back together.

 

[3500GMC]

Good chance to install a new rear main seal.

Bottom end looks very clean.