DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

[DaveP]

EDIT and UPDATE, 10-11-2012: It's not "finished", but it's DONE! I just got back from the Room of Doom. With a new cat, stock PROM, and O2 sensor, it passed, even with an audible misfire at 2,500. I went straight to AAA and finished my registration, and now have tags. I'm calling it done, as I can now drive it legally. I'm pretty happy with the way DesertSy came out. There's some loose ends to finish, as there will always be something that needs to be taken care of, but for now, it's "done" and I'm considering the "build" over.

I want to thank everyone that read and participated with comments and suggestions in this thread. It was appreciated.
This is a big day. It's "done".
DaveP
`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````

I've never done a build thread. But they seem to be popular, I have taken pics of this project from time to time during the past 20 months, so why not? It'll take a few days for me to catch this up to current status; I'm not gonna do it in one night. Shortly after the purchase, I began to refer to this Syclone as DesertSy in chat to differentiate it from GoodSy which I've been working on for 12 years. (!)

DesertSy (#2144) came from Palm Desert, California. It was listed on .net as a C/L find in July, 2010. Because of it's asking price of $4,500, and the description that indicated "runs, but needs transmission work" there was a LOT of interest from members because it looked good in pics, and didn't have much listed as being wrong with it in the C/L ad. I was out there the next morning. The remarkable thing about this truck is the total lack of any rust. Anywhere. California High Desert is very dry. And it was straight, and the paint serviceable. No way could I leave it in the desert. I made a deal with the last owner of 15 years, and towed it home.

Here's the pics from the C/L ad:
[I've lost these pics. I don't have them any longer]

I removed the transmission and T-case in September. I had a longtime friend do the transmission, while I did the T-case on the bench next to him in his shop. The V-clutch in the T-case was locked solid. The bearings were bad. The chain was stretched. I replaced a lot of parts in the T-case. The transmission was a 1988 V6-something. It had NO high-performance enhancements. Because we had had a 93 LHM Typhoon trans apart earlier in the day, I had measured all the pertinent hole sizes in the separator plate just for grins. I drilled this one to match the known-LHM. We added the 093 servo, a LHM accumulator bushing (I don't remember the designation, and can't find my notes now), and a couple of other LHM-ish enhancements like the HD rear planet and a 7-friction 3-4 clutch (not LHM). There was a LOT more wrong with the trans than the broken band anchor, thus the no 2or4. . I haven't driven it much yet, so I don't know how we did.

There was at least 1/4-3/8" of grime-oil sludge on the undercarriage. It leaked from everywhere. While the trans was out, I got busy with the pressure washer while it was on the lift:




Looks like it had a prop-shaft explosion. So I know why the transmission case has been replaced. I have no idea why the Sy guts weren't swapped into the new case, but they weren't:


Because I live in California, my cars have to pass Smog Inspection. The Room of Doom. I got looking at all the jankeyness under the hood in the plumbing, air box system, wiring, the grease, the mess, I said F-it, and the engine came out. So far, everything I had checked either didn't work, leaked, or was messed up. This thing was starting to look like the 3,900 I paid for it was a GREAT deal for the seller. I had no clue yet how profound a statement this was going to be. But the trend was developing: If it was in this truck, it was probably broken, jacked-up, or non-operational, or at least leaking and very dirty.

Here's the GM Applied markings on the firewall. the "1882" is the plant job number. It has nothing to do with PAS::


The A/C suitcase was broken from previous engine R&R activities. So I replaced it with a good used unit. (Thanks, Paul-Z). This ZR9 has been noted before on a few Syclones. Also applied prior to paint at Shreveport. I suspect so that the body shop drilled the holes for the cladding attachment so the holes would receive rust treatments.

Here's some more jankeyness in the engine bay. the entire undercarriage was about the same as the front cross-member. Nasty:


You can see the battery mounted in what was left of an ATR relocate kit. I'm surprised the battery didn't fall outr during the tow home from the desert.


That's it for a starter. Thanks for reading. I'll continue with the engine tomorrow.
DaveP

 

[nallj92]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

This will be a great thread, looking forward to more updates.

It really cleaned up nice underneath. what color is the cladding?

 

[alwayscode390]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

I still think thats a good deal for a clean SY roller ---

 

[vinnieTy]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Nice Dave. Keep it coming love reading these build threads. That undercarriage is clean!!!

 

[fronzoos]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Thanks for posting the picture of the cab marking! They're def going into my personal archive. That's cool stuff! :tup:

 

[fauXGT]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

That IS very clean. With the desert dryness and fluid explosions has stayed rust free. A very nice save. Keep the pics coming.

 

[SYO237]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Dave, did you use any chemical to loosen and break up the grime before hitting it with the pressure washer?

 

[DaveP]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Dave, did you use any chemical to loosen and break up the grime before hitting it with the pressure washer?

Yes. Purple Power. It comes in a 10qt jug from Pep Boys, and costs about $10 when it's on Special. It contains Phosphoric Acid, so wear gloves, and keep it out of your eyes if you use it full strength, like I do on heavy grease. But it works well, for the price. I also wiped the underside down with rags and lacquer thinner to get the final skim of grime off.

It also took a 1/2 bottle of shampoo to get all the junk out of my hair after being under there with the pressure washer with all that crap raining down on me.

 

[MRKING]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Looks like a nice driver Dave . I can't wait to see it in Fl sometime .

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

How come it is all white underneath? Thanks for doing the write-up Dave.

 

[DaveP]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

How come it is all white underneath? Thanks for doing the write-up Dave.

It's the factory-baked light green primer, like it should be. Color looks right to me, perhaps a little lighter, but I'm sure primer shades were not consistent batch to batch. The pics were taken on a typical bright, sunny, SoCal day. (Not the UK Grey-day yer accustomed to )The reflection off the smooth concrete pad my lift is on makes pics appear light.

 

[Jimmy]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

I'm glad that I PM'd you about that truck FS,and that you were able to pick it up,even if it was a POS at least it had NO rust.

 

[Norm]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Your not kidding, that thing is pretty clean underneath. Next time you want some cheap degreaser, head over to a dry cleaners and ask them for the soap that they use on garage clothes. It's pretty cheap and works as good or better than the big dollar off the shelf stuff.

 

[Throws]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Yes. Purple Power. It comes in a 10qt jug from Pep Boys, and costs about $10 when it's on Special. It contains Phosphoric Acid, so wear gloves, and keep it out of your eyes if you use it full strength, like I do on heavy grease. But it works well, for the price. I also wiped the underside down with rags and lacquer thinner to get the final skim of grime off.

It also took a 1/2 bottle of shampoo to get all the junk out of my hair after being under there with the pressure washer with all that crap raining down on me.

Have you tried anything from the specialty houses like "Grime Reaper" from Chemical Guys? I have to attack my engine bay, so I'm curious.

http://www.chemicalguys.com/Heavy_Duty_Degreaser_Grime_Reaper_p/cld_104.htm

-P

 

[GM TURBO]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Good stuff. It'll be nice to see a DaveP build. I'm sure it'll be top notch.

Great to have you back, sir!

 

[BoostedSUV]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Can't wait to see some more progress pics! $3900 is an awesome buy for a rust free truck. Shouldn't take much more than some busted knuckles to get it back into tip top shape.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Great pics, Dave. Also glad to have you active, and posting, again.

 

[RealFastV6]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

New England Crew is extremely jealous of your rust free truck.


:tup:

 

[turboj91]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Hey Dave,
When you get to it, post a pic or two of the frame coating if there is any and if there is a bare spot (without coating). I am curious as to what was applied to the frame before the "waxing"

 

[DaveP]

Re: DesertSy: It's Just a Driver

Installment II. The engine.

It ran when I bought it. The block was not the original, and the seller indicated it had been under the hood for at least 125K-ish miles since he purchased it. It ran kind of OK, but leaked from everywhere, had electric fans (I like stock engine driven), A/C hoses were messed up, wiring was cut, hacked, and dirty. The cooling hoses had been routed to put coolant in the throttle body passages (?!). It had an ATR battery relocate that was falling out, and the cold air kit was an abomination. This was NOT going to pass smog, and was a mess.


Here's some pics.

After it came out:

The engine bay:
[URL=http://s1358.photobucket.com/user/ihatebarkingdogs/media/IMG_0950_zps49996376.jpg.html]

I don't have any pics of the engine work itself. But other than main bearings down to the copper, and severe crank wear, the engine wasn't too bad. I had the crank turned, heads touched up, new rings, and selected an Isky cam with a little more action than the stocker, and put it back together. I also cleaned some parts.

I attacked the engine wiring harness. I stripped all the covering and tape off. I washed it in my kitchen sink with simple green and hot water. Blew it dry, and repaired the cut wires, re-taped it, and covered it with new split loom.

I did some other work while the engine was out. I developed and researched the Astro Van steering shaft conversion using this truck, and wrote that up in another thread. I cleaned and painted the forward frame sections. Did a little suspension work like idler arm, Pittman arm, steering box reseal (it was leaking), installed some take-off Bilstiens (Thanks, Matt), and cleaned up the brake hoses and antilock wiring. I replaced the broken front differential with a used take-out from a parts-Ty (Thanks, Scott).

Matt was up for a day late in December to do some work on his engine at my shop, so I enlisted him to help me put the engine back in DesertSy. Note how much stuff is already on the engine before it goes back in the truck. I prefer to do it this way. So much easier on the stand than leaning over the fender. The paint suffers less too, because less time is spent leaning on it to reinstall the engine.

The green wire in this pic is the "purple wire" to the starter solenoid. I didn't have any #10 purple on hand. I always install a purple wire relay as part of any major engine work whether it's for myself or a client. It just "works", and is so easy to do when the engine is out.

It first ran in January right after return from the Miami Meet. It's pretty much done under the hood. It sounds a lot 'healthier' than the stock cam did. It idles smooth, and sounds clean. I'm very optimistic that I'll have no trouble in The Room of Doom at smog time, but we'll see.

Next installment: The Interior. Adding power mirrors, RKE, Inst panel R&R to facilitate air cond door repairs. The interior was just as jacked-up as everything else has been. Plenty of work in there, too. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading.