the stopgap GMT400: a drivabeater thread

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

So what's your mental build on a GMT400 LS swap?  4l80e?  No I haven't thought about it at all.

Honestly,  dream is 6.0 and 6l80e.

Reality is 5.3 and 4l60e. 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

I got a few 4l80s that need rebuilt with your name.on them. 

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

Damn no love for me?  I'd love to rebuild a trans.  We should have a rebuild trans party at Michael's.

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

Honestly,  dream is 6.0 and 6l80e.

Reality is 5.3 and 4l60e. 
 

when jen kills you let her know i'll give her $500 for it

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

Honestly,  dream is 6.0 and 6l80e.

Reality is 5.3 and 4l60e. 
 

when jen kills you let her know i'll give her $500 for it

 

$550.

$666

Stampie (FS) said:

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

Damn no love for me?  I'd love to rebuild a trans.  We should have a tranny party at Michael's.

I got a 4L60 core sitting in my garage I'll let go for $50. It's not an E, though.

First failure in a long time: alternator vomited parts and a piece of the case. New to me from the junkyard and were back in business. 

The big news, however, is its no longer really my truck. With the purchase of the extended cab, my daughters claim on the stepside seems to have solidified. 

Plan moving forward is that munchkin will be doing/helping with EVERY repair and piece of maintenance on this thing. Shes almost 12, so we have a few years of it generally getting used like a collector vehicle (run around a couple times a month, living under a cover under the carport otherwise) after the new truck is done. 

She's excited to say the least. And, its a really good home for it. Ill be taking a few pieces for my new truck (glass spyder headlights,  load bags, 454ss emblem, taillights) and teaching her how to do that work. 

Ill also be helping her to create her own account here for posting updates.

Awesome!!

She doesn't know it yet, but i started cleaning it up for cruise night season. Figure we'll rotate through the toy fleet. 

First round of washing is done  this thing is ROUGH from neglect. 

Ill probably show her how to compound and wax a car properly,  and finish getting parts and stuff out of it soon. 

But its currently the family truck, as the black one is still broken.....

I need to buff all the cars. Avoiding at all cost. I hate doing it. 

spent all day yesterday detailing this. Claybar, buffing, wax, armorall, etc. Looks fantastic! 

Girl scouts used for parade today, and it blew the rear brake hardline dropping the trailer off.

Yay.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

Sounds like a northern truck problem.

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

It does, don't it? I blame Florida. 

Apparently they all rust out near the gas tank regardless of climate according to the gmt400 board 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

Never seen it happen it TX

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

The lines on my GMT400 down here in Texas are mint.

All the lones on tjis one, that i could visibly inspect a few years ago, were mint as well. 

Ill blame that one trip to ohio in the winter, mixed woth early life in Florida....

Either way  a full line inspection is due

Mine were pretty rough when I had it apart so I replaced them all with the Dorman stainless kit. Highly recommend.

So, pulled the drop spindles and coil spacers, put drop shocks up front, replaced the shot leaf springs with fresher, removed load bags, scored factory alloys with brand new hankook tires for $175. Drives good! Rides even better. Not a huge fan of the wheels,  but couldn't beat the price. Front needs to come down another inch or two to level out the amount of tire tuck. 

But for now, the wife is daily driving it while i do her new minivan, and tomorrow its pulling the miata to the track since my black truck is in the bodyyard. 

Dude tell me about your shed car cover thingy......how long ..wide ...tall......new job going OK????

2x on the new job. Also what's your long term impression of the Miata? anything you would change if you had to do it again?

In reply to 759NRNG :

18x21. Started as just a metal carport. I have tinned in the sides, but not the ends. Yet.

I start the new gig 8/30. Heres to hoping it's more manageable and less stressful than the current one thats going away 9/1.

In reply to OneSickGNX :

Id definitely not use white in the engine bay.  Id also do rwd front accessories instead of my mutants, find a way to retain power steering, and worry more about serviceability while designing solutions. May not have been a way to do that on a challenge budget though.