My first 1st gen

B

BigBlue12V

New member
I got a new truck last night, its a real Heinz 57... It has belonged to a friend for the last couple years, he recently got a newer truck more suited to hauling his baby around and what not, and wanted to build a mud truck out of this thing, i talked him into trading it to me for my 77 Power Wagon (less than 2k miles on fresh BUILT 360, and gobs of other stuff done to it).
This truck is a '83 GMC 3500 with a '91 non-IC'd VE 12V, Getrag 2wd 5 speed, divorced NP205, 14 bolt rear and Dana 60 front. My buddy has put a lot of time and money into it, he bought it with this setup in it, drove to michigan to pick it up and drove it all the way home when he first bought it. He has drove it everyday up til he bought his 02. There was a lot of stuff kinda rigged up to work on this truck when he bought it that he has gone through some of it and not gone through the rest so its going to be a little bit of a project. some of the things i know are newer on it:
VE pump been replaced, the anti-tamper cables are still on the cover screws
new battery
new injectors the previous owner put in (stock we think)
big air filter
main bearings (Clevite's)
the trans has been rebuilt (coincidentally by the same guy who builds my NV4500's for the big truck)
new 13" clutch (he cant remember what kind have to find receipt)
new steering gearbox sitting in the seat
couple new front end parts
new shocks
?????????
Has Weld 16" rims on it. I'm going to put my 33" TSL's on 'em just cuz the Destination MT's are worn out and he is goin to put bigger tires on the Power Wagon....

I'm not a GMC man but i wanted another Cummins pretty bad and thought this is a interesting truck to have lol... Its always got him 20 mpg too, my big truck gets 13-15.
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the non i/c 1st gen has several small differences vs i/c 1st gen. bigger stock injectors (4x.0012) capable of over 300 hp or more. bigger dvs in pump, the cam has alot of opening duration vs later i/c motors. wish i knew #s on cam differences. stock timing more advanced. different oiston bowl. its a great engine. add a better turbo and intercool it if you want for alot of usable ower. should be agreat truck for you.
 
crewcabxlt said:
the non i/c 1st gen has several small differences vs i/c 1st gen. bigger stock injectors (4x.0012) capable of over 300 hp or more. bigger dvs in pump, the cam has alot of opening duration vs later i/c motors. wish i knew #s on cam differences. stock timing more advanced. different oiston bowl. its a great engine. add a better turbo and intercool it if you want for alot of usable ower. should be agreat truck for you.
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wow i never knew all of that... thanks for the info. yea it don't flow much air lol.... its a whole lot more tame than the big truck. big truck gets way away from you in a hurry if your not careful.... :charger::ft::st: this thing just kinda moseys along lol but its not too much of a slug all things considered... the motor mounts were homemade out of cummins mount and some plate, they weren't done real great, the driver side one my buddy had redone the passenger side one a weld cracked and the steel bent and let the motor sag down and tore the lower radiator hose between the "water neck" and the frame rail, so after work i took the mount off and bent it back, rewelded it and braced it up alot better and put a new hose on. The idiot that "designed" the t-case cross member needs shot in the head. its steel plate welded to the t-case mounted solid to the frame which explains the grumbling growling noise it makes going down the road. not bad but noticable lol.... the rest is the darned getrag grinding along... its cool to drive, got a front end issue to figure out, sometimes it drives perfect but then other times the front end dives left and right and will go back and forth constantly like a 4 wheel hay wagon at higher speeds.... seems like the frame wiggles by the gearbox which i hear is common with these. when i put the new gearbox on i will probably add a bunch of plate to the frame rail on both sides i hear thats the going fix for that issue... worthless gm's.... oh well its an attention getter what more do i like lol oh cuz of the T-case mounting the exhaust exits driver side tailpipe which is about the oddest thing to me.... how cool would this rig look with a hood stack? thinking about it LOL
 
Spent more time under this generic made crap as i now call it..... changing the steering box is way easier on a Dodge despite the fact that its all nearly identical. the mounting bolts are pretty freagin awkward on this thing and i fought the darn spline shaft coupler on the steering shaft for waaay tooo long.... but finally got it. drives alot better now but still kinda swerves sometimes i'm pretty convinced its an alignment issue. Got my 33" TSL's mounted on the 16" Centerline rims too. Looks better and the tires on it were pretty unsafe (bald and chunking bad). Valve cover gaskets and 3200 rpm GSK will go on tomorrow, picked up the GSK for $20. Might play with the pump a little but bein non-IC'd and no gauges i'm kinda afraid to touch it much. I'd be ok with it but i'm not familiar with EGT's on a non-IC'd motor...
 
EGT's on a non-ic do climb fast. Bigger stock injectors, small turbo, no intercooler non of that helps.
 
Neat truck, wish I could get my hands on something bigger than my Ranger with a Cummins in it... though a 4bt in it would be fun :D
 
Yea i have been driving it all week rackin up some miles on it, didn't really pay attention how many lol.... it seems like a good truck and pretty good on fuel, not sure what though.... runs fine. got 3200 rpm GSK for it just haven't put it in yet... Thats just for drivability i don't really intend to do much else but maybe intercooler. if i get to modifying it much i will just bomb it alot and that defeats the whole purpose of getting this truck LOL
 
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