New beast on the block! - '69 GMC 90" window

Aye, the maiden voyage to Maupin sadly did not happen, word from Tris is that the crew was waiting.

Alas, there was simply too much to do.

As I am still tired and things were moving at a rather rapid pace, pics are few and far between at the moment. I'll take that, and video, tomorrow!

Here are some highlights;
* The exhaust has been fitted
* The linkage has been fitted to perform the shifting. It's functional, still needs a good bit of fiddling. Lokar makes it very nice to adjust to be honest.
* Tires have been all fitted
* Brakes and lines have been completely replaced on all 4 corners.
* Carb has been reinstalled, and a leak has been fixed... And I just figured something out.

That hole used to be the barb... So that my vacuum switch for the 200R4 would work! AAAUUUGGGHHH, oh well, that's an easy piece to get, I hope.



Moving on with the list:
* Tires have been installed
* Initial fire up done, runs
* You guys know how I rolled and the fan was bent on the radiator pipe? Well, it had hairline cracks with a drop leak. Those have been brazed by dad, so radiator is good too.
* Park/Rev/Forward tested, works.
* Maiden voyage around the block done



Now comes the trouble...

* The van will accelerate, although hesitantly. I am thinking that I'm running very rich ATM, as I did have a few particles come up and hit me as the dog house was up, and the air cleaner was completely off.
* Once I take my foot off the pedal, it very much hesitated to re-engage the transmission. Sometimes it even felt like it was slipping, and I had to rev it - relatively - quite a bit for it to catch again. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. (!!)
* It will also refuse to shift up from 1st.
Finally as limpy as it was, I swung it back around the corner to home.

Notes:
* This is supposedly a 0 miles rebuild, so it should be completely redone. That said, 1st result on google yields a mention that the governor spring is busted. That's not happy news, as just got done filling the thing with ATF.
* After futzing around with things, I noticed that the throttle pedal will actuate the carb only about half way. The carb and the TV cable are 1:1, so the TV cable is actuated only half-way too.
* I'll have to check for vacuum leaks on the carb and such tomorrow. Maybe it had a vacuum leak before, and now that it's perfectly buttoned up it's running pig rich?

Big question to 200R4 swappers:
Is the 200R4 dependent on some kind of outside input to know when to shift beyond the throttle cable?
If it is, PM/reply immediately, I'll be checking often.

You just need an NPT>barb fitting.  From the pic and my memory I'd guess 3/8 but might be 1/2"  Take the old one and the vacuum switch for the lockup to the Ace down the road, they should be able to set you up.

But .. that's just for the lockup torque converter, and nothing to do with it not shifting out of 1st.

For the other question(s) on the tranny, if nobody here chimes in go to the Buick Regal/T-Type/GNX forums and pick some brains over there.  Some of those guys know the 200-4R inside and out.

Whelp, after getting sick - again - with a helluva flash cold, and today calling 2 places here in Portland, one of them suggested adjusting the TV cable a bit more, as there is a fail safe check ball...

It did the trick, and now it shifts like a demon! Running video coming tomorrow!

After much dicking around, I'll be honest I am a hint burned out on this project.
The big drive was to get it running for this weekend for a cross-country drive to the East coast.

Since then the old guy in our group driving across has offered his small SUV which gets the same mileage, is a lot quieter, and has A/C.
Never the less, here is the story...

Reading through the Turbo Buick forums, I've read that the governor may be at fault for my lack of shifting... So off came the pan, and in went a new governor.



Needless to say, I was a bit tired and sick at that point, so I didn't use the vacuum pump. Herpa derp!



Honestly it was a good thing that I dropped the pan... There was a fair bit of watery sediment in the bottom! I didn't do any crazy driving, took it all very slowly, so I'm damn sure that the sediment didn't get washed up into the tranny.
New filter and gasket were installed, along with the new governor.

Then of course I did the calls and all that. The long and short of it is that stock rebuilds have this small check ball and L piece in the tranny, near the TV, as a fail-safe to maximize oil pressure and save the tranny in case of a TV cable failure, instead of letting it drop to low/zero and burning it up.
Well, the adjustment was done, and bam, everything worked.

So much so, that after a bit of running around Tuesday doing paperwork, I had a good bit of driving on Wednesday.



Before she was quite lazy, and slow to start.  Now if you're not careful, the damn thing will jump!
She shifts up to 3rd in very short order, and I have hit 4th around town. Gives the van a veeery low rumble.

And at this point, may as well show the van's cabin in it's current form.




This is the piece that I fabricated on the Friday of Maupin, around 1AM at PSU.
Came out pretty well, although I do have to make some adjustments.



Pieces used were the automatic lever arm and the manual mounting points, with the custom S-bar and the Lokar actuator arm, needed to reach from the lever arm to the Lokar.
The S-bar is 3/4 square bar, 16ga, with 3" end pieces, and an ~7 1/8" center piece end-to-end. ~50* cuts were made into the center piece. All in all welded it brings the total length to ~11", leaving plenty of space to drill coarse adjusting holes. Fine tuning is done through the Lokar.

To be honest this made for an extremely painless and quick installation, now it's a matter of tightening things up with a new ball end, and having adjusting the Lokar so that the speeds fall into the right spots... Right now my [D] is N, oops. =)





And of course the cross member that Tris made. Came out OK, eventually I'd like to sit down and redo it so that it doesn't look so... Haphazard.

Otherwise the van has been running great. I do have to deal with a massive vacuum leak, still, runs great.

Xelmon,
Great to see that you are back on the road! I think you guys have did a hell of a job on getting the beast going. Good luck on your first voyage in it & hope all goes well!
tristessa,
Hats off to ya buddy for helping a fellow vanner! Great job man!

Congrats Xelmon, glad to hear you got the shifting sorted out! Hope you're feeling better but I know having this running good has to help you feel much better!!! You've got a Great Crew there helping you out!

You accomplished a lot !!  Put some black paint on that X member and it'll look store bought,,LOL

Looks Great!!!

I'd like to re-work the exhaust a bit once you're back from PA, maybe run it over the axle and out the rear corner instead of dumping ahead of the tire.  I also wouldn't mind re-doing that crossmember someday -- maybe go out to Mike's place and do the cuts with his bandsaw instead of freehand with an angle grinder.  Heck, make two or three more in case anyone else wants to do a 200-4R swap in one of these vans.  In the meantime, it's a solid functional piece and the tranny ain't going anyplace so give it a coat of black paint and call it good.   

Need to spend a day out at Mike's anyway and pick over the carcass of Whitey -- I know there's a good 2nd Gen doghouse that someone might be looking for, along with some other potential rust repair sections.  Maybe post in the parts section to build a "wish list" for people who're looking for pieces...

I love that diamond pattern on the dash pad brother!

very nice, i like taking the test drive in your video too,,

Wow... It has been a while since I've done any real work on the GMC - or had any updates!

Partially it's the fact that I had a lot going on, the other is that after I did my trip back to PA I was rather worn out.

Onto the updates!

First thing's first, the vacuum leak had to be attacked. Turned out that the float / butterfly gasket got damaged and had a 1/16 x 1/4" hole in the side. I got a new gasket set, however I noticed that it was still a loose fit... Out with the RTV!

Took some high-temp RTV and rubber gasket material to thicken it up, so that I can remove material from it.



Threw the jack on the top of it, just so that it got some extra pancaking action. Worked well too...



It did slip a bit though. Oh well, out with the razor and drill!



In about 10 minutes or so I cleaned her up, and shaved off around the bolt holes.



Install and presto! Tight enough that a razor can't fit through it now!







Since that operation has taken place, I have noticed a few things...

* The engine has smoothed out at idle. It can be the fact that it is "properly" tuned now, however I have a feeling that the brand new torque converter was to blame. It was very rough not too long ago, however with about 1000 miles under it's belt now, I have a feeling that it's wearing in. Transmission pan and fluid inspection with a filter change are slated for next week.

* After a trip to the Oregon coast, I was shocked that I only got 14MPG!
AAAAA!!!! I should be getting better mileage than the Powerslide I had! Here's the numbers;
4650lb's (Measured on a truck scale)
Tires at 34 / 45 PSI front / rear
200R4 with a 3.08 rear end, converter lock-up was not hooked up
Didn't lead foot it
Idle AFR per LM1 was 14.1

Since then I have thinned it out to 14.7 at idle, so it richens it up for load conditions plenty. I'll have to play with AFR under load, as I didn't get a chance to do that.

* Returning from the same trip, the front left sagged pretty heavily, even more so than usual. So, I called around and I can get new springs for $200 a corner, or do a slight rearch and helper spring for $100 a corner... I'll just pull the ones of the white van and call it a day.

* At around AFR 14.7, so stoich, the carb gives off this slight whistling sound. I have figure out that the idle-mixture adjust is what causes this, and if it's full rich or full lean the whistling goes away completely. I didn't have at the last van. Is this OK, or is something a bit off with the carb?

* On the same trip to the beach, I had something really odd happening. Rolling down the hill, engine idling, there was this shaking around 50-53mph. Like, the whole chassis was shaking a good 1/4 - 1/2"! Only when I was going down-hill with foot off the gas.
Gas it down hill? No more vibration. Uphill? Like a boss. Idle? Sounds wonderful.
A fellow said that the bearing on the pinion gear on my rear end is out. Is that it, or is it something else?

* Also, the engine diesels, and even turns backwards if it gets a bit too warm. I have a feeling that this has to do with the heat riser valve spring simply missing... So, I'll throw that on probably today, see what it does.
If that doesn't work, what could it be?

That's all I got for now!

Today has been a very productive day!

OH, and before I forget, I did my first camping deal with my fellow VW-ers and even after getting lost in the woods and doing a fair amount of dirt driving, I returned a much better 16.5 MPG. Woohoo!

With burritos in our stomachs, Tris and I headed out to the place where the Chevy resides, to do our pre-programmed Chop day.
Of course, the first load of scrap metal was also taken with, which includes the craptastic gas tank that came with the GMC.




First up for the days program was cutting out the lower front lip of whitey. That particular area on the GMC has some large sized holes, some of them as big as 2 quarters. So may as well cut it up and save if for another day.




Next up was extracting the fuel filler neck area, as the GMC has some serious / falling apart rust on the fuel neck filler area. At the moment it works, however, eventually it will have to be replaced.




Tris at work, as we attacked the dog house.
We figured that it would be worth it's weight in gold to another VV'er, and by luck Popeye is looking for one! How fortunate!




And we dropped the axles, low rider style. So low that even southern brothers would go "Daaaammnnn"...

*Khmm* So yeah, after we cut out the filler neck, dog house, removed a bunch of other stuff - including the wiring harness - it was time to get the big thing. Front springs and axle.

It was surprisingly easy, especially given that I borrowed dad's impact wrench. Man that loosened bolts like butter.




And, of course, the side shot at the end of the day. I still feel sad for whitey. T_T





On another note, Friday's project was cleaning the hell out of the foot plate. It was impressively rusty, the wire brush did a lot of work on it.



Some of the deep pitting is still visible.



Ahhh, much better, although it's still obvious that the rust went deep.

Hey, at least Whitey gave you some good spare parts and will help prolong another van's life! Nice work on the foot plate. Looks a hundred percent better! 

LOOKING GOOD!!!! Moving right along it is REALLY nice to have a parts Van I was lucky.That doghouse and rear end is worth is weight in gold (well almost) are any of the doors good?? you should keep them also for spares  dash knobs, bezels.gauge clusters.wiring, steering column, steering wheel, gear box,door laches,door handles,door straps,gas and brake pedals, all hard to find stuff strip it clean while you can. ..........................

@ Joe Van: Ah yes, I'll be definitely cleaning up all of those items, and I am saving them.
As for door, cheezus krispy, I have about 5 or 6 sets of barn doors, pretty soon I'll have to put a few up for sale.

However, I'll have to get in touch with M1D, as the driver door is rather... Bad in the bottom.

And at last, I have finally gotten off of my fat ass, and gotten all the pieces - and time put aside - to accomplish a very much needed item on the list...
The Front Springs...

I reused the springs from the '68, as redoing them is $100 per corner, or new ones are $200 per corner... When I have a job, I'll have a full set made. Until then, it's the hard-way.

I managed to get about 1-1.5" lift back, to 20 1/2" compared to the stock 22 1/4", and the previous 19" or so. All of these are at the top edge of the bumper, as shown in the original spec sheet. Also keep in mind that I use the 195/75 BFG's, so I am a bit shorter.

New bushings were a must, and with a bit of thought I also grabbed new shackles too. After all, the 68's driver side shackle was broken on one side, and bent on the other.
I also took the springs apart, cleaned + painted all parts including the new center and U-bolts that I grabbed... More on the U-bolts later.
Also got some new films that go between the leaves.
All in all the hardware came out to be ~$160 complete.




The old bushing were really difficult to pull out, had to pry them on 3 sides to finally let go of the rust on the surfaces.



The bolts were no better... All bolts had caked on rust and burnt rubber. The impact wrench dad picked up made quick work of the rusty bolts.



The U-bolts on the other hand... They were stuck enough that even after a bit of PB, using a 2 foot breaker bar and my cheater bar, I bent the cheater bar. Yep, shit was fused together... So with a bit of grinder acrobatics I cut the U-bolts, they were toast anyways.



And there! After some 6 hours of work by this time, I finally got everything cut up and prepped to back together.

It took considerably longer as the shackle side bolts were unreachable with the impact wrench. Even if they were, I still had to take out some of the plastic tins to be able to pull said bolts out. Took an extra 2 or so hours because of that.

Tris also rolled by around 7 expecting nothing to happen, then I just heard him laugh as he rolled by. He came back and we shot the shit.I torqued down all the bolts after it was back on the ground, the guys at Oregon Spring Co. were pretty adamant about that little detail.



The night fell quickly, and I didn't have to completely button everything up. At least all the suspension bolts were all torqued down.




Also, OOGA-BOOGA!!

A good day's work!! Getting closer, good progress!

Looks Great!!!!

Unless it is brand spanking new , there is nothing usually easy about working on suspension stuff. A lot of effort and it looks great !!  

Hey zelman=!! looks great -yet = RTV silicone Cannot!! be used on any area that has gas around it!! Gas will cause RTV to deteriorate!! Just be aware !! 

Twin, I just finally noticed your post. I have no idea why I didn't beforehand!
Thanks for the warning, I'll definitely keep that in mind... Hm, too bad that it's only a temp fix then.

To be honest, I cannot adjust idle anymore either, so I'm pretty sure that at one point or another I'll have to look at a serious rebuild of the carb.


On another note, the dog house has been sent off to Popeye! I hope it'll all get there, and it is all what you hoped for!

Whelp, today was the day that my friend and I finally took care of Whitey.

Yesterday was spent with toiling away and removing the rear axle. To my surprise it came off with relative ease, although there were some tight corners, it wasn't nearly as bad as the front off of the GMC.
Come to think of it, even the fronts on Whitey were extremely easy compared to the GMC.

I only had my cellphone on me in the heat of the moment. At least they work.







Today... Well, it was a sad day.

The planets have seemed to have lined up as my friend and I were home and I had time to finally take care of it. The title on the other hand disappeared. After manic searching, I found that my dad had apparently stashed it away.

We got in just a short bit before the scale shut down for the day... And, well, pictures are worth a thousand words.













Trust me guys, if I had all the money in the world, she would be still rolling.

Trust me we understand, if our vans were worth more I could see saving it. Good new is your van helped others and you with your GMC

Man it's been a while since I posted here...

October, how long ago that was...

Since November '14 I moved down to LA since I managed to luck into a job down here. As a medium distance ride the van is a beast and lots of fun. As a cross country mover, she was just not in quite the right condition. Electrical is aging, king-pins are worn, etc etc etc.

So I took my Civic down and dealt with that things oddities - bad new rotors, improper static timing, etc.

However, I am finally getting the twitches... So I have started looking at improvements on the GMC and figuring out what I should focus on next.