The Earl Truck: An Even Sloppier LS-Swapped Colorado

Inching forward. A couple of weekends ago I looked under the truck to make sure I put the crush washer on the remote bleeder to the slave cylinder inside the trans. Looking through a 1 and 5/8" hole I was happy to see that I did remember the crush washer but it was leaking fluid.

After dreading dropping the trans, I asked the the Fabbot Fab Facebook page for guidance on how tight to tighten this line. Their advice was to use a crows foot on the line to tighten it. I did that and it worked!

Speaking of the remote bleeder, it was the best $30 I have ever spent. You basically just open the bleeder and drop it in the master cylinder under the fluid. Pump the pedal a few times and then tighten the bleeder. Perfectly bled clutch.

The other task today was converting the truck to drive by cable. Thanks to Sloppy Mechanics build, I had a blazer pedal and throttle cable I've been hoarding for over a year now. A few sheet metal screws for the pedal and a step bit at the firewall and I'm in business with a DBC setup. 

Todays roadblock was the fuel line. This will be a returnless setup for now. I was going to make the stock feed line work but after messing with it today I've decided to go with an lines. I was trying to use the stock ps lines as well so buying supplies will let me build an lines and make a much cleaner setup.

I purchased a few things parts today on eBay to get me pretty close to the finish line. I need to get this thing running! 

$88 eBay s10 swap headers work with a few smacks with a hammer to clear the motor mount and steering shaft. Beats $800 plus for Colorado specific swap headers that everyone on the Facebook page will tell you that you can't live without. I don't like how close the clutch line will be to the DS exhaust so I'll have to heat tape and move the line out of the way with brake line clamps to avoid the heat. 

Ordered about 15 little parts to get this to the finish line. Biggest thing was exhaust parts and AN fittings. If you want to go Challenge style, you can bend the factory power steering lines and fuel line (returnless system) to work with the swap. I didn't like how that was shaping up so I decided to use AN lines. For some dumb reason, I was afraid to make AN lines, b it it's really easy! I say this not knowing if they leak though...

Yeserdays progress was cutting off the stock high pressure line and putting on a compression fitting. Then made my own line. Worked out pretty good I think. Again - no clue if it leaks!

Still lots to do. 

Can you give us an idea of where the collector winds up on those headers? Im wondering if they may be the easy button for the ls swap in my amc....

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Sure. The pic below are the actual headers. I see now they are $197 but maybe you can find them from another vendor. I'll get some under truck shots when I get back under there. 

Thanks! Those definitely look promising!

Any updates Scotty?

In reply to OneSickGNX :

Not a ton recently. Did a few small things like getting plugs and wires installed and the fuel line ran from the tank to the rail.

Need to finish wiring, fluids, and build exhaust. I'm really close.

Work has took my motivation plus family obligations means not much is getting done. Hoping for some garage time this weekend. Thanks for checking in. 

Hey every bit of progress helps.  Unfortunately my project is in jail till next may, maybe longer if gas/inflation keeps leaping up.

In reply to OneSickGNX :

Heard that. I've basically spent all the money I can spend on this right now. There is no way I could buy any major items right now. Thanks, Obama. 

This is what my day has looked like so far: 

I've been cutting up my cheap Chinese harness. Why? Because there are multiple documented things wrong with these harnesses fresh from the box. 1. +12v is wired directly to the map sensor and the tach signal. Both would be fried after hooking up the harness. 2. The o2 sensors do not have the grounds needed to properly function. 3. This is technically an LS1 harness so it runs an iat and 3 pin MAF. I switched it to a truck 5 pin unit. This guy has an awesome video for those that want more better answers than I can give. 

https://youtu.be/N8FDF0fCkhE
 

The spaghetti monster made his way to the engine bay. It's really messy because of temporary measures, I decided to plug in the stock engine harness so I could get reverse lights, speedo, tach, and the rest of the stock gauges. What that means is a load of unconnected plugs and a lot of useless loom. I'll eventually go back and thin the stock harness but for now it's just going to be messy.

Also ran the stand alone. Just a few more wires to run, add fluids and then startup. I'm going to start it up with open headers first to show dominance over the neighbors. Then I'll fix problems and then run the exhaust. 

Was hoping to start the truck today but was once again reminded that I have no actual work life balance so I'm working a half day today.

So close! Can't wait to see tire smoke!

Gonna need some 3rd gear burnouts. 

Hooray! It started yesterday. Overcame some wiring hurdles and it started right up. No coolant yet so I just checked to see it run. Have a power steering leak. I'm pumped!

Still need to build an exhaust. Neighbors weren't happy about this. My son on the other hand was very impressed! That's him at the end of the video. 

Congratulations!  Builds get so much more fun when the finish line is in sight!

It lives!  

Fantastic news!

Glad to hear that you are getting to the end of the tunnel. 

Awesome.

I also like your truck very most!

Minor update(s).

 Massive power steering leak. I used a compression style AN fitting on the stock high pressure junction. Turns out I never actually tightened that fitting. 

Filled up coolant and then fired the truck back up. Was idling really high. The issue is the throttle cable is keeping the TB open. Unhooked cable and now it idles properly.

Next up is fabricating the exhaust. Who knows when that will be. Maybe this weekend, maybe next month. 

Is the cable too short, binding, bent too sharply or is there some weird ratio issue with the pedal? Or do you know yet?

GCrites80s said:

Is the cable too short, binding, bent too sharply or is there some weird ratio issue with the pedal? Or do you know yet?

I think it may be too short. I may be able to adjust the bracket. 

Back at it. Was able to get the exhaust buttoned up. Need to run to the parts store for a few clamps after family time. So close to driving this thing. 

The truck moved under its own power in the driveway. Then it stalled sideways in the driveway trying to get it to the street. Now no start. Just cranks. I'm either not getting fuel or not getting spark. Weird how it just stalled and quit. 

Glad to hear it's moving! Most likely something simple causing the issue. I had an intermittent dying/ no stat issue right after I got my LS swap done. Ended up being a bad solder joint I had done on the fuel pump wiring... 

Turns out the +12v source I picked didn't want to +12v anymore.  Picked a new one and it fired up. The truck has a body control module (BCM) and has a mind of its own  it will eventually need to be bypassed.  

Spent the morning bleeding the coolant and realizing the oil pressure gauge at the block was leaking bad. Need to add thread sealant but I'm out. More honey do list and I had to stop. Maybe first drive this evening. Maybe.