83 stepside project

intercooler plumbing is ready, wiring is almost done.

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ECU, ignition box w MAP controlled dial in boost retard (normally set to 0 but in case of crappy gas I can dial in retard vs boost) Getting a bit of a cluster-f with all the wires..oh well.

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fabbed a trans mount for the 700R4, used a T56 mount because of the 2 stud mounting instead of just 1

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fuel filter fram hpg1

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fuel pump, may add a booster pump close to the tank if it doesn't get enough fuel with the pump all the way here. This is a high flow, 125psi max dead head pressure pump. Not s stock one.

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Now waiting on my new fenders later style bumper w fog lights and some other stuff to come in cia container.....oh the wait....
 
I have that large air cooled alternator on the right you see.....

Decided to put my spark control here....it's a bit more of a wiring cluster F than I would have liked but oh well.... form follows function I guess

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Decided to redo the exhaust. It was already stainless but an ugly quickie job that I never really liked. Also the pipes are a bit small in the middle so I stepped up from 2.5 to 2.75 and tucked them up higher. I only finished the drivers side, the other side is still the old stuff. I had to modify the dr. side to clear my VSS signal adapter/cable coming out of the tranny.

I had issues with it scraping behind the collector. The exhaust now runs directly up from there with nice smooth bends.

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other side done also

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some better pics...and I took both tanks out. 1 was already leaking and the other was not far gone. Both have 1 little rust spot ion the exact same spot. It's that damned paper like isolation stuff GM put on the tank cradles & straps. It retains moisure and the side that's near the rear wheel collects sand, grime and water. Luckily the holes were small enough to be tig-ed back up. The tanks and hardware will go to the powdercoater, remainder of bolts and nuts to the plater.

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now I'm just finishing odds and ends waiting on the container to arrive, full of parts (hasn't sailed yet due to logistical error and waiting on short block)
 
No issues on welding on a used gas tank? I need to add a sump to mine and the thought of welding on the tank makes me nervous as hell.
 
No, have done it many many times, both repairing holes, welding in new bottoms or adding sumps. Drain all the gas and then fill it for a good amount with water and rinse it out. Repeat a couple of times. Nothing blew up :D
 
Long time nothing new but I finally got my tanks back and got it all assembled again.

I had them back earlier and when I was cleaning them I found out they were coated poorly, the primer coat was showing through in some spots making for a cloudy whitish hue.

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Back they went and they came back looking good...only problem..I forgot the locking rings OOPS. They were in a bucket with zinc plated parts that I didn't take with me...crap.

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Also had to tacke the cooling system since the nifty rad I have in it has a dual -12 hookup instead of a big 20 or 24 (or a normal hose bung) so I had to fabricate something and decided to cut up and modify one of those cheap swivel neck thermostat things. Next time I'm buying a C&R billet one because this chinese POS is cast from something like bird doodoo.. I could not get a clean weld on it. The only cleanly welded part is the 2 an bungs welded together.. they are a clean aluminum alloy. The other stuff more resembles potmetal (welded that a couple of times when fixing headlight frames on C3 corvettes) what a royal pain. What left to do? Grind till it's semi clean. Hope it's not porous/leaking.

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it even fits under the intake ducting :D

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Next problem is my fuel system. Decided to put a mech pump back on the block, retain the low pressure switching valve system and have the pump fill a surge tank that will feed my aeromotive/paxton EFI pump.

This is the surge tank w/ hookups. Top most is the vent to the tank so it burps air out. The 2 others are feed from mech pump and return from EFI pump. The EFI feed is on the bottom. The large one on the top sticking out sideways will be plugged.

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getting fuller and fuller in there

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Wasn't sure anybody would powder coat a gas tank. Any special preparation?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
No. All my cars have coated tanks. Just the outside though. Blast prime and top coat
 
Tanks are in. Boy what a wrestling match getting these in without scratching them uo. These things are made to go on with the cab off. Not a fun job at all. Also when I had 1 in I realized the rear brackets were not the same and sure enough I had them mixed up :(

complete tank with sender retainer ring this time :)

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installed... glad I had them done in black and not gunmetal or argent silver like I normally do. These show and that would have messed up the blacked out look

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inner fenders back on. Soon I will fire this thing up for the 1st time

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They aren't very large. It's about 200 to fill both. Another reason for f.i. and od tranny. I care about the environment lol
 
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