1996 GMC 5-speed

[Barry Donovan]

Sorry the family history search didn't come out 100%, and as I have mentioned, my family is Lucky to have Personal records several centuries back. (Family Bible is one)

But I have been approached (sales pitch) on our Family History and Even A Family Royal Crest !!
In Finland, there were No Crests, you lived in one of the Nine Provinces, and might have a a City/Village flag. The Only Shield is the Lion and Nine Jewels, used during the Crusaders era.
But some of the information is of Value, just do some of your own research. Church Birth, Christening, Marriage, and Death Records are of great resources.

all sorted with dna, plenty of records.
in fact of 128 5th great grandparents, mu sister has managed to gather more than half of them

we seem to be a norman kinda family paternally. French and welsh and irish..
all cousins. noble names galore.

I am also learning irish Donovan has a very strong greek trail.. before 900AD.(the last date of strong matches is approx 590BC - called etruscan by then)
our name began in basque spain as first round christian.
we have a long time in those areas.
identical to the scots
"basque soldier"

we are the scots.
I also have evidence accruing..we may be the weirdos with the gaelic language.
I used to make fun of it.. like calling the kettle black.

I have no celtic..1300+ years irish (could be more.)
that is the only twist in our tale.

mytruenacestry has been awesome.
the only trouble now is sorting 100% italian grandma and my 100% irish
they both have greek ancient.

My only goal was to fill missing paternal.
I ended up going way beyond...like 2350 BC beyond


anyway..
gave the truck a wash today.
my frame welds came through with a bit of paint coming right off the bed to no rust
I changed the shape of something.
paint could not hold onto to it. "I beamed it".
that was the factory 15+ year paint code.

best year yet.

[Barry Donovan]

cam retard and obdlinkLX

---

this truck has a unique PID to read..and it used to cost an arm and a leg or begging a shop to use their snap on.



I finally spent the 90 bucks for the obdlink LX
and it worked.

firmware upgradable.. use any app you want.


I use dash commander with the gmc extra pid package.
Total cost for everything $110

now on a warmer day, I'll dial that -7.1 degrees to a 0 on my own dime.

I think I found my muffler killer...

this only proves once more this engine is young. As most know, correct advance is a noticable pep in the throttle.
I have never complained about slow with this old spider 305.

in for another treat I guess.

I was listening to some john prine from 1971.
"hello in there."
some things are the same today.

For me trees don't get old.
they need a place to allow them to grow that way.

a river runs wild because it has two shores.
one side is not like the other.

the end is not the same as the beginning.

I have hope for ukraine and russia both.
brothers need to share the resources.

[Barry Donovan]

cam retard dialed in

---

nice day today
got my 13mm short wrench, loosened the disty and dialed this in.

it started off at -7.1 and a mx slop of -10



this is first screen shot.. I got it playing inbetween zero and about +0.6 degrees.. must be timing chain slop or whatever.
well within the +/- 2 degrees.

nothing noticable until that "fake 4 barrel" mode kicks in. I remembered that about this truck when I got it.
after about 2500rpm floored, this noticable big bellowing mode kicks in..and it is funny.
they programmed one big throttle to have two levels.
really noticed on the manual trans..
I also found, I tightened the clamp for disty alot more than I loosened. Easy mistake to make by previous workers... as that bolt is snug by factory, even when it is loose... so you do not lose the disty.
I made it all actually tight.

So now that explains why the fake 4 barrel mode went away.. I lost 10 degrees to disty moving.
and then it stayed there for 7 years.

TLDR;
I gained approx 10 degrees on timing.
this should make a cleaner cold start, less drool.
not that poppets can drool, but these still use an element of timing, like the old carbs in a much different way.
using the reverb.

timing advanced, fights fuel.

I bet I gain an mpg or two mileage.

[Barry Donovan]

7 years old, my once momma told me, YOULL NEED A HEATER MOTOR

---

original post feb 28 2015

car wash and first thousand miles

---

I bought this sinking in the car dealer lot. Drove away with 12 pounds in 1 tire, 20 in another.
About 100 miles in, I decided to check tire pressures.

that was january 30th or so. Wheel straightened out, I was brought back to that gentle almost slop feeling of my delta88... fell right back into a routine I knew for miles and miles.

1000 miles have gone by to today, A record breaking month for maine... the coldest ever, and the most snow...ever.
A z71 and big gmc logo on the grille is to be confident about.

So far, I have swapped 31 bulbs to led, a flasher, billet oil filter and an oil change.

My fourth 305 chevy, the exhaust told me it was time for a wash.

Sure enough it loved it. The alloys are a nice sink to drop the amp changes...a spray at the radiator through the grille is the other promoter of dynamics. 50 amps gone is a lot to wash away.

Before I left for the wash, I banged out the door dent to at least not look like a disaster, after realizing it is the type of crease that is never gonna hide completely. Why not bang at it if I can. I found I got it right through a vent, socket extension and a hammer, without removing door panel, and banged away until it was looking like an innocent dent... all trucks have at least one.

Washed it off, and I'll be damned, this looks good for 18 years. Waxable.
Quite ride home, now near dark. The dome light is a bit too blue..but it could be just me. Looks modern anyway.

All the external lights are vivid.



I took apart the heater motor, I knew I was going to find young and hot.
long brushes, riveted shut by siemens (the manufacture) and knew to take the kids version away.
I did the same for my wimpy subaru.
popped rivets, greased up with hight temp valvoline wheel bearing grease.. and wait for big cfm and some noise.
that is where it is at now.
put back together with whatver screws I had..those are from a pc motherboard.

this will calm in eventually, electrons floating the new sizing of slick ends on the motor...and much larger cfm.
I have paper towels on the floor of the truck, in the middle. Something cuaght my eye, and on floor mode, it was blowing the roll into another place already.

this got so hot, the wires that plug into motor are blackened and partially melted. I remember this trucks version via a friend some 10 years ago.
the heater system is so robust, one does not even know they got the dry bearing motor spinning.

this one was so dry, one end had the color of rust...and it was still spinning.
live with the noise until dial in..if it does not, the shaft was already sprung to heat. Not a big loss, as if that is the case, these are very cheap to buy brand new, with new fan attached.

..and lastly, plugged in the obd2 scanner. All is good except for a code for o2..and that was fake of course. Seems they forgot to clear it. I mentioned in one of the first posts, the o2 sensor is shiny, on a young y-pipe. Anything with a heater, like MAF, is also one to trigger a fake. Cleared code, and it stayed there thus far.

just checking in.. got another ebay special on the way.
back end of heate rmotor spun its bearing.
still full speed, very noisy.

7 years is doing damn good.
these trucks carch no fire there sometimes.

I do not know the hurricane count, or how many of the 4inches or rain in 26 minutes.
or ice jams, or 30 below, or 100 above
it did not have a rear ball bearing.. just the front.
oh well.
50 bucks every 7 years.




Soon we'll be thirty years old, our songs have been sold
We've traveled around the world and we're still roaming
Soon we'll be thirty years old


once I was 7 years old.
great song for a truck

[Barry Donovan]

heater motor.. I did it my way. if it can make it here, it can make it anywhere. these boots are made for walkin anyway,

---

my sinatra themed post today

decided to take apart the heater motor, because you don't need all those extra parts anyway going back together.


I found it really is a genuine ball bearing, front and rear..I forgot looking at it..it has been 7 years after all.
the mistake was no sleeve for the bearing to mild armature shaft. Hammered it a bit..and bearing must have been sticky on startups after sitting etc etc.
little crusty, but not seized at all..those bearing always get going. they just make noises of freedom over the years.



I made a sleeve out of this super thin stainless steel I found on the ground some year ago.
I thought "some day I'll use that as a shim."
whaddya know.
that junk drawer is worth millions after all.
I wrapped shaft and it is a perfect fit.. it should have a 3 way bounce instead of hammering the wimpy motor shaft.
bearing -> sleeve -> shaft.. no more rock rock and rock games.
I can hear the ball bearing once again...they won't stop this time.

I may have just made a 50 year motor.

I took note on original post, the bearing reminded me of the back half alternator bearings... I think for china's sake, that is exactly what it is.
rather large for the job I think.
just right for maine.
I hope those asian gurus make another one..
the ad 7 years ago said not many left, won't be in stock anymore.


meanwhile, back to my ball bearing noises of cool and good air fan function of fun with less amp suck..
this new motor with sleeves of fire.. will go in the closet.

[Barry Donovan]

ground control to major connector....

---

a real space event today.

at gas station, heater motor stopped working.
almost 80 at the end of May.
maine's sweltering heat...got to have a/c.
I was looking it over,basic checks, fuses.

some motorcycle guy comes up in a hurry and is like almost panic..
everything ok? leaking gas?!

I was like no gas leak. all good.
would he have run up to a honda civic driver like that?



I went 7 years without scraping the ground at heater motor paint
it must have been running on a thread.
no pun, it is literal.
back together, my now home built (more of a repair) full ball bearing heater motor is back in the game.


4.70 cents a gallon.
the muffler exit lost the tail pipe.
a sound we have heard and know for 70 years.
I row the gears some more.

at 390k miles... I think my space ship knows which way to go.

SBC and a manual hangs on like good music.
we all have heard it.
we all like to hear it again.

[Barry Donovan]

flowmaster.. one more season?

---

6 years.
no different than factory.

in quotes is april 16 2016.. flowmaster install

big muff!

---

got some stickers to play with too! [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1095905[/ATTACH]






hefty. was not expecting that. The bus muffler, which I thought was huge..
this seems even bigger. must be 20 pounds or more..

nice steel gauge.
I can see how they get the price..
very good.

looking forward to the pulse on the active monitor... as much as sound.
fuel saver.

I looked at the current muffler, it is painfully looking like new.. I think the dealer may have mentioned that too. Just cheap, but new.
I swelled the can of course..none of those survive here..and that in turn creates a super flow past the middle baffle...and rattles.
this means MAF keeps flowing strange and fast, injectors try to feed a power that is not happening in return.

simply complicated it is.
the flowmaster is a good all steel thump... power and fuel.

installed



lucky to get this installed today, by chance with a phone call. Even the south wind is frigid in the afternoon. I knew a bad 5 days is coming, jumped at the chance. From the first cut in front of old muffler..it fell to the ground. the back pipe was simply spinning inside it. Peculiar..no leaks.

from first start to first ride..

Incredible.

A most amazing mature v8 sound...and rowing the gears to boot. I am in heaven.
No where near as big as the newer vortecs.. but it is sure noticable to be nothing like an old one.

a few tiny leaks to finish off aft of muffler, but the precise part of install, and the front pipe is sealed very good.
welded the whole damn thing...no clamps.

I also notice the right rear feels stiffer.. full hung and swung, I am now assuming the back part of old muffler did indeed leak.. all over the spring. The colder spring made it feel even more sport like.

saved a very noticable amount of fuel for the ride home. I was hoping to see that.
I did get some 5k rpm shreaks in to blow the old sloth out.
I am really liking just before max torque throttle on.. so very modern. almost turbine like...even a low freq whistle moving some air.
not much to notice in power.. it just feels healthy...and less throttle for cruising.

The old muffler was full of soot...I threw it in the trash trailer.

update final

one day later
from cold start to full warm, yet another runtime. A lot more low end. a locomotive at 1550 around 55. Awesome.
all out no drone. they did very good with that extra chamber for conquering droning.
I also cleared a cat code, the only code left..
it may stay off, might not.
I like to lug this one around.. automatics do not know how to do that. The code may have to stay triggered. I mean lugging like 1000 rpm though a 25mph zone up a hill. Something not smart enough in their codes for that manual tranny. I also have a new o2 in front of the cat, and whatever gm put there in the back...maybe its tricking itself.

other than that, a whole new curve is in... could drive this across the country comfortable. Very confident.
not impressed with fuel mileage today, but engine health is more important. It uses more in the rain anyway.
on the active monitor I am finding IAT stays very cool in the rain..never warms up. Explains more fuel in the rain.. even in the summer.

will get some new plugs in, basic tune up stuff in warmer weather coming.
awesome sound and runtime from the flowmaster.
will check tiny leaks as well, for now first install was very good..crawling around on the cold ground to get it in.
I found small leaks aft of the muffler, up front is more important anyway.

today I boogered one final stand.
..might swap it out before inspection. no one seems to care after the cab on these.. must have cat though.

I won't be getting another flowmaster.
I may do the ebay single in, dual out.. fits chevy dodge , ford and pakistani specials


seriously, I found the reason for dual out.
I may use the same muffler as dads 99 with 6 liter.


love the sound of the suv50.. but at 4.60 a gallon, may go with same old crap.. for the same 6 year interval (or more)
suv50 was a hefty muffler.

I'd like dual out for relief at the back end where pipes get cold.. it's like running exhaust gas into a wall.
..and dual hangers.

I broke this 3 times in 6 years..aft of muffler.
the half ton needs to jiggle its jiggle.
dual out will have hangers on both sides.


not out for noise much.. I just want the dual hangers, regular muffler.
As I said, dads 99 with 6 liter has one.
simple setup... still quieter than mine.

[Deaf Bob]

flowmaster.. one more season?

---

6 years.
no different than factory.

in quotes is april 16 2016.. flowmaster install





today I boogered one final stand.
..might swap it out before inspection. no one seems to care after the cab on these.. must have cat though.

I won't be getting another flowmaster.
I may do the ebay single in, dual out.. fits chevy dodge , ford and pakistani specials


seriously, I found the reason for dual out.
I may use the same muffler as dads 99 with 6 liter.


love the sound of the suv50.. but at 4.60 a gallon, may go with same old crap.. for the same 6 year interval (or more)
suv50 was a hefty muffler.

I'd like dual out for relief at the back end where pipes get cold.. it's like running exhaust gas into a wall.
..and dual hangers.

I broke this 3 times in 6 years..aft of muffler.
the half ton needs to jiggle its jiggle.
dual out will have hangers on both sides.


not out for noise much.. I just want the dual hangers, regular muffler.
As I said, dads 99 with 6 liter has one.
simple setup... still quieter than mine.

Hitting low $5.17-$5.39 at cheap stations

[Barry Donovan]

ebrake for non emergencies.

---

Hitting low $5.17-$5.39 at cheap stations

terrible.
back to checking air in tires to reduce nerdy rolling resistance.



7th year. just finished my ebrake as a whole system.
one half of the cable, the driver side was seized..not even the inspector caught it.
I adjusted to one side working thee whole truck. it is rather funny.
I never noticed it, until snapping it finally...just the other day

I also fixed a grommet the cable slides through on the frame.
something peculiar about this trucks 390k miles in some places..that ebrake, on this manual trans truck, was hardly ever used.

I have a whole ebrake now anyway. that bracket in photo is home made..I cannot find that original gm piece anywhere.

and my frame is headed for a real finale. 4 feet of water logged snow in the back maine version of my finale.


will be doing driver side in coming weeks. I cut this peculiar shape out with my plasma cutter
the steel is the a588 corten. (very expensive right now.. have had it over a year)

doing awesome.
my biig rail half ton. I may add HD as a suffix to the k1500 letters as sarcasm.

seriously, the inspiration beyond fatigue of old rails is the gmt800 3/4 ton.
I love their frames.
This is simulating that as half ton dimensions...via lamination and high grade plate steel..
must be 3/8ths minimum all the way to the last cab mount under the cab. About 2 feet 8 inches each side of truck.

real nuisance part of frames where I live.

[Barry Donovan]

big weld ..and filler neck

---

I was wondering if previous owner left hydro carbons flying..hence the focus on driver side frame work. That dry crusty hit or miss kind of decay. seen it a million times.
it is always fuel.

it was me... i did not notice the filler neck was in serious decay. Swiss cheese, and broken today after dropping tank to put in plate.


I also added to factory crossmember, plasma cutter made a quick shape of flat stock. that is welded to new plate you see in photo.
Truck is very rugged , even by my standards.

I noticed it first ride oiut.. even the power steering feels super light. Truck feels like you can thrash it.

I must have been flexing and bouncing the old rail for 7 years.


I was pumping fuel at irving gas station, notice neck was all done with this life...5 bucks a gallin hitting the ground in dribbles.
filler neck swap in a sams club parking lot...73 bucks at auto zone..some sams club fuel, and another 6 hours of labor done into the truck.

[Barry Donovan]

my "square" body (literal math relation - not the old model)

---

my post weld 2 day followup of the silent walk around and gibberish of hillbilly physics going through my head, pondering atomics, steel molecules and 30 below coming way too soon..
forgive the off angle, I was box in one hand, camera in the other.

This truck still looks long and straight. Steel gurus relate.
big weld, well done.

the opposite of constipation, that tightness I see in oe trucks in mint condition.. my eyes for the lines still ar ein the 73-87 as much as the curvy gmt400.
Some trucks never a work day, tightening in measures not even gm counted on by being lazy, like a lawn chair hot rod show.
This 390k miler is like a back that picked something up too heavy..survived the slip disc operation, and yet it is 3 times stronger than oem.
looking that much longer leaner and meaner than the norm to me... whilst 5582 pounds as it sits.

speaking of 3 tons on 4 wheels... the dimples in the pavement are its wheel chocks. I let it rock back and forth to a stop like a dog getting into its bed every time I back in. the second address this truck has done that. Takes a few months to make its bed.
my current address is over 2 years now. I do appreciate it too.. most healing for my guts yet. all else, well.. lets not talk about it.

keep on trucking.

[DanStokes]

Sorry I was on the run as I made my way up to Limestone to go racing. I would have liked to meet you but it seemed like time was an issue. If we ever get up to Maine again we'll work it out, I promise!

[Barry Donovan]

Sorry I was on the run as I made my way up to Limestone to go racing. I would have liked to meet you but it seemed like time was an issue. If we ever get up to Maine again we'll work it out, I promise!

we talked of it more than once.. since 2009

my whole reason for joining here..as my vehicles are not exactly hot rods. I liked the landspeed.

I hope you enjoy retirement. My dad just retired after 42 years trucking. his audit a few years ago left off at 5 million miles written (it is over 6).
a shocker.. as I have been in his rigs since 1978.
no longer n the driveway.
the routines, even odors.

silence.

it is enough to weep.

I was welding his old gmc like I do mine this summer... he liked what I do on disabled income with mine.
Anyway..I have my cut hands and aching back.. but it hangs on longer, 49 this year.

my daydreams have faded, from self balanced boxer..to one more round of old SBC...loring.

I am getting old too. but the gears keep turning...like a tall overdrive and slow rpms. ..forever.

[DanStokes]

we talked of it more than once.. since 2009

my whole reason for joining here..as my vehicles are not exactly hot rods. I liked the landspeed.

I hope you enjoy retirement. My dad just retired after 42 years trucking. his audit a few years ago left off at 5 million miles written (it is over 6).
a shocker.. as I have been in his rigs since 1978.
no longer n the driveway.
the routines, even odors.

silence.

it is enough to weep.

I was welding his old gmc like I do mine this summer... he liked what I do on disabled income with mine.
Anyway..I have my cut hands and aching back.. but it hangs on longer, 49 this year.

my daydreams have faded, from self balanced boxer..to one more round of old SBC...loring.

I am getting old too. but the gears keep turning...like a tall overdrive and slow rpms. ..forever.

I've been retired from working for almost 20 years. Now I'm (at least mostly) retired from LSR. I have a promise of seat time if and when I get to the track and hopefully I can make it from time to time. I still have my helmet and driving suit.

[Barry Donovan]

I've been retired from working for almost 20 years. Now I'm (at least mostly) retired from LSR. I have a promise of seat time if and when I get to the track and hopefully I can make it from time to time. I still have my helmet and driving suit.

I am realizing my modern marvel of 96 gmc is heading for 27 years old.
getting lonely out there in my wavelength.

I hope to get to loring for my 50th birthday year (next year), as a fan only of course.
meanwhile the reality of steel and gas and rubber and inflation...


Took a day out to try and fix what once was the shiniest panel on the truck that I ruined a few years ago trying a simple repair on some rusty spot.
I found my mistake was a paint choice..may have been acrylic lacquer instead of enamel.
recovered as much as possible without a full paint removal.

call it a painted horse...unique markings. but it is shining again.
truck is a different animal to drive, my frame plans did work out in the end.
gears whining, a perfect sloppiness in one of the bigger bearings of the trans.. and a rigidness only a hot rodder would notice.
as if one could drop a steve morris engine in, or any something special, and surround it with even bigger gears.

my daydreams are not all dead after all.
it is just a bad time for them.