~Bluestripe

I never think that people would be interested in my home projects or my cool work projects.. but here i go again...

About Christmas time, my mom got a new truck, a Chevy like always.. and she wanted me to get rid of her old truck, which has been parked in my back yard for a couple years.. since it had a slow drip from a freeze plug.. it ran fine but i never trusted the drip for long distances.. anyway,, after she kept asking me what i wanted for Christmas,, i again said ( like the year before) "just give me your old truck" and she agreed sooo.. now i have another truck that i don't really need.. it is a classic model though.. a 1985 chevy shortbed /stepside with the wood panels in the bed of the truck.. never been wrecked and totally undented.. except for a small tweak in the bumper. "Scottsdale" package.

years ago they had changed the 305 and auto overdrive to an 350 cid and TH 400 for towing heavy loads. it was the newer generation block.
so i am looking under the hood of this and the smog hoses are frightening.. but i look at my other truck, 1972 Chevy long-bed.. and it is getting more rust than anyone would ever want to fix.. and decided to go for it on my moms old truck. i pulled out the engine and the totally horrible electronic-feedback Q-jet and special distributor.. ( was only used for 3 model years .. since it was so horrible) and decided to do a full conversion over to Throttle body Injection,, hardly any hoses and easier to get parts for.. the donor truck was a 1993 suburban.. i took everything except the actual long block. converted to serpentine belt and what was totally bonus was that the old truck had a first-gen computer box to run the feedback on the carb and dist.. and it was the same size and shape as the newer TBI computers.. looks totally factory now.. with a new-out of the box TBI wiring harness and the factory grommet and computer bracket.. it was a dream..
I tore the engine down , did cheesy valve job and cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned the old engine.. looks new.. even though still has lots of miles on it, it should run fine.. new freeze plugs and all factory sensors and modules... if the weather is good this weekend, it should be running.. just got the new high-pressure fuel pump in the mail.. decided to buy a cherry picker.. since i still have my old race car parked in back,, and a 600 hp engine on the stand in the garage.. planning to put it back on the street for fun... as the next little project

As for work, we are upgrading our whole microwave system to newer IP based microwave radios.. many millions of dollars in this project.. but all i have to do is watch and be sure the contractors don't totally screw something up..

=^.^=

wen truck is all done.. i should remember to post a few before and after pictures..