SLOW build on a 2001 GMC Jimmy

[porkchop 304]

I will be at the grain processing plant tomorrow.

Looking good

[altoncustomtech 773]

Wow Big Red. I haven't heard that name in a long time. Back in the early 80's honda had a sport ute 3 wheeler called Big Red. They had a 250 and 350 came out a few years later. I owned both and was a ton of fun when I was a kid.

Box is looking great!

 

Yep, me either.  I read that Honda pulled that name back outta their bag of tricks just for this machine because of what it represented.  It's a shame they're not going to use the same name after 2013.  As for the enclosure comment, Thanks!

 

 

wow!

 

 

Looking good. Hope then engine work goes smoothly. 

 

Thank you, and so do I.  I gotta get this thing back on the road.

 

 

I will be at the grain processing plant tomorrow.

Looking good

 

Whoa!  You'll be right by the house!  Only there for the day?

 

Thank you!

[Quentin Jarrell 671]

It's cool the used the Big Red name. Looks like they even brought back the early 90's styling on the plastic.

[dbsupra 69]

Boo someone needs more bandwidth

[altoncustomtech 773]

Boo someone needs more bandwidth

 

 

There, fixed that problem, lol.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Okay, things have been beyond crazy around here lately between work and working on the Jimmy. The guys I work with had me bring the Jimmy to our garage there to pull the engine and swap it out. They've even been helping work on it and for anyone who's ever pulled one of these out you know exactly what I'm saying when I say that no one could do it without help. The engineers at GM really had their heads up their asses when they designed these trucks. It's glaringly obvious the truck was assembled like a Chinese puzzle box on the assembly line with no care given to performing major maintenance later. Enough of that rant I can finally feel like something has been accomplished because the old engine is OUTTA THERE!! Now all I gotta do is swap the necessary items of the old engine to the new reman and shoehorn it back down into that little truck. I have a great deal more respect for the guys out there who put V8's into these little bastards and nothing but pure wonder how the guys do it who keep all the fuel injection and other crap in them as well. My hat is off to you guys, that takes a special kind of patience and determination I know I don't have.

Now just for fun here's a couple of pics of the poor old engine and the insanity that is the engine compartment in these little bastards.

[Shogen 325]

YAY!!!!!

[thehawk93 2]

Hello Alton,

 

  Anymore progress on the Jimmy ???

[altoncustomtech 773]

The last of the parts it needs (ancillary equipment wise) should be in today.  Got the impossible to find bolts I needed to get the harmonic balancer installed today, and the last of the hose I needed to replace all the vacuum lines.  The new engine isn't in yet, it's been waiting on these other things to be done, bought, etc. before I could drop it in, but as long as the last parts get here today as they're reported to be I could have it in this weekend barring any more unforeseen issues. 

[jcarter1885 995]

Hope it all goes well Alton

[thehawk93 2]

Any progress to report ???

[altoncustomtech 773]

Well, with all the necessary parts in hand finally, the last of the reusable parts cleaned up and installed on the engine, and the vacuum lines finally replaced in the truck, the process of installing the new engine can actually begin.  And has.

 

I don't know how anyone could possibly replace the vacuum lines with the engine and transmission bolted into place.  I had a tough enough time doing it with the engine out and the front of the transmission lowered down.  I managed to get it done, every rubber vacuum and vent line under that hood has been replaced with a brand new one.  My 4WD and heater/AC controls should work wonderfully well now that the vacuum can actually reach the locations it was supposed to.  I could see them collapsing under the vacuum before, shouldn't be a problem now.  I also tested the 4WD actuator under the battery tray as well with a vacuum pump here at work to verify it was in good shape.  

 

On to a few pictures for the fun of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the reman engine on my dad's old engine stand he built himself when he was doing all his engine/transmission work.  It's pretty damn sturdy, though this V6 wasn't any sort of load for it really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's that engine dropped down into the truck.  At this point it has 6 of the 9 bolts that connect the trans to the engine on the bell housing along with the motor mount bolts in it.  There's still a lot to do but I think I can call this making some progress!!!!

 

 

 

 

[mccleery3 166]

Coming along

[porkchop 304]

Craziness!!

[nem 2,019]

If only I lived closer.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Coming along

 

Finally!  It feels as though it's taken a year to get this far.  I'm so damn glad it's sitting in the truck.  All I gotta do it get it put back together and I'm done, I hope.

 

 

Craziness!!

 

You've never seen craziness like this thing.  It's an American built Chinese puzzle box!  Everything has to come apart/go together in a very specific order and you need hands like a child to reach quite a few things in it.  For example the upper bell housing bolts on the sides are SO close to the firewall that I had to stick a pry bar up in there and push the firewall away from it to even be able to get a socket on the bolt.  That was even after taking the rear transmission mount out and lowering the transmission down until it was resting on the cross member.  Damn do I wish I had a body lift on it, LOL.

 

 

If only I lived closer.

 

So do I.  I need all the help I can get!  Though I would imagine if you've never worked on one of these before, it would be the last.  The co-worker and friend that's been helping me is a great mechanic that has completely rebuilt his own '67 & '68 Mustangs, a '55 Chevy truck, a 1940 something Willy's Jeep and is working on a '62 Plymouth just in the six years I've known him said he will NEVER work on one of these trucks again!  LOL

[thehawk93 2]

Hello Shannon,

 

 How is this coming along ??

[nem 2,019]

I have replaced motors in two blazers. Pain in the ass for sure, but to help a friend out you look past that.

[mccleery3 166]

Got that puzzle back together bro

Hope all is well bro & you're making positive progress.

[altoncustomtech 773]

OK, GREAT NEWS!!!!  Got the engine completely back into the truck yesterday, everything on it, timing set and the engine test ran.  Things went very well with it, it started and ran without much of a problem through the initial start up period and it drove around just fine after that.  The only problem with the whole thing is that it appears I didn't get quite enough RTV on the very bottom of the timing set cover where it meets the oil pan and I have a fairly good oil leak right there.  It shouldn't be too tough to lower the oil pan back down, clean off the oil and reseal it all while it's in the truck so I'm not too terribly worried about it.  Couple that with the fact the enclosure is done and the PR's ready to tune and it's been a good week!  Here's a few pics for the fun of it.

 

 

 

The engine as everything sits right now.  Simply unreal how long this has taken and how much work has been done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pic turned out nasty, but it gives a great overall view of how it looks.  Even came out pretty damn close to what I had envisioned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here the motor of that XCON can be seen through the plexi, per it's design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will be so much fun to try to explain to people that there's only one sub in the box and then see the look on their faces when they look through the windows on the top and get this POV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, finally some good forward movement!!

[mccleery3 166]

Sweet! Happy you were able to make some positive progress on both fronts Enclosure came out looking awesome & I agree, explaining those pr's should be funny.

[On3Hundr3dProof 19]

Box came out looking great! Awesome work. I feel like SSA subs always makes builds look clean for some reason.

[KyleBrown 121]

sexy box

[kj4jaq 5]

sorry, haven't read the whole thread, and apologize in advance if this has already been answered/talked about. is that a "speakon" connector or mini air port? that is a sexy box either way

Edited September 28, 2013 by kj4jaq

[porkchop 304]

Awesome. .. and awesome!