1996 GMC 5-speed

[Barry Donovan]

old man pedal cover

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I replaced the cover today, simple chore. I had a metal plate in my foot, and I am an Air force veteran that worked with airplanes.
I won't snap the psychology of punitizers anymore with my stories..
but this pedal has to stay insulated for me.
I would guess this to be the third..as it does not match 358k.




I first caught on to how far a man could go with my dad's 1981 IH with a 350 cummins.
Those pedals are all metal, and a mechanical clutch.
He wore through the metal. By the time 2mil miles rolled around, it was mythological.

one man's foot and a couple million miles.

This one is young... by my standards.
on this pedal, I use the inside where the ribs are missing on the right. My big toe is my strongest foot muscle today. The previous owner favored the other side...and has quite a few miles with this truck.
Routine impression says it all.

Truck sat for some days, another cold spell. Does so very good. Easy to be an iron smallblock fanboy.

[Barry Donovan]

another bargain.

---

this is a way to get an nv4500.


$1500 needs slave cyl.

http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/5964202509.html

this is also in the last of real gmc games. Body has no rust, genuine one ton.

Beyond guessing, the manual tranny in itself is just another trigger at assembly on what rails they get.
I'd love to take this in.

[Barry Donovan]

2 years and a quarter of a gallon

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saw 40 on the temps and thought I was seeing things. Got the subaru going to full warm, firewall is crammed full of ice, it is still 17 below in many ways.I let it run a long time. A direct engine fan like the good old days is a helper. In fact that may be why it is still running in a tin can chassis.




onto the truck, noticed it was down half a quart since last oil change. I think this now at a whole quat per... 1500 or more miles. Very good for the iron SBC. Coolant reservoir empty, pop the rad cap and it was right full.
Topped off reservoir. A routine for any engine in the maine cold is to lose the water side of the coolant way below zero in small amounts. Coolant works by fighting with water. Water loses.

Truck is zero faults. With a warm spell, things can creak and moan, letting you know the day is getting longer, the sun is sinking in.
Truck is my version of welded. If GM could have done just as good, they'd all be on the road.

358k on the odom. Bought it with 342k.
better than original in the rails and mounts.

16000 miles and 2 years. Kumho tires are proving to be phenomenal. They may even be 100k milers on this half ton.
Got to talking with an elderly neighbor, steel and frames and welding. After we went our business, it occurred to me.. he was in that old school crowd I learned from when I was a kid here.
Just simply never met him.

He has even picked trucks up that were cracked down the middle. Rigs included.
His son works at the naval yard as a welder today.
For all I know, this is the very guru that shared knowledge in this little town, to inspire growing kids like me.
So much has moved on...

I'll keep on keeping on, as long as I can. Love the steel chores.

[Barry Donovan]

cool offroad vid

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given he went right down to dirt, no locker on the chains..
nothing special.

what got me as it did in 1988...
that X-cab keeping a very stiff set of rails. I love this design.

one could bust the back end tails right in half and be back at it in 30 minutes welding.


I was playing around with my truck, ice, angled roads with ice, slush, regular snow, freezing rain..bumps like ribs at higher speed and slow..

it does need a locker. Good enough for me as it is anyway.
the manual trans over rules something..at less than half the rpm as auto.

I know its embedded in my trucking head anyway. That is another realm, makes all roads seem like nothing is happening. Especially loaded.

[Barry Donovan]

trucking

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after a few attacks with some beams on top of my subaru over the years...
it only took twice overloaded to tell dad, no more.

I finally got a truck and it revived his dream of using a pickup to wander off to far fetched places his Peterbilt gobbles up too much fuel over.
I once again said no.



Now we are meeting in the middle. I drive my truck to get his 2016, put the load pieces in the back and deliver.

This was our first ride, simply an 8 foot bundle of very light insulation.
greenville maine is like a baja road to nowhere,
imagine being in a rig.

Feeling things out, the driving around..
his truck would take off faster with the same load, lightweight or maximized., but my old 96 sure is going to go by in no time flat..and stay there for all day.
That manual tranny is never going to lose.
modern automatic or not...it is the same old story.

I also noticed, the 96 is more thumpy.. the 305 is almost a stroker sound in comparison to his new 5.3
I assume it to be my old engine being iron.

Got some chores to do tomorrow. I do not mind delivering once and awhile.
knocking off 100 miles in his rig is a big savings when transferring over to 16-18mpg versus 6mpg.
tomorrow is just 280 pounds. Saves time and money.

I think he is putting this pickup as commercial, Donovan and sons. For now, he was told he did not have to. He would only do it to announce the company name on the door.
Hot shot trucking is born...with the gmc half ton.
We'll keep the subaru kenworth edition tales anonymous..

edit:
got the truck delivery done, saw the coast in the winter, a nice sight, takes a lot to freeze it, always seeming warm. the ground is a rock cold as the tundra grain of the north american continent to the northwest... a glacier that never stops its molecular bond.
thermometers do not matter for the next two months here.


925pm jan 31

it is interesting to see the normal pattern of remaining the coldest state on the whole continent sometimes, that is in place now.
I woke up to a solid dead 2.5F
in the bright sun, all the way to the coastal delivery, ice will remain mysteriously, even on tar sidewalks and road edges.
That is the maine I know. I saw 28F in the sun at the coast.
the ground is still an ancient glacial flow.

As of this moment we are colder than the whole country, the ground version here is what separates it.
starts in late january, stays there until april.
a most interesting time is absolutely dead calm and approaching 30 below.

this year is setting up to approach records, but I am sure they won't.. it needs 2 or 3 years into solar minimum.
2017 is just the beginning of the cold cycle...after 13 years.

loving the iron engine.

[Barry Donovan]

some more trucking

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Dad stopped by in the pete. -1F this morning, the mystery hairy haze was still too warm to add fur to all objects outside..
will get a photo when it does.
needs 15 below or so, no wind.
Quite a hairy feeling. Pun intended.

We rumbled off onto route 6 where a mile in it drops 5 degrees more in realtime for all the years I have been here in february.
A mountain has fingers, flowing air like a river.
The pete plows through simply leaving a darker shadow on its 60 foot contrail .. the only thing to notice.
cold does not stop the 550 hp cummins.

off to the north, below zero at dawn for a time, all shady places numb mere mortals in seconds. Dad and I keep going anyway.
I shattered the back of my helmet into glass sounding pieces hitting the ground adjusting to fit my head with a wool hat on inbetween.

yep. it was that kinda cold.

been some weeks, maybe months going down to new hampshire..
a strange routine to notice was black GM trucks with veterans plates and medals announced if applicable.

that made my day. I recalled my story of encountering a schizo at a dunkin donuts near the homeless shelter..first day on my state given veteran plate.
Now every time I see a black GM announcing a hellacious tour via state veteran plates.. I consider it a member of an unknown army sticking together.

the more plates the better, go get one if you can.
10% of this entire state is a veteran. 140k +

"AFSGT" with a purple heart was my favorite for today.
and a number "319". the rare 3 digit plate with an american flag signifying silently disabled was another.

Great day trucking. I somehow pick myself up just for tagging along.

[Barry Donovan]

the high flow cat

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finally deciphered what I needed, without knowledge.. an ebay ad blurts it out.

I have a thunderbolt in my subaru.. excpet is it labeled MBS, and extremely high flow. 100cpi.
not really a thunderbolt, advertised as made in the USA.
my truck is not getting that lucky.

my truck is a 5/96, obd2 with po420 cat checking code.
this began in 1997, and most sell that version of ECM for 1998 and later.
A sad mistake in overlaps.

Glad i caught on.


this is the heavy high flow. My truck needs this one.
for gm, this is 1996 and later.
Ads will claim either 1997 or 1998...and that is wrong.
if you have obd2 v8, get that TBI cat out of there~

My own cat code is mismatched o2 sensor, but this is a very common chore here locally, only related to extreme cold and temperature changes. Factory cats go a bit crazy.
From 1.8 subarus to 15 liter diesels.
they get smarter, the newer they get.
My truck at 1996 is very smart, but compliant with california fantasies.
I need my maine reality.

thi one is 65 bucks.. thunderbolt, made in china.
I need to verify 3 inch first.. I was sure my truck is monster at the cat.. 3.5 maybe 4. It is quite large, on 305 single cat header.
I am hoping it was my eyes playing tricks, and it is really 3 inch.

Tip: that is a sign of a bad cat. you won't be able to tell pipe size by your eyes on either end..
it is a physics mystery. My subaru was so bad, I bought an inch too big. An ENTIRE inch oversized. Freakish eye candy..
once the new cat is in, it all goes back to normal interpretation.
one of the stranger mysteries in the car world.

[Barry Donovan]

just cruising

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I opt for the 30 something miles of nothing but 75mph highway on my food run sometimes..the 14F in the sun keeps the eggs cold you know.
I accept it as a challenge for machines I built.
reserved for my tall geared subaru and v8 machines, in the middle of winter this area is a no bullshit realm of transportation.


decided to play with my camera, as I treat every day as something I won't see again, even if I think I do.
This white haze stays there for 12 weeks or more sometimes. Today was a no wind day. Could keep one hand on the camera.

this is where I set the cruise, and warm my bad left foot in the warm air duct. Great heater in this 96 gmc.


it did roll over to 358300 something miles today.

I don't recall ever looking back. If all the miles on the odometer, was this 40 mile stretch...a human would be at the helm nearly 10000 times to add it all up.

shove that up your arctic hyundai!

fire trucks were busy on the rte 6 you meet at the howland exit.
The only old house that I knew of after five miles of seeing none was smoldering, nearly nothing left.
It was on a corner that dipped down into a valley, I associate this spot as the only one to stop with a light on at night if any needs were to happen.

I did not get photos, will wait for the news to report instead.
in fact, just a few months ago, I was parked there at night with my subaru, tail lights were flickering. I pulled in, knowing a house well lit was there. A sheriff caught up to me to let me know what I already knew.

Hard to believe that house is gone. It was the only one that was there in a 5 mile stretch or more. A welcome sight in this desolate place.
I hope all goes well for the owners. They obviously had quite a round up of voluntary fire depts to fight it.
I first saw that place in 1987. 30 years ago... it was there many years before we got here.

[hauen]

The only old house that I knew of after five miles of seeing none was smoldering, nearly nothing left...They obviously had quite a round up of voluntary fire depts to fight it

When we lived in May, Idaho the VFD rig was an old '49 Chevy pumper truck. Needless to say it wasn't real impressive. Dad would joke, "We get there in time to save the foundation."

[Barry Donovan]

When we lived in May, Idaho the VFD rig was an old '49 Chevy pumper truck. Needless to say it wasn't real impressive. Dad would joke, "We get there in time to save the foundation."

that fire finally showed up on the web.

it used to be like that here.
The networking alone is priceless today.
a few towns could gather in minutes.

some trucks only look old here, very up to date otherwise.

another thought, the 100+ year houses making it this far. A lot of odds. Electrical was crazy, every subject was bad for decades in the old houses.
I remember a neighbor adding insulation, they took out the horse hair walls, found beams that were too short nailed to another to make the ten foot height. Newspapers from early 1900s got the bottom of the wall only.
No insulation.

Stayed warm anyway.. better part of 75 years.

truck notes
I added 91 octane to the truck, I like to keep it full for the pending ice storms. Merging it in about half 91 and 87 now.
the computer made a change at idle..
as if to be flex fuel. that was very interesting. I have done that several times. I got an outright stall and start once bumping up from near empty 87 to full 93.

I know I have a smallblock of sorts, factory vortec top end (multiport).and there is a courtesy cover over the fuel pump boss. the genuine vortec is not supposed to need that.. I really do not know the exacts of this engine.

I found the L30/31 were not known for power.
This one goes quite powerful.

I'll dig in eventually. I know where to look on the block to check for 350 etc.(I might have a 350)
Compression responds to 91, and 93 octane. Factory vortec is low like 9 to 1. Should not even care about high octane.
that is my only hint, aside from power at any fuel being impressive.

it is 9F right now, fine snow.



this one is going to be a headache. I ponder some lightning, thunder snow. The wet water meets the dry water, the dead air , meets the living.

iron block is like that honey badger.
it don't care.

also just watched this. what I bought was a set of concentric adapters, with same bolt pattern. there is a difference than calling it a spacer.

one life and death thing he did not mention is being sure on hub size, and concentric needs. That is crazier than washers in the old cragars for sure.

[Barry Donovan]

200 pounds and a forecast

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chiseled out the back of the truck. Gotta keep after that. solid ice the whole length, up by the cab was upwards of 6 inches thick. solid.
I figure 200 pounds or so taken out. The rhino lining is a nice addon.

we are at 40F right now, was 9F just 8 hours ago. Gentle transition, I am not in pain. We have had much worse.
in 2008, 24 below to 56 above, less than 48 hours. My first steel break while sitting still was in my subaru.


I fixed the forecast for my local villagers.



I delayed the inspection until march, this truck has a february sticker. Horrible time for the inspection stickers.
Not for me, but the mechanics.
I like to pull in with a clean truck, nothing dripping off...somewhere above 58 below is a nice extra as well.

looking over my steel work, last august was my finale for the rear left. and corssmember for spare tire.
nothing has budged, not even a flake of paint. I chose cat engine yellow for the inside to see if there was any moves in the winter. It is right where I left it.
The trouble spot for this one was the rear left shock mount, like many of this same model.
Doing very good. Banging on the ice in the bed brings the church bell sound of the rails contently attached.

I got very mad at a you tube today.

there are four bangers flying to 80 like that cute v6 .. how you retarded kids keep falling for this little cube engines taking over. How about add a whole scary mile to that you p*****assed morons. Just hitting top gear in an automatic and staying there has half the horses catching up with a manual that does not need to slip its cute grippers of comfortable hydraulic love. Old networking brought these thieves out of the closet for long wild stabs in the past.. the internet can stomp the old midget white hairs and the riddles out today. It is called democracy.

the trigger was a post over at gm trucks.. guy who used his 2500HD as a real contractors truck. for those that do not know, those trucks do everything from hauling to limits, thrashed, banged and then picking kids up at the end of the school day.

I learned my chevy there...decades ago.
frames breaking was nothing, caving in bodies or breaking all the cab mounts at once...Nothing.
blowing motors, trannies, rear ends, springs, shocks, tires, lights...
Nothing.
Just another day. wind it up and go at it again.

I can't even approach today's stuff with my record, and stay serious.
I knew he was going to mention the lack of manual tranny, I agreed, and added the fact that iron engines are not being brand new now. All going aluminum.
sickening.

the v6 is an engine that cannot balance, it does not matter what fairy tailing circus clown with computer CAD training thinks he can do with it.
I encountered shitheads like this in the service. I was glad to have old school rank nearby.

Even our military airplanes would be retarded and deadly today otherwise.
How bout that b-52 with 8 engines.. you know why? at time of manufacture they did not have big enough jet engines. No excuses.
within 10 years there was already 4 engine scenarios to theorize...nobody stood up.

reminds of the car engine world, trying to get away from the real sizes of things that work.
GM letting go of iron and manual tranny is the last blasphemy to never expect.

in other news, I declared the b-1 my favorite in 1996. At the time it was troubled with electron issues..structure as rugged as you all see today has always been there. A simple conversation back then when it parked on our quiet tarmac led me to computers in a nerdy way (as nerdy as a war chief could be)..
even the pilots were prophetic.

I am liking the news lately, they are getting real missions, a lot of upgrades are keeping it confident. This plane here will get new engines if they decide to. they do not need to sit like a monolith of overgrown wimp like the old days.

All engine things get bigger...until the electron subjects.
The world follows that for the most part..except some strange twists in what could be the ultimate history.

[Barry Donovan]

betraying my thread.

---

I couldn't help it. This caught my eye.
2004.


$4200
250k miles, unmodified.
I wanted powerstroke, 6 speed. My first impression of a bigger diesel was not all that long ago.
it had this trucks drivetrain and appearance, only a different color.
I loved it.

I think i still do.

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/5998476102.html

the gmc whirled right over after a very cold windy snow.. 2 below was the dawn. Stayed windy all day. Let it warm to full in its parking spot, as I had no need to go anywhere.
Still a champion.. somewhere in the reputation of unsung diesels... being gas.

it is 5 below right now, moon is out. Weather in the region has a 20 below realm creeping in.
Will see how the rest of this evening goes. Could be my coldest night here since moving back into these woods.



Yes this is cold spot of the lower 48 .. again. like an unknown soldier.
Another big storm coming, I fixed the forecast myself.

[Barry Donovan]

weather excitement

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I lived for this stuff when I was younger. I loved it.
We narrow down to our own separate channel, the rest of the lower 48 is somewhere else.


we did not get to the -20s. Still damn cold. Just hitting 6F now. Beena couple of days, the real cold. 9 below calm and stable was the low.Took the truck out with some cold snow falling now, the road salts only make grease. even 60ton loggers were slowed down.

the truck is spot on, I can even drive it aggressive. went to a town called milo, snowed roads, kicking the powder thumping along.



headed for quite a pile, right now is the little snow storm, 3 to 5 inches. the big one is for late sunday into monday.
This place and the slowness. Even being disabled its as if to be on the speed of light in comparison. I will never miss that about this cannibal state.
A lot of opposites or staying down so low with pride its disturbing.
From the town I am in southward, its as if brains inflate a little more for each southern mile.

I know I am tough to see it.
I live with that fact.

[Barry Donovan]

big snow

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Went and visited my dad , he is a little closer to the coast.
Gave me the shumacher all in one battery air pump cig lighter usb charger gadget I got from ebay a few years ago. I traded him for a little generator.
Now he gave back what I traded him..
I was looking for a battery powered light before the storm.
I am sure we will lose power. About 3/4 of the way here the snow dramatically gets a foot+ deeper in alton.. we must have had less ice in recent storms. 3 feet or more on the ground.

Now we are headed for this. I am in the red..and much colder. The snow ratio fluffs up more.



Truck is all ready. Covered in high speed streaks of white sand and salt, you know it goes places in a hurry by the sight of it.

Got passed today on the right, a mazda mx3. Something in the way he did it, at the speed he did it.. I took 5 seconds of wasted time to go from 60 to the 90 cruise shreaking at his little wheels and stayed there.
He got off the next exit after all that effort on the sideways four banger.

Assholes.
I like my dented bumper for a reason.

[Barry Donovan]

playing with timelapse.

I guess we got 2 feet or so.