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Post date: Feb 01, 2012 6:19:56 AM
A little while back the truck decided that it would be fun to spin a rod bearing and throw some rods, needless to say that motor was removed in favor of another one that actually ran. I got the motor out within hours of the truck blowing up with the help of some friends and we then put the truck out back for storage until a new motor was found. Here are some pictures of the engine carnage that followed the truck's temper tantrum.
Even the cam took some damage. Quite the explosion of parts.
While I was swapping the motor in the truck I decided to fix the leaking oil lines permanantly. The motor sourced for the truck was a newer motor from a blazer and the blazer came from the factory with a remote oil filter bracket and lines. So I made short business of removing the lines from the block and cutting, filing and flaring, and then filing and cleaning them as to accept a 1/2 inch ID Oil line. The plan was to add an external oil cooler in front of the radiator this would help to seperate the heat being exchanged from the coolant to the oil. As the tasks that are ahead of the truck are not small or easy and it will get worked hard for sure. I decided that installing the over sized oil cooler is needed insurance that the engine will be protected when it is being worked hard. The remote oil filter will help complete the setup by adding capacity to the system and making oil changes easier! I also decided to install an oil tempature gauge at the same time as the rest of the oil system upgardes. I installed it right before the oil passes through the oil cooler so that I will know what temperature the oil is exiting the engine at.
The oil cooler fits nicely between the support and the radiator. The oil filter is completely hidden behind the grill when it is installed on the vehicle. The lights, power steering cooler, oil cooler, and plow wires are neatly concealed behind the grill of project K1500.
While the truck was apart I also installed a rear view camera and a Pioneer AVIC-N3 nav unit. The rear view camera serves a special purpose, the camera is focused on showing the driver what is coming up on the rear tires and more importantly what the clearance between an obstacle and the rear differential looks like. Incorporated into the navigation software and hardware on the N3 are a host of sensors it provides a magnetic compass, accelerometer, and inclineometer which are used to measure compass direction, acceleration, deceleration, yaw, roll, pitch, and incline . These parameters can be displayed on the screen at any time while in the navigation mode and are very interesting to watch while navigating different terrain in different conditions. The N3 has a fantastic road GPS built in and is also able to leave breadcrumbs on the map when the truck is traveling off the road. The NavTEQ maps have bodies of water, streams, and rivers built into the base map so it is useful both on and off road. The 7 inch touchscreen allows both navigation and cameras to be toggled with ease. One nice feature is that even with the flip down screen closed the unit has a small LCD screen on the front of the face to show the current track or song that is playing and any other important information.
This is what the display looks like with the rear differential camera on, the camera can see the differential and both tires, pretty useful if trying to navigate in close quarters.
That would be all I have for this update, more to follow tomorrow!
-Chris
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