1986 GMC S-15

[Andrew_S]

Been a little while. Small update,

Picked up an LX5 65mm throttle body and 3400 fuel rail for the new engine.

Just need to order the adapter plate now,

I saw this on my facebook feed "underappreciated survivors" and fell in love.

I finally got my spool gun set up complete, new argon tank, some .30 wire and a few new tips.

Started out by building this kayak rack for a buddy of mine. The eventual plan is to make my own camper shell out of aluminum. I'm just in the preliminary design phase right now, aka procrastinating hard lol.

The lack there of updates is mainly due to the wifey being sick for the last 4 months. The docs can't seem to figure out what's going on but are leaning towards lyme disease... Hopefully things start to turn around here soon.
We did manage to get out bear hunting and fishing a weekend or two ago. Stocked a big boar up to 120 yards away but then unfortunately it spooked and I couldn't get a shot.

Luckily the brookies were biting.

Should have some more better updates soon.

 

[ZWilson07]

Great to see you updating man. One of my favorite threads.

Sorry to hear about your wifey. Guy at work got it from a tick out on the farm and he’s never been the same. If he eats any kind of red meat, he’s messed up the rest of the day. That’s hard on the kind of guys who are diesel techs and live on farms lol.

 

[chilliwak]

I hope your wife feels better soon Andrew. At least she feels good enough to go out fishing. Nice catch by the way. Those small fish are always the most tasty. Your new motor looks nice. Maybe you could tell us a little more about that beast? Thanks for posting up and maybe you have time to share a cold one this summer. Cheers, Chilli.. ?

 

[BPD53]

Hate to hear your wife is ill. I’ll say a prayer for her today. If your not into prayer it’s too bad because you can’t stop me. ?

I really enjoy seeing your updates and some of your outdoor photos make me jealous.

Keep up the great work.

 

[lilkia]

Andrew, sorry to hear about the wife. Hopefully they get her on antibiotics and knock it down for good. I was on antibiotics for two months when I had it in 2002. I saw the tick latched on and then the red circle a few days later so they got it early. Ive been tested since and it comes up negative but I always wonder if thats what some of the aches and pains are.

Zwilson are you sure your buddy didnt get alpha-gal meat allergy instead? I hadnt heard of lymes causing meat issues (it might I just never heard it did) but the alpha-gal allergy is pretty bad. A buddy contracted it last year and still cant eat red meat without getting sick.

 

[ZWilson07]

Andrew, sorry to hear about the wife. Hopefully they get her on antibiotics and knock it down for good. I was on antibiotics for two months when I had it in 2002. I saw the tick latched on and then the red circle a few days later so they got it early. Ive been tested since and it comes up negative but I always wonder if thats what some of the aches and pains are.

Zwilson are you sure your buddy didnt get alpha-gal meat allergy instead? I hadnt heard of lymes causing meat issues (it might I just never heard it did) but the alpha-gal allergy is pretty bad. A buddy contracted it last year and still cant eat red meat without getting sick.

It does look like you are correct. I have a feeling he was just considering them both, one in the same even though that would be incorrect. You know how good ole country boys are.....it’s not worth the effort to try and correct em lol.




ANDREW!!! We need more updates!

 

[lilkia]

It does look like you are correct. I have a feeling he was just considering them both, one in the same even though that would be incorrect. You know how good ole country boys are.....it’s not worth the effort to try and correct em lol.




ANDREW!!! We need more updates!

He very well may have had lymes. Its a very complicated disease with a lot of different symptons. I think theres still a lot of issues with it they dont understand. I was curious to know if you knew for sure what he had.
I know its easier to cure the sooner its caught and you have less continuing symptoms. Im not sure the alpha-gal is curable i think it just goes away on its own after time.

 

[Andrew_S]

Great to see you updating man. One of my favorite threads.

Sorry to hear about your wifey. Guy at work got it from a tick out on the farm and he’s never been the same. If he eats any kind of red meat, he’s messed up the rest of the day. That’s hard on the kind of guys who are diesel techs and live on farms lol.

Thank you I really appreciate that. Hoping to have some more regular updates and adventures again here in the near future.

I hope your wife feels better soon Andrew. At least she feels good enough to go out fishing. Nice catch by the way. Those small fish are always the most tasty. Your new motor looks nice. Maybe you could tell us a little more about that beast? Thanks for posting up and maybe you have time to share a cold one this summer. Cheers, Chilli.. ?

Thanks Chilli. The motor is a hybrid 60*v6. It's the same 3.4 block but with a 3500 top end, which consists of aluminum heads, upper and lower intake manifolds and utilizes DIS. The current 3.4 with iron heads and Throttle body injection makes around 160hp, the hybrid set up should push 220hp stock and a bit more depending on how much I want to spend. The current set up works great. This motor is just something for me dink around with in my spare time. Will likely swap it into the '86 one of these days when I finish building it. For now it's just an excuse to be in the garage... Definitely, if you're swinging through this area or if I'm out your way I would be down for a beer. Would love to check out your awesome camper build for some inspiration.

Hate to hear your wife is ill. I’ll say a prayer for her today. If your not into prayer it’s too bad because you can’t stop me. ?

I really enjoy seeing your updates and some of your outdoor photos make me jealous.

Keep up the great work.

Thanks BPD53, I really appreciate that.

Andrew, sorry to hear about the wife. Hopefully they get her on antibiotics and knock it down for good. I was on antibiotics for two months when I had it in 2002. I saw the tick latched on and then the red circle a few days later so they got it early. Ive been tested since and it comes up negative but I always wonder if thats what some of the aches and pains are.

Zwilson are you sure your buddy didnt get alpha-gal meat allergy instead? I hadnt heard of lymes causing meat issues (it might I just never heard it did) but the alpha-gal allergy is pretty bad. A buddy contracted it last year and still cant eat red meat without getting sick.

She was put on a really heavy course of anti biotics for like 2 months but seems to have lingering effects that she just can't kick. Numbness, joint pain, constant gut issues, chronic fatigue, etc. Hopefully we can get back to our normal routine in the near future. It's pretty tough for her to do much of anything currently.

It does look like you are correct. I have a feeling he was just considering them both, one in the same even though that would be incorrect. You know how good ole country boys are.....it’s not worth the effort to try and correct em lol.




ANDREW!!! We need more updates!

Got a decent one for you here now.

Two weekends ago I washed and waxed the truck for the first time this year. Slacking big time.
The 33 year old lacquer paint buffs up pretty good still.

I finally found a shop who I trusted to paint the hood/fender. It also helped that they came in at less then half the price of everyone else I talked to. Everyone else wanted $1000+ and these guys were $500 cash deal. So I blew the truck apart for like the 50th time.

While the parts were at the shop being painted I cleaned up and painted my new battery tray and inner fender.

Back from the shop. They scanned my old fender and did an outstanding job with the colour match. I had them paint the wiper cowl and bumper filler panel as well.

The new panels are obviously a little bit shinier but that should fade with a few camping trips. Will try and get some better pics out in the sun another day.

so nice to have the truck all the same colour again.

While I was at it I decided to change out the throttle position sensor for a new one. Well a 5 min job turned into a 2 hour job in a hurry.

Welp....

So off came the throttle body and I had to drill it out and tap it.

Finally installed. At least it was for a good cause. I had a slight delay when accelerating and it was a throwing a vehicle speed sensor code, this seems to be completely resolved now.

Hopefully have another update here soon.

 

[lilkia]

That is such a cool little truck!

 

[chilliwak]

Thank you I really appreciate that. Hoping to have some more regular updates and adventures again here in the near future.



Thanks Chilli. The motor is a hybrid 60*v6. It's the same 3.4 block but with a 3500 top end, which consists of aluminum heads, upper and lower intake manifolds and utilizes DIS. The current 3.4 with iron heads and Throttle body injection makes around 160hp, the hybrid set up should push 220hp stock and a bit more depending on how much I want to spend. The current set up works great. This motor is just something for me dink around with in my spare time. Will likely swap it into the '86 one of these days when I finish building it. For now it's just an excuse to be in the garage... Definitely, if you're swinging through this area or if I'm out your way I would be down for a beer. Would love to check out your awesome camper build for some inspiration.


Thanks BPD53, I really appreciate that.


She was put on a really heavy course of anti biotics for like 2 months but seems to have lingering effects that she just can't kick. Numbness, joint pain, constant gut issues, chronic fatigue, etc. Hopefully we can get back to our normal routine in the near future. It's pretty tough for her to do much of anything currently.



Got a decent one for you here now.

Two weekends ago I washed and waxed the truck for the first time this year. Slacking big time.
The 33 year old lacquer paint buffs up pretty good still.

I finally found a shop who I trusted to paint the hood/fender. It also helped that they came in at less then half the price of everyone else I talked to. Everyone else wanted $1000+ and these guys were $500 cash deal. So I blew the truck apart for like the 50th time.

While the parts were at the shop being painted I cleaned up and painted my new battery tray and inner fender.

Back from the shop. They scanned my old fender and did an outstanding job with the colour match. I had them paint the wiper cowl and bumper filler panel as well.

The new panels are obviously a little bit shinier but that should fade with a few camping trips. Will try and get some better pics out in the sun another day.

so nice to have the truck all the same colour again.

While I was at it I decided to change out the throttle position sensor for a new one. Well a 5 min job turned into a 2 hour job in a hurry.

Welp....

So off came the throttle body and I had to drill it out and tap it.

Finally installed. At least it was for a good cause. I had a slight delay when accelerating and it was a throwing a vehicle speed sensor code, this seems to be completely resolved now.

Hopefully have another update here soon.

Too bad your throttle body repair turned out to be such a long job. At least its done now. Nice paint job on your hood and other parts. Where you located in Kamploops or Kelowna? PM me your phone number and I will give ya a call. I will buy the first round.... Cheers, Chilli... ?

 

[1stDeuce]

Thanks for keeping this thread going. Not only do I like seeing this beautiful old truck, I LOVE that you put in some general life updates too, and lots of pics of getting out!

Funny thing about your 3400 engine project is that I put a Camaro 3.4L in our Comanche, but I really want to find a 2.8L S-10 to get the TBI and front serp belt setup off. The camaro EFI works ok, but the TBI looks so much cleaner to me, and the S-10 drive setup would allow me to get A/C working again, which would be nice!! I bid on a complete
87 s-10 blazer from police impound, but didn't meet the min at $250... How much they really think it's worth??

Hope your wife kicks the ick. Being down like that is no fun at all, especially when you're obviously used to getting out a and doing things all the time.

 

[ZWilson07]

Yay.

Is there any way they can just clear over the rest of the paint with it being lacquer in order to make it all match better? I know you wouldnt do that with modern paint but didnt know if thats an option for older stuff that is just mostly ole single stage paint.

Sucks about the TPS but looks like you got it out fairly easy surprisingly. Did you put that in or had it jusr seized over time?

 

[1stDeuce]

Andrew, why do you keep calling it lacquer? My understanding was that in the mid-80's, GM was using some sort of synthetic (water based) enamel...

Just curious...

 

[Andrew_S]

Frig, I need to get this caught up a little bit. Have to get off this quarterly update trend.

That is such a cool little truck!

Thank you! I really appreciate that.

Too bad your throttle body repair turned out to be such a long job. At least its done now. Nice paint job on your hood and other parts. Where you located in Kamploops or Kelowna? PM me your phone number and I will give ya a call. I will buy the first round.... Cheers, Chilli... ?

Chilli I'm sorry should have got back to you a long time ago. Anytime you're coming through Kelowna send me a message, would love to grab a cold beer with you.

Thanks for keeping this thread going. Not only do I like seeing this beautiful old truck, I LOVE that you put in some general life updates too, and lots of pics of getting out!

Funny thing about your 3400 engine project is that I put a Camaro 3.4L in our Comanche, but I really want to find a 2.8L S-10 to get the TBI and front serp belt setup off. The camaro EFI works ok, but the TBI looks so much cleaner to me, and the S-10 drive setup would allow me to get A/C working again, which would be nice!! I bid on a complete
87 s-10 blazer from police impound, but didn't meet the min at $250... How much they really think it's worth??

Hope your wife kicks the ick. Being down like that is no fun at all, especially when you're obviously used to getting out a and doing things all the time.

You spoke to soon, 3 months later with no udpate...
If you go to a serp belt you've got to change your timing cover and oil pan as well. Totally different design from the v-belt to the serp stuff. Unfortunately.
At the price of fuel I think if I were to do it again I would go with a holley efi set-up. They cost roughly 1k to start but the tunability and fuel savings would pay for itself in a couple years.

Yay.

Is there any way they can just clear over the rest of the paint with it being lacquer in order to make it all match better? I know you wouldnt do that with modern paint but didnt know if thats an option for older stuff that is just mostly ole single stage paint.

Sucks about the TPS but looks like you got it out fairly easy surprisingly. Did you put that in or had it jusr seized over time?

The guy who painted the parts actually suggest clearing the whole truck to keep the surface rust from starting to pop through the thin areas. I must of cranked that tps bolt a little to much. In my defence it was like butter the metal was so cheap and soft. A set of tap and dies was something I put off owning for the longest time and I'm so happy I have them now.

Andrew, why do you keep calling it lacquer? My understanding was that in the mid-80's, GM was using some sort of synthetic (water based) enamel...

Just curious...

I'm fairly sure they used the single stage lacquer paint on most of these 80's trucks. I'm not entirely sure when the switch over was but it must have been post '86.




Ok so I've been fairly busy lately with the truck and hunting. I started a new job at the end of June and have been working like crazy, 6 days a week 10+ hours day all summer. I like the change but I'm looking forward to it slowing down here soon for winter. This is why the lack of updates.

So starting back in June,

Hooked into quite a few carp this spring. Never get tired of the fight they put up.

Got the wife out on a canoe a few times this summer.

Ran into a couple massive schools of tadpoles

I am always fascinated with sights like these.

Hard to beat nights like these,

Nicole got really into wild edibles this year more then ever before. It started with saskatoons and spiralled from there.

got a couple more fishing trips in,

This years mushroom picking has been incredible. So here begins a ton of mushroom pics.
King bolete in the top.

Some coral's

20 mins of picking

Found this great little rec site,

First shaggy's of the season!

 

[Andrew_S]

Later in the summer we started getting out to try and scout out some new hunting areas.

Started seeing a lot of small game.

Even a couple snow shoe hare as well.

Friggin love living in BC, this is an hour drive from our front door.

Next wild edible was blackberries and holy crap did we ever pick a bunch. We've got bags and bags of these in the freezer right now.

This reminded me of the forests in Czech.

Then the raspberries started up.

Spotted a couple really nice bucks this summer as well.

Last berries of the season, thimble berries