Ms. katokoch won't be able to tell any difference with slight gaps here or there, she's most concerned about the paint color matching the rest. My hands are too big to change the bulbs (learned that on a 0 degree night, good times!) so I may very well do that. Doesn't cost anything to get a quote, right? Also thanks all for the advice, I sincerely appreciate it.
I scored a set of manual transmission pedals for a 4th Generation F-body (2001 Camaro) at the bone-yard today. $40, not bad. I don't even need them yet, but it's so rare to see a manual transmission F-body in a junk yard that I had to get them before someone else did. I may use them on my own car whenever I finally get around to swapping in a T56 (in place of my current T5), or if someone wants me to do an auto to manual conversion. The reason for not using my existing pedals if I swap is because the pedal-ratio for the clutch is different from the 4th gen stuff, and if you use the 3rd gen parts on a 4th gen transmission, you can have a lot of problems (clutch over-centering, causing the throwout bearing hitting the flywheel, and the clutch not engaging until very high up in the pedal-travel range are the #1 complaints.) Now, there are guys who have juggled around different clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder sizes with 3rd gen pedals, but I'd like to avoid all that. (Have you ever replaced the clutch master cylinder on one of these cars? It's a bitch and a half.)
Can one of you smart guys out there tell me why all seat-belt mounting bolts are Torx? Over the past couple of weeks, it seems like I've been having to work with those a lot more than normal, and I hate having to deal with Torx bolts. First off, they are always tight as hell (don't want your seatbelts loosening up on you, after all), and they've usually got Loctite on them. Couldn't they have just used a conventional 6-point bolt? Or is this some conspiracy on the part of the Torx-fastener lobby?
I believe you hit on one of the reasons in your post. From the Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx#Principles_of_operation Could also be that since the torx bits are less common it lowers the chances that end users are going to be fucking their seatbelts To be clear these are both just complete guesses on my part.
I have a 2004 Chevy Silverado with 340K miles on it. It has the 4.8L Vortec V8, which I love. Eventually, I am going to have to get a new truck, but I'm planning on keeping this one as long as I can. I check around every now and then for deals, just in case I spot something. One of the things I don't like, is that it is my understanding that you can't get the 4.8L V8 in the Silverado anymore. You either get the new 5.3 V8, or you get the 4.3L V6. Most of my miles are highway, I rarely tow stuff anymore, and make use of the 4WD often, but not the V8. So, I'm okay with the new V6. I've also considered downsizing to the Colorado for improved gas mileage. But, because the redesigned Colorado is a hot new truck, the V6 isn't that much cheaper, and barely gets better gas mileage over the Silverado. Anyway, this vehicle https://myvehicledatabase.com/vin/3GCPKPEA9DG208382 shows up as having a 4.8L V8. Is that a listing error, or can you in fact, still get the 4.8L V8? (Or, would you be able to drop the old Vortec into this truck?)
2013 is the last year you can get the 4.8 in a Silverado. You do not want the V6, it is a dog of an engine that drinks fuel and gives you fuck all back. You will get better mileage with the 5.3 and the displacement on demand than you will with the 4.3 or 4.8. Do not buy a new Colorado, the timing chains in those engines are junk and will fail, along with being overpriced.
Does anyone know a decent old truck I can use as a beater for my commutes to work? I got a new car last June but I'm really piling the miles on it and I want to ease that burden. I spend a lot of time driving. It doesn't have to be too nice but I guess I'm just wondering what trucks have a good reputation for being reliable even at really high mileage. I've been looking at old f150's and ford Rangers. But I'm open to other suggestions.
I beat the shit out of my Toyotas and they just kept going and going. My Tundra had well over 200K on it and I drove it straight through on an 1100 mile trip in like 18 hours. It didn't even hiccup, got the same mileage as it always did, and used 0 oil.
I put 140k on my 1999 Chevy Silverado and currently have 340k on my 2004 Silverado, but both are V8. Not exactly good gas mileage. I had a good return and use on a 84 (I think) Ranger. Had a F-150 Custom before my 99 Chevy that I hated, but the motor never gave me any issues. (I've had several Toyotas, but none of their trucks.) Best bets: Chevy, Toyota, Ford. One thing I've done before to compare is use KBB.com. For an older model, you'll have to check around the Internet, but find the original lis price of the truck model you're looking at. Then, check KBB to see what the typical sale price is used. Compare that to a Chevy / Toyota and see which one held (is holding) it's value best. That'll give you an idea of reliability. I know one thing: with my Chevy, I can go down to Advance Auto and buy parts right off the shelf for very good price - from alternators to tailgate handle bezels - and that's not always the case with Toyota. Ymmv
This is purely anecdotal and your mileage may vary. My Tundra was a 2001 V6 2WD (My dad bought it new, I inherited it. I'd never buy something like that.) It was a base model, cloth seats and all. It cost $25K new. My best friend had an '01 Chevy Silverado. It had a V8, 4WD, fully optioned out (Power leather seats, etc...) It cost $20K new. My father was horrible with vehicles. You know how when you first start a truck it goes to a fast idle for a few seconds? You wait a few seconds for it to settle to 800 and then go right? Yeah, well my father was an impatient man. As soon as the engine hit, he was throwing it in gear and on his way. 50 feet down the driveway and he hit the highway kicking it into passing gear to get up to speed as quick as possible. Even when it was 10 degrees. Warm ups are for pussies. The truck survived 5 years of this treatment before I got it. My buddy's Chevy...he was fanatical about his truck. Long warm ups, 1K mile oil changes, "Don't wear shoes in my truck",....you get the idea. At 10 years old he was constantly replacing peripheral parts, while my poor abused Toyota just kept humming along like a sewing machine. I got the truck with 150K on it and had to do a timing belt, idler pulley, water pump change after a 1600 mile trip when it started knocking and I replace the starter. That and a couple of batteries. I sold it with 210K and it still didn't burn any oil. The only reason I sold it is the frame was cracked badly, which was probably as much my fault as my fathers....that truck had the living shit beat out of it.
I was actually scratching my head wondering what "ymmv" meant. You young 'uns and your slang confuses me sometimes. I just figured you were drunk and hit the keyboard with your nose like a dinky bird a few times.
So I washed my car for the first time in 3 years today; I wasn't sure where I should put these, but I figured that you gearheads would appreciate them most. (If you look closely, you can see the newly installed subframe connectors under the rocker panel.) Spoiler Spoiler
Toyota holds its value better, hands down. For a new truck, Toyota all the way. For a used truck, GM and Ford are a better deal. I was looking to downsize from my Silverado to a Tacoma. I decided that based on the used prices, Tacomas have a gold bar hidden inside them somewhere. And Rush, don't even think about buying a truck from Ohio. They're cheaper because there's less truck left after the rusting.
Some people have asked me about the time I swapped a T56 transmission out of a '98 Trans Am into a '79 F150 with a 460 in 2004. Well, here's how I did it. (Please wait for me to post all of the pictures before responding. There are 9 of them.) I had a 1979 F150 that originally had a 302 and a C4. I converted it to a 460/C6 setup, but was getting terrible mileage, so I decided an overdrive transmission was in order. I hate driving automatics, so I figured that the only acceptable option (in about 2004, when I did this) was a Tremec T-56 six speed. I decided to start with one out of a '98 Pontiac Trans Am with an LS1 V8 (if you are going to do it the way I did, YOU NEED A TRANSMISSION OUT OF AN LS1 CAR. LT1s have a shorter input shaft that won't work with a Lakewood bellhousing AND adapter plate.). I used a Lakewood bellhousing, and mated the trans and bellhousing with an adapter plate from McLeod. I had to cut the throwout bearing collar to fit, and the clutch disc was a custom piece, also from Mcleod (reasonably priced). I used the factory mechanical linkage, with a modified (home made) engine side clutch-bar mount. To get the transmission to fit in the truck, I had to cut out the center hump of the floor pan and make a cover/doghouse for it. The whole thing took a lot of time, but it was worth it. Spoiler Here's the passenger side view of the whole setup. If you look closely, you can see the 1/2" thick McLeod adapter plate between the back of the bellhousing and the front of the transmission case. That adapter was a prototype from McLeod; I was one of the first guys to ever mate a T56 to a big-block Ford, and by sheer coincidence, Red Roberts (owner of McLeod) was developing his "modular bellhousing" for the T56 at the same time. Also, that's my dad on the tractor in the background, and that's Li'l Bandit's tricycle on the floor. Spoiler Driver's side view of the setup before I put it in. Spoiler Here's a good shot of the custom pivot-bar mount (the black piece) that I made out of 1/4" sheet metal and a 5/8" bolt. I made the engine-side mount out of 1/4" sheet metal, because I found out the hard way that the mounts from 1980-and-up trucks won't work (Ford didn't offer a manual transmission with the 460 in the '70s). They will bolt up to the block just fine, but they don't line up with the chassis mount, so I had to make my own (and it was much stronger than the stamped steel factory piece). Oh, but I had to re-position the bellhousing to get it to fit perfectly on my engine (I had the block align-bored, so I dialed-in the bellhousing with a dial indicator, it needed adjustment, and I used the dowel pin kit from Lakewood. Because it stuck out further than the factory setup, I had to cut a relief in it to get it to bolt up evenly.) Spoiler Front view of the mount.
More swap pics: Spoiler This is how I made my engine-side clutch-bar mount: I used a factory chassis-side mount, and used a piece of pipe cut to fit over the stub to make sure I put the engine side stub in the right position. As you can see, the '80s mount-studs are down-and-forward compared to where it's supposed to be on '70s trucks. Spoiler The second picture in this post shows how you can use the factory C6/C4 crossmember and mount with only a modified spacer between the mount and the transmission. The T56 mounting bolts are narrower than the Ford bolt pattern, so you drill two extra holes in the Ford mount. I stacked two 1/4" steel spacers (that I cut out to match) to get the angle on the output shaft correct; it's supposed to be "opposite, but equal" to the axle's input shaft. If you look above the output shaft yoke, you can see where I had to "notch" one of the cab support panels with a grinder for clearance. Not the prettiest job, but it worked. Spoiler This picture shows where I made a mount out of angle-steel and flat-stock for the carrier bearing mount (the truck is a long-bed, regular cab. I had bad vibration problems with the 70" driveshaft that it came with, plus it only had Spicer 1330 U-joints, so I upgraded to [used] 3/4 ton driveshafts with Spicer 1350 U-joints. A two piece setup. No more vibration problems.) Spoiler This is the "doghouse" I made out of 1/8" sheetmetal to cover up all the metal I had to cut out of the floor. The T56 is much taller than the C4/C6; most manual transmissions are. Some Ford trucks actually had a similar floor plate for certain manual transmission applications, but they wouldn't work with the T56; I tried.
Lastly, here's the engine/transmission setup out of the vehicle with the starter and motor-mounts on. I had more pictures (I used a whole roll of film on this), but for the life of me, I can't find them. You may now begin with the questions. Spoiler
I don't think I'd buy anything from the NE, either, for the same reason. Road salt = no bueno. If it's high mileage and spent most of the time in Florida, I might be hesitant, too, because of seaside salt corrosion.
I have a small oil leak from my passenger side valve cover gasket. (2004 Chevy Silverado, 4.8L) I am going to change both gaskets at the same time, obviously. But, if the bolt grommets are not damaged, and I don't change them, will the proper torque still seal the gasket? Are the grommets rubber or plastic? Also, I've seen different answers to this online, and can't seem to find the right one: anybody know what is the torque spec for the valve cover bolts? These: (Picture from another forum - not mine.) All the specs I find are for cylinder head bolts or talk about re-tightening in a criss-cross, which means it can't be the valve cover bolts.
Shouldn't be a problem if the grommets are fine. Don't have any experience with that engine but I know on other engines they reuse those grommets if they aren't cracked/damaged.