New Project: Family Wagon! (part 2)

1) Creation of Gas truck

My first action was to make the “spare” 1985 truck operable and finish getting the title and registration complete. To do this I removed the gas motor from the '83 truck and installed it in the '85 truck. This was fairly easy, as the 83 had been the recipient of the 85's motor sometime in the recent past, and the parts were all there. I was able to get the title, smog inspection and registration complete on the '85 in a few days. Having the '85 is a complete bonus! We are shipping the “spare” truck here to Costa Rica where we will use it as a spare and I’ll have another project for conversion!

Here's the gas motor in "Red" (1983), ready for removal. This motor has already passed the emissions testing, so after installing the motor in the '85 (Silver), we can expect an easy pass!

Red has a bunch of drive train upgrades. My favorite is the ARB air shifted locking differentials. At the center of the photo is the compressor and solenoids for the iar shift system.Where we live, a rear locker is essential when it's raining heavy and traction is poor. The front locker is a bonus!

Red, in pre-op.

Red, post-op! And a little lighter...

The 2F 6 cylinder gas motor destined for Silver. I did nothing to the motor, other than chinching the oil pan gasket bolts. This motor will eventually be replaced with another diesel conversion when the truck is in our possession here in Costa Rica.


2F motor and accessories installed in Silver. Turns out there was a hitch in our plans. The origonal emissions was performed in a area where static (2 speeds with out being loaaded on the dyno) was allowed. When I tested the same motor in Silver, the emissions test was on the dyno and guess what? She failed!

The emisions failure was due to high levels of Oxidies of Nitrogen. We diagnosed the problem (headers installed with improper provisions for EGR) and effected repairs. The retest resulted in a clean pass.