Lil Red - Duramax 6600/Allison 1000 Conversion & OBS/NBS Dash Conversion

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We had about 6 inches of snowfall the past couple of days, and I hadn't moved the snow blower out of the garage yet... So, I had to first move Lil Red to get to the snow blower that was against the far wall of the garage... Was a bright beautiful day, so I thought I'd get a photo.

Before driving Lil Red to where you see it here, I first had to make sure the 4WD was working... Would have been "inconvenient" if the truck had gotten stuck and 4WD wouldn't engage... The only other time the 4WD had been used prior to this was at the 1/4-mile track some years ago. Fortunately, the 4WD system worked just fine today.

Since I've been asked before, I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about the 4WD system used in this 1989 Chevy K1500... The HD 263 push-button transfer case I used is the same one the first-gen factory Duramax/Allison powered trucks used. To allow the transfer case and front axle to work together in this truck I simply wired it in the same as the newer trucks. I studied the electrical wiring diagrams at the time this truck came together, and discovered that the older and newer trucks both used similar technology and methodology - it's just that the electrical connectors were different at the axle. As mentioned in an earlier post here in this thread, for Lil Red's Duramax/Allison conversion I used the factory engine/transmission and front axle wiring harnesses made for a 2001-2004 4WD Duramax/Allison powered 2500HD truck. I also use the factory push-button panel on the new dash. A few simple weather-sealed solder splices (original 1989 front axle harness connectors spliced onto the new 2001-2004 front axle harness) allow the original 1989 front axle and 4x4 actuator to function normally with the new push-button NVG-263 transfer case. It was all a simple plug-n-play operation once the harness connectors at the axle end had been transferred. This turned out to be one of the simpler parts of the conversion.

The truck never slipped a wheel while moving it back into the garage after this photo was taken. Since this truck has never seen winter road de-icer, it won't be driven on the highway now till spring. Edit- 5/24/2023 - Given the 2022/23 winter we had, becoming an Arizona snow bird doesn't sound too bad right about now...