[njsteve]

You will like that Diamondeye exhaust and crossover. That was my Christmas present two years ago. The 6.5s really breathe with that setup. That factory crossover pipe is a horrible double wall design and 50% of them have a collapsed inner pipe at the bends. It reduces the flow from a 2" pipe to a 1/2" pipe.

I've been running the Heath maxi-torque chip and turbomaster manual boost adjuster for 6 years. My truck is an OBD1 so it uses the old fashioned PROM chip. Good stuff. I also have a delegated laptop that has the GMTD Scantech software on it so I can reset the pump when I install it on the new engine. Without that you have to go to the dealer and they usually had no idea whatsoever on how to work on these trucks (unless you find an oldtimer still working there) .

Never run a starter without a brace on these engines. Many a horror story of guys breaking the ear off the block from the starter loosening the two mounting bolts and then torqueing over without the brace in place.

Let's see a photo! My neighbor down the street has the exact same truck (but a 454) and it's black. Evil looking monster.

My first casualty so far has been the starter - the tiny terminal on the solenoid snapped off...and get this...the AC/Delco solenoid is discontinued and even an aftermarket version is $165!!!! But a brand new ACDelco (not reman) starter is $148 (rockauto). Ordered it yesterday.