Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Count me as a vote against the pushbar. If it and the pumper were chrome, I'd be for it. I think you are getting away with about as much as you can with the chrome grille and white bumper.

Plus, if this is lowbuck, you can sell that pushbar to finance other required parts, like the plywood for the entertainment center console...

Hey, you asked for opinions...

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Yes I did ask, and it doesn't bother me a bit to hear dissenting opinions. I was thinking about painting the bumper black and repainting the push bar. What do you think?

Had to take it for a brief ride today. It was blocking the garage door where my truck is and it was going to the body shop. My old Optima battery just had no CCA left in it. It would only start (turn over) with the charger in start mode. So after a junkyard battery that failed after a year or so, and my optima giving up the ghost, I splurged and bought a new battery. I went with a walmart everstart Maxx 34 which was really highly rated by consumer reports and cheaper than the diehards, napas, etc by a significant amount. With tax, about $94.

*updated* Forgot to mention I sold the rally wheels and tires to Sharpie for $100. Now with the shocks, tires, battery, etc I'm at a total spent of $3460. I haven't had much time to do anything with this project lately because I've been getting my C-10 ready for paint, and work/family commitments. I've got some intermittant stall happening with it and I don't know if it's fuel, ignition, mechanical or what. The new shocks make the ride a bit stiffer. Still need to get the air lines ran to the rear shocks and jack it up a bit. Brakes and wiring, blahblahblah. Need more hours in the day, and days in the week.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

I think the stall is from a carb adjustment. After revving it wants to shutdown. Further investigation is needed. I installed the rear seat hold down brackets after cleaning them up and painting them. So the rear seat is solid now. I took a few minutes to hook up the air lines to the shocks. They work and I got an immediate 1" of lift. My compressor doesn't run more than 135 psi though and I think I need more pressure to level it out more. Or I'll just get some 2" blocks and be done with it. The shocks were still too good of a bargain to pass up, so no loss there.

The new battery is great. I always thought I had a ground somewhere and disconnected the battery when I wasn't running it. Now I can leave it hooked up and still have power, which is a huge relief. Finding grounds is a pain.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Great project! any updates?

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Not really. The C-10 in my signature got all the love this summer. Turns out that getting a truck painted and re-assembled takes up a lot of time? Ask my wife, she'll give you an earful. The truck isn't quite done yet and whatever time I get goes to that project. I figure by the end of October I'll either have it done as far as I can go or it'll be too crappy outside to matter and I'll park it until spring. Then the Jimmy will start getting some attention again.

The biggest thing and the priority will be the passenger bedside. I have 2 sections of truck bedside to use as patches but also have a blazer bedside from a project I'm parting out. Once I get that part off I'll decide which route is better. It just depends on what rust I find on that one and how much welding will need to be done for repairs. Then I'll fix any floor rust I find and get the inside of the tub sprayed with some liner, I'm thinking Al's Liner now and if I like how that goes, I'll do my truck bed also.

I hate to make estimates on time for these things, but I'm hoping to have it all painted by spring and mostly assembled. I've learned a lot about body work the past couple years and I'm much faster now. Right now I'm thinking gold and black, maybe yellow and black, with a few surprises.

I picked up a door panel for the drivers door ($10). Sorted through my stash of parts to make sure I have the small bits to put it together later. I'll also have some leftovers from my truck build for it, such as a new gage bezel and lense for a vac/tach set up (if I can find a deal on those gages). I "might" try to install a windshield in it this week. I watched the pro do my truck windshield and I did the rear window and it doesn't seem that difficult. I need to rebuild the carb also. The windshield and carb are basically what kept it parked this summer. I just didn't have the time to do anything.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

The Jimmy project will start to get some love pretty soon. My C-10 is about 95% completed and I've been driving it for several weeks now. Just waiting for some time, money and the usual to have it completely finished before next spring.

Part of that project was an upgrade to a vac/tach dash. I got a new bezel and lense for it and was searching for the other parts I needed when Classic Industries had a 20% off sale. So I just bought their complete kit, which came with a lense also. So that means I have an extra lense. I also had a camaro tach sitting on the shelf that I could use. At a minimum I needed to find a front tin for the cluster that had the vac gauge hole. I pm'd livrat who does these conversions and sells them on the board and elsewhere and he had one extra tin for $20 shipped. I think I paid $5 for the tach. Now I just need to find a cheap vacuum gauge and I'll have what I need.

Last night I started cutting the tin to fit the tach. Here's how it looked to start with...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1179.jpg

Then I cut out the spot at the top of the center circle and then used my nibbler to cut it out. I cleaned up the edges with a die grinder.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1180.jpg

The tach had a couple spots top and bottom that needed to be trimmed to fit in the tin.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1181.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1182.jpg

Just set a spare bezel on to see how it looks.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1184.jpg

I'll have to modify the back tin also yet for mounting the tach, and I'll post that when I do it. I have parts to add a manual throttle set up to this if I decide not to sell them. New bezels are fairly cheap so I'll probably go that route rather than try to make mine pretty with a rattle can, but maybe I'll do something completely different with it. I have an idea rolling around like a loose marble in my head. Just one lonely idea that doesn't have anything else to bang against, but it's growing.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Looking good!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Mike I might have an extra vacuum gauge and might need a tach/vac lens if that is the lens that you have.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Yesterday I wanted to move the jimmy because I needed to clean up around where it has been resting. I pulled the battery out of my C-10, poured some gas in the carb and got it lit up. Here's the problem, and the main reason it was parked all summer, it won't idle for more than about 10 seconds. It'll start ok with a pump or 2 of the throttle and idle nice and smooth. Then after about 5 seconds it acts like it's starving for fuel and a few seconds later stalls. Now if you start it and then go to part throttle it'll run like that with no problems for as long as you want but will stall as soon as you let off the gas.

It's an edelbrock 1405 and I neglected to put a fuel filter in the line. Dumb mistake I know. So I pulled the air horn off the carb and sure enough it's dirty in there. It's possible it was like that before I installed it because it was used and I never opened it up prior to this. I cleaned out the little filters on the needle/seat assemblies, and the fuel feed to both bowls, cleaned out the bowls, cleaned out the jets in the bowl bottoms, adjusted both fuel floats for drop and float lift and put it back together and added a fuel filter.

Same exact results. I had checked fuel pressure before this and it sits at 6 psi. The next step is to pull the carb off and completely disassemble and clean it, but the thing is, I would like to know where the problem is. Maybe I can pull the idle mix screws and spray some carb cleaner through those first.

It has to be something with the idle circuit but I can't think of what because it will start and idle good for 5-10 seconds, except after part throttle. So if there are any edelbrock gurus out there reading my thread, please speak up. This is the first edelbrock I've had and it seems simple enough, just need some idea of what to look for.

BTW, I added some tranny fluid and at part throttle, I got it moved under it's own power. Funny thing is that when I 1st got this engine running last winter, I thought it was kinda loud through the exhaust. Sonic turbos and it's kinda throaty. After driving my C-10 around with the flowmasters, it sounds like my wifes denali compared to my C-10, damn that thing is loud.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

On another note, I discovered that there is some rust in my windshield frame. It's just above the gasket in the middle so it looks like I'll have to do some patching once I pull the windshield out. Yippee!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

I got a little time today to work on the carb. I pulled the idle mixture screws out and sprayed some carb cleaner through them, re-installed the screws and away we went. Drove over to the body shop and got a 2nd opinion on my hammered in bedside. Marv thinks he could pull it out. I think I'll take out the inner wheel tub on that side, and remove that piece that is tack welded to the inside lip of the wheel well and give him a shot. It would beat the snot out having to weld a monster patch into it. Marv is a perfectionist and if he can do it, it'll be good. If not, I still have plan B. The patches are in the garage waiting.

Just thinking about the roll bar and I'm not satisfied with how it sits at the floor. I think I can cut off the floor mount plates and either reposition them or cut new ones to fit better.

I bought a new battery today so I don't have to keep pulling the one out of my C-10. I got an 850 CCA 72 month warrantee Exide on sale at the farm supply place for $70. It'll be nice to be able to just move it around under it's own power as needed. I'm still trying to sell my extra parts here and on ebay to make room in the garage so I can pull the windshield out, fix the rust and make some progress on this thing. I have some regrets that I didn't try a little harder this summer to get this on the road, but concentrating on my C-10 and being able to cruise in that again more than makes up for any bad feelings I had.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_0341.jpg

should have kept on pulling...move 90* it would come off....
:haha:
btw what made you stop? when did you realize the pully wouldnt come off?:thumbs:

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

The puller was going to slip off the edge and really wasn't making any progress anyway. I knew after the first few cranks it wasn't coming off like that but I wanted to see how far it would go.

There are other embarrassing moments I could have posted throughout the build, I chose only a select few to post.:lol:

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

I borrowed a timing light and got that set at 10*, 8* seemed a little sluggish of the start, 10* was better but there is a miss at part throttle under load. Culd be the carb jets, or it still needs more timing, or the advance in the dizzy isn't coming on right, etc. The main thing is that it runs and drives.

I got a new fuel filter in it.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1213.jpg

Decided to use my extra new battery tray. This way I can use the battery hold downs to at least make it harder to steal, and I put some new cable ends on it. Spent about $5 for the filter, $3 for the cable ends, $75 for the battery with tax, the tray was about $25 if I remember correctly. Total spent is $3484. (The other battery I bought I credited back because it is now in my C-10)
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1212.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1214.jpg


I talked to the body shop today about letting me use some space in their shop for a while. I need to take the top off and pull the windshield to fix some things, give Marv access to try and hammer out the bedside and then I can do some spraying and sanding without messing up my garage anymore than it already is. And I can keep my C-10 at home to finish up the odds and ends rather than find storage for it. Too many projects, not enough stalls.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

dude, even if you get the atari hooked up, I bet your joysticks are all worn. :lol: :metal: :haha:

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Nope, I got one of these bad boys and it's hardly been used.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817...id=_em8Ey-kj7P

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Link not working but I know what you're talking about, it's a cop-out! :lol:

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

I got a second opinion on my bashed in bed side and whether it could be hammered out. I think I'm going to remove the wheel tub and the filler plate above the inside of the wheelwell and see what can be done. I think it's worth a shot before I start cutting and welding.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

I've been trying for weeks to get my garage cleaned out enough to make room for a 2nd vehicle and finally got there today.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1303.jpg

Beautiful sight ain't it? First thing I did was see how far in the panel was pushed in. Not so beautiful...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1305.jpg

So I pulled the rear passenger side tire off and cut the spot welds holding the inner panel to the wheel well arch. Then removed most of the wheel tub bolts (2 will need some extra work to get out), then used the air chisel to pop the tacks loose.

Then came the experimental technique for panel straightening. I'd heard of it before, read it somewhere and wanted to give it a shot. I used my free napa football from a few years ago as a tool. I inserted a ball inflater stem into it and deflated it, then slid it between the inner and outer bedside panels like so...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1307.jpg

Pumped in some air until it pushed the panel back out...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1308.jpg

Let it deflate again and slide it up to another spot and repeat until I thougth I got out about all I could.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1309.jpg

And here is where its at for now...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1310.jpg

The wheel arch is still a mess, but I had to break off for dinner and rest. The main panels is much better now, some work with a stug gun and puller will take care of most of it. Maybe tomorrow I'll test my hammering skills and just see if I can keep improving it. I might have to replace the arch though, we'll see how it goes.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Nice work!!! Huge improvement already!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

very cool :metal:

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Todays progress report. Here's where I started...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1311.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1312.jpg

The inflated football got the basic shape of the bedside back, but the wheel well arch was a complete mess yet. For that I used a combination of hammers, dollies, blocks of wood, pliers, etc. I made enough improvement with that to bring me to the point where I could say to myself, ok, this should work out. Which would justify soldiering on, which meant stripping paint so the stud gun would be effective and make it easier to "see" my work without the rust and paint lines. Which got me here...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1313.jpg

During the stripping my buddy from the body shop stopped by to check my progress. He was shocked and offered me a job. I told him he couldn't afford me. He said to just take my time and keep on and gave me some tips for working with the puller.

A couple things I learned today, first the slide hammer can be used for more than just sliding the hammer for pulling. I figured out that if I just used my weight to jerk it back it was probably more affective. There is less shock on the stud because the force isn't just banged on and as for weight and force, I think I can generate more energy jerking my 245 lbs back than the couple pounds of the slide hammer.

Second, you can put the slide hammer on the stud and give it steady pull and use a hammer around that spot to knock down some highs. Kind of similar to having a dolly on the back side. Anyway, here's where I ended the day...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1314.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1315.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1316.jpg

Not done yet, but it has come a long way and if I keep working it I won't even have to use a ton of mud on it to get it smooth.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

That's a 1000% improvement. You must have a great sense of accomplishment!!!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Whoa...
I'm absolutely blown away.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Taking a day off today and got back to hammering on my bedside. Heres where I started the day...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1317.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1318.jpg

I just cut off the studs in the areas that I don't think will help it anymore, cleaned it up and sprayed some rattle can etch primer on it so I could see better where I was at. Borrowed the stud gun again but didn't use it yet today. I also borrowed a long handled dolly and a good body hammer and started banging away at it. It's much better than yesterday, but still has some issues to work out. The circled areas are high bulges (the ones above the wheel well will pop in and out). The lines are low areas. I think I'm within 1/8" on almost all of it. The top of the wheel arch is in and I need to figure out how to pull it out straight. Coming along better than I ever imagined though.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1319.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1320.jpg

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

wow what a great job your doing !!!! keep it up !!!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Nice work!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Thanks guys. Got another hour or so out in the garage. I wanted to try a shrinking technique on a couple of the bulges above the wheel well. Those in particular because they would pop in and out. If I tried to push them in, them mudded it smooth and later they popped out, I think my mud work would pop out with it. So to stabilize those areas I needed to shrink the steel back after it was stretched with the tree or rocks that smashed it in.

First I tried using the stud gun with a different tip that is like a button. Just rest it against the spot you want to heat, push the button and heat it up, pull the gun away and lay a wet rag on the spot to cool it and the steel will contract or shrink. I used it in 3 spots and it did help. It was most effective in the spot where the wheel tub bolt was pushed through the outer skin.

Wanting to see if I could get the bulges to flatten out more I used my little propane torch to heat a bit larger area, layed a wet rag on it and I think it helped some. There are still high spots there, but they seem pretty stable. No longer popping in and out.

With that done I decided to see what I could do with the back end of the panel. It was smacked in bad also and the worst of it was right at the top rear by the reverse light. Heres where it was when I started...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1321.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1322.jpg

I took out the reverse light assembly, and used pry bars, dollies, hammers, punches, pliers and anything else I thought would help get in to the back side of those dents. I got the worst of it out. So now I'll strip off the paint there, clean it up and use the stud gun and puller to get it close enough to smooth out with a thin coat of filler. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out so far.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1323.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1324.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1325.jpg

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

nice! come work on my bedside!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

You are turning into a regular body man!!! Great work!!!

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Great progress for a few days.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

looks good i like this tread a lot and your jimmy

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

I've been watching your work in this thread for quite a while but haven't posted. I like your style. You're sort of like an alchemist; transforming junk into gold. Bravo.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

GREAT WORK, keep it up....
Looks like night and day.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Do you even have a bed for your truck? lol

I don't know about "regular" but maybe irregular.

Yep, just a few hours beating the snot out of it and it fell into submission.

Thanks.

Thanks for posting. Dpending on how much time I put into it, it'll be in the range from tin to gold. I'll be happy if it at least has more value than the cost to build it, which is a rare thing with these trucks.

I'll keep hammering away. I'm having some trouble getting the top of the wheel arch outward a bit more. If I can get that, the rest is a piece of cake.

I'll probably get back to it tomorrow. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement everyone.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

i see you have been following along! LOL i dont have pictures but it does have a bed on it now

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Last night I took an hour to strip more paint and hammer more dents. The area above the taillight was a layer of old filler. Looks like someone beat it with a hammer. Borrowed the stud gun again and pulled most of it out. That area s hard to do because of te thickness of the steel and the sharp bends. The studs won't stick hard enough to pull it hard, but I got it much better. Also added studs to some of the other areas that were low and got it smoother. I'll postsome pics later when I finish getting the old paint off and have it all in primer.

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Got most of the old paint off the the bedside and cleaned off the studs for the puller work. Sprayed with the last of my rattle can etching primer. If you look close with a critical eye you will see lots of dings and it is no where near done. From here out though it will primarily be body filler work and some hammering on the high spots. I need to finish up the inner lip of the wheel arch and weld the inside panel back in place.

I also need to decide how to handle the front of the wheel arch. Both sides were cut for tire clearance. I could leave as is (not), or just put a flush patch in to close it up and maintain the tire clearance (maybe) or cut a patch from a truck bed and replace it back to original (maybe).
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1329.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1330.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1332.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1331.jpg

Where I started from...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1305.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1322.jpg

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

transformed

Re: Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread
 

Got back under the wheel well to tack the inner and outer panels back together. No major problems, but I think I'll be cutting some of the tacks to get the arch pulled in more on the front and back. I think if I leave the top of the arch where it is, I can move the other areas in a bit to get a flatter opening all around. It's hard to see in any pictures and maybe I'm focusing too much on it, but I think it'll be worth the extra effort.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1337.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1338.jpg

With the panels welded together, it was easier to pound on it some more and try to get the high spots down some. I did more work around the tail light area also. It was pretty messed up. The damage on the side pulled on the corner, which was also smashed inward. It resulted in the edge by the tailgate getting pulled outward, the outside corner pushed in, the bottom corner of the light opening was in about 1/4". A lot of pry bar, hammer, pry bar, hammer to get it out where it's supposed to be. Started putting some filler on it too. More tomorrow and some sanding to see just where it all ended up.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1339.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...y/IMG_1340.jpg