[Fraud]

Originally Posted by Fraud

Shocks arrived yesterday, going around to a buddys place Sunday to put them in using his tools and making a mess of his driveway.

So this happened - new shocks are much better! I wouldn't say its a sports car, but I wasn't expecting that anyway. I can now hold the throttle open through corners, and if I hit an expansion joint on the interstate it doesn't bounce all the way to the next one. Its a much more confidence inspiring vehicle!

The only major issue we ran into with the install was that we couldn't remove the passenger side upper shock mount to replace it with the Belltech supplied one - there were just too many things in the way (exhaust, transmission cooler lines etc.), so we reused the stock one, which is probably fine, but would like to have got it done. I've held on to the Belltech one and if the engine/box/exhaust/other are ever being removed/worked on I'll swap it out (or have it swapped out) then.

will inspect (the brakes) while I'm there

Yeah, fronts need attention - at least 2 visible grooves in them - one of them is probably the factory one... I think I'll pick up a full front brake kit from Classic Heartbeat, but maybe swap out the pads for EBC yellows and book in another weekend.

Going to see how much of this slack I can take up on the stock (throttle) adjustment this sunday too

So after driving it as is for 5+ months, this took about 3 minutes to actually resolve. It has an aftermarket throttle adjustment (probably supplied by holley with the carb? don't know) that has the cable mount on a sliding bracket, which had a tonne of adjustment left in it. Pulled that back so that WOT happend when the pedal hit the floor, and HUGE difference...

1: I can now activate the choke using the pedal, which is awesome
2: It now actually revs out nicely (used to choke after about 3500rpm)
3: It shifts at more appropriate speeds with a more appropriate amount of force
4: I think I've gained 15% more torque/hp. I swear the primaries were only opening to ~75% and the vac secondaries were only able to open under certain circumstances. I still wouldn't describe it as fast, but its a huge difference

So everyone go check your throttle adjustment NOW, especially if you have a previous owner fitted non-standard carb.

Between the extra acceleration and the better handling, I think I've now found the limits of the factory seatbelt and bench seat for holding me in place.

Unfortunately, while we were at it, we identified a semi serious power steering leak (appears to be the high pressure line), a notable engine leak (leak out of bellhousing area, but I think/hope it is actually a valve cover and all the oil runs to the lowest point before dripping), a possible transmission leak, a fuel leak on the carb (if I'm honest, I knew about that one but had been ignoring it), and a leak out of the rear diff... I don't have enough spare weekends to go chasing leaks so I think I'll just take it in and have it all worked out.

Also spotted some rust right at the base of the inner guard/fender on the passenger side, right below the battery basically so no surprises... I'll probably get onto that to stop it spreading but a proper patch/fix isn't high on the to do list.

also, the entire truck is just ****ing filthy right now. I've got too much junk in my car hole so its been parked on the street for at least a few weeks, under trees for most of it, and birds just love me... this is on top of all the road grime that never got cleaned off after delivery, and the soil left in the bed from when I laid new sod a month or two ago... so it needs a thorough clean... in my spare time... whatever that is