Please help me stop the insanity...

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by KellerMAC

You guys are awesome! I am going to break out of my comfort zone and start driving it and working on it regularly.

Good! I always figured vehicles were meant to be driven..... even the very nice ones. If they're too nice to be in the weather, take 'em out when the sun shines. As long as they get taken out every now & then.

[goose_on_fire]

I just began my own project on my '69 long-bed stepside (I might start a project thread soon, we're going frame-up nuts & bolts but "not too fancy"), and had this conversation with a friend today:

"But you're putting all this work into it, you won't even be able to use it as a truck. It can't haul a load anymore because you might scratch those fancy new bed boards you'll be putting in."

"After I'm done with it, it has to haul surfboards, fishing poles, beach chairs, and a few coolers. If the longboards scratch the tailgate or the coolers scuff the wood, so be it."

That's my philosophy, and it's something I'm comfortable with. I think. I'll let you know when it's done.

[FrankenCub]

Easiest way to get over it is to brake down and put a scratchin the bed floor....there, now it's a truck
In all honesty though, I babied the crap out of an off topic V-10 4x4 I bought till someone else scratched it. Was fumin at first but figured WTH it's a truck lol

[KellerMAC]

Hey Guys,

Glad to report with your counseling and prompting, I have had a break thru in my therapy - I actually drove my truck to work today. The drive is about 40 miles and mostly highway. It ran great - for some reason it kept inching up on the temp gauge at the red lights, but nothing too alarming. It was awesome as I was driving on the freeway and getting thumbs up from other classic auto enthusiasts. Now, the drive home looms - will tell you about it tomorrow.

Attached is a picture of it under the lights earlier this morning in the covered parking lot - it looks like she's smiling...

Thanks for all the encouragement - you guys are great!

KellerMac

[GASoline71]

Sweet truck. Unless you're building a rig to win trophys at shows. Drive the snot out of it.

Gary

[alsriv2]

Very nice truck. I hope you can relax enough to actually enjoy it. I can't wait to get the engine into my '69 C10 so I can drive it.

Keep us up to date with pictures please!

[jmorri34]

Sweet truck!!

[BB72CHEVKT]

So glad you got it out to enjoy it. I have put 3k miles on my suburban in the last few months using it as my daily driver. The only draw back I have found is trying to keep the engine bay clean.

[jorgensensc]

Glad you made progress! Here's food for thought... How much would a brand new truck (like your ford) cost you? You wouldn't think twice about taking that out the next day and driving 500 miles. However, with that said. This is the exact reason why I didn't do a repaint on my '72 suburban before doing the ls swap. The older I get the happier I am with mediocre driver paint and chips. All cars, no matter how well cared for, eventually have paint problems. I just enjoy driving them without having to worry about paint problems at this point.
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[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by KellerMAC

Hey Guys,

Glad to report with your counseling and prompting, I have had a break thru in my therapy - I actually drove my truck to work today. The drive is about 40 miles and mostly highway. It ran great - for some reason it kept inching up on the temp gauge at the red lights, but nothing too alarming. It was awesome as I was driving on the freeway and getting thumbs up from other classic auto enthusiasts. Now, the drive home looms - will tell you about it tomorrow.

Attached is a picture of it under the lights earlier this morning in the covered parking lot - it looks like she's smiling...

Thanks for all the encouragement - you guys are great!

KellerMac

Looks great!

As far as your temperature issue, for a vehicle that heats up at lights/slow speeds but not when it is moving at a decent speed, I would guess you have an airflow issue. Your issue is likely either a failing fan clutch, wrong fan, or missing/damaged fan shroud. Lots of these old trucks didn't come with or are missing the fan shroud, and it is desperately needed at low speeds to utilize every square inch of cooling area on the radiator without it you are only using the area right in front of the fan if it is mounted close to the radiator, and if it is farther back you will be using very little, instead just moving air around under the hood.

[yote1234]

Originally Posted by KellerMAC

I spent several years doing a off-frame restromod on my 72 Chevy and it has been garaged ever since -

My problem or question is this - How do I get past the fact that it has been rebuilt and start treating it like a truck and not some precious egg. I am hesitate to go near the engine in fear that I might scratch something, I need to do some final touches on it and am hesitate due to the weather or something that might hurt the truck. My DD is a 2001 Ford F250 Powerstroke Diesel 4WD and I do everything to it and in it. No fears. How long until I quit babying the rebuild?

Does anyone else suffer from this disease?

wow, thought i was the only one! restored a 72 hugger in 2011 and it was too nice to drive! i sold it and bought my 72 bigblock. swore i would never restore it! well i am collecting nos parts and planning another resto late this year! ?? we are sick!!!

[Madtat]

nice truck. use it and enjoy the ride

[ItsRandy]

Where is the video of you smokin' the tires? I thought we covered this! We need to see video of you (or a friend while you take the video) doing a burn-out, a big smokey burn-out. That is your homework for tomorrow.

[blue 72 gmc 4x4]

Originally Posted by ItsRandy

Where is the video of you smokin' the tires? I thought we covered this! We need to see video of you (or a friend while you take the video) doing a burn-out, a big smokey burn-out. That is your homework for tomorrow.

This should hold you over until that big smokey burnout is done! Coil got too hot on me and thats why it died and wouldn't start back up

55 GMC Burnout - YouTube