72 C10 900 Mile Trip Update

[Ryan5O]

Here's my update from the original post
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=467870

Spent a couple weeks out at my Grandpas and went through the truck pretty good. Spent some money in the process.

* Check fluids, chassis lube ect ect
* Changed points
* Alternator bearings
* Top Carb gasket
* Alternator belt
* Set timing to 4, was 30
* New drive shaft bearing
* New break booster, previously manual brakes
* New 3pt belts, previously lap belts
* New pvc valve (impulse buy at the parts store)
* New rear brake shoes
* Turned rear drums
* Adjusted emergency break
* Did a clear vinyl wrap on the lower body panels (turned out great);




Overall not to bad. The trip itself cost me about $300 in fuel and averaged 11-14 mph. I drove it probably 40 miles while I was up there and didnt see any problems. I did see some black carbon on the rear panels near the exhaust, thought it just needed to "stretch its legs." After starting the trip back, I realized that its burning oil. I think I went through about 6 qts. Ive attached a pic of the carbon on the back panel. The wife said that if I gunned it, she could see a small amount of black smoke from the pipes. Its not leaking oil. Ive got a few ideas of the cause, but if anyone has any this experience please share.

If anyone is looking for a real nice Chevy hubcab, I lost one on hwy 90 between Missoula MT and Coeur d'Alene ID. Luckily, my Father in law found one at the salvage yard in Coeur d Alene. Ive got an extra GMC hubcab thats on my spare if anyone wants to trade for a chevy...

So far owning the truck has been great. People never fail to give a complement and its fun to work on. Its getting comical getting rid of one noise, just to hear a new one pop up the next day.

Ive got some other weird issues to take care of and I'll safe it for another post.

[yuccales]

Glad to hear the trip went well.

[72TealnWhite]

glad everything went well for ya... I know how ya feel with one thing after another.. i am currently taking a break from working on her... Came home and the rad. hose let go.. i knew it was going to and i was going to flush it.. also need to tighten up the power steering... and i put it off. So My truck dictates when i need to work.. which is now... So i'll get it all done today.. and go for a drive tonight just to hear something new to fix. I love it. that's why its mine... good luck..

oh, i would like to know about those seatbelts and that clear vinyl cover?

[Ryan5O]

The belts I got from LMC and the install was pretty intuative. The instructions were'nt that great. The hardest part will be getting the stock bolts out of the floor board. The quality is good. The retractor is a little touchy and locks easy if you pull on it to fast. It was hard getting use to the thickness of the belts themselves, since they are alot thinner in width than the lap belts. The lap belts are pretty think, the 3 pt belts are about as thick as the belts in my RAV4. I'll try and get a picture up this evening.

The vinyl job I would recomend to everyone. Cost me about $28 and took the wife and I about 2.5 hours to do. Just need some soapy water in a spray bottle, a hair dryer and some credit cards/drivers license to work out the bubbles. I went by a local draphics store and bought about 14 feat of clear vinyl that was 7 inches high. Same stuff that they use for car graphics, but clear. Spray some soapy water on the truck, peal and stick on the viynl, cut the seams with a razor, heat up the corner if necessary if you want to round a corner, work out any bubbles and your done. Easier done with a extra hand. If you have new paint, it will really give you peace of mind when it comes to rock chips. Ive had it on new motorcylces/cars and have never had a problem. I'll take a pic of that as well, but you cant tell its on the truck.

[1970 Bowtie]

Happy to hear your trip went well.You cant beat these old rigs,all you have to do is cuss at them every now and then.I mean talk to them nicely and take care of them and they will never let you down.

[68gmsee]

If you're young it's a great experience taking an old truck out on a long trip. If you're an old geez like me it's more like reminiscing.

That oil burning could be rings or valve guides. Usually the valve guides leaking is most noticeable when you first crank the engine. Oil drips down through the guides to the top of the pistons and burns off when you start it.

Worn rings are usually noticable as your wife mentioned: when you gun it. Oil will be allowed past the rings onto the cylinders walls and burn off.

Anyway, it's definitely worth refreshing that engine.

[oldblue1968chevy]

sweet! thats a nice old truck

[eagleuh1]

Black smoke is usually running rich on the fuel I thought. That would be easier to fix usually too. Jim

[1968CHEVYC10]

Just tell people it's a diesel haha, nice truck

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by eagleuh1

Black smoke is usually running rich on the fuel I thought. That would be easier to fix usually too. Jim

X2,

This is what I would check first. Usually if it's oil you will have blue smoke. Take the plugs out, if they are black and oily it could be burning oil, if they are black and sooty it's running rich.

LockDoc

[Ryan5O]

I would have thought that it was running rich if it werent for the oil that I was replacing. Then I thought it was the valve seals, but I think 68gmsee nailed it when he said that it would smoke when it was fired up. Right now Im thinking that its just a tired engine and needs new rings. Oil is cheap and I think that I'll just run it as is for a few years and then plan a engine swap of some sort. Looks like 1968ChevyC10 is winning this vote...its a deisel Correct me if Im wrong, but the only ways coming to find to confirm bad seals would be to tear it down and inspect the seals or to just run a leak test.

[Ryan5O]

Not dismissing you LockDoc, that will be easy enough to check. Will take a look in the next couple days.

[eagleuh1]

Yeh, guess I need to pay attention when reading more. Didn't see the used 6 qts of oil. Bad seals will allow the oil to leak past after shutdown and sit on the valves, cylinders, and smoke a lot on start up. But nice truck anyways. Even if it uses as much oil as gas, almost.

[Ryan5O]

Originally Posted by 72TealnWhite

glad everything went well for ya... I know how ya feel with one thing after another.. i am currently taking a break from working on her... Came home and the rad. hose let go.. i knew it was going to and i was going to flush it.. also need to tighten up the power steering... and i put it off. So My truck dictates when i need to work.. which is now... So i'll get it all done today.. and go for a drive tonight just to hear something new to fix. I love it. that's why its mine... good luck..

oh, i would like to know about those seatbelts and that clear vinyl cover?

Here's some pics of the belts and the clear vinyl as promised

[Ryan5O]

And a couple more

[bosco200]

That clear vinyl wrap has me thinking.....truck looks great by the way

[Ryan5O]

Thanks. I have a close friend that owns a graphics shop and we use to put custom vinyl graphics on our street bikes. The teenie boppers like the stuff because a good shop can cut the vinyl into any shape you can think of. The clear stuff though is thinner than the vinyl that a dealer would put on a new car, but it has the same effect and cost you about $1.50 - $2.00 a foot instead of the $300 - $600 for a kit from the dealer. If you dont like it or screw it up, you can just heat up and pull it off.