Project "Variable Priority" '71 FS/SB

[DjS71]

Variable Priority: Got the truck, had a kid, bought a house. Truck is a #3 on its best days, but I'll get 'er done eventually.

So, My Grandfather (R.I.P) bought this truck in 1981 (So its been in the family 1 year longer than I have) from the original owner, our across the street neighbor. Time went on and he didn't need it, so he bequeathed it to my uncle probably in the early 90's. My uncle did concrete and landscaping and beat the holy crap out of the ol green beasty until he parked it needing a clutch and brakes in 2004.

Now, I tried to buy it from him, in 2002 after I graduated high school, but he declined in hopes of giving it to his kid. So I bought a '68 Chevelle wagon and all was good for 7 years.

Fast forward to 2009: My uncle moved upstate to persue a "greener" lifestyle and the truck remained at my grandmothers side driveway, staining the concrete a heartbreaking shade of orange. He wises up and informs the Matriarch that if someone expresses interest, to have them call him and broker a deal. Grandma, my hero, chimes in with "You know, Dan(me) was asking about it a few years back..." to which he replied "Oh, if he still wants it, he can have it". SO, there it is, mine at last. Would rather have had it 7 years prior with less rot & wasps nests, and a bunch more disposable income, but I've got it and that's what counts. Got it towed home and gave it a once over.

**Bonus info: Never owned a standard trans vehicle, never driven a column shifted one**

Pushed onto my grandmother's street.

Arrived at the house we were renting at the time

End of Day one, pushed into the garage, past my old wagon.

[DjS71]

So the next day I tore the seat out to clean up the inside. Witness the unmitigated carnage of smoking and not having a clue that vacuums can be used on vehicles.


Temporary Laundry duty


At least he left me a bunch of parts he never got around to installing

[DjS71]

Job 1 was power brakes. I can handle manual steering for now, but with my inexperience with the clutch & column shift, I felt that I had to at least have power brakes.

Picked up a used set from a board member, got the brackets on:

Then i found this

I tried for a week or two to find something different, but I was itching to drive it so this is what I wound up with, courtesy of CPP. Stops great now.


Did a complete rear brake job too, the old shoes we're fused to the drums, that was a good time.

So shortly after this I got engaged and my fiance and I moved into an apartment, so the truck was on single car garage hiatus. However, I did get to drive it over there, maybe 6 miles.... Good news, is that i never stalled it, which was amazing for me. Bad news, the linkage & the column we're so sloppy that I only got it out of first twice in those 10 miles.

[DjS71]

18 Months @ the Apartment

Couldn't really work on it in the complex, so my only choice was to unload all the parts from the bed, get it out of the garage, and take it somewhere else to work on it. Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot done in that period. I did manage a few things though...

18x9@255/55R18 Picked up the rims for song, and some used tires... not bad, except the front center caps are too shallow and I desperately need to get the 2.5/4 drop installed.


Was able to change a mirror in that tiny garage. That job was a lot more effort than I was expecting, snaking my arms through the door, and the vent window... phew!
Old and busted:

New Hotness (well, for repop):

[DjS71]

So towards the end of 2011, I moved the truck back to my grandmothers extra driveway so I could tinker with it, had the itch, you know? The shame here is that I took next to zero pictures of what I did there. All I've got is this, which is what I dumped out of my fuel filter.


While it was in the driveway, my Mom called me and said "Hey, you're leaking a bit of fuel" So I go by there, figuring the tank isnt venting right (like my wagon) and propped open the gas cap to relieve the pressure. 2 weeks go by and I get a call from my aunt "Hey, you know you're still leaking gas?" ... ... I hustle over there and open the cab and it reeks of gas. Turns out when I put a new gas cap on, the tank built up pressure and ruptured at the bottom, just a little hairline, but the whole cab was filled with gasoline. Out comes the seat, out comes the tank, off come the vent lines... hey, whats this? Turns out someone plugged the lines going to the canister, so when I, like a good boy, replaced the gas cap, there was no where for the pressure to go. Boom. While the tank was being dipped and coated and I was replacing all of the vent lines, I also rebuilt the steering column (comedy of errors, had that thing apart 4 times) and rebushed all the shift linkage arms. Little thermostat housing job and the old bucket of bolts was back on the road.

Pictures of the maiden voyage after the fuel tank incident.



Man, that column work paid off. SO MUCH SMOOTHER shifting, which makes for more enjoyable driving

[DjS71]

So this little wonder arrived on 2/10/12


She's Happy and healthy We also bought our first home on 3/1/12 so I haven't had much to spare of the big 3 (time/energy/money).

The last couple weeks I've been putting in a H.E.I. and mending the largest of my exhaust leaks, but I'll get to writing about that later. Maybe even take some pictures, I've really got to get better at that.

[Tinkermc]

truck is shaping up and lookin good, have fun with it

[67c10rustbuket]

Cool project ! I feel you on the time, budget, and priorities. I have a 2 yr old and bought a new house last year the trucks always loose the priority game but hey family is more important. I have "truck day wednesdays" after work and also an hour here, 30 minutes there, you know a little at a time will get more done than nothing.

[DjS71]

Rebuilt the carb a couple weeks back, had some junk in it from the fuel tank job. Had to get it somewhere so i just set a baseline idle mix. Went to dial it in last weekend and found a few vacuum leaks, line to the choke pull off, charcoal canister and the flapper for the heat stove in the stock air cleaner. Can't repair the last 2, so I'm likely going to just cap the ports on the carb and eliminate them. Will probably move to an aftermarket air cleaner and a push-in PCV at some point unless you boys convince me otherwise.

Haven't had too much time to work on 'er but i DID get some deeper center caps, so we're shiny on all 4 corners now. Got my daughter's 1 year birthday party on Saturday, but I've got the truck jacked up and the wheel off to replace a cracked exhaust manifold and hopefully install the power steering setup I've had laying around. That will certainly make driving easier.

I have to remember to double check the flange when i get the manifold off... not sure if I grabbed a 2.25in or a 2.5in.... I'll let you fellas know.

I need to get better at this, and at taking pictures...

[DjS71]

Son of a B. Ready to dig in, looks like my '71 has '68 manifolds with the alternator mount boss on it... frick....

[DjS71]

Add to that the unholy amount of washers i see.... time to find some brackets

EDIT: Anyone have a pic handy of how things are supposed to look for my particular setup? no a/c

[sgaylord]

Like the truck and it's history.

[DjS71]

Thought I might try my hand at picking up a serpentine setup from Pick-N-Pull this morning, plenty to choose from, got the pass side off, went to work on the DR side and realized i didn't have a puller for the PS pulley.... its a bit far from my house so there was no way i was making two trips in 1 weekend so i came home with just a bit of crud under my finger nails.

Balls.


there was also a 9C1 Caprice there with an LT1 that someone was trying to save. They disconnected the hood release and stashed it up under the dash, if i had the budget I probably would have come home with that. Unmolested, still had the green long life hoses and the plastic cover on it. Maybe someday...

[DjS71]

OK, so, borrowed a nice Matco puller... and got it stuck, so I have to replace it Bought the 20 dollar set for myself @ Harbor Freight and off she came.... Next time, I'll just get the HF disposable version.)



Hurray.

Lets start tearing the old stuff off, first things first, this sweet 90 degree petcock i put in when i did the thermostat. Still a little awkward getting it clear of the rad support, so when i put it back, i'll throw in another piece of brass and make it clear to the floor (its actually in the pic above).

The tube is really rigid, so i had to get clever keeping it angled into the bucket




And here, is the offending manifold that started this whole snowball / avalanche, notice the double gaskets too?



Alright, driver's side head needs to be cleaned up, but its all disassembled.


and here is the passenger si.... wait... holes and markings are different.

Jesus H Christ, does this stubborn old have two different heads? I was too ... displeased... to pull the valve covers and check the casting numbers...


So i have to dig into that tomorrow, see what the hell is going on. On one hand, this damn truck is fighting me every single step of the way, no job too small to sneak a quick kick to the ol' wedding tackle. On the other hand, I'm not even surprised, what with all the other rigged stuff i've found. Like the coffee cans repairing the glasspacks...


Very close to pulling in some favors and trying to find the cheapest running, not leaking 350 i can get my hands on.

We'll see what tomorrow brings....

[DjS71]

Almost forgot the washer assortment on the old bracket.

[DjS71]

So they're both 882 heads, 71-76 350/400 76CC.... Block pad confirms 307 block...

What the hell were they doing with this thing?

[DjS71]

Lookie what was hiding behind the shield for the hot air stove!


1 hit with a BFH later....

[sanford&daughter]

Holy crap I never seen anything like that any idea what caused it?

[DjS71]

Only guess is they ran it super lean and hard for a while so it got real hot and the pressure expanded it? Only logical thing i can think of.... No idea for certain.

[67c10rustbuket]

Gotta love the PO!

Originally Posted by DjS71

So they're both 882 heads, 71-76 350/400 76CC.... Block pad confirms 307 block...

What the hell were they doing with this thing?

Building the ultimate low compression motor? I love the coffee can glas pack repair, that is classic. Great progress, keep it up.

[DjS71]

Nice paint booth, eh?


and a terrible picture mid progress.


have to pick up a new t-stat housing, rad hoses and decide WTF to do about my fan. The new one doesn't fit in the old shroud, repops are $150 for BBC which would work. Electric can be had for not too much more than that DIY, so i have no idea.

[DjS71]

Forgot, I also have to bend myself up a new fuel line since the stocker runs right through the where the brackets is now.

[Low Elco]

Don't forget, reverse rotation waterpump! If you hook serp to your OG one, it'll overheat like crazy. Have the same setup for mine, when I get to it. AZ sells Percy's copper exhaust gaskets, skim with Permatex Ultra Copper and let it sit for 2 beers. Skim your doughnuts as well. That's what finally shut mine up. Some of them 70's heads ain't exactly flat. Love your project, sweet little baby too!

[DjS71]

I made sure i got the right pump Its all buttoned up for now, but if I still have leaks I'll go the copper route.

That said, I'm very interested in your method of time measurement.

[DjS71]

All buttoned up, bracket wise, not too shabby



So I got some of the wiring done, you can see me running in circles here

I also took this time to put on a power steering box from an early 80's pickup. Now, I had the inner fender out this whole time, so i goes to put it back in....


So what are my options? Trim the inner fender (probably not...), get some stock lines and the fitting from a stock pump, or have some custom lines made like this fella

Christ am I not looking forward to pulling that pulley again to get the pump out, it was a nightmare getting it back on.