Jon's 69 CST Build

[jonmc56]

Drop kit, suspension and brakes are nearly done, time to finish up the underside of the bed. Getting the bed stood on end was not trivial.

[jonmc56]

2 steps forward, 1 step back. All the brake stuff is in and working. Thanks to my bro-in-law and good buddy Wayne for spending a good part of his July 4th holiday long weekend working on it with me.
Almost every length of 'pre-bent' brake line from Inline Tube had to be re-bent, some of it substantially. Last time I ever use pre-bent lines. Next time I'll buy straight pipe and bend myself, since I have to do so much re-bending with pre-bent lines anyway.
We were almost finished bleeding the brakes when the passenger side front caliper bleeder wouldn't seal. After trying 3 different bleeder screws, I looked into the bleeding cavity with a bright light, it looked like someone chewed up the bleeder seat with a drill bit, probably before the caliper was rebuilt. So, had to order another caliper, and get it powder coated. The good news is that the bad powder coated caliper looks really nice sitting in my scrap metal pile.
Ready to drop it back onto the floor once the new intermediate parking brake cable arrives tomorrow, that is a whole separate story.
Painting the underside of the bed, about 50% done.
I'm shooting to take the truck (and my Chevelle) to a car show in Cedar Mill on August 3 that I help organize. It's going to come down to the wire as usual.

[jonmc56]

Underside of bed is painted. Went to re-run the rear wiring harness along the frame, and found it to be really brittle. Every time I tried to strip the wires it cracked and broke, so I ran new wiring from under the hood to the rear of the frame. The truck hit the ground for the first time in too long, and after a quick and dirty wheel alignment, I got to drive it around a little. Was great to finally drive it again!




If you have to remove/install a bed, I highly recommend buying two sheets of that foam insulation at Home Deport or wherever. It works great to protect the cab and bed when you swing the bed into position. Not sure what its called, but about 1" thick, silver on one side, white on the other.

[jonmc56]

I wanted to share info on my intermediate parking brake cable, it turned out to be a much bigger hassle than it should have been. The cable that was on the truck was 95" long. I replaced the 2 rear cables and dropped the rear end (6" drop kit, but the truck was already dropped some to start with, so the net drop was less than 6"). The old intermediate parking brake cable was too short by about 4". That doesn't make any sense to me. If it makes sense to someone else, please fill me in, I'm confused.
I called Classic Parts to see if they could tell me the actual length of their intermediate cables. They couldn't.
So, I bought all of them and measured them. Here are the measurements of their cables, hoping it helps someone someday:

Classic Parts Part #, Manufacturer Part #, Overall Length:
#71-761 (66-2596-1) - 95.5"
#71-762 (66-2596-2) - 120"
#71-763 (Dorman C92425) - 92.5"
#71-764 (92426) - 116.5"

These measurements are overall lengths, including the stops at the ends.
After all that, none of them fit, I had to cut down the 116.5" cable and move the stop. (99.5") It would have been quicker to have a custom cable made.

[STOCKISH]

Looks killer. Nice work taking an already nice truck to the next level.

[jonmc56]

Cool old store outside of Roseburg Oregon, on the route of the fun run, part of Graffiti Weekend 2014.

[elf w/capital T]

I have all similar photos of my build, but your's are so much more clearer. Lol nice truck!! Thanks for the photos. I stumbled on on your post for drop pics. Looks good!

[jonmc56]

I was asked by ShortHaul why its been so long since I updated my build thread. Good point. Not a lot of changes, but here's a recent update. I replaced the shift arm and turn signal lever, both of mine were pretty pitted and starting to show rust. While doing so I noticed a crack in the turn signal switch, so replaced that with a new switch from GMC Paul's. I also found the fiber optic cable for the shift indicator sitting unused inside the column, so put that back the way its supposed to be.

After getting the switch and steering wheel hub installed, I decided to test the horn because of all the stories I've seen on here about horn problems after messing with the column. I was getting frustrated because the horn wouldn't work at all. I finally decided to walk away from it for a bit. That's when I remembered those steering column harness wires dangling (disconnected) under the dash.



Jon

[ShortHaul]

Originally Posted by jonmc56

I was asked by ShortHaul why its been so long since I updated my build thread. Good point. Not a lot of changes, but here's a recent update. I replaced the shift arm and turn signal lever, both of mine were pretty pitted and starting to show rust. While doing so I noticed a crack in the turn signal switch, so replaced that with a new switch from GMC Paul's. I also found the fiber optic cable for the shift indicator sitting unused inside the column, so put that back the way its supposed to be.

After getting the switch and steering wheel hub installed, I decided to test the horn because of all the stories I've seen on here about horn problems after messing with the column. I was getting frustrated because the horn wouldn't work at all. I finally decided to walk away from it for a bit. That's when I remembered those steering column harness wires dangling (disconnected) under the dash.



Jon

haha glad I could inspire you to post an update, and thank you for doing the same over in my thread!
So what are the specs on your current wheels? they look pretty wide?

[jonmc56]

15x7 with 3 5/8" Backspace (255/60-15) in the front, 15x8 with 4 1/4" Backspace (275/60-15) in the rear. I like the way the fronts fit, they fill the opening and have never had them rub. I may order the 62 series with the exact same specs for the front. The rear is what I want to fix.

Current thinking is that I'd paint or powder coat the WV wheels charcoal gray (similar color to the centers of a Boss 338), for good contrast against the white. I need to do something about all that white!

Always open to ideas/inputs!

[jonmc56]

One of my winter projects is to replace the body mount and core support bushings. I peeled the driver side carpet back today to get a look at the front body mount bolt. Looks like they glued the carpet/pad to the floor with spray adhesive (of course they did). #NeverEasy

[HO455]

Nice looking truck!

[jonmc56]

TBONE1964 made me a white faced voltmeter to replace my ammeter. I think he said that I got the first white faced volt gauge that he has built. I think it looks great, haven't tested it yet - but took the opportunity to replace all the bulbs, and clean all the contacts on the back of the cluster. Bench tested all the lights so that hopefully I only have to reinstall the cluster one time.

[jonmc56]

Looong time with no updates on my thread. Going to post a couple of "catch-up" updates...
Last winter I painted the underside of my cab. Mostly because I lack good sense. I was able to paint the underside of the bed last time I had it off, and it bothered me that the underside of the cab still had a good coating of grease and road crud on it, and I couldn't really tell how well sealed up the metal was. Degreasing, prepping, and painting the underside of a cab while it's on the truck (on your back with the truck on jack stands) really isn't fun, but this is one of those things that happens when you buy a truck that someone else has restored. Mostly happy with the outcome though, and also made a new wiring harness that runs the full length of the truck to the rear lights while I was at it. I used good GXL wire this time, which was nice stuff to work with.

[jonmc56]

Last winter I also replaced the cab mount bushings and the core support bushings. It mostly went pretty well, except for the fact that the carpet was glued to the cab floor with spray adhesive, which made it tougher to get to the front cab mount bolts. Also, the spacers/sleeves in the core support bushings were WELDED to the upper washer, and dropped in from the TOP SIDE. Huh? All was well once I cut the spacer with a sawzall and saw what I was dealing with. No idea whether this is how these are meant to be (the new parts weren't welded together).

[jonmc56]

I've never been happy with the way that the driver door latches, so next up was to replace the latch and relay. At some point someone put the inner door handle on with the horseshoe clip on backwards, so that the open end of the horseshoe clip was on the wrong side of the handle, the side without the grooves that the removal tool fits into. After fiddling with it for a couple of hours, I finally had to cut it off.
Even with the new latch and relay, I'm still not happy with the way the door latches. If I adjust the striker so that the door latches well every time, the door is hanging out too far. If I adjust the striker so that the door lines up even with the cab, I have to slam the door pretty hard to get it to latch.
The striker looks in good shape, and has been replaced at some point.
Would love to hear any ideas about how to fix this.

[jonmc56]

Another catch-up post. Last spring I was getting the truck ready for a trip to Roseburg for the 2019 Graffiti Weekend, and noticed that one of my brake caliper hoses had developed a leak. I went through 6-8 copper crush washers trying to get it to seal. I checked the mounting surface of the caliper for burrs, I checked the sealing surfaces of the brake hose, and made sure the hose orientation was correct. Nothing worked, it would still leak. What was odd is that the hose wouldn't observably leak under braking pressure, but would make a puddle of brake fluid on the floor when the truck was parked overnight.

I finally heard about 'stat-o-seal' washers, that have a synthetic rubber "O" ring mechanically locked to the I.D. of an aluminum washer. I was running out of time to get this fixed, so I tried some. They sealed on the first try! I'm sold on these things!

[jonmc56]

Graffiti Weekend in Roseburg Oregon is a great event, it includes show and shines, a downtown cruise, collector car auction, and more. We had a good time, but the best part is the fun run on Sunday, sortof like a poker run in the beautiful wine country outside Roseburg. I love driving my truck!

[jonmc56]

Last catch-up post for today.
Last August on a Friday night we took our truck to the local Dairy Queen cruise in. I normally don't open the hood at these kinds of things, but somebody asked me a question about the engine, and I left the hood open after that.

At the end of the evening I started the truck to leave, and it was running really rough. It died a couple of times when I put it in gear, which isn't normal. When I got to the stop sign at the parking lot exit, I noticed that I had no power brakes. Something was up, so I pulled over and popped the hood. I saw that the cover to the brake booster check valve was missing (see pic), and then found it sitting on the battery. This kind of thing happens to other people too, right?

I limped the truck back to a store to get some super glue, and once I glued the cover back onto the check valve, all was well.

Wasn't so much surprised that the check valve fell apart, but more surprised at finding the cap sitting on the battery after driving 2 blocks.

Super glue got us home safe, but I later bought a billet aluminum check valve from Summit. I know, I know, it's an overkill solution, but who doesn't love a big chunk of billet aluminum?

[cornerstone]

I remember not that long ago, there was another forum member who had a similar experience... at a car show, left truck on display with hood up, came back to discover the check valve missing from booster. Later discovered the valve sitting on the battery. I think they assumed a thief pulled the part successfully, but got spooked and was afraid to go through with it so he set it down out of sight and walked away. Your scenario would explain it. I bet it happened before the guy parked the truck, and didn't notice it when he first raised the hood.

By the way, the new check valve looks great!