52 Weekends Project

[dmack91]

"I decide to hold off on replacing the leaking speedo cable. I need to pull the instrument panel to replaced burned out bulbs so I will do it then. "

No offense, but the speedo cable should be isolated from the trans fluid. On a TH400, there is an o-ring that needs to be replaced (did mine off BollyBib's instructions on his build). On the TH350, I believe the leaky part is called a "bullet".. If you do a search, you should find some threads on how to fix the leak.

[Z1971]

Thanks for the input, I will do some research. I will never take offense since I am a novice. Part of the reason for posting these projects is for advice and information.

[gcburdic]

been 3 weekends....so what ya being up to on the build???

[Z1971]

I have still been at it. I took the memory card out of the camera to avoid my wife's itchy delete finger. I forgot that tiny black objects are easy to lose in my garage. I went out and bought her a new camera so that the old one is now my "project" camera. I am sure the memory card will show up soon. I do have some photos I can post.

I may have to change the name of this to "71 projects". I have had some enginge cutting out problems at different times (every other day for just a second). I am betting it is the distributor and am ordering an HEI soon. I thought I should make sure it wasn't a fuel issue, so I changed the fuel pump and filter.


The truck came with no sign of a glove box. I picked one up from H & H classic parts because I like their pretty catalog. After an initial attempt (I did not want to bend it like several members said was required), I realized the former owner had botched the vent lines. After looking and a few manuals and the LMC catalog (also pretty), I untaped the hoses and put them right. You can see he ran the passenger vent to the defrost.



After removing the glove box door, I was able to slide the left side in first and popped it in with no bending. A quick trip to Home Depot for some black #8 sheetmetal screws and my genuine reproduction copy of an owner's manual had a pretty new home.


Next, safety with a sweet side benefit. Got a ("a" meaning one since I did not read the "2 required") seatbelt kit. I first carefully removed the little plastic caps over the upper seatbelt anchors.

The instuctions were kind of generic and not for a C10 so I had to flip the lower anchor a couple of times to get it right. I will post some pictures of the way I have it along with some sweet mice poop pics when I find that memory card. Here is the top before I tighten everything up and started on the passenger side.


Now for the sweet side benefit. I had two holes from the original mirror. The last owner just left them open. I had been running around with tape over them for months to keep the rain out. They were the exact size of the anchor covers.

[Low Elco]

Sa-weet! I love it when a plan comes together! Did pretty much the same thing when I took the tire carrier off my s-blazer.

[Low Elco]

Oh, and we put a Summit HEI in ours, made a world of difference. Make sure you use the vac adv. Like $100 ish. Worth every nickel.

[67cheby]

nice start !!

[Z1971]

Summit has an HEI for 80 bucks and Jeg's has a MSD HEI for 120. I am a little concerned about my oval air cleaner. I don't have a better picture with me, but it is pretty tight with the oem point setup. May need to go with a Pertronix Ignitor II Kit or maybe just a new cap and rotor.

[gcburdic]

may I recommend sticking with the plastic fuel filter housing...the glass one you got could break and spew fuel on the hot engine and cause fire possibly....JMHO

[Z1971]

Thanks, I will do that. I have not put the Mr. Gasket one on yet because I am getting a new fuel/carb inlet. The old one is pretty rust and looks like it was put on with a pipe wrench.

[Z1971]

I few little updates and a few questions. I am still spending most off my time on leaks. One problem is antifreeze weeping out of freeze plugs. My plan was to change them all. I have changed oil twice and have seen no antifreeze. After a lot of research, I decided to try Bar's Copper. Kinda like the Seafoam, I was unsure of "snakeoil" cures, but so far it appears to have stopped the half dozen little drips that would appear under the truck. (Of antifreeze at least)

I also changed a few parts on the HVAC system and replaced vacuum lines in preparing for the AC reinstall.

You can see my new fuel pump in that pic also. Which brings me to my questions. Like Geoff suggested, I did not use the Mr. Gasket glass filter and got a Fram plastic one instead. After I checked the old one I noticed it was installed backward and part of the paper filter appeared blown out. I went ahead and swapped it out.

Now my idle is way down now. Went on a parts run and it died at a stoplight. Although it started right up the first time, it was very hard to start after it sat for a few minutes. Am I wrong that the arrow on the filter is the direction of the fuel flow? Did the blown out and backward filter allow a lower idle setting? Is it unrelated to the filter?
BTW, HEI will fit.

[Z1971]

I KNOW IT HAS BEEN MONTHS. I have not given up. The weekend projects keep rolling. It has never failed to get me to work on Monday morning. I finished a few in the wee hours of Monday morning. Everytime I start to post, I start reading someone's cool project and put off posting my novice work. I will try and be better.

When I put in the new steering box, I did not try and change out everything. Probably not the best idea, but I am doing my best to plan projects I can finish in 48 hour. Time for the pump.
The old pump probably put a bunch of bad things into my new box and I know the lines were number 12 on my leak list.


The pump is a rebuilt Fenco from Advanced Auto (they know me well there) and I got the hose from LMC (I just love their showroom). A couple of the reviews on AA site said their hoses did not line up well and LMC pump was twice the price of AA.
I also had to borrow the AA pulley tool. I could not get that sucker off. I bent a little cheap one I had for years. I also ended up having to grind off a little of the bracket to make the pump fit. You can see the shiny edge on the top of the bracket. Didn't need but about an 1/8 removed.

Speaking of jobs half done. The front brakes were one of the first things I did, it was scary when I got it. That got me by for a few weeks, but still had a few close calls. Here is why.

Not worn too thin, but this can't be good.
Thought about putting off installing new lines, but they were rusted on. I thought the clip on the axle tube has "grown" shut, put it opened up easily.

I ordered everything off page 150 of the LMC bible. Even with the Advanced Auto's online discount and Early CLassic's kit price, I couldn't find a better deal. I gave the Raybestos drums a coat of VHT black after a good cleaning.

I would like to thank all those board member's who posted about brakes, I had never rebuilt drums before. Special thanks to Rack Man for his nice pics and this awesome link http://www.pbase.com/nufsed/drumbrake I put my laptop in the garage and kept running back to it after every spring.


Here are a few pictures with some follow up. I few weeks before the brakes, I addressed the leaking diff cover. I used no gasket, just Right Stuff from Permatex, as was suggested by a few members. Just scraped the surface and sprayed with brake cleaner. The pics show the project, with last one taken after the new brake lines. No leaking.

[bgwss]

Thanks for posting the drum brake link! Glad to see you are making progress!

[Z1971]

A keen eye can see the progress by the street in front of my house. I often leave it parked there because of the leaks. I powerwashed it in the spring. Stains not so bad now.

[kcsa75]

Hello Neighbor, I can't believe I've not seen this thread before.

Anyway, I'm in Lenexa and have a very similar project. Bought my 72 LWB in Oct. 2010 and have been doing projects here and there ever since. Didn't plan on it being a DD when I bought it, but circumstances changed and that's pretty much what it is. I've got most of the mechanicals in pretty good shape, and am turning my attention to the interior next. Then the outside.

Don't know what part of town you're in, but would be interested in getting together and comparing notes sometime.

Also, the Midwest All-Truck Nationals are just a few weeks away up in Riverside. Hope you can make it.

[Z1971]

I am in Overland Park, but you can see my truck parked by the Courthouse in Olathe everyday. Would like to get together sometimes, and yes I plan on Midwest Nationals and I think Goodguys the week before.

[True 67]

I wish I could have bought my 67/70 in daily driver condition with just weekend projects. I must say that this is certainly the route to go if you can and you are not doing a full blown restoration..Great job or jobs ...

True

[Tinkermc]

I like your idea of Fri and Monday makes a lot of sense and will keep you interested a lot longer. Have fun enjoy life and drive it like you stole it.

[RCbowtie69]

Nice work,keep the pictures coming & keep on truckin'

[Low Elco]

Hoping to do both events as well. Look for the yellow truck, first rounds on me!
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[Z1971]

My 52 weekends have flown by. Of course I did not get a project done every weekend. I got a family and I have found that it is easier to put the truck in the driveway and have the garage free to lay out parts. That means the weather contolled a few weekends. I have knocked out 30 weekends of projects in 50 weeks. Some were not worth mentioning, replaced some of the wiring in the cobbled up rat's nest under the dash, replace vacuum lines, new temp sensor connector and went back and took care of little things on projects that were finished in the wee hours.

I have wrapped up a couple of big projects and I have pics, because everyone loves picture. I had problems with it stalling at stop lights and the mileage was more gallons per mile than miles per gallon. Plan a was to rebuild the Holley. I am a novice and most things and carb rebuilding ranks up there with self dentistry. I tried to rebuild a quadrajet on the kitchen table 25 years ago and ended up taking it to a shop to fix my fix. The Holley on my truck was a basket case. I had fuel leaking out several areas and the secondary was held shut with baling wire.

Can you see those puddles of gas, I know that can't be good. After looking at all the parts that were missing and knowing I wasn't going to make it to work on Monday with the carb on the kitchen table, I went with Plan B.

I went to the parts store to pick up a book on rebuilding Holleys and stumbled across a new Edelbrock 1406 600cfm with electric choke. I had a 15 % off and figured $250 was worth the saved headache. I also had a little gift from the Fedex guy and thought the time saved could allow 2 projects in one weekend.


Jegs had a deal for an HEI, plug wire, power and tach wiring and a new clap and bolt. Got it all and a plug wire crimper for less than $150. The 8mm wire set was a do it yourself set with open end on one side and staight boots on the other. I thought this would be a pain, but they included a bag of all kinds of plug boots so I could mix and match to fit best around the headers. The straight boots worked for most, with two angled boots for the rear two plugs on the drivers side. Accel had a nice video online to show how to use their tool.

The carb came off easy although the Edelbrock carb would not fit. The egr block off plate on the Edelbrock intake hit the carb body.

I spent the evening trying to figure out this problem. It seems a carb riser plate was the only fix that did not involve an angle grinder. Luckily the local parts place had a cheap Mr. Gasket plate that fit great. Google HEI swaps and went at it.

I ended up just following the Jegs instruction sheet. It was just one page with no pictures, I used my new knowledge from Youtube and filled in the blanks. The Edelbrock instructions were great, easier than I thought. You can't complain much when the thing starts.

Rebleed the brakes and picked up a buffing wheel and cheap wax this week. No projects next weekend, Goodguy's are in KC. See you there.

[Z1971]

It has been awhile since I posted, but I am still driving it everyday. Not working on it every weekend. I have done several weekend projects and have a few pictures.

After replacing every brake line and front and rear everything, it was still a bit soft. I bled it three times in three months. I decided a new master and booster were needed.


I went with an ebay special that Classic Performance had. It was cheaper than a rebuilt.

The little cap on the front of the booster vacuum check valve popped off the first week. I limped home with a plastic water bottle lid I found in the bed. Picked up a Dorman check valve at the parts store that night and my brakes are working great. They should, since EVERYTHING is now new.

I had a tiny radiator leak that I fixed with some JB Weld. It slowly got worse. I kept some antifreeze in the bed and added a little every once and awhile. One day I came out to my truck after work and the Meter maid had left me a note letting me know I was leaking (no ticket). I decided that this would be the next project.



I ordered what was supposed to be an exact replacement, but it was not as thick as my original. I already had the old one out before I noticed it so I went ahead and put it in. Went in perfect and has survived all summer running cooler than the old one.

I finally have a speedometer. I had fiddled with my leaking "bullet" the drips had slowed down. I asked the parts counter guy at the local Chevy dealership about the part and he found a dealer down the road with 10 in stock. After pulling my old beat up one, I reused the speedo gear and picked up a new speedometer cable at LMC.


My old cable was pretty stripped up, as was the bullet. BTW, I took off the rubber donut seal after I removed it. It was just worn out. The plastic gear (mine was brown 18-tooth) looked new. I forgot to take a picture, but this is what they look like new.
I am pretty close to being leak free. I have done some A/C work and will try to finish that project soon.

[Low Elco]

Glad to see you still at it! Congrats on the upgrades. You comin' to the Nats? Starting to get a good crowd going, would love to see ya there!

[Z1971]

Yes I am coming. Planned on it last year, but missed it. I won't this year.