Palf's 1970 Custom/10

[OutlawDrifter]

Looking good Bill!

[Palf70Step]

Put some paint on the body work. The base coat/clear coat doesn't blend super well with the 30 year old single stage, but it should do till I repaint the whole truck. Cleaned it up and took him for a drive before it started to rain.

[Shifty One]

Better than it was...

[Palf70Step]

Didn't get to play with truck this week. Had to go to Wichita, KSA area foir my daughter's wedding and do the dad thing.

[OutlawDrifter]

Congrats Bill! Best wishes to the new couple...you were about 3hrs southwest of me!

[Palf70Step]

Finally catching up . Got the new headers on, Sanderson, kinda runs like the ran horns instead of the long tube. I really like them. Muffler guy hooked up the new headers to my old exhaust. He worked to make sure I could access the starter for removal (if ever needed) and clearance for the oil filter. I went with these because they were the only ones I could find that would clear the manual on the tree linkages. so Far I like them a lot. If there is any HP loose, I sure don't notice it. About a month till it racks up a bunch of miles for our Cruising the Coast event.

[GSFMECH]

That looks good Bill.

[Palf70Step]

Update the daily. Found some 17 inch alloys off a Lexus GX470 to replace the 16 inch steel rims. Not perfect, but I like the look. Now to get going on cleaning up the 70 to get ready for Cruisin the Coast in 2 weeks

[Getter-Done]

Those contours in those wheels really blend with the body lines of the truck.

[Palf70Step]

Well Cruising the Coast has ended for another year. My co-pilot and I had a great time. Looking forward to the next one.

[Palf70Step]

Been gathering parts for last several months to change my 70 from a 3 on the tree to T350 automatic. Old body says clutch is becoming a big no no. Any how I started disassembly while T350 was getting rebuild (Its set in old shed since 2005 and it had been acting up in friends truck then. It took more than I expected to get the sagniaw out. Never had to remove a manual with the bell housing before. The 2 lower bolts for the trans cones from inside the bell housing. Not reachable friendly when still hooked to engine and flywheel and clutch is in the way.. Did get it out and apart. The bell housing cross member was a pain since I couldn't get my cutoff wheel in there to cut most of them off (only 4 lower ones accessable). I had to use smallish die grinder and air chisel. Took about 2-3 hours per rivet (10 total) to grind their heads down, so the could be punched out.

So now for things to start going back in. Just got tranny back today from rebuild. Turns out it had bad pump and drum along with a bazillion miles on it.. Hope to lift it into place this weekend. Working on getting the tilt column installed and few things ready on inside, then I get to practice strong adjective words as I get the T350 lifted in.

[Palf70Step]

Got the new transmission in. Still have to do the column, linkages and a few other tidbits. Hope to fire things up next week. Had to slide transmission under truck and lift it with 2 ratchet straps onto my transmission jack. After that it was sort of easy. Running the prebent trans cooler lines sure brought out some verbiage also.

[OutlawDrifter]

Looking good Bill!

[Getter-Done]

Great swap.

That is a Nice looking crossmember.

Believe it or not,
Someone will want that old 3 speed.

[Palf70Step]

Finally got everything done on the swap, and cleared up some electrical issues. It's weird getting in and not having to go for the clutch.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Looks great bill...

[Palf70Step]

Old guy is doing OK. Did around 400 miles at the Cruising the Coast event this past week. No issues with trans or any overheating issues since it was so hot most of the week. Record number of participant for CTC, 10,334 registered and probably another 5K+ that showed up. Got a couple things that showed up, but I'll look at them once wife and I get back from our trip.

[OutlawDrifter]

Very cool, Bill! Always good when new modifications work out.

[Palf70Step]

First day out in about 6 weeks. The ole guy met its partner in crime and then we just cruised about the town for while. Good to have her out again. Sorta getting use to the automatic, didn't try to manually shift it once today

[Palf70Step]

Replaced the 20+ year old shocks (before 2002 is all I know) today. I was sorta surprised on how few options there is for stock height trucks. Went with the KYB Gas-A-Just. Heard the folks on board here seem to like them and I have had OK luck with them before on other vehicles. The old ones were really worn. I think the rears were Monroe, but couldn't find any marks on the fronts to know their brand.