Roostre's 1967 C20

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

Sweet wheel: I put one in my '81, they were all the rage in high school. When I am driving my truck, I am still in high school.

Thanks, I am really looking forward to trying it on the road!

[D.B]

The wheel looks nice. I did the same with my 72 and switched it over.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by D.B

The wheel looks nice. I did the same with my 72 and switched it over.

It looks even better with your wood trim!

[Roostre]

It was a little warmer today, so I decided to paint my back up and taillight fixtures. I was trying to decide the best way to make my taillights brighter when I saw this suggestion in another thread. The paint is rustoleum gloss white applied with a cheap foam brush.

As can be seen in the before picture, the last person to paint the truck really didn't care about overspray. The backup bulbs also had some primer overspray on them. Now I need to get 4 new bulbs.

[Steeveedee]

That'll work well, but I've painted fixtures with chrome paint in the past. I have LED stuff now, so kind of moot.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

That'll work well, but I've painted fixtures with chrome paint in the past. I have LED stuff now, so kind of moot.

I bet chrome works equally well, I went with white because that's what the local hardware store had in a little can. I didn't want to have to mask everything off to spray it. I also thought about going LED, but that wouldn't go with the look that I'm working on for this truck.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by Roostre

It was a little warmer today, so I decided to paint my back up and taillight fixtures. I was trying to decide the best way to make my taillights brighter when I saw this suggestion in another thread. The paint is rustoleum gloss white applied with a cheap foam brush.

As can be seen in the before picture, the last person to paint the truck really didn't care about overspray. The backup bulbs also had some primer overspray on them. Now I need to get 4 new bulbs.

At least with the old bulbs in place, paint didn't get on the contacts. If you're reshooting the inside of your taillight fixtures, you can stuff the sockets with damp tissue paper. It dries as a hard pellet, and keeps stray spray paint out. You pop 'em out with a screwdriver.
I used spray Aluminum paint on the inside of the taillights on my Stepside.
I have tried LEDs but don't like the pixel look. Also they're finicky with polarity.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Roostre

I bet chrome works equally well, I went with white because that's what the local hardware store had in a little can. I didn't want to have to mask everything off to spray it. I also thought about going LED, but that wouldn't go with the look that I'm working on for this truck.

There's folks on a different forum that swear that white paint is the best color for making bright lights.

Things are looking good. I like your steering wheel, it looks sharp.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

At least with the old bulbs in place, paint didn't get on the contacts. If you're reshooting the inside of your taillight fixtures, you can stuff the sockets with damp tissue paper. It dries as a hard pellet, and keeps stray spray paint out. You pop 'em out with a screwdriver.
I used spray Aluminum paint on the inside of the taillights on my Stepside.
I have tried LEDs but don't like the pixel look. Also they're finicky with polarity.

Yeah, it's true that at least the previous owner primed the back up bulbs and not the sockets. Damp tissue paper is a good trick, I went with brushing the paint on because I didn't want to try to mask off the sockets or the body around the fixtures. I also didn't want to remove the fixtures again and risk the good grounds I have going.
The LED pixel look can be good on some vehicles, it's just not what I'm looking for on this truck.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by HO455

There folks on a different forum that swear that white paint is the best color for making bright lights.

Things are looking good. I like your steering wheel, it looks sharp.

I have no doubt it will be a lot better than the red overspray on dirty galvanized steel.

Thank you, I'm very happy with how it's turning out.

[Roostre]

Yesterday I burned a vacation day, and where better to spend that time than in the shop. First, I installed new door locks. I never did have keys for the doors, so I ordered replacements from Rock Auto. They came in a 2-pack, were less than $20, and fit with no issues. While I had the inner door panels off, I lubed everything up, and now my doors and locks work like they should.

After that, I was going to work on my radio and an associated project that I will post about later, but my box of new Toyota H4 headlights were sitting on the bench calling to me. So after I drew out a square body radio to 67-72 dash adapter plate, I got started on the headlight replacement. I got the idea and Toyota part number from another thread. As can be seen in a later picture, my headlights weren't great with the right one being older and dimmer than the left one. I hadn't gotten a new sealed beam replacement for the right one yet, and I stumbled across the thread about the Toyota Landcruiser headlights being an upgrade to H4 fixtures and bulbs. After a little looking, I found a Toyota dealership in Richmond, VA, that had the kit for $17.74 and would ship them to me in MN for $15. So I ordered the kit, and a few days later it was here.

Because I had already converted my headlight circuits to run on relays, swapping the headlights was a simple matter of replacing the sealed beam headlights with the H4 assemblies. The only hiccup I came across was that I needed to enlarge the hole in the back of my headlight buckets to accept the rubber seal on the back of the H4 assemblies. I used my plasma cutter to blast out most of the material and a sanding drum chucked into my drill press to finish removing the material and smooth out the transition. I also decided to replace my back of headlight wire connectors with the ones off of the Toyota harness because they connected a lot more securely to the back of the new headlight bulbs.

The new H4 headlight lenses are flat, and stick out about 1/2 inch beyond the steel mounting ring. People on this site have cut sealed beam lenses apart and replaced the Toyota lenses with the cut ones. I decided that I can live with the Toyota lenses for now, we'll see if they bother me and I can always cut my old headlights apart later.

I'll have to separate my pictures into two posts. So, for this first one, we have a picture of the new headlight and how it looks sticking out of my driver's side trim. Also is a picture of the Toyota box with part label. There is a picture showing how much of the bucket I trimmed out versus the factory one, and finally the back of the Toyota lens installed in the truck with the rubber seal around it in the newly trimmed bucket.

[Roostre]

This next set of pictures will be comparison old to new. This is in my shop and mid-day with cardboard over the windows blocking as much light as possible and shining against a door about 10 feet away from the front of the truck. Not as good as a midnight on a dirt road comparison, but the best I could do considering. First is the old headlights on in the truck. Next is the new headlights on in the truck. Then is the old headlights, I think high beams, shining against the shop door. You can tell it's the old ones because the driver's side is brighter than the passenger's side. Then is the new high beams. Finally, is a shot of the new low beams. Once it warms up and I get the truck back outside, I will have to make final adjustments to the lights, but they are close enough for comparison purposes.

Overall, I'm very happy with this upgrade. I'm not a fan of most aftermarket headlights because I don't think they would look right with the rest of my truck. These give me an updated light without looking out of place. And you really can't beat the price.

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by Roostre

This next set of pictures will be comparison old to new. This is in my shop and mid-day with cardboard over the windows blocking as much light as possible and shining against a door about 10 feet away from the front of the truck. Not as good as a midnight on a dirt road comparison, but the best I could do considering. First is the old headlights on in the truck. Next is the new headlights on in the truck. Then is the old headlights, I think high beams, shining against the shop door. You can tell it's the old ones because the driver's side is brighter than the passenger's side. Then is the new high beams. Finally, is a shot of the new low beams. Once it warms up and I get the truck back outside, I will have to make final adjustments to the lights, but they are close enough for comparison purposes.

Overall, I'm very happy with this upgrade. I'm not a fan of most aftermarket headlights because I don't think they would look right with the rest of my truck. These give me an updated light without looking out of place. And you really can't beat the price.

great write up thank u

[HO455]

Great work! Do the new lights have glass lenses?

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

great write up thank u

You're welcome, it's also very beneficial to me to keep a record of what I did and how I did it.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by HO455

Great work! Do the new lights have glass lenses?

Thanks! Yes, they are glass lenses. They are surprisingly good quality for how much I paid for them.

[Roostre]

It's unseasonably beautiful today, so I decided to install my radio over lunch. As I said in an earlier post, my truck had an aftermarket radio in it, but whoever installed it did not completely destroy the dash. They just ground on the knob holes a little bit. The radio that was in it was from the 90's, and looked terrible. I had an aftermarket Panasonic from the early 80's with an 8 track player. So, I drew up an adapter plate that would nicely cover the stock holes in my dash and mount the 80's radio. I had it cut out of 1/8" aluminum plate. I installed the radio, and wired it up to the single dash speaker that my truck had in it, and the radio fired right up!

When I first tore this truck apart to do the body work, I filled and smoothed the antenna hole in the cowl. I had an unknown hidden antenna for many years, so I figured I would try that. While it is a nice day, it is not warm enough for double sided tape to stick to steel, so I ended up wedging the antenna between the gas tank and fuel line, and ran the antenna cord to the radio. Imagine my shock then the radio picked up several stations inside my block with steel roof shop. This antenna is working better than I could hope.

Finally, since I figured I would not have a reliable antenna, I decided I wanted Bluetooth. As I said before, my radio is equipped with 8 track. I decided to see if there was an 8 track Bluetooth adapter. I couldn't find one for a reasonable price, so I grabbed a Charlie Rich Greatest Hits 8 track and made my own by gutting a cassette to Bluetooth adapter. For the Charlie Rich fans out there, don't worry, it didn't have The Most Beautiful Girl on it, so how comprehensive was it, really? My homemade adapter works pretty well, but I think my 8 track head unit needs some adjustment and or a good cleaning because I need to move the 8 track around in the stereo a little bit to get full volume out of it. But, it was a really cool project and I'm happy with it.

So the pictures. First is the installed radio, next the antenna behind the seat, and finally the radio with the 8 track to Bluetooth adapter in it.

[Roostre]

I finished installing seatbelts over the weekend. I went with shoulder belts, and they mostly went in just fine. The belt retractor did not fit on the driver's side because I still have my fuel tank behind the seat. I ended up making a bracket to move the mounting point forward and closer to the seat. It ended up working well, the belt works, and the seat still has full range of motion. I'm happy with it.

Saturday was a beautiful day, so I adjusted the timing on the truck a little bit. It runs and starts beautifully now. I moved it outside and let it sit idling while I cleaned out the shop. It got up to full operating temperature, so I restarted it to see how happy my timing was. It fired right back up. Now I just need to get new tires. Unfortunately, we're likely in for at least a month of winter weather yet.

[raggedjim]

I really like what you did with the 8-track Bluetooth conversion. I love old 8-track players.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Roostre

, I drew up an adapter plate that would nicely cover the stock holes in my dash and mount the 80's radio. I had it cut out of 1/8" aluminum plate. I installed the radio, and wired it up to the single dash speaker that my truck had in it, and the radio fired right up!

When I first tore this truck apart to do the body work, I filled and smoothed the antenna hole in the cowl. I had an unknown hidden antenna for many years, so I figured I would try that. This antenna is working better than I could hope.

For the Charlie Rich fans out there, don't worry, it didn't have The Most Beautiful Girl on it, so how comprehensive was it, really? My homemade adapter works pretty well, but I think my 8 track head unit needs some adjustment and or a good cleaning because I need to move the 8 track around in the stereo a little bit to get full volume out of it. But, it was a really cool project and I'm happy with it.

Excellent work! Lots of what you've done is familiar with my truck.

I too made an adapter plate so I could install a factory radio in my truck after a PO opened up the holes for a din mount. And the PO filled the antenna hole in the cowl so my antenna is ty-rapped under the dash. It works surprisingly well.

And lastly I do remember back in the day having to wedge a book of matches under an 8-track tape to get them to play well.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I really like what you did with the 8-track Bluetooth conversion. I love old 8-track players.

Thank you. I really like this radio as well. It originally came in an 81 pickup that I bought many years ago. I ended up selling that pickup to a friend of mine who made it into a trailer. He decided that the radio was too neat to let go to scrap, so he pulled it out. He installed it in his ice house for a couple of years, and when I mentioned I needed a radio, he gave it back to me. I know I could have found a cheap DIN radio with Bluetooth already, but like you, I like the old 8-track players and am happy I was able to find the way to make a converter online.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by HO455

Excellent work! Lots of what you've done is familiar with my truck.

I too made an adapter plate so I could install a factory radio in my truck after a PO opened up the holes for a din mount. And the PO filled the antenna hole in the cowl so my antenna is ty-rapped under the dash. It works surprisingly well.

And lastly I do remember back in the day having to wedge a book of matches under an 8-track tape to get them to play well.

Thanks! As you can see in this close up, my dash wasn't completely destroyed, they just ground in the knob holes a little bit. The radio that was in there was meant to look like a DIN radio in an 80's truck. Because the 8-track radio was meant for the 80's truck, it still didn't fill the dash correctly, so I had to make the adapter plate. I'm very happy with it.

I'm also really impressed with how much my antenna actually picks up. I figured being inside an old steel cab, it would be terrible. But in the cab with the truck parked in my cinderblock shop, it still managed to pick up half a dozen FM radio stations. Better than I could hope for.

I will definitely try the wedging a book of matches under my Bluetooth 8-track trick. I was going to do something like that, but ran out of time that day. As a proof of concept, I put the adapter into my shop stereo, and it worked great, so I know it's a worn-in radio rather than the 8-track.

[raggedjim]

Some of the time there will be a small hole in the body of the player where you can insert a screw driver and adjust the tracking. It's a trial by error process and, if you try it, be gentle! Those things are 50 years old! Some of the head carriers are plastic and will crack (I've had to plastic weld a few).

Good luck, Rg

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Some of the time there will be a small hole in the body of the player where you can insert a screw driver and adjust the tracking. It's a trial by error process and, if you try it, be gentle! Those things are 50 years old! Some of the head carriers are plastic and will crack (I've had to plastic weld a few).

Good luck, Rg

Thanks for the tip, I figured there should be a way to adjust the pickup in the player. I just wasn't sure and haven't looked closely at the truck radio yet. 8-tracks are a few years before my time, I'm much more of a cassette kid.

Also, I've been watching your ash tray to cup holder conversion on your build thread. I'm seriously thinking about trying it out on mine.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Check the rubber capstan roller inside each cart[ridge].
My Dad left me a '73 Lincoln Continental with factory Philco 8-Track. Worked OK, until I tried a cart from a used book store. The roller had gone gummy and smeared goop all inside my player. Effectively killed it, as I had no way of getting the unit out of the highly vinylized dash without breaking stuff.