Trying to make Junky perhaps just a little bit Funky...

[DD1]

Originally Posted by Hogshooter

I was only talking about the areas you were plug welding. I have students make some practice welds on the same materials at the same angle to get comfortable with it before you weld your parts.

Yeah, I figured that out after you pretty much spelled it out for me in your last post. I'm entitled to the occasional dumb moment!

I will definitely need to practice. My plan is to get the floor in position, following someone's advice (can't remember who), use sheet metal screws to hold the floor in place once it's lined up. Then weld it in.

I am getting better with the tedious stuff that takes time. Patience is not one of my virtues. I was actually impressed with myself for patiently taking the time to clean off the contact area and paint it.

[DD1]

Been busy this weekend working on a home improvement project, but I did put the wife to work on the floor for a little while. Got her to paint the rust encapsulator underneath the floor. Will give it a touch up in certain areas, and hopefully be able to test fit this weekend. Had to take advantage of the unusually nice weather for late October. Won't be too many more days where we can paint easily.

[sduckworth13]

Hey Darien, hope the floor install is going well.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Hey Darien, hope the floor install is going well.

Thanks, Scott. I was hoping to have at least fitted it by now, but have had so much stuff going on. Fortunately I got the weld primer and the encapsulator on while the weather was still decent.

This is probably the last halfway decent weekend we will have for a while, so I plan to get the pan installed, clamped, and maybe held with sheet metal screws this weekend. The welding will probably come another weekend.

[sduckworth13]

Good to hear your still at it. Looking forward to seeing the new floor when you get it installed.

[DD1]

Okay, so last weekend (not the nice warm one we just had - I spent that doing home improvement projects at my house and at the in-laws), my wife's cousin came over and helped me left the floor pan. It kinda, sorta, maybe fit in place.

I used some sheet metal screws to hold it in place. Not going to weld anything until I get the door pillar, inner cowl panel, rear pillar, and cab corners, lined up.

The back of the floor looks pretty good. The front is going to need some work getting it to match up. Hopefully I am up to the task.

Going to have to spend some time in the winter getting this lined up properly. There are of course some gaps in the front where the floor pan meets the firewall, but I was expecting that. I have to figure out what the best way to bang everything in shape is. Any suggestions, please post.

Here is the back and front of the floor:




What is confusing me is that it seems to line up pretty well, but the door pillar seems to be too far in on one side. Not sure if you can see it in the first pic below:

Here is the other side door pillar:


And of course the new floor was not molded to match the cab exactly:


Finally, here is the pics of the gaps where the floor meets the firewall. It's not so much that there is a gap, but it seems like I can't get them lined up so they meet each other completely flat.

[DD1]

Happy New Year!

Since my last post, I have messed around with the cab a little bit and maybe figured out a couple of next steps. I will admit that as much as I planned on going out to the garage in the winter, the cold has kept me away more than I would have liked.

My working on the cab is going to be further delayed by my having surgery on my shoulder on Tuesday. I had a fall in April that resulted in what was supposed to be a small tear in the labrum. When attempting to fix it, they realized it's worse than expected and I will probably have to have another operation later this year.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season and has a Happy New Year! I will post again when I recover from the surgery and have full use of my arm again. Here is a pic of me after coming home from the surgery on Tuesday.

[sduckworth13]

Sorry to hear about your shoulder Darien, hope you have a speedy recovery.

[67c10rustbuket]

I dig that cab bracing. Looks like you got the floor pretty well fitted. I hope your shoulder gets better soon, and that mean cat leaves you alone . Keep at it on step at a time and you will get her done.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Sorry to hear about your shoulder Darien, hope you have a speedy recovery.

Thanks, Scott.

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

I dig that cab bracing. Looks like you got the floor pretty well fitted. I hope your shoulder gets better soon, and that mean cat leaves you alone . Keep at it on step at a time and you will get her done.

Thanks, Dan! And, he stuck by my side the entire week! He's a great cat!


Update: Unfortunately, I was having some extremely extricating back pain last weekend, and ended up going to the hospital on Sunday. Turns out I had blood clots in my right arm and lung. I was released on Tuesday evening and recovering at home. On blood thinners for 6 months, so I'll need to be really careful if I pick up a grinder! Have to spend the next couple of weeks trying to recover and getting my shoulder back to normal.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

I dig that cab bracing. Looks like you got the floor pretty well fitted. I hope your shoulder gets better soon, and that mean cat leaves you alone . Keep at it on step at a time and you will get her done.

Oh, Dan, I forgot to add. My issue with the floor is that it does not line up well where it meets the firewall. There are gaps in between them across the cab; the firewall side is not nice and smooth like the floor side. I think I need to bang on the firewall end a bit to get it into shape. I also need to install the door pillar and the inner cowl panel before I finish the floor.

[mattfranklin]

I hope your recovery is going well. I want to say that I'm really enjoying reading through this build thread.

My rust issues are pretty small compared to yours, but it's really instructive and fun to read. And it will be a great reference when the time comes to do my work.

Great pictures and descriptions. Awesome attitude. And great advice from the other guys on the site.

I look forward to your being back up to speed.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mattfranklin

I hope your recovery is going well. I want to say that I'm really enjoying reading through this build thread.

My rust issues are pretty small compared to yours, but it's really instructive and fun to read. And it will be a great reference when the time comes to do my work.

Great pictures and descriptions. Awesome attitude. And great advice from the other guys on the site.

I look forward to your being back up to speed.

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.

The shoulder is better than it was, but not where it should be. I am fully recovered from the pulmonary embolism I got from the surgery in January though. I had another procedure on my shoulder in May - a manipulation, where they put you under and move your arm through a full range of motion - no cutting though. It helped a lot, but did not fix the problem.

I am having my 3rd, and hopefully last surgery on 8/12. This time they can go inside to remove scar tissue since I am no longer on blood thinners.

Getting to the truck - I have not touched it this year due to a combination of one part recovering, one part being busy, and one part being lazy. I am going to try and get some work done in July before my next surgery.

I think I got stuck on the floor install because I need to fix the lip of the firewall where it meets the floor, and I am having trouble figuring out what to do. I have some ideas though and will try to get something done this month.

I'll check out your build thread and see what you are up to! Have a great 4th of July!

Darien

[sduckworth13]

Good to hear your doing better Darien.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Good to hear your doing better Darien.

Thanks, Scott. The really dangerous part is done. Unfortunately, I still need more surgery next month. Gotta get the wife to get some of her stuff out of the garage so I have room to do some work before next month.

[DD1]

I hope everyone is doing well and been enjoying their summer. Here is a quick update on what's been going on with me since my last post:

1. My surgery on August 12 went well. I DID NOT get a blood clot this time! I don't know yet how successful the surgery was in getting back my range of motion. Physical Therapy has been a b*tch this time around.

2. I have been motivated once again to get back to working on the truck. I have not touched the truck at all this year. I finally started doing a little but of stuff over the past couple of weeks. So, here we go...

After being pestered by a friend for the past year, I have finally decided to actually get the engine running. It was rebuilt about 2 plus years ago and we never started it.

Last year, I purchased a serpentine belt system off another board member. I finally started installing it and making sure everything lines up. I need to go to Lowes and get some bolts to make the accessories fit, and go to the auto parts store and a new Belt Tensioner and Idle pulley.

Here is an image of how it stands right now. I need to get the bolts to properly mount the A/C unit and the power steering pump. I decided I don't want to spend the time and energy painting the brackets and accessories.



I also cleaned up the radiator support and ordered a new set of radiator supports and hold down from Classic Parts. The old ones were crazy rusty and the PO did a really bad welding job on them. The bad weld job was actually a good thing as it made it really easy for me to remove them.

Radiator Support - I need to finish painting it - ran out of paint.


It looks like they managed not to screw up the base of the support when they welded the retainers.




I do have a couple of questions I need opinions on. The first might be a dumb question, but here it is anyway.

When I attached the lower retainer to the radiator support, should I weld it in place, or use a bolt and nut through the hole in the bottom? If I weld it, should I weld the sides similar to the what the PO did (except better), or should I weld it from underneath the support (I'm glad they did not do this, or I might have damaged the support removing them)?



I picked up a radiator from someone on Craigslist for $40, which was a great deal. Tonight I noticed a small amount of the fins are damaged. They honestly could have been damaged on the way home, and due to my forgetting to remove it from my car and driving around with it the past 3 days. Is this an issue? Can I still use the radiator?

[mattfranklin]

Looks like you're making great progress and progress on yourself as well, having just had SURGERY two weeks ago. Glad to see you're back in action!

[Xeen]

a few smashed or misaligned cooling fins aren't going to hurt anything.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mattfranklin

Looks like you're making great progress and progress on yourself as well, having just had SURGERY two weeks ago. Glad to see you're back in action!

Thanks, Matt. I was seeing a much better doctor this time. My arm is not back to normal yet, but the doc seems satisfied with my progress.

Originally Posted by Xeen

a few smashed or misaligned cooling fins aren't going to hurt anything.

Thanks, Brian. I have not had a chance to fill it with water and see if it has any leaks. Will hopefully get to that tomorrow.

[DD1]

I got the belt kit from Rock Auto with the belt tensioner, idle pulley and belt today. I installed the tensioner and idler pulley. I am not sure if it's installed in the right direction, which if it's not means I have the wrong part.

I can't compare it to the old one, because the old one came apart into 5 pieces, and when I installed it, it went in whatever direction I wanted since I could move the back piece around (it's supposed to be a sealed unit).

I suppose once I find the right bolts for the water pump pulley and can install the pulley and the belt, I will figure out if it is setup properly.

UPDATE: After googling 1990 Chevy truck serpentine belt (after writing this post), I saw many photos of the serpentine systems with the tensioner in the same position. So I assume it's correct. I will have to try and get it completed by this weekend.

With the exception of the idler pulley, you can see the condition of the old part I got.


I have to search through pics on Google, and on this forum to see if any belt tensioners are installed the way the new one fits.

Is there anything wrong with this picture?


This is how the old one fit, but again I could have moved it in any direction I wanted.


If anyone is familiar with the serpentine setup - it came of an early 90's Chevy truck - please let me know if it's okay like this.

[DD1]

Getting there a little bit every day. I hate installing power steering pulleys, or maybe I should say I hate using HF's pulley installer set. I bought it because I can't justify spending a lot of money on a tool I will use once. Of course, this is the 3rd time I have removed or installed a pulley in the past year. Gotta stop changing my mind about what I am doing (No A/C, with A/C, Serpentine Belt)!

So, I have almost gotten the pulley installed; there's like a fraction of an inch left. I had to walk away from it because it was pissing me off. Hopefully I can get it in tomorrow. You can see how close I am in the pic.


I did actually accomplish something completely this weekend - I installed this support rod. Thankful for being able to Google and view pictures of other people's engines, as I was not sure where it went.


There is a support bracket that went from the back of the AC/Tensioner bracket to the engine that I saw in several pictures online. I did not get one with the set I bought and assumed it was missing. I found one at a good price on Ebay and when I tried to install it, found it to be a bit too short. I'll have to either get a spacer or not use it.


I don't know if I need the support bracket. The seller accepts returns. I'll have to do some research and see if I absolutely need it.

Here's the updated view of the engine as it stands now:


My goal is to get the serpentine setup done before the weekend, then get the radiator installed at least temporarily over the weekend, then wire up the engine so I can start it. Let's see what happens!

[DD1]

PROGRESS AT LAST!

I strongly believe that sometimes you have to walk away from something that's not working, cool down, and come back to it rested and with a clear head.

In my last post, I was having trouble installing the power steering pulley using the HF installer set. I then realized that I intended to replace the rear bracket, so I had to remove the pulley anyway. The one I got with the serpentine set was welded badly, and did not line up properly with the exhaust manifold bolts. I found a cheap one on Ebay and got it today.

At 10pm, I decided to go outside and give it a shot. I replaced the bracket and installed the pump. Then I installed the pulley and got it to work in one shot. Then I installed the water pump pulley and tested out the belt.


Then I installed the fan, and this was like a comedy routine. I dropped one of the nuts. Then I got it mixed up with a bunch of nuts that looked exactly the same, but were not the right thread. Then the right nut (as opposed to the left one - sorry I could not resist) was not going on easy so I thought it was the wrong one. I removed one of the nuts I put on the fan, checked the markings, and finally installed the fan... about 30 minutes later.


Oh I also installed the EGR delete plate, the distributor hold down, and the gasket for the distributor (which thankfully came with the hold down as I did not have a gasket.


The rest of the weekend I will try to get the radiator installed and get closer to starting the engine. While waiting for the paint to dry on the pulley and bracket, I also spent some time looking at the engine wiring harness, checking it's condition and figuring out what goes where.

[DD1]

Wow, I have not posted this often in a year. Today was a light day for working on the truck. I had to stop for a few hours for the wife and I to go to the Dead Man's Curve car show nearby. It was nice, and my friend who brought his 73 Challenger to the show had extra wristbands which saved me $30, which is even nicer.

I am getting closer to the goal of starting the engine...

First, I rotated the engine so the rotor would point in the right direction and the engine would be at TDC.


Then I painted the radiator support. I ran out of paint, so I'll be finishing it up on Monday.


I then tried to fit the brand new power steering hoses I bought from Autozone about 2 years ago, maybe more. I am not sure if I am routing them properly. Looked at pics on this forum and online; it's hard to find good information on it.

While doing that I realized I should probably install the exhaust header first, which means I need to get new bolts for it. I got the header and painted some spots on it that needed touching up. Fortunately the one I found was for the drivers side; hope I can find the other one.

My evening ended with a trip to Advance Auto, Autozone, and finally Lowe's which actually had everything I needed except the header stud kit I got at Advance Auto. Apparently Advance and Autozone are no longer selling Rustoleum paints.

I decided to try using the header studs to solve my problem about the support brace not reaching the engine. Seems to fit.


Last night I also got one of my prior questions answered - whether to weld or bolt the lower radiator retainer. I forgot that I bought a Service Manual for the truck at the Rhinebeck Car Show a couple years ago.


The image in the book shows it using a bolt, so that's what I am going with. I purchased a grade 8 bolt, but am thinking of switching to stainless steel since it is in an area that will get wet.


Last, but not least I have to remove the coil on the HEI distributor to install the plug wires. Of course, this can't be too easy. The allen screws are very rusted - I almost stripped one of them. I'll test out Lowe's and see if they carry this type of screw.


The to-do list for Monday is:

- finish painting radiator support.
- install drivers side header and look for other header.
- install power steering hoses.
- install plug wires.
- secure a/c support rod.
- install radiator support and radiator if I am lucky.

[DD1]

As I was telling someone else, I am overall pretty happy with where I am. I am pretty close to starting the engine. Once I get the engine started and running well, I will go back to working on the cab. The serpentine belt system made it easier to install the accessories.

Let's take another look at that Monday To-Do List:

- finish painting radiator support: Done. Also painted radiator.
- install drivers side header and look for other header: Found other header. Ran into Problems.
- install power steering hoses: Not done.
- install plug wires: Not done.
- secure a/c support rod: Not done.
- install radiator support and radiator if I am lucky: Support installed; radiator not installed.

I started off installing the pass. side header. I can't do the drivers side because I need to get the correct size stud for the power steering pump bracket. When I installed the header, I noticed that it was really close to the plug wires.



My friend down the road has another set of headers that he offered to give me. I checked them out and they definitely a lot more spacious than the ones I have. But of course, I ran into a problem. I can't mount them because when you put them against the engine, it hits the frame and can't go flush with the engine.



So, should I use the old headers, cut or shave a notch in the frame and use my friends headers, or search for another set of headers?

I installed the lower radiator retainers and radiator support.


Then I realized that the right side retainer has to be moved over because the new radiator is not as big as the original one (it does not have the built in cooler). It's an easy fix, but I was hot, tired, and sweating like crazy, so I just called it a day.


Last thing I did was install the top mounts real quick. Then went inside.


I probably should not show this pic, as it shows how messy my garage is right now. Maybe it will inspire me to clean up a bit.

[sduckworth13]

Darien, I had the same issue with headers on a previous truck I owned. The PO had notched the frame a bit. I have read of others doing the same without issue. I would use your friends headers and just notch the frame a bit.