Shop Truck refurb, code name Chaser

[JohnC]

Cool!!!

[GmtGmt]

Chaser is going to be one cool truck once its done

[mcbassin]

that trailer looks great! Nice progress on the truck too!

[RandyP]

They gotta look ugly before they can get beautiful, right? When I was young, driving a vehicle with primer on it was a badge of honor for me. Now, not so much. I meant to grab some shots of the fenders before they primed them. It was amazing to see them all feathered out and sanded down, and only one layer of paint. Usually a vehicle this old we encounter numerous layers of sealers and colors.

[GmtGmt]

are you going with stock look?

[RandyP]

Yes, going to keep the red as the majority of the color, with a white below the molding and a white roof on the cab. Then, in big contrasting vinyl letters, it will say Pruitt's Auto Collision really big down both sides (in the red portion the letters will be white, and in the white portion the letters will be red). After the lettering gets done, no more joy rides for me in it, or hot rodding down the highways.

[nbpro]

looks like this thing is coming right along. won't be long and you'll be done, then you can start on your new project. keep us posted, and good luck

[mcbassin]

Awesome!

[87 chevy silverado]

updates?

[RandyP]

Not really. I had planned a trip to Norman in it to see Joe231 with a load of parts, but ended up not taking it (thank goodness, weather was horrid) due to a transmission mount issue.
Got the transmission mount issue resolved, I hope. Been driving it on the weekends and the guys drive it some through the week, is about it. The shop got a little busy last week, my booth went down on me and I got sicker than a dog. Booth is fixed somewhat, I'm starting to feel somewhat better and we are getting caught up in the shop.
Next things to do is body work on the bedsides and doors, get my PDR guy to push the dents on the roof so we can work them faster, fill the cab seam and then yank the bed off so the new cab corners can be put on. Looking like we might not have it done by Christmas like my wife had hoped, but we'll keep on trying.

[Jonboy]

That's usually the best way to get busy in the shop; have a project of your own that you want to finish by a certain time. Truck is looking good, Randy!

[RandyP]

I just wish I'd start feeling better, that's my biggest concern right now sadly. Got to feeling bad right after going to Norman last week (I blame Joe), went to the doctor on Wednesday last week and got a shot and a Z pack, my ears totally blocked up on me over the weekend and are just now starting to crack a little for me. Been going to work and getting home, eating dinner and going to bed pumped up on nyquil basically, for over a week now. I need to either die or get better.

[JohnC]

Yeah my allergies really started bugging me last week, and my wife got a sinus infection. I think it has to do a lot with the weather change, and all the leaves and stuff drying out and stirring up the dust.

Hope ya get to feeling better man.

[RandyP]

My body man, bless his loving heart, found time to get the passenger door straightened and ready for primer. I just took time this morning to yank the door lock and mirror.

[BGRAFX]

Looks good Randy
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[RandyP]

Ouch, over a month and we ain't done squat to her. Our goal was to have it done for the Christmas parade this year, well we failed miserably on that. I guess now we shoot for either the July 4th parade or next years Christmas parade.
Have been taking it outside every morning and letting her run for a hour or more, just to keep everything moving and warmed up. Noticed a few weeks ago a constant "ping" backfire coming from it once it warmed up. Sounded like a person was inside the exhaust pipe with a hammer. I took it out last weekend and decided to get some more highway miles on the odometer, but the backfiring got so bad I turned around after only about 10 miles. The last few miles was almost scary, kept cutting out and sputtering under mild acceleration. I could romp on it and it'd take off like a scolded dog though. My tech finally pulled it in yesterday to look at it, first thing he did was yank a plug out. The plugs... I'm not sure how it's running really, they are fouled looking and drenched in gas. I can still smell gas coming out the exhaust as well. For some reason the TBI is tossing to much gas at it, I'm not even sure where to look for help on that aspect. I hate the thought of buying more plugs, since the last set we put in were very high dollar auto lite platinum something or another, I just remember thinking "these are spark plugs? they don't like sing and dance for this price?".
With any luck my guys will finally get the break in oil out of it in the next day or so, and we'll put another set of plugs in her. Maybe I'll run it down to the dealership again and let their old tech look it over and try and figure out why it's running so rich. Maybe I need a burnt chip for it or something to slow the fuel rate down, I really have not got a clue though. I really thought when we put the stock TBI back on it that problem would be solved.

[JohnC]

Glad to see ya back on here, but too bad the truck is giving you problems. Wish I had some words of wisdom to give you, but I don't. Maybe talk to the guys over in the tech area.

[RandyP]

Got some fresh plugs in her last week and took her out for a spin to get some used equipment from another body shop that closed its doors. Took my dad with me, and damn did he hate riding in this thing, lol. His words were, "son, I've owned probably a 100 of these trucks, and never have I rode in one that was this painful". Guess maybe I need to invest in some new shocks, but not sure that'll help how stiff it is in the front with those HD springs.
Ran like a champ, went about 35 miles round trip, only burned a 1/2 tank of gas (8 gallons). Enough is enough, I got to researching why I have these issues. Heck I even found a couple of used 350's from 87-92 model trucks thinking it might be best to just swap it back to something totally stock. I finally stumbled on to something though.... Headers and o2 sensors on a TBI motor.
After reading about it, and going to look, and realizing I am running a single wire o2 sensor that is behind the collector, it dawned on me. Here is why the truck is running so rich and getting such terrible gas mileage, it has to be. I read and studied and showed what I learned to my body tech and I gave him reasons why we should either put the stock manifolds back on or try to wire up a 3 or 4 wire preheated o2 sensor.
I finally came to terms that I fouled up putting the headers on and keeping the flowmaster mufflers. With those loud teenager mufflers on there, I can not drive the truck home except on weekends (wakes my kid up when I leave at 6am), so maybe it's just time to put quieter mufflers on it and go stock again on the manifolds. We did read and learn how to do the o2 sensor and relay, but for what I want to try and accomplish now I don't think that is the direction we want to go.
Regardless I'd want quieter mufflers, and I don't think it'll cost me much of anything to have the stock manifolds welded in to the existing exhaust. The heated o2 sensor is not exactly cheap, so I really weighed the monetary cost of either direction to be about the same.

Anyways, we drug out the manifolds and cleaned them up, plugged the emission holes and welded them up smooth. Even took off the part where the little heat duct would hook on to connect to the air cleaner housing. They'll look just fine bolted up, if we can find the bolts now.

And some photos to show it doing more than just collecting dust like normal around my shop.

[RandyP]

Got the headers off and the stock manifolds on and the exhaust stitched back together and the factory o2 sensor all done. We only drove it a short time, but the backfire is already there again, hoping the 50 or so miles that were put on it after the last set of plugs wasn't too much and they got ruined already. Actually I hope that is it and it's running better with just fouled plugs....

My guys got a few moments yesterday and today, started work on the left door and smoothing the cab seam. The shop is not dead, but we only took in a few cars this week so they need something for filler work for a few days. That's what ol' red is for.

[joe231]

Cool
How is he filling the cab seam?
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[RandyP]

The easy way, with 3m Panel Bonding Adhesive. Should be able to smooth it out a little after it dries and then skim coat it with mud and be ready for primer. Of course the roof has a barrage of hail dents in it, we gotta get those fixed before we prime the roof. At least we can use the torch method on them since it has some metal to it, should be minimal filler there. My PDR guy might push some of them for me as well.

[Jonboy]

Loks good, Randy. That's how I shaved the seam on my '73. Works like a charm.

[MTCK]

Awesome looking build. One suggestion for your tuning problems is to take a good look at your timing. Check the initial with the module unplugged and use a dial back light to check for full advance at higher rpm. I had a similar problem with my truck though my fuel injection is aftermarket. Timing problem was causing erroneous O2 sensor readings from backfiring which was causing a rich condition.... Also make sure you don't have any burnt spark plug wires while you're at it. Good luck!
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[JohnC]

Looking good man. I hope the manifolds solve your problems. I didn't even think about the O2 sensors being an issue.

[RandyP]

Really wish I would have went and put gas in the truck last weekend. It is on about 1/8 tank, the other tank is 1/2 full but we have not refurbed that tank yet and I hate to use it as more than a "**** we just ran outta gas" option. I'm almost thinking it might be at the stage now where it might get torn down for the rest of the body work, we really need the left outside handle out to finish the door and I'm thinking the headliner needs to come out for the roof repairs. I'll debate it this weekend I guess and see what plan I come up with.
The back fire is there, but we have not yanked the plugs to see if they are already fouled or not, if they are, I'll just take it down to the dealership and get their TBI wizard to look it all over and see if we have a bad sensor of some sorts or what is going on, might need timed again or something, I just know it's beyond what we are capable of here.
I'm also debating on if we'll take the doors off and jamb them and the door opening frame or not. My body man got in to the jambs more than I had wanted, so that will have to be done I think. To get the handles out it is easiest to remove the glass and everything, so getting the doors off won't be much more of a step at that point.

Did someone mention snowballing yet?