Working Man's Burbon

[LT7A]

I had fun reading through this one. I'm glad you got a good deal on the purchase since that previous owner was a liability. Bad custom work is just bad work. Just because they made it look cooler doesn't mean they can cut corners on installation and fabrication. They had just about rendered it unusable. So glad you saved it!

Now that you're driving it, it would be cool to see some pictures of it out and about.

LT7A

[HO455]

I'm glad you enjoyed the thread. I took WMB up north to Castle Rock on Saturday which was about a hundred miles round trip. I got to run it at a steady 70 mph for most of the trip without any unexpected adventures. By playing with air pressures for the front bags I was able to get a decent ride quality after about twenty miles. It still wanders more than I would like, but haven't really looked at the steering box yet. The reason for the trip was to get the second row seat set up out of a 77 Burban. The donor truck was an ex county sherriff rig so who knows what may be on the seats. But mechanically they are sound.
I got reasonable gas mileage but with the speedometer reading about 8-10 mph low at 55 it is hard to get a good number on that. And here is a couple of pictures. Two of the new seats. One of some trucks at a shop in Castle Rock. And one from Sunday morning. I do think I may have a drive line issue developing as there is an ever so slight vibration above 55 I don't think I had before the trip north. But still less than a thousand miles on it so it just may be me. I will try to get more photos of the Burban about town. My notebook camera isn't very good for quick candid pictures though.

[Average Joe]

You will really like that fold down rear seat. I put one in my 'Burb and love it. It was a pretty straight forward install. I made some panels to hold up the back and welded nuts to those. I had to shim up the bottom of the seat on the outside edge IIRC. The "piano hinge" bolted down on the nose of the step down.
The only draw back I have is having to slide the front seat most of the way forward in order to lay the rear seat completely flat. I got short legs though so its not really a problem.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Average Joe

You will really like that fold down rear seat. I put one in my 'Burb and love it. It was a pretty straight forward install. I made some panels to hold up the back and welded nuts to those. I had to shim up the bottom of the seat on the outside edge IIRC. The "piano hinge" bolted down on the nose of the step down.
The only draw back I have is having to slide the front seat most of the way forward in order to lay the rear seat completely flat. I got short legs though so its not really a problem.

On the hinge did you bolt the stationary side of the hinge vertical or horizontal on the step down? And what is IIRC? Being 6'2" the drawback maybe an issue for me. Any photos you have would be appreciated.
Thanks for taking time to post the info.

[HO455]

We went to dinner tonight at the Sextant. Nice little tavern on the Columbia river. Took a couple of pictures. The second one is on Marine drive in front of the tavern. I had to zoom in the last one to get the mountain to show. It looked much larger in real life.

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by HO455

On the hinge did you bolt the stationary side of the hinge vertical or horizontal on the step down? And what is IIRC? Being 6'2" the drawback maybe an issue for me. Any photos you have would be appreciated.
Thanks for taking time to post the info.

IIRC is short for if i remember correctly


I beleive the hinge was horizontal if i am understanding the question correctly.

I will try and get pics in the next couple of days. The wife is currently in the hospital.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Average Joe

IIRC is short for if i remember correctly




I will try and get pics in the next couple of days. The wife is currently in the hospital.

Oh I get it I thought it had something to do with the shimming. My age is showing.

Take care of the family and if you get time send the photos. I have plenty to do on the WMB still.

[Average Joe]

I posted some pics in the fold flat seat thread. I hope they help

[HO455]

Excellent! Thank you!

[CG]

I really like the fold flat seat ideas. I would be cool if you could have two rows of fold flats. Kind of like an old station wagon. Figure out a way to get a set of old wagon rear facing seats that fold flat configured to fit.

Taking seats in and out is a pain.

[LT7A]

Looks like your camera is doing just fine. Good pictures of the rig out and about. Good luck with the fold-down seat.

[HO455]

The fold down seats have taken a back seat for now. It became apparent that the carrier bearing was no longer happy. It looked as if it could have been the original. I was able move the drive shaft up and down about 3/8" and that seemed like a bad thing. (Photo 1) So I pulled it out and had it converted to a urethane billet style with a slider on the back half. Having heard lots of people complain about the billet style having a short life span I asked the shop about this problem. Their explanation is that the factory style was designed to move forward and aft as the axle moved up and down. The billet style isn't designed to move forward and aft. By putting a splined slider between it and the axle the carrier bearing no longer has to move forward and aft. So the carrier doesn't fail from being side loaded. Sounds logical to me. Now the new drive line is installed it is much smoother accelerating from a start and the odd vibration at 55 mph hasn't returned. But there is more noise from the rear end and when coasting down hills at 40 or more mph there is a definite new vibration in the truck. I hope that some of that will fade as things break in.

[HO455]

Driveshaft installed photo and the box from the new U-joint straps which I replaced. They were mismatched and one had taken a couple of hits from a hammer. Plus the threads on the bolts were showing their age. The strap part number is good for the half ton 1310 U-joint. One photo of the WMB on the stands where it spent the week. After getting the new drive line installed I replaced the rubber hose the factory used to hook the front fuel line to the rear fuel line. I cut the ends off of the hard lines and using Aeroquip compression fittings connected a piece of 5/16" hard line where the hose was. These are easy to install just do good prep work, cleaning and deburing the tubing. No more worries about a pressurized fuel hose next to the muffler. I forgot to get a before photo showing the hose.

[HO455]

A local gendarme took time out of his busy night to stop and ask me about my lack of a license plate light. My response was that the PO had removed it and the pieces that mounted it and I hadn't located replacements yet. He kindly suggested I make more of an effort to find one and sent me on my way. What the PO had done was install a hidden hitch and then used what looks to me to be a license plate bracket off of a 67-72 A-body and mounted it upside down on two pieces of angle iron without the spring so it would swing up when the stinger was in the receiver. Which is a pretty good idea but with no spring it is always rattling. So I replaced the two pieces of angle with one larger piece ( 2" instead of 1 1/2"). Now I had a place to mount a light and set the plate deeper into the bumper like the factory did. I found this perfect little LED light with a shield at Potter Webster (the place that made the drive line for me. They are a heavy truck supply store.). After rehabbing the plate mount (It had led a hard life was lucky to still be around) I found a spring and mounted it to hold the plate down and keep it from rattling all the time.

[HO455]

The old mounting compared to the new.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Looks like your camera is doing just fine. Good pictures of the rig out and about. Good luck with the fold-down seat.

Thanks! The truth be told its more a operator issue.

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the prop shaft. The spline for for and aft movement makes sense in reducing support bearing lateral load. What shop fabbed it up?

The plate light and mounting came out well.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice work on the prop shaft. The spline for for and aft movement makes sense in reducing support bearing lateral load. What shop fabbed it up?

The plate light and mounting came out well.

Thanks again. The Potter Webster Company's "Driveline Express" shop rebuilt the shaft. The foreman Brian said they do quite a few of them. Mostly early Impalas and such. They had another pickup one at the same time mine was there getting converted and it was also getting upgraded to 1325 U-joints.

[HO455]

Two steps back and one forward this last week. First off I noticed the first chip in the paint! Arrrrrrrgggg!
The engine in the WMB never has had what I would call good oil pressure. Always around zero at idle when warm and just below the first mark at cruise. On Monday after having to get on it, in order to get on highway 30, it started idling 2-300 RPM lower and wanting to die. Plus it started squaling and squealing from time to time. I headed straight home and parked it, happy to have made it home. I'm pretty sure it has spun a main bearing. Two steps back.
Now I have to decide if I want to get a cheap engine to get me by for a little while and build the engine I want later or leave it broke and build something that probably won't be what I really want now.

On the up side I have been looking for a 2004r core (or a good one) for a while and located one on Craigslist. The seller ended up being a friend I hadn't seen in ten or more years from back my drag racing days. It was a perfect Thanksgiving morning. One step forward.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by HO455

Two steps back and one forward this last week. First off I noticed the first chip in the paint! Arrrrrrrgggg!
The engine in the WMB never has had what I would call good oil pressure. Always around zero at idle when warm and just below the first mark at cruise. On Monday after having to get on it, in order to get on highway 30, it started idling 2-300 RPM lower and wanting to die. Plus it started squaling and squealing from time to time. I headed straight home and parked it, happy to have made it home. I'm pretty sure it has spun a main bearing. Two steps back.
Now I have to decide if I want to get a cheap engine to get me by for a little while and build the engine I want later or leave it broke and build something that probably won't be what I really want now.

On the up side I have been looking for a 2004r core (or a good one) for a while and located one on Craigslist. The seller ended up being a friend I hadn't seen in ten or more years from back my drag racing days. It was a perfect Thanksgiving morning. One step forward.

That is horrible, sorry man.
Let me know if you meed a motor, I have had one on a stand in the shop for a while that needs to go away. I'm in the couve.

Happy new year!
-Shon

[HO455]

Yes it is. That paint chip is just killing me. I touched it up to keep the metal dry but it may have to back to the paint shop.
Thanks for the reply and
Happy New Year!

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by HO455

Yes it is. That paint chip is just killing me. I touched it up to keep the metal dry but it may have to back to the paint shop.
Thanks for the reply and
Happy New Year!

Paint chips are the worst. Touching them up never works.

[HO455]

I got lucky last night in the good way. The PO had half dozen or so old truck part catalogs along with a box of receipts he gave me when I got the WMB. I had looked through the box of receipts but hadn't paid any attention to the old catalogs. I was in the process of tossing the catalogs last night when I noticed there was some thing stuck in the middle of one of them.
Score baby! I was so close to tossing them away!
Other than locating a replacement engine not much action on the WMB due to lots of hose projects needing to get done. (Like hand rails on the stairs.). Still some more to do in the house but the final inspection is over and done with so if the weather give me a break around the first I will dive into the swap.

[HO455]

Here are a couple of shots of the new 350. MASSIVE upgrade from the 305!

[crakarjax]

Wow nice find! Makes me wanna tear through my truck!