Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I'm really jealous of other areas when it comes to CL. They always seem to have better deals and parts. [...] Not here.

It's kinda like looking at the dinner plate your spouse or friend ordered when the food gets to the table at the restaurant and saying man I shoulda had that, lol

I hear you, but to comfort you it's a trade off. For instance we (Kalifornia) lead the Nation in regulations and controls. Not bragging just saying.

Take the SMOG systems for example we can only remove them from vehicles 1975 and older, I hear in other states you can do what you want with yer cars and trucks, so to quote an astute colleaague of mine "I'm really jealous of other areas"

[rusty76]

I understand what you are saying about smog. It wasn't so long ago I used to fight with the smog police with my old truck. I played uncertain death with getting it inspected. It was a pain. Then I moved to a county that didn't do smog inspection and I thought man this is great. Then the next year the laws changed. Finally after waiting forever the laws changed in my favor. Honestly it's a money racquet. When I got my '07 inspected it cost 30 bucks. How does the inspection guy make money? I think somebody is putting the money in their pocket.

Easy in some ways around here, but we pay for it one way or another...... I still envy other states with good CL finds.

[rich weyand]

Been working, so just went through the last three pages. Coupla notes.

With a stock HEI and stock advance curve you should be able to set the base timing to 16* BTDC with no problems, and it will really improve performance.

RPM you set the timing at doesn't matter as long as you don't start kicking in the mechanical (centrifugal) advance. Anywhere under 1000 rpm is OK.

Warm engine idle in Park for stock engines is 700, in Drive is 550.

Any drop-in bed liner or pad will give rust problems like you see. It traps condensation and water. Spray-in bed liner on top with undercoating on the bottom is best for rust prevention. A good undercoating is better than paint on the bottom becuase rocks won't nick it and open up a path to the metal.

[flashed]

Be careful on Craigslist ,I dont know if you have heard about the missing couple here in Ga that placed an add looking for a 66 Mustang and went missing after going to look at one .

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by rich weyand

... just went through the last three pages. Coupla notes.

Hi Rich, glad to hear from you I value your insight, and yes I am not a big fan of the bed liners or the rubber mats this truck has, not sure when they went in, in time to cause the rust or after to cover it up, and since this was a farm truck I am thinking did the guy have bays of wet hay on there just sitting at some point, who knows, Rusty does have a better life now

[rich weyand]

Looks like they caused the rust. Two lines of holes down the floor of the bed under the seams.

[y5mgisi]

Cool score on the bed! I picked one up to do just like you are doing for $50 a while back!



I didnt want to disassemble it so i made up the fancy shmancy cart!

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

I didnt want to disassemble it so i made up the fancy shmancy cart!

Nice cart, great woodworking skills!

[Gregski]

well, the truck was running great, the engine was purring like a kitten, so...

... it was time to take it apart

so here we go time to remove the intake manifold so that we can bolt up the new Weiand one plus the new Holley carb

(I've shown you plenty of pics of the old carb when I rebuilt it so I will spare you this time)

[Gregski]

first we remove the alternator and the alternator bracket (need to clean them and it gives us better access)

[Gregski]

I swear this is like the third time I am draining the coolant in less than 6 months!

Once for the first busted freeze plug

Second for the second busted freeze plug

... oh kid sleds make for great anti freeze drain pans ~ hey I'm in California and had those things for 4 years and they have never used them, I doubt they know what they are for, LOL

[y5mgisi]

Ha! Good stuff!

[Gregski]

I know you don't have to remove the thermostat housing [ahem] water outlet in order to take off the intake manifold, but it's so much fun taking things apart, plus we get to see the condition of the thermostat

[Gregski]

the in case you need to hoist the engine out of the truck looptie loop thing was next

Question: What does it say about the reliability of an engine if it comes with removal hooks for easy removal? Are they forward thinking, or are they selling us junk? hee hee

[Gregski]

finally got to remove the Vacuum Advance Solenoid, part of the SMOG system I deleted a few weeks / months prior (didn't want to remove it then because it uses same bolts that hold down the intake manifold, and I didn't want to disturb them and cause an intake manifold leak) kapish?!

[Gregski]

removed the dreadful Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve next, I swear the worst invention in automotive technology, hey lets take garbage and eat it again, yeah that sounds clean

and I'm looking at your self adjusting seat belt engineers of the early 90's (I still have the scar on my head from your invention)

this part you can also leave on, and remove the intake with it, or can you, I bet it gets in the way of the bolt that's underneath it, but I wasn't going to find out, off it went

[Gregski]

the heater hose was next to be removed and I am embarrassed to admit I don't know which way the coolant flows but I'm guessing the return line goes to the intake manifold (thinking that the pump sends the hot coolant to the heater core) maybe I am totally wrong

[Gregski]

then it was time to remove the distributor

now before I yanked this bad boy out I returned it to the #1 positions (yes those of you with a keen eye will note that on my dizzy the #1 is where commonly the #8 ought to be, they all seem shifted one step to the left clockwise that is - no worries someday we will shift them back)

Note To Self: TAKE THE CAR OUT OF GEAR BEFORE REMOVING ALL THE SPARK PLUGS IN ORDER TO GET IT TO TURN OVER EASIER ~ DOPE !!!

[Gregski]

next to come out was the brake booster vacuum hose and bracket, wonder if I can get away with just using a rubber hose with the Holley and ditch the hard line and the ugly bracket?

[Gregski]

next was the rear looptie loop hoist the engine out bracket, this one was only held in with one bolt? wth

[Gregski]

with everything out of the way we are ready to lift out the intake manifold

does everyone appreciate the 40 years of dirt and grime on top of that thing, I bet that's 5lbs more I'll have to lift

a gentle pry with a wide flat screw driver and the seal is broken, and we are good for lift off

[Gregski]

here she is out of the car, man that thing was heavy - 40 lbs I'm guessing

[Gregski]

ok lets see the valley of the lifters and push rods

here you go, time to clean this place up

[Gregski]

ok, so that only took half a day, including sweeping the garage, and I am still sore from dead lifting the truck bed yesterday, so I think it's time for a nap!

[bnoon]

More good progress! I always hate doing an intake while its in the truck. I can never get a good seal on the end rails reaching over the fenders. Hope yours turns out great!