Restoring Rusty

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Gregski

but I was determined to get this core support covered in primer tonight, so I put on my night vision goggles on and primered by feel

Hah! I love those night vision goggles.....

[Jake Wade]

Now if she had wanted you to help start the other grill, you probably would not have got that in primer. lol

[Gregski]

well hopefully by the end of the day all these parts will be green (ok technically all but the hood latch mechanism and its companion spring, those will be le black)

I counted a bakers dozen, what did you get?

apologies if some parts may be backwards or upside down in the photo, getting all of them to sit still for 30 seconds was like herding cats, plus the wind was a blowin the tarp up, things I do for you guys

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Gregski

well hopefully by the end of the day all these parts will be green (ok technically all but the hood latch mechanism and its companion spring, those will be le black)

I counted a bakers dozen, what did you get?

apologies if some parts may be backwards or upside down in the photo, getting all of them to sit still for 30 seconds was like herding cats, plus the wind was a blowin the tarp up, things I do for you guys

technically I only see one part that should be green. I see mostly all black in that wild herd that did not want to be photographed.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Titomars

technically I only see one part that should be green.

oh yeah, which one?

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Gregski

oh yeah, which one?

the panel the houses the turn sigs of course. hehe

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Titomars

the panel the houses the turn sigs of course. hehe

dope, gotcha, it's been a long day

[flashed]

I think you need to recount .........................................




























Just kidding ,LOL .

[y5mgisi]

Excellent!

[WE B CRUZN]

Love the post man, the way you explain in such detail with just the right amount of humour its perfect. Keep up the good work cant wait to see it when your done.

[flashed]

But when he is done he will have to tear it all back apart and start over to keep us entertained .But I guess we could just go over the whole thread again instead .

[Gregski]

well fellers it never really warmed up passed 70*F today nor dropped below 60% humanity and add to that a piano lesson and both kids had open houses at skool and, well you know nothing got painted, but I did manage to hit the junkyards in search of that coveted single piece drive shaft

so lets see if dropping out of calculus three times in junior college will pay dividends

word on the street is that a 350 Turbo automagic transmission is 21 inches long from front of bell to end of trans case, then depending on the tailshaft you get 27 5/8ths total length (using 6 inch tailshaft)

so if we measure the 833 overdrive transmission we get approximately 21 1/4 inches from where the bell housing goes to end of tailhousing, then we add approximately 6 5/16ths for a standard bell and lets see (carry the one, times the circumfrance of the earth, divided by the area below the curve... aha) we git approximately 27 9/16th

so 27 and 10/16 ths ~ vs ~ 27 and 9/16 ths = CLOSE ENUFF

lets go find us a 2WD short bed standard cab pick up with a TH350 trans in it

[Gregski]

its funny how the things we need is broken on the trucks we want to pull them off of, take that pesky baby hood latch spring, I looked at two trucks that still had the hood latch on them on that little rascal was broken on both

[Gregski]

I can't even begin to tell you how many tools I have lost at the yards while pulling stuff off, but sometimes the Yard Taketh and sometimes the Yard Giveth

... and today was such a day, I found a lovely Husky 1/4" rachet with an extension and a 10mm socket on it, I found this Knife, and litterally a yard stick (who knew Sister Margaret's truck would end up here, lol) pic of yardstick not shown

[68Timber]

Is that spring available new?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Is that spring available new?

donno, not on any of the popular sites, like LMC, Brothers, or Classic, etc... I did manage to find one on a GMC Van, so all is good now

[Gregski]

the first driveshaft I pulled was off of this lovely '95 GMC (figured what better donor than a GMC to a GMC transplant, right?)

well after I pulled it I realized the shaft had a bit of scarring from the forklift they use to move the trucks around, and since this device spins and needs to be true, I decided to pass on it

[Gregski]

a couple feet away there was this 1990 short bed standard cab, and it's shaft was even worse than the first one, I didn't even bother pulling this one off

ok, was my buddy Mopar Seth right when he said buy a new one, cause all them ones in the yards might be damaged, what does he know anywayz

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Gregski

a couple feet away there was this 1990 short bed standard cab, and it's shaft was even worse than the first one, I didn't even bother pulling this one off

ok, was my buddy Mopar Seth right when he said buy a new one, cause all them ones in the yards might be damaged, what does he know anywayz

Trust me (used to work at a PnP) finding a usable drive line in the wrecker is about as rare as finding a Corvette Stingray in there. They move the inventory around with fork lifts. Not exactly something that is kind to the undersides.

[Gregski]

OK, a message to the Demolition Derby Drivers [ahem] professional certified fork lift operators at Pick 'N' Pull: STOP KILLING THESE DRIVE SHAFTS !!!

and here we struck out 0-3 with yet another fallen comrade! a blood red '93 Silverado

but it takes more than that to defeat The Greg... so off to the next Pick n Pull across town

[Titomars]

Why not just take some measurements and have a drive line made for it from scratch? That is what I'd do if it was mine.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Titomars

Why not just take some measurements and have a drive line made for it from scratch? That is what I'd do if it was mine.

money! or lack there of, and thrill of the hunt, ha ha, I have $42 bucks I don't got $250 or whatever a brand new one will cost me - and to prove a point on how easy the 833 trans swap may be (or may not be, we will see)

honestly the point of this old truck ownership is doing things yourself and doing them on the cheap, if I had money to throw around I would be driving fill in the blank __________ truck!!!

and where do you stop, hey we just bought a brand new drive line, ok, why not buy a brand new transmission, why drive 350 miles to buy an old one, ok we got a brand new drive line and a brand new transmission, why not buy a brand new crate motor, ok, we got a brand new DRIVE TRAIN, awesome, heck lets get a brand new diff, ok got all that new, we can't mount that to a used frame, lets get one of them brand new aluminum frames, ok got one, see what I mean, that's not what this build is about...

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Gregski

money! or lack there of, and thrill of the hunt, ha ha, I have $42 bucks I don't got $250 or whatever a brand new one will cost me - and to prove a point on how easy the 833 trans swap may be (or may not be, we will see)

honestly the point of this old truck ownership is doing things yourself and doing them on the cheap, if I had money to throw around I would be driving fill in the blank __________ truck!!!

and where do you stop, hey we just bought a brand new drive line, ok, why not buy a brand new transmission, why drive 350 miles to buy an old one, ok we got a brand new drive line and a brand new transmission, why not buy a brand new crate motor, ok, we got a brand new DRIVE TRAIN, awesome, heck lets get a brand new diff, ok got all that new, we can't mount that to a used frame, lets get one of them brand new aluminum frames, ok got one, see what I mean, that's not what this build is about...

Ohh I get it Gregski it's all about budget or lack there of. But for me, my time is worth something and my driveline is one those areas I never skimp on. I have seen too many come apart. One almost poll vaulting the car on a 2 lane highway (friends car). Balancing new vs. used parts is a fine line of practical and an owner priority thing. I could take your thinking the other direction too. The truck needs a u-joint or two let go to the Pick N pull and tear a couple out of some vehicle, wait it needs front brake pads there is a truck in the wrecking yard the has a set. it needs a rag joint i saw one in a burnt out shell lets use that. And no I am not trying to be an ass just stating my case of that fine line.
You want to know a secret............... If I had a million dollars my 77 would still be my toy and my baby. No newer truck could ever fill her shoes and she deserves every dime I throw at her.

[Valarius_Starchaser]

Originally Posted by Gregski

OK, a message to the Demolition Derby Drivers [ahem] professional certified fork lift operators at Pick 'N' Pull: STOP KILLING THESE DRIVE SHAFTS !!!

thats more common then you think I'm lucky here the yard here takes them off and puts them in the car before they drop it in the yard nice if you need one they are easy to look for that way don't even need to work

[Gregski]

a mere 11 miles away at another junk yard we find this beauty in the back of a 1988 (I presume, I couldn't tell from the penmanship, so I took a pic of the VIN to decipher it later) pickup truck, already uninstalled and waiting for pick up

I hope I won't have to kick myself for not gettin' that plane jane lookin' transmission crossmember