Frankentruck

[cwcarpenter98]

I still haven't had a chance to figure out the overdrive solenoid seal leak so I topped off the oil level this afternoon. I also noticed that the lockout cable was not going the full range of motion which was causing the trans to not stay in lockout when I wanted it to.

The cable sheath was too long, thus not allowing the cable to pull the lever far enough to fully engage lockout. All this time, lockout was only partly engaged whenever I was using it. Good thing I didn't use it much!

To remedy this, I had to loosen the cable at the trans, pull the cable back far enough inside the sheath, then cut back the sheath of the cable with a couple different types of pliers I have down here at college.

Now, the lockout cable functions as intended and I can run the trans in lockout without worrying that it will pop out when I don't want it to.

Sorry, I didn't take any pics, didn't think to until it was all back together

[cwcarpenter98]

Took a round trip to Augusta, GA this weekend. Frankentruck ran great with only 2 issues.

The parking brake cable snapped off right at the handle. I had noticed that one of the strands on the cable had been broken pretty much since I got the truck, but Friday night the rest of the cable decided to let go. Good thing I got that lockout cable fixed, because without it, the truck will roll forward if I were to forget to shift into reverse

Issue 2 is that the aftermarket wiper arms bought years ago don't do crap once you get to around 70 mph. The blades need to be replaced anyways as the mounting part of the blades have lost one of the 2 rivets that hold them together. They are currently operating with some of the twisty ties that you get from power cords when you buy new electrical products. I'll be doing the Cherokee wiper arm swap soon, just have to find some time to go get the parts needed.

Other than that, it was a great trip

[cwcarpenter98]

Of course, the trip to Augusta burned over 3/4 of the tank, so I had to fill up today. Now that I have a working odometer, I was able to easily calculate my MPGs.

I drove an indicated 215.7 miles from full tank to fill up. Frankentruck drank 15.03 gallons this go around, so that puts me at a solid 14.4 mpg.
But, my speedo runs about 10% slow (To fix, I would need to pull the overdrive unit off the back of the trans and swap out the drive gear so it would mesh up with the correct driven gear).
The adjusted miles driven is 237.3. Divide by 15.03 and get 15.8 mpg

[cwcarpenter98]

Took another trip in Frankentruck this Saturday. Drove up to Winder to meet my parents and cousin at a BBQ joint for lunch, then rode over to Athens with them for the last UGA home game of the season. Of course, Frankentruck did great, and the Igloo Kool Rest kept some leftover BBQ nice and cold for the remainder of the trip.

The worst part of the trip was the crappy wiper blades. The good news is that I have 2 Jeep wiper arms in the mail to upgrade to a more modern blade. Hopefully I'll be able to swap them out over Thanksgiving break.

Also, I cleaned the steering wheel and dashboard a good bit this weekend with some cleaning wipes I won at the car show back in October. The steering wheel is white again and feels so much smoother and more comfortable. I'll get some pics in the daylight soon

[cwcarpenter98]

On my way back home for Thanksgiving, I stopped by at a local junkyard and scored some needed pieces for Frankentruck. Got a set of vent windows since mine are in poor shape. Also picked up some decent original reverse lights with part of the wiring harness.

The even better score was the 64-66 radio delete plate still sporting the original paint and some super nice clips.

Overall, was a great time walking through the yard, and I'll definitely have to go back to get some more stuff

[flashed]

Congrats on the goodies .

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by flashed

Congrats on the goodies .

Thanks, John. They just need a little elbow grease and they'll be good to go

[cwcarpenter98]

It's that time of year again

[cwcarpenter98]

Here's how I run the lights even when driving the truck around:

I used a power inverter thingy from walmart that plugs into the cigarette lighter. The package says it can handle up to 2 strands of lights which is what fits great on a long bed.
I've been using this setup now for 4 years, and the only issues that I have are the occasional pieces of tape that come loose and the power inverter not liking cold weather very much.


I took my last final for the semester today , so I'll be headed back to Woodstock in the morning. Going to be a driver helper for UPS again because it pays well and means more money for truck parts . After Christmas I'll be working on Frankentruck some and taking more pics along the way for y'all. I've been neglecting some things that need to get done, so now is the time to do them.

Merry Christmas y'all!

[jhrusk]

Congrats on the schooling milestone. You will be finished before you know it. Merry Christmas.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by jhrusk

Congrats on the schooling milestone. You will be finished before you know it. Merry Christmas.

Thanks Jay. The end of college is approaching quicker than I expected Merry Christmas to you too!

[cwcarpenter98]

This weekend has been a busy one. Yesterday, my buddy Levi and I went to Cagle's U-Pull-It to look for some parts that we needed. I ended up finding the coolant/wiper washer jug from a 90s F150 and a rear sway bar from the same year range Bronco. Yes, I'm putting Ford parts on my Chevy . I'm doing the Jeep wiper arm swap, so I picked up a couple extras as spares/practice. The yard also had an old International Loadstar that just so happened to have a factory dome light lens that looked exactly like the one in Frankentruck. It had nice clips, so I'll be replacing mine that the clips broke on.

After we were done rummaging through the junkyard, we went over to Flashed's place and talked trucks and stuff for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great time, and was great to hang with John again. Got a sweet shot of John's super clean square in the sunset.

Today didn't see any work done to the new parts, but I did drive out to Cumming so that I could check out some wheels that I've wanted. Frankentruck got some new shoes for Christmas!! I picked up some Wheel Vintiques 15x8 steelies off of Facebook Marketplace for a great deal. Needs a coat of black and they'll be ready for new tires. Eventually I'll find some 61-63 hubcaps, but for now, I'll run the caps that came on the truck when I got it over 4 years ago

[flashed]

Christian , it was great having you and Levi out at the Truck Farm for a good visit , youre always welcome here . And I love the shot of the sunset with Cream Puffs nose in it . You need to share that pic with me . Great score on the wheels too.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by flashed

Christian , it was great having you and Levi out at the Truck Farm for a good visit , youre always welcome here . And I love the shot of the sunset with Cream Puffs nose in it . You need to share that pic with me . Great score on the wheels too.

I don't know how I forgot Cream Puff's name, but thanks for the reminder! I texted you the pic. Once the weather gets a bit warmer, I'll scuff the wheels up and shoot em black

[flashed]

Christian , you can always bring your wheels up here to my shop , turn the heat on and paint away .

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by flashed

Christian , you can always bring your wheels up here to my shop , turn the heat on and paint away .

Thanks John, I had not thought about that. Looks like the truck will be down for a bit longer than I thought for some upgrades, so it might be spring time until I even start thinking about repainting the wheels

[cwcarpenter98]

Yesterday after work, I started mocking up the rear sway bar. Went great until I tried to move it into position. The exhaust system that I am not too fond of drops right down over the axle where the sway bar mount needs to go.

Is there any reason to not reroute the exhaust to dump outside the truck in front of the tire? My dad is worried that if I move the pipe closer towards the cab that the exhaust fumes will get into the cab through the nonexistent cab corners.

Also, I noticed while I was under there that the trac bar has loosened itself over time. The bar is an adjustable one that I bought to replace the factory 63 that split in half. The factory trac bar was heated and bent to make a 65-70 rear end fit in the truck.
It is looking like I will have to end up removing rivets from the frame mount, moving it back a little, and getting the right angle when I bolt it in.

Any suggestions on these two issues?

[cwcarpenter98]

Was able to stop by Harbor Freight last night after work to pick up a riveter so I could finish up the Jeep arm swap. I finished it up today and got some new blades on Frankentruck. They work so much better, and I am so glad that I did the upgrade.

I ended up make 3 sets of them because that was all I could get at the junkyard I went to. I'll put the two sets up on the parts board probably after Christmas

[cwcarpenter98]

Merry Christmas y'all!

Got to spend some quality time with the family today, and I got to spend a little time working on the reverse light buckets and bezels.

I wire wheeled the buckets to remove the rust, but unfortunately, rust has worked itself through one of the buckets. Tomorrow I'll be slapping on some JB weld to fill the holes and make it work. It doesn't have to look pretty, just has to be functional.

I also cleaned up the bezels using the aluminum trick. They aren't the nicest pieces, but they will work and match the rest of the truck

I should have some more updates tomorrow.

[cwcarpenter98]

Got a lot of stuff done on Frankentruck today. I repaired the reverse light bucket that had rusted out with some JB weld, stuck the antenna back together with some JB weld, painted the buckets with some rust reformer paint, and made the bracket for the washer/coolant resivor. I painted the bracket when I did the buckets.

I pulled the heater controls out so I could grease up the defrost cable and discovered that the controls have a light socket provision to illuminate the controls when the dash lights are turned on. I robbed a light socket from my old cluster and wired it up.

Last thing for the night was taking the Christmas lights off

[cwcarpenter98]

Awwww yes

[flashed]

Do you have a full set of those caps ? I may have a couple more til you find the ones youre looking for .

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by flashed

Do you have a full set of those caps ? I may have a couple more til you find the ones youre looking for .

Hey John, I didn't see this until just now. I have 5 of these, but 3 of the 5 are in poor shape

[cwcarpenter98]

So this happened yesterday as well. Got a new tailgate from John that is a heck of a lot straighter than my old one. I think I'll turn the old one into a bench until I find a different bed for the truck and use it on the trailer I have.

[cwcarpenter98]

Got a lot done over the last few days of the decade.
I was tired of the red letters in the grille, so I repainted them black. While the paint was out, of course I had to paint the tailgate letters. Yes, I used the same black house paint that my bedroom was painted with many years ago.

I finally got the windshield washer and coolant reservoir from the Ford mounted up for good. I like where it sits, and I didn't have to drill any additional holes in the firewall. I also still had a spot for the overdrive relay.

I swapped out the old dome light housing with busted clips to the $5 junkyard find with great clips. No more tape holding the dome light in.