Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

then using some cave man tools and with the help of my boy, I could not have done it without him, we had the thing in, in about 30 minutes

again we used some dish soap / in a windex spray bottle for lubrication

I kinda like the patina look of it, fits the truck, if it was all painted and shiny it would stick out like a soar thumb, yes that's what the lazy Greg tells himself for not painting this slider out of the car, ha ha

[Gregski]

now back to real matters at hand, that 0 oil pressure issue

so I did a little test, where I hook up a clear hose to the oil pressure fitting and stick the other end in a 2 liter soda bottle and start the car, and by the time I get out of the cab to check on it, it puked a 1/4 of a quart of oil, so we know the volcano is a pumpin'

[Gregski]

it took about 4 different unions, joins, and fittings to get my trusty ol' mechanical oil pressure gauge hooked back up, I kid you not, but I did it

I guess the original metal oil line comes with what appears like 1/8th coarse thread male fittings, and the new stuff is 1/4 fine thread I think

anywho, the analog / mechanical gauge works

[Rich84]

Thats good news..

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Rich84

Thats good news..

well put my electronic oil pressure sending unit back on and connected it back up to the Summit digital gauge, and it still reads 00 this really has me puzzled

[jwilson645]

Originally Posted by Gregski

well put my electronic oil pressure sending unit back on and connected it back up to the Summit digital gauge, and it still reads 00 this really has me puzzled

I know you tested them but maybe that sender or gauge is bad?

[hatzie]

Assuming you know the resistance the gauge is expecting... A decade box between the gauge sender wire and a ground will tell you whether the gauge is working properly.
They range in price from this DIY electronics solder kit...https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13006
to one of my antique General Radio 1432M and 1432B decade boxes that I keep on my electronics bench with my analog scope and other antique test gear.
You can build one of Ray's two potentiometer gauge testers but the parts, at Radio Shack, will run more than that Sparkfun decade box kit.

My WAG, a few posts back, on the resistance range might or might not be correct.

[Gregski]

decided to give my brain a rest from all the troubleshooting and build a rack for our kayak to take camping for July 4th

the vertical bars are upside down legs from my green metal patio table

[Gregski]

then it was time for primer

[Gregski]

since I do not own a spark machine I had to use bolts to hold things together, no big deal

[Gregski]

these clear socks should keep her from wiggling around too much, it's actually a very nice tight fit

[Gregski]

pool noodles and zip ties to finish it off nicely

[Gregski]

and the rear rail

hey I think it turned out alright, cheap, simple, IT'S A TRUCK !!!

[Gregski]

and here's what's coming up next

technically '74 did not have the weather strip on the doors but on the cab only, so I think this was an [ahem] upgrade of sorts

[Gregski]

well nothing to it but to do it, well get it off technically

[Gregski]

I seriously used a metal puddy knife and a rubber mallet to chip this stuff off

[Gregski]

the inside strip on the cab came off super easy but left a hefty rubber cement like bead on the sheet metal for me to scrape off

[Gregski]

either Brenda was having a bad Friday afternoon when she mounted the passenger door on Rusty back in '74 on the assembly line or we have some hinge issues

[Gregski]

these gaps are horrible, there is no way we can take this truck fishin' like this

[Gregski]

and the front of the door

[Gregski]

so the passenger door had to come off

used a floor jack to hold it up and removed it as a one man job, no problem, a bit heavy but you can do it by yourself

[Gregski]

then it was time to massage the hinges, at first it appears as if they are the same just one is mounted upside down, but after closer examination the top one has two star gears to help prop the door open using that metal S spring

top one - two bolts up / one bolt down

bottom one - one bolt up / two bolts down

[Gregski]

to get the hinges apart you need to remove the pins, to get the pins out (they is pinched on the bottom) you need to grind the pinched metal with a hand file or cut / sacrefice the pin

I was able to take the pin out on the top hinge like so

[Gregski]

the top pin I could spin with my fingers the bottom pin would not budge not even with vice grips, this made grinding the pinches with a hand file impossible so I had to use the death wheel to cut this pin in half

I figure I would use new pins anyways so why put in the effort to get them out in one piece

I am not sure if the pins ought to spin freely or not, maybe someone with more experience can comment on that

[Gregski]

I'm sure many of you have heard me rant about the Dorman aftermarket replacement parts, and how I prefer to avoid them, I specifically heard to stay away from their door hinge pin and bushing sets so although I would prefer the OEM type, I wanted instant gratification and got these from NAPA, hopefully they aint Dorman in disquise

right off the bat the new replacement bushings seem shorter than the stock ones