our [dilapitated] truck

[magnethead]

here are the latest pics i just took.

Pic 1: odometer (keep in mind it's already flipped over twice (maybe 3 times, we dont know)

Pic 2: that part of the body is just screeming "HELP!!!!"

Pic 3: Lovely wiring mess. Notice the part of [nearly] rotted out floor?

Pic 4: Whole Dash. Pretty, huh?

[magnethead]

some more of the emblems and coolers.

With all those coolers, the temp gauges barely move..they hit 150 or so at the max!

[magnethead]

here's what the exhaust looks like:

you can see the collectors on the headers at the very front of the truck (left of pic)

[magnethead]

I'm wondering how clogged the mufflers are? I don't think they've been replaced during the time that we've owned it.

[magnethead]

here's some pics of the axles and brakes. Don't ask if thats oil or water on the differential cover, i dont know, and probably don't want to know.

[magnethead]

I never realized until i took these pics how HUGE those axles are!! Man Dana 70's are big!

[magnethead]

now the hood (looks pretty, huh?) and the tail end of this beast

[RockHQ]

Here's a few things that really improve mileage, not just feel like they might:

-Have the carb rebuilt, or better yet buy a new, not reman, vacuum secondary carb, or money permitting swap in a throttle body fuel injection

-forget automatics, nothing but problems in the long run. Yes a th400 or 4l80e can take a beating and last a long time but when they go out, and they eventually will, you're out $500 to $2000 to get one rebuilt. (long before that happens you've already spent a lot of time and money replacing ATF, filters and leaking oil pan gaskets, input/output seals, transmission cooler lines, auxiliary coolers, leaking vacuum modulators, stuck governors, broken kickdown switches, wiring, computers etc!) A 5 or 6 speed manual transmission with a hydraulic clutch is a bullet proof combo, cheap&easy to maintain and install.

-New (well, used) 14 bolt full-floater rear end with dually wheel hubs and a 4.10 gear ratio will increase mileage due to having a lighter rotating assembly, and slightly better pinion/ring gear geometry. Also, it's easier to swap to disc brakes if so inclined. They're real common too, so spare parts are available.


Cool truck tho, love the look of that faded paint! it'd be perfect without the body rot.

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by RockHQ

Here's a few things that really improve mileage, not just feel like they might:

-Have the carb rebuilt, or better yet buy a new, not reman, vacuum secondary carb, or money permitting swap in a throttle body fuel injection

I've suggested to my dad to follow what others have said and dump the quadrajunk all together and get a new holly dominator or something along that line.

-forget automatics, nothing but problems in the long run. Yes a th400 or 4l80e can take a beating and last a long time but when they go out, and they eventually will, you're out $500 to $2000 to get one rebuilt. (long before that happens you've already spent a lot of time and money replacing ATF, filters and leaking oil pan gaskets, input/output seals, transmission cooler lines, auxiliary coolers, leaking vacuum modulators, stuck governors, broken kickdown switches, wiring, computers etc!) A 5 or 6 speed manual transmission with a hydraulic clutch is a bullet proof combo, cheap&easy to maintain and install.

I've found this false- after we installed the trans cooler, we havent spent a dime on the transmission, even with as many miles on it as there are pulling what it's pulled. In my lifetime, i dont remember a single fault with the transmission.

-New (well, used) 14 bolt full-floater rear end with dually wheel hubs and a 4.10 gear ratio will increase mileage due to having a lighter rotating assembly, and slightly better pinion/ring gear geometry. Also, it's easier to swap to disc brakes if so inclined. They're real common too, so spare parts are available.

Haven't heard that one yet.

Cool truck tho, love the look of that faded paint! it'd be perfect without the body rot.

Thanks!

anyway to repair that body rot? I know for sure new sheetmetal wouldn't do it, maybe take the sawzall to a junkyard and cut the area needing replacement off another truck with the same body style and weld it inplace of the bad area?

[RockHQ]

Originally Posted by magnethead

I've found this false- after we installed the trans cooler, we havent spent a dime on the transmission, even with as many miles on it as there are pulling what it's pulled. In my lifetime, i dont remember a single fault with the transmission.

Probably because you haven't had to deal with the General's automatics as many times or as long as i've had to. It's a love/hate affair for me

A dominator is probably the last carb you want to slap on if mileage is even a remote concern. Go for a carter AFB style or Holley vac. secondary or a rebuilt Q-jet. Q-jets aren't junk, most of the times they've just been "tuned" by people who did not have a clue what to do, as they're quite a bit more complicated than your standard Holley 4160. You won't need massive airflow but will want accurate fuel metering which a smaller carb will give over a bigger one (650 to 750 cfm is all that 454 should ever need if it's in stock specs)

If you haven't dealt with rust repair before, and don't want to practice on that truck, i suggest you take it to a professional. You can cut the needed parts off of another truck or get new sheetmetal, either way will yield good results. Whatever you do, just remember that bondo is not the correct way to fix dents or rust holes.

[magnethead]

lol i know what you mean about the bondo- i've seen hat done..not exactly pretty...

the way that hole is, i think it'd be better to cut that rea out the bottom part in a retangular pattern with the sawzall and replace it with a correctly sizes strip of sheetmetal, weld it in flat, grind the welds, and shoot it with a quart of 3 parts blue and 1 part white (?) to make it match, so the seal area ould be the only rusted part left, which we'd take to a pro to have fixed likely.

[magnethead]

Just talkeed to my dad-

he said that carb hasn't been rebuilt or tuned up since we moved out here....which was 1995.

other things that HAVE NOT had work done to them:

distributor cap
rotor
spark plugs
spark plug wires
radiator coolant
rear brakes

Things that HAVE been done since we moved out here:

Rebuilt front brake system
replaced master cylinder
push button ignition (column switch went out)
battery
battery cables
stereo


Might have missed a few things, but you get the idea...

[magnethead]

just a bit-

the exhaust note is very similar to the note from a super gas drag car and theres no blue smoke, the engine is actually in good shape for having such an old ignition system.

Also, about the rear brakes, the brake pedal isnt mushy or firm, its somewhere in the middle, and according to my dad, in the 20 or so years we've owned the truck, the rear drums have never been inspected nor removed/replaced just because we dont wanna yank the axle shafts,since it'd be too expensive (the brakes wouldnt be the only things bein replaced..i have the feeling the axle seals/bearings dont look pretty either).

although a few years ago the pinion seal broke and we had to pull the pinion yoke off and fix that, so thats also new (thats what caused the 500+ miles of no gear lube in the axle).

[BodyShopDropOut12]

That thing is so nice. Sometimes I wish I would have held out on buying till I found a crew cab, but mine was just too cool to pass up. Really cool.