Byrd's underhood and front clip clean up

[byrd]

I have the front suspention, front brakes and all the brakes lines tightened down except for right at the M/C. Still need the front sway bar, steering gear box, drag link and tie rods and the front will be ready to rock and roll!!!I have to clean and paint the gear box and the drag link, need a little more paint that will be here Friday. Tomorrow I am going to work on the power brakes, the carpet and hopefully and the window seals and rubber. The core support has a little bend to it from where I hit a guy and I am going to have to mount it up and heat it up and use a big slide hammer to straighten it out before I clean it up and paint it up.
I put the wheels back on the front and set it down on the ground to get a look at the stance and I am diggin' it, although the rear may need to come down a little more, I will have to wait and see when it is finished. I can always just put blocks in it to get another 1" or 2. This is the first low rider I have ever owned and I am STOKED about getting it going and driving it to the meet!!!
Here is the only crappy pic I took of the progress...

[VA72C10]

Looking good...nice progress

[49m]

are you going to paint the truck ?

[byrd]

Thanks for the kind words guys..
No I am not going to paint it, in fact the front clip will be the wrong color. This was mainly about making it safe to drive anywhere, and a new heater core. and as you can see I got a little carried away, does that happen to anybody else??? hehehe

[68 short step]

lookin good

[byrd]

Had a very productive last couple of days. I got the gearbox painted and mounted, mounted pump and lines, along with the sway bar, and tie rods, front end is ready for fluid (yeah!!)
I got all 8 pieces of window weatherstriping(both doors) and new door seals as well. They window seals went in pretty easy but needed some triming here and there. Doors seals were a breeze, just cut to fit. I used 3M adhesive on all of the weatherstripping and it holds pretty nice.

I got the motor wiring done yesterday, I used the correct hei connectors for the 12 volt and the tach signal for a nice and clean install. I also routed the two wires thru where the oil line goes in, I used a piece of high voltage insulation to protect trhe wires form the heat of the oil line. I used some red loom to go along with the red and black theme. I got the firewall wire gutter installed and the washers hoses and wiring in it.

The tough job for the weekend was gettting the trac bar and mounting bolt out of the frame mount bracket. It was siezed up and I couldn't cut it off(didn't think that would work anyway) So I went to my mom' s shop and got the oxygen and aceytlene tank and the rosebud attachement and found the aceytlene was empty Tried to exchange it at Tractor supply, no go different cylinder, bummer But I remebered my step dad had a small o/c welding set up with the small 27# cylinders and I exchanged the little one and went at it after about 4-5 hrs of running around
So I got it all ready and started to heat up the bolt and of course the rubber bushing was burning and it STUNK!! I used my resperator while I was heating it up, I got it good and red hot and then let it sit for a minute or two and after about 10-12 whacks with a 2 lb sledge it broke loose and a few more whacks used a cold chisel and it finally popped out!!! Tomorrow after work I am off to H&S hardware to get s new zinc plated grade 8 bolts and nuts for the trac bar mounts and we are good to go on the rear.
So next up with the torch is straightening my core support from where I hit some punk. I used a small 2x4 wood block to hold up the end I wanted to fix, and heated it up where the bend was. Aftering a few attempt I got it hot enough and just stomped on it with one foot and got it to move. I got it a little hotter and stomped a few more times using both feet this time I got it straight enough to use it!! I was really very pleased with the way it came out. It did split a little just about an inch to the inside of the rad mount, so NBG there really. So after a good washing and drying I hit the core support with a wire brush, some wax and grease remover, then shoot it with some Eastwoods rust inhibitor.
That is where it stands right now and hopefully it the week goes well I will have it running and at the alignment shop by the end of the week. I still have quite a bit to do, but it shouldn't be too bad. I will post some pics of the progress tomorrow, it is too late and I have forgotten to take them as I went

[byrd]

Pic update, I have trial hung the fenders and got the core support painted up and looking good. The hood will trial fit tomorrow and then off to be painted on the inside only, I will leave the outside the gray for now
I did fit up the radio dlete cowl and will shoot it with Eastwoods rust inhibitor, great bare metal primer and leave it at that. I wanted to have it ready and at the alignment shop by Friday, but Monday was the wife's B-day and no working on the truck once she got home from work(although I did get the core support painted hehehe) Anyway here are the pics...

[byrd]

Update..

Got the fenders pulled off and painted on the inside, got the hood hinges cleaned and painted, got the radio delete cowl painted, got the radiator and hoses installed. I had to get a new PS pump and got it painted and mounted up last night. I mounted the wiring gutter to the rad support and got the wiring in it and pretty much done, few little ends to tie up. I installed a new glovebox, got the holes cut in the carpet for the seats to go back in.
I need to tidy up some wiring inside the cab and put my cluster back in and start getting the truck ready to fire up!!! I still need to get the inner fenders cleaned up and painted and then I can finish the wiring and hoses under the hood. Need to get the new pan gasket instaled on my tranny and can start filling it back up. Lots of little things left to do and the goal is to hear it run by the end of the weekend(fingers crossed)

[Boog]

Randy you look to be making real progress there. I have no doubt you'll make the show.

[msgross]

wow, quickest progress on a truck that I have seen in awhile....

[bad6772]

Good luck,,,,,,And great Progress in such a short time...............



Tony

[byrd]

Update... I have gotten the inner fenders (inside only)painted and installed, also installed the hood, grill,bumper, cowl panel and set the gaps as best I could. The hood hinges are shot, and the fenders are kinda crappy,but for $200 you can't expect much LOL. The grill is sweet and super straight,(grill was not in the $200 package) and a new front bumper makes the front end look great! The inner fenders came off a truck I parted out, but were rust free(although they are repop) That is all for today and a full day it was!!!! I ran out of paint so the hood latch and grill braces did not get painted, but they will
I will get the heater hoses in tomorrow as wel as the vac ports for the brake booster, modulator valve, and vac advance, installe the battery, change the pan gasket on the tranny and put in the fluids and we should be ready to fire. I still need to bench bleed the master cylinder and get the brakes lines filled and bleed out,but that will come after I get it running. Hopefully by the end of the night Monday the truck should be back under it's own power.

[byrd]

Guys thank you for the kind words. I really appreciate it BIG TIME!! This has been a BIGER job than I had figured oon,but isn't that the way it always goes??? LOL

[thirdstreettito]

Good job byrd!

[byrd]

Update,..
I got the black buddy buckets installed and the seat belts put back in(they were apart and I just painted the frame and buddy mount box and bolted them onto the frame and on into the truck, just need to install my gauges and the interior(besides some clean up) IS DONE!!! I got all the vacuum lines installed(mod valve, booster, and vac advance HEI, installed the heater hoses and filled the radiator. I put fuel in it yesterday and hope to get the power steering pump filled up, M/C bleed mounted and fill the lines and get reay to bleed out and hopefully try to start her up tomorrow evening. I still new to pu on a tranny gasket,but that may wait until I get it back from the alignment shop due to time constraints. I don't have any pics of todays progress but will in a day or two.

[msgross]

can't wait for final pics... nice "clean-up"

[byrd]

IT"S ALIVE!!! well sorta I installed the dual electric fans (still need to wire them up), installed my restored by me tach dash, put the duel flowmasters 40's back on, put power steering fluid in the pump, put some brake fluid in the M/C and put the battery back in and tried to start it, and NOTHING!!

Son (^$&*%$*^ So I started to check my wiring and I found out real quick what the problem was, I must have looked at the starter solenoid crosseyed and put the purple start wire on the R terminal. Dropped the starter and changed that and bam we were turning over!!!
My wife came out to hear her start back up for the first time and the hold a fire exstinguisher just in case Anyway after turning over serveral times getting fuel pressure up she fired and coughed and died. She fired again and sounded like it had a cam for a moster truck in it and died. Did that one or two more times and finally hit and run for a few seconds and I shut her off since it was 11 pm when I started her. I noticed I smelled gas after she ran for a minute, and I can't really tell but it looks like the fuel pump diaphram is blowing fuel out,( I guess we were a little too rough on when reinstalled the motor ) So I will pick up new fuel pump from napa tomorrow and slap that on and we should be good to go!!!!!!!!!!! I am soo excited it was great to hear her run the first time in about 6 weeks and she sounded GREAT!!
Anyway here are some pics I took and hoefully another update tomorrow!! Time is running out, but I should make it!!

[VA72C10]

Great work and great updates. Can't wait till i can spend some quality time with mine

[byrd]

Update...
I found the fuel leak, one of the fittings on the braided hose was a little loose and I tightened it up and checked the rest of the connections and tried to start her again and she fired right up and no more fuel leaks!!! She was running like crap so I moved the dizzy a little to get her to settle out and she started to purr like a kitten. I like to run her about 6 deg BTDC and hit the nail on the head by ear(verified by light) I only let her run about 5 minutes enough to get the manifolds hot and get the t stat to open, I did not want to run her long as I havn't finished the wiring on the electric fans yet. The power steering pump is whining a little and bubbly under the cap so I have some air to get out. I haven't even tried to get the brakes working yet but will over the 3 day weekend and fingers crossed get her to the alignment shop on Monday. I have a pic of the finished product under the hood(give or take a little tiding up) fist a before and then an after WOW what a difference eh??? LOL

[5150]

Looks really good Randy, can't wait to see it next weekend.

[VA72C10]

Looks great! Quite the change!

[byrd]

Update... I finally got the brakes working right with the help of a friend of my neighbors. Took him about 2 hrs to get them straightened out and new wheel cylinders and new shoes on the rear. He also set the front end up so I could just drive it to the alignment shop, ( much easier) So I tended to the wheels and getting the right lug nuts, getting the headlights in and test driving it. Everything seem good on my first little 2 block trip. My wife and I gave her a bath and I took her for a little 1/4 mile trip to blow off the excess water(yeah right )
Well on my way back I tried the radio and it would come on but no sound, and I thought that was weird, and then when I went to turn in my hood, my signal wouldn't work, weird again. So I shut it off and try to start it to move it around and it won't start battery is dead. Jump it and she fires up and I let her run a bit and notice after I took the cables off the electric fans slowed WAY down. Checked the voltage and it wsa about 8 volts. So I pulled on of the batt cables and the truck dies, so I'm thinking alt, right?
Run to big box O and get a new one and have the old one checked, but it checked good. I know sometimes with electrical parts if it cools off some it just may work again til it gets too hot, so I opted for a new alt. Got home and had the batt charging while I was gone and now we have about 13.56 volts at the batt. I installed the new alt and tried the cable trick again and she died again, ok what now??
The only thing different is the electric fans and I can't see one little 12" fan driaining the whole elctrical system down. I was being lazy and just picked up a hot off the old regulator wires and used it for the power to control the relays only for the fans, shouldn't be too much amperage to hold in a coil. So that was the only thing I had changed, so I butt spliced the reg wire back to gether and ran me a new home run to the fuse box and picked up an ignition hot only off the fuse box.
I had charged the batt again earlier and just started it up and let her run for a little while and see what happens. With only one of the two fans running and the headlights on at low idle I was very slowly loosing voltage to the tune of about 3 hundreths of a volt every minute or so, not good. I turned off the headlights and let her run for another 10 minutes or so at low idle and the voltage was holding steady and maybe gained a few hundreths.
Now is that normal at low adle to be dropping voltage at that rate? Or should it hold steady? I do have an int reg alt pushing 78 amps and that should be plenty for what I have to run, No AC,big stereo, power windows or locks. TIA ....Randy



BTW I really think I nailed the stance on the fronts, but the rear may need to come down another 1 1/2" or so. I ended up going with a shorter and skiner tire up front due to clearance problems, Ihaev 245/60/15 in the front and 275/60/15 in the rear, there is close to an inch difference in the overall diameter of the tires. I really an digging the wheels as well!!!! I didn't get any outsie pics today as I was too busy working on it all day and into the night!! I will post some when I get it back from the alignment shop tomorrow(hopefully)

[byrd]

Got her back!!!! I have a few things to button up but othern than that she is good to go!! The rear is too high,but I will rectifiy that after the meet, maybe before Man what a HUGE difference in the hadling and the ride I am just giddy I found the charging problem, seems that the int reg alt conversion plug was not making good contact, Fixed that and everything is cool. I drove her about 30 miles today and hopefully about 50-75 tomorrow, and wednesday and then check everything out and start getting her ready for our journey. Here are a couple of pics I took today, man that rear needs to come down....

[5150]

Randy, what size drop springs to you have back there??

Looks like you need a 5 or 6 inch drop springs. Let Tim Christian know to bring a set and we'll install them at the meet


Edit:::Just re-read the first post and saw that they are 4 inch drop springs.

[byrd]

I would change out the springs,but they are soo purrty all painted up in there I will just order some 1 1/2" lowering blocks and see what that does for me. Thanks for the offer, and if I can't get the blocks on beofre the trip we can put them in at Ron's