Trying to make Junky perhaps just a little bit Funky...

[mattfranklin]

Dude! As I scrolled past those cracks on your front frame horns I was having serious flashbacks to the time I fixed mine, and accidentally opened up my knuckle with an abrasive wheel in the angle grinder. Then I saw your injured fingers. Yeouch! I guess great minds think alike.

Very impressed with your progress. I want to get mine running reliably before I attack my rust work. It's not severe, being a CA vehicle, but there are some holes that need patching.

I've been making some progress on getting mine running, and I know I owe you guys a ton of pics.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mattfranklin

Dude! As I scrolled past those cracks on your front frame horns I was having serious flashbacks to the time I fixed mine, and accidentally opened up my knuckle with an abrasive wheel in the angle grinder. Then I saw your injured fingers. Yeouch! I guess great minds think alike.

Very impressed with your progress. I want to get mine running reliably before I attack my rust work. It's not severe, being a CA vehicle, but there are some holes that need patching.

I've been making some progress on getting mine running, and I know I owe you guys a ton of pics.

Ouch! Not sure which is worse - grinding your knuckle or welding your fingers. Nice to know I'm in good company.

I've been a bit side-tracked lately. Got my wife a 2004 Chevy Astro cargo van to help with her budding business. Been spending some time getting it fixed up and in the shape I want it to be in. What sucks is, I don't know if you read my post about my neighbor, but he might think I have been quieter because of him which is not the case.

Hope you are doing well. Looking forward to picking up your thread again.

[DD1]

I'm back working on the truck. Was sidetracked for a few weeks because I got my wife a Chevy Astro cargo van so she can try and turn her side business into a real business, since her job is closed due to COVID.

Even while I was working on the cab in my last post, I have been ordering parts for the A/C system and figuring out which of my existing parts are worth keeping and what I need to replace. Now it might seem wrong that I am focusing on the A/C when I have so much body work left to do, AND right before WINTER, but there are reasons why I am doing it this way:

1. If I have gotten to be known on this board for anything, it should be doing stuff backwards.
2. I am still working towards having a drive-able truck in the spring. I want the engine work to be done with the exception of wiring and exhaust.

I plan to spend the next month or two welding up the cab and getting it ready to be blasted and epoxy primed.

Back to the AC story. I originally ordered all the A/C components for the engine except for the compressor and the evaporator from Classic Auto Air / Original Air. They are the same company, but they operate separately from each other. Classic Air is located in FL and Original Air is located in TX. They were really helpful before and after the initial sale when I bought the condenser, drier, hoses, and anything else I need in the engine compartment. They made a mistake on the hoses and one connector, and quickly corrected it when I asked questions (not because I knew anything was wrong, I was just super confused).

I ended up deciding to order the Sanden Compressor from them (Original Air) and having everything brand new in the engine compartment. During an hour long call with the rep, he was not sure if the bracket would fit my truck (I have a 90's serpentine belt system), but assured me he would help if it didn't.

Well, it didn't fit due to a lack of clearance from the valve covers. When I asked him about it, he responded that I could try moving the brackets to the other side of the compressor, but it's not designed for tall covers and only has a 1/8" clearance normally. I don't have tall valve covers; they are under 3" in height. I ended up getting a bracket from Vintage Air which solved the problem and made me wish I had just purchased everything from them instead.

Here is the compressor hitting the valve cover.


And it would not go low enough to mount to the inside of the bracket.


I found my own crazy way to mount it, but decided this was not ideal and didn't really like it sitting up this high.


Finally got the bracket from Vintage Air and all is good. You would thing Classic/Original Air would sell something like this.




Next I had to figure out how long my belt needed to be since the bracket raised the A/C. My old belt was 95.5". I used the string method to measure the belt size and got 98". I figured it was off by 1/2" and it only took 2 trips to Advance Auto to get the right belt; tried 97.5" first and returned it, then 98.5" did the trick.


Next story is about the radiator and tires, but I'll do a separate post to keep it organized.

[DD1]

The tires is a quick story. When I got the truck it had 205/70/15 on the back and 215/75/15 in the front. The rear tires are thinner than the back and when I was backing up on my ramp it made it difficult to line up the front and back tires.

When I was at the Junkyard getting parts for my wife's van, I checked to see what kind of tires they had. I wanted to get a set that matched the front or was a bit wider than the front. They didn't have the size I wanted (can't remember what that was right now), but I settled on a pair of 215/70/15's (I think). I had a local shop mount them on some rims I bought off CL a few years ago. Yesterday I mounted them on the rear. Eventually I will probably swap the front and rear tires.

The dirty one in the front is the "new" tire. I didn't take a pic yet of it on the hub.


We went to the Fall show in Carlisle and I decided to pick up a new radiator from a vendor, Auto City Classics since they had some for these trucks on site and on sale. A couple weeks after I got home I decided to order the Electric Fan and Shroud when I got a gift card for Bosses Day from my team at work. This is where it got interesting.

I called them and told them I got the radiator at the Swap Meet and wanted to buy the Fan Shroud with the fan. There was some miscommunication because when the package arrived I got the shroud with no fan. I also wanted the one they normally sell with the radiator which has dual fans, but I got a shroud with a single fan.

I will say that when I called back they were very helpful. They offered to let me exchange the shroud for a dual fan shroud which I decided wasn't worth the hassle. I ordered the 16" fan to go with the shroud I received for $24 and they shipped it for free since they made a mistake. Mistakes happen, how you handle it is what matters, and they stepped up and did the right thing.

Finally, as is often the problem with aftermarket radiators, especially those that say "Direct Fit," the radiator sits too high with the stock mounts. I order some mounts from Speedway that I plan to use as lower mounts, and hopefully I can use the stock mounts on the top.

After I carefully and nervously drilled holes and riveted the fan shroud to the radiator:


Sits just a little too high. Glad it just clears my battery tray which I extended. I was concerned about getting a radiator that would fit in the space.



Ordered this "Aluminum Radiator Mounting Bracket With Pads Kit" from Speedway, and yeah, I could probably make them myself. But for $19 (well $30 with shipping) I'd rather not waste the time trying.

[mattfranklin]

I'm getting back into my truck again. How's your progress going?

[DD1]

Originally Posted by mattfranklin

I'm getting back into my truck again. How's your progress going?

Hey Matt, how it's going? Glad to hear you are getting back to your truck. It's been slow going for me as I've been distracted by working on my wife's work van, the heat, and the cold.

I took the cab off again and started doing bondo. I hate doing bondo, wish I could find someone to do it on the side for me. I started on the back of the cab to get practice in an area no one will see. These pics are by no means the finished results.

[mattfranklin]

I totally understand distractions and avoiding Bondo. You're still ahead of me. You're doing great work.

A year ago I got a CNC plasma table and had been playing with that a lot. But this year I noticed the local police had put a chalk mark on my truck tire, so I thought since the police thought the truck hadn't moved enough, I had better move things ahead. :-)