Jon's 69 CST Build

[jonmc56]

I've never been happy with the way that the driver door latches, so next up was to replace the latch and relay. At some point someone put the inner door handle on with the horseshoe clip on backwards, so that the open end of the horseshoe clip was on the wrong side of the handle, the side without the grooves that the removal tool fits into. After fiddling with it for a couple of hours, I finally had to cut it off.
Even with the new latch and relay, I'm still not happy with the way the door latches. If I adjust the striker so that the door latches well every time, the door is hanging out too far. If I adjust the striker so that the door lines up even with the cab, I have to slam the door pretty hard to get it to latch.
The striker looks in good shape, and has been replaced at some point.
Would love to hear any ideas about how to fix this.

[jonmc56]

Another catch-up post. Last spring I was getting the truck ready for a trip to Roseburg for the 2019 Graffiti Weekend, and noticed that one of my brake caliper hoses had developed a leak. I went through 6-8 copper crush washers trying to get it to seal. I checked the mounting surface of the caliper for burrs, I checked the sealing surfaces of the brake hose, and made sure the hose orientation was correct. Nothing worked, it would still leak. What was odd is that the hose wouldn't observably leak under braking pressure, but would make a puddle of brake fluid on the floor when the truck was parked overnight.

I finally heard about 'stat-o-seal' washers, that have a synthetic rubber "O" ring mechanically locked to the I.D. of an aluminum washer. I was running out of time to get this fixed, so I tried some. They sealed on the first try! I'm sold on these things!

[jonmc56]

Graffiti Weekend in Roseburg Oregon is a great event, it includes show and shines, a downtown cruise, collector car auction, and more. We had a good time, but the best part is the fun run on Sunday, sortof like a poker run in the beautiful wine country outside Roseburg. I love driving my truck!

[jonmc56]

Last catch-up post for today.
Last August on a Friday night we took our truck to the local Dairy Queen cruise in. I normally don't open the hood at these kinds of things, but somebody asked me a question about the engine, and I left the hood open after that.

At the end of the evening I started the truck to leave, and it was running really rough. It died a couple of times when I put it in gear, which isn't normal. When I got to the stop sign at the parking lot exit, I noticed that I had no power brakes. Something was up, so I pulled over and popped the hood. I saw that the cover to the brake booster check valve was missing (see pic), and then found it sitting on the battery. This kind of thing happens to other people too, right?

I limped the truck back to a store to get some super glue, and once I glued the cover back onto the check valve, all was well.

Wasn't so much surprised that the check valve fell apart, but more surprised at finding the cap sitting on the battery after driving 2 blocks.

Super glue got us home safe, but I later bought a billet aluminum check valve from Summit. I know, I know, it's an overkill solution, but who doesn't love a big chunk of billet aluminum?

[cornerstone]

I remember not that long ago, there was another forum member who had a similar experience... at a car show, left truck on display with hood up, came back to discover the check valve missing from booster. Later discovered the valve sitting on the battery. I think they assumed a thief pulled the part successfully, but got spooked and was afraid to go through with it so he set it down out of sight and walked away. Your scenario would explain it. I bet it happened before the guy parked the truck, and didn't notice it when he first raised the hood.

By the way, the new check valve looks great!