What did you do with your truck today, take 2

[ChuckDriver]

Installed a new seat cover!

[OrrieG]

Put it to bed for winter so the DD can go in the garage, I hate scraping ice off the windows.

[iowaboynca]

Fired up the old inline 6 for the first time in probably 6-8 months. Kinda feel a little bad swapping it out for 5.3...

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

Fired up the old inline 6 for the first time in probably 6-8 months. Kinda feel a little bad swapping it out for 5.3...

Be bold, keep the six and rod it. www.inliners.org

[iowaboynca]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Be bold, keep the six and rod it. www.inliners.org

Lol...I would but 1. I already have the 5.3 (great deal!) and 2. I just love the sound of a V8...
With that being said, because its still a running motor, i'm not going to junk it. will either try to find it a good home or try to convince the wife to let me use it in a roadster project...or for another truck project. My 10 year old daughter is hinting she wants one. If she can't have a 70 monte carlo like her mom used to have. To many ideas...

[Highsider]

Well, it thawed the snow.
Then, it rained and washed the salt away.
So, I went for a 60-mile cruise. Awesome day!

Then it snowed, again.

[1project2many]

I managed to pick up some tires this week. Once they're mounted the truck can be driven again. Then it's back to computer tuning that was interrupted two years ago.

[Mac the Yankee]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Installed a new seat cover!

ChuckDriver,

Do you remember how much material you cut out of the Impala dash? I've been considering the same modification

[ChuckDriver]

Originally Posted by Mac the Yankee

ChuckDriver,

Do you remember how much material you cut out of the Impala dash? I've been considering the same modification

I took 4in out of the middle and at least 6in off the back. You can see the full install in my build thread.

Be sure to post some pic's of your install!

[sleepindawg]

1950 3600 w/4 inch dropped 1/2t axle (sids), 1958 1/2t rear end and a purring 'lil 283ci and granny 4 speed. Pulled the tarp off her, filled all the tires with air, dropped a battery in her then squirted some gas in the carb. Had my 14yo son twist the key and she came to life!! He's never experienced the joy of of a standard let alone a standard in a good 'ol truck. So, I let him drive it around the yard (making sure he didn't run into the '51 or '52 3100's). He did great! He only killed it once and that was because he started off in third. All in all a good day and I think I've just created another " 'ol truck junkie". LOL

[slck57]

Finished Camaro clip install and put coat of primer on it.

[crossfire84]

nice job!

[crossfire84]

Did some more work on the center console.

[pvienneau]

Welded inner drivers side cab corner today.

[oldman3]

Well I really did this yesterday, but didn't have time to post until today. Yesterday was a beautiful day at 70 so I took the pickup out for a drive. Drove about 50 miles thru some up and down ozark hills, curved back roads and had a great time. Here's a couple pics...Jim

[Russell Ashley]

Beautiful scenery there, looks like it was a perfect day for a ride.

[Russell Ashley]

Fixed my heat control cable, installed my Newport wiper setup and the Retro-Sound radio while I was under the dash. My dash is full underneath so I hope I never need to do any repair to the wiper motor. I bought the radio and wipers a year ago but haven't been in the mood to install them before now. Someone had hacked the dash around the radio mounting holes so that's the reason for the black circles around the knobs. I turned some covers on the lathe that cover the damage. Wish I had repaired the dash when I first got the truck and the cab was empty but it's too late to think about welding on the dash now. I don't have any speakers yet, I'm still trying to decide which way I want to go with those.

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

Beautiful scenery there, looks like it was a perfect day for a ride.

Yes it was, I could've driven for hours. Now todays a different story. Hi of 31 degress and had freezing rain in the AM, mother nature!!!!...Jim

[oldman3]

Dash looks good, need one more knob...Jim

[57chevyman]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

Fixed my heat control cable, installed my Newport wiper setup and the Retro-Sound radio while I was under the dash. My dash is full underneath so I hope I never need to do any repair to the wiper motor. I bought the radio and wipers a year ago but haven't been in the mood to install them before now. Someone had hacked the dash around the radio mounting holes so that's the reason for the black circles around the knobs. I turned some covers on the lathe that cover the damage. Wish I had repaired the dash when I first got the truck and the cab was empty but it's too late to think about welding on the dash now. I don't have any speakers yet, I'm still trying to decide which way I want to go with those.

i have the same radio. very happy with it. the USB mp3 reader is a cool feature - got mine hiding in the glovebox. i have speakers in the stock location by the rearview and a kenwood powered subwoofer under the seat . sounds great

[ChuckDriver]

Looks good Russell!

Do you think you could paint them to match the dash?

[ChuckDriver]

About 2 years ago I installed a ZZ4 motor along with a rebuilt 700R4 trans from Phoenix Transmission.

I never really liked how it would lock up the torque converter at the same time it shifted into 4th gear. This would cause a 1000 RPM drop, and if you weren't in the motor pretty hard, it was too much of a drop.

So, I was at the Good Guys show in Charlotte and talked with Mark from Bowler Performance Transmissions about this issue. He explained that most people who rebuild the 700R4 set them up to do what mine was doing. But Bowler has developed a kit to address this!

I must say that Mark was great to deal with. He answered every question I had in terms that made sense to me and was very knowledgeable!

Well, I was sold and bought his "Lock-up Control Module"

It was very easy to install after dropping the pan. It did require me to redo the wiring for the lockup, using a relay that allows it to "un-Lock" when I press the brake pedal.

After finishing the install and topping of the fluid I was ready for a test drive. Let me say it works great! Now when the trans shifts into 4th, there's about a 700 RPM drop, and after 8-10 seconds the converter "locks-up" and drops about 300 RPM. It actually feels like a 5 speed trans! And even better, when I press the brake, the converter "un-locks" and its easier on the motor to accelerate again.

I have to say that I'm extremely pleased with how it works and would highly recommend Bowler's product!

http://bowlertransmissions.com/p/99/...nverter-module

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Looks good Russell!

Do you think you could paint them to match the dash?

I'm planning on doing that but was too eager to get the dash buttoned up and done the other day. I have paint that I had matched already. I can't think of anything to do with that empty hole so I have another chrome knob that I am going to mount as a "do-nothing" cover up.

I really wish I had repaired the dash when I had the cab stripped out but this truck has been my worst planned restofication ever. I didn't plan on doing all that I have done to it but I found this forum and it snowballed from there.

Apparently you understand that snowballing thing too, LOL. Your truck just keeps getting better and better.

[Russell Ashley]

I added a relay to power the headlights yesterday. I have halogen headlights and could drive it fine with the dims on but the brights were too much for the bi-metal strips on the switch. Didn't go fancy with it, just added one 40 amp relay in the circuit to the dimmer switch.

[capnduane]

Bought my 55 2nd a early Christmas present. A new set of door handles and scratch guards. About 75 bucks off ebay. The old ones were worn badly, the drivers side had no chrome left at all. The replacements chrome is fantastic, and they look like NOS, but I'm sure they are from China! Wonder what these will look like in 60 years?