Frankentruck

[The Rocknrod]

I dont know she looks good either way.

[cwcarpenter98]

Well, I decided to send it and go for the fresh off the farm look.
I drilled more holes in my doors, but I don't feel bad about it now that I have a welder.

Got all the holes drilled, bolted the arms to the doors, then started working on the mirrors. I had to use the ugga dugga gun to break all the acorn nuts and bolts loose, and all was going well. No broken bolts, and lots of anti-seize going back together.

The first set I got a couple years ago had a good arm and mirror, but the other one had a little rust in the arm and a busted mirror. They sat on the shelf for awhile. When I found the stepside bed for Andy, I also got the mirror from the passenger side off that truck. I didn't realize until today that the mirror head was a couple inches shorter than all the other ones I have.
I then picked up a very nice one at a swap meet which is the one on the driver's side. With two pairs in hand, I found a third set at one of the C10 Club meets with good glass, but they were rusty. I sure am glad I had three sets, because I ended up using parts from all 3 sets to make one, good set.


I got the driver's side all complete and started on the passenger side, but then tragedy struck. I don't know if I was pushing too hard against the glass by accident, or if it was the force of the impact, or maybe a combo of the two, but I broke the mirror that I was going to use on the passenger side.




I took a good piece of glass out of one of the rusty heads. It was surprisingly easy to take them apart, so if I decide to fully restore these in the future, I'll be able to. Once that was done, I finished the install of the passenger side. It was dark by then, so I'll have to adjust it in the morning.








I dropped the wheels off at the tire shop this afternoon so I could finish the mirrors. I'll be getting the wheels and tires on in the morning

[Pick121]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Well, I decided to send it and go for the fresh off the farm look.

I dig those mirrors! Will look great with the old school hubcaps and black wheels. You are like me with projects working into the dark this time of year!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

I dont know she looks good either way.

I think so too. Looks like I'm going to need a short bed truck one day to run the rallys again

Originally Posted by Pick121

I dig those mirrors! Will look great with the old school hubcaps and black wheels. You are like me with projects working into the dark this time of year!

You gotta do what you gotta do! One day I'll have a garage to work in

[cwcarpenter98]

Here's a picture of the new mirror situation.



And following is what I've been planning for the last 2 years.

Frankentruck fresh off the farm







Wheels: 15x8 Wheel Vintiques Series 62 6 lug
Tires: 30x9.5 r15 Falken Wildpeak AT3W
Hubcaps: 61-63 nub style I don't think original paint, but nice enough and close enough to run as is.

I wanted a light truck tire, but also wanted one more inch on the tire height from before. The tire is about half an inch less wide than the old ones.

Frankentruck was a farm truck for most of her life, so that's where the mirrors come in. I've wanted the stock hubcaps since about a year after I went with the rallys.

Ok, now it's time to drive back to Milledgeville

[bsarts]

You've come a long way with that Ol' Girl, she really looks great!

[The Rocknrod]

Those wheels look great with truck.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by bsarts

You've come a long way with that Ol' Girl, she really looks great!

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

Those wheels look great with truck.

Thanks guys, I'm really happy with the new look. I don't have any more exterior plans until I finish all the rust repair and paint the truck

[72cs20]

IMO, those wheels and tires make these trucks look right. Nice!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

IMO, those wheels and tires make these trucks look right. Nice!

Thank you! I agree. I don't think I'll ever change wheels again on this truck

[straight6chevyguy]

The new mirrors and wheels look great!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

The new mirrors and wheels look great!

Thank you!

[curvedglass]

Those wheels really make the truck. Keep up the good work.

You replied to one of my threads a few days back. got to reading yours. took me a couple days but well worth it. Obtained some good knowledge along the way. More so in the OD trans department. I hope to get mine in this winter - been saying that for at least 4 years. Up here in Pennsyltuckey it gets cold in the shop even with a blast heater.

God Bless!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by curvedglass

Those wheels really make the truck. Keep up the good work.

You replied to one of my threads a few days back. got to reading yours. took me a couple days but well worth it. Obtained some good knowledge along the way. More so in the OD trans department. I hope to get mine in this winter - been saying that for at least 4 years. Up here in Pennsyltuckey it gets cold in the shop even with a blast heater.

God Bless!

Thank you! If you ever have any questions about the overdrive, don't hesitate to reach out!

I 100% agree with what your signature says.
Thanks for checking in!

[curvedglass]

I had to go back and re-read my signature!! But it's true as you well know. I have to curved windshields! Here they are together.

[cwcarpenter98]

So it's been raining this morning and guess what, my back window is leaking. I don't know if it's from the slider or the gasket, or both. I struggled with the install for several hours, so I wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally tore the gasket in a couple spots.

I might be crazy, but I'm probably going to go back to the regular glass. The slider is neat, but harder to see out of through the rear view mirror and didn't give a drastic improvement of airflow through the cab like I was hoping for. I think if the opening was much larger, it would be better, but I'm not changing the size of the back window. I didn't break the glass when I made the swap, so I still have it if I decide to swap it back

[cwcarpenter98]

I haven't done anything to Frankentruck other than enjoying daily driving a classic. The odometer did roll over 50k recently, not that there's anything meaningful to that

I don't drive a ton while at school, but I will be going to Savannah for a conference this weekend. I'm helping with the conference as part of my graduate assistantship position. If I get any time to do some sight seeing with Frankentruck, I'll try to bring y'all along

[roll_the_dice]

Let me know if you have time this weekend and we can grab a meal or you can come over and just hang out! Welcome to Savannah!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Let me know if you have time this weekend and we can grab a meal or you can come over and just hang out! Welcome to Savannah!

Thanks! Hopefully I will have some time either Friday evening or Saturday afternoon once the conference is over

[cwcarpenter98]

Three years after putting my $400 283 in, I finally did a compression test. One of the very gracious members here sent me an early Christmas present, so I put it to good use today. Huge thank you to him!

Those numbers seem pretty good to me.

All the plugs looked about the same, with the one on the right being the darkest. That's cylinder 1.

Also, today's lunch was some cube steak from the deer I got last year. Grilled it and enjoyed it with some mashed taters and peas. Tasted good, but I think I like it fried better.

Road trip tomorrow morning!

[cwcarpenter98]

Rolled in to Savannah this afternoon a little after 2. No rain at all on the trip down thankfully. Had conference stuff the rest of the day.

Looks like I'll have a couple hours of free time tomorrow afternoon, so I'll have to try to find some nice scenery to get some pictures with

[jmarkha1]

those compression numbers look good but the cube steak looks a LOT better - :-)

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by jmarkha1

those compression numbers look good but the cube steak looks a LOT better - :-)

Tasted a lot better too!

[cwcarpenter98]

Today's adventure: Rooftop hotel views, 8 hours of conference, and Savannah port tour. The port tour included a Bald Eagle sighting and lots of large boats.

Also got to hang with Andy for a couple hours and talk trucks and such.

I didn't drive Frankentruck today, so I'll be getting some pictures tomorrow before I head back to Milly

[cwcarpenter98]

Yesterday's adventure in Savannah with Frankentruck:

Got to have the mossy trees, of course





The big bridge





River Street with the Georgia Queen





Bonaventure Cemetery




After that, I headed for Milledgeville.

As the sun was dropping behind the trees, I wanted to find a tree with good, fall colors. Found one on a 2 lane between Adrian and Wrightsville.



Not much farther up the road, I spotted a crewcab square up on a small dam. I took the risk and pulled up. Met some nice guys fishing on their farm. We talked trucks for about 30 minutes, I took a few sunset pictures, then made the last hour of the trip back in the dark.








With some rough calculations, I believe Frankentruck is getting around 13 mpg combined. Again, that's rough and the speedo reads 64 when I'm going 70, so I don't know how accurate the odometer reading is