What did you do to your truck today? Chapter II

[Sicklajoie]

I busted a hood hinge 10 days ago, so Wes from Classic Heartbeat hooked me up with some nice ones.
And I've been driving around w/o power brakes the last month, so I finally replaced the power booster.

[texasld]

About 32 hours later and it's a different color!!!

[birdistheword]

Replaced the original 45 year old upper and lower ball joints and put in a set of 2in lowering springs up front.

[Econman]

Rebuilt my valve body, added a shift kit and started rebuilding the sub-assemblies in my TH350.

[Expat_dude]

Carpet and kick panels finally going in!

[Hugh Mongus]

Tommy @ Tnt Motorsports put new wheels and tires on the beast. (bad cell phone picture) Thanks Tommy!

[brian1971]

Installed procharger bracket and P1SC head unit.On my 71 shortbed

[Lee H]

Originally Posted by brian1971

Installed procharger bracket and P1SC head unit.On my 71 shortbed

Looks like your running a GM serpentine drive setup? Is that a pro charger kit? If so it it pretty complete?

[OregonNed]

I started my project to cover the radiator to grill gap. Started with a nice radiator given to me by a fellow member here. I've test fitted it so far. There are gap panels on the way. along with silver powdercoated hood latch and radiator upper brackets.

Before:



Test Fit:

[brian1971]

Yeah Lee its a 88-92 Iroc/Firebird bracket for passenger side and 90-95 gm truck bracket driver side.I would of used Truck bracket for whole setup but would not work with intake tensioner was in front of throttle body.I had to space out driver side bracket 1/2" inch.I did it this way because I wanted to run a single belt and procharger kit for Iroc serpentine setup runs its own belt and is a lot more money.If you want to see more pics let me know,now I am trying to find belt to fit its around 112"inch belt.
Brian

[Lee H]

Thanks Brian, I'm running the truck setup on mine. One of the best mods I've done. Which procharger kit are you using!

[brian1971]

Lee this is the kit I'm using 90-95 chevy truck bracket kit.I already had procharger and pulley.
I also am going to run a intercooler.
Brian

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Small local show. Rat was there. But not too many truck lovers.

Fancy tri-five stepper was the big hit.

Fun day, though.

[Blakeman350]

Straightened out the front bumper a little bit and through some paint on it. Also repainted the gmc on the grille. The bumper and grille still needs some work but looks better then it did.

[71Dually]

What's crackin'? Today? Well, lets see…

This wasn't actually "today" but on August 21st I hit 41,000.0 on the big girls tire turn counter. And it's not yet a rolled over specimen.

"As The Odometer Turns" (At About 20MPH)

Then on August 22nd I scored some JB8 dually brake parts and wheels. I got 2 serviceable 3-1/2" 14BFF rear brake drums, 2 Complete front spindles with serviceable rotors and calipers, a hydraulic brake booster with a truck firewall bracket, a proportioning valve and 3 good steel dually wheels to go with my 4 Alcoa's. All this stuff came from a 1988 "R" series C3500 I found on CL. After a 100 mile round trip I thought it was a pretty good deal for $120.00. A Pick-A-Part yard would have been double that. So including the petrol I figure I saved about $70.00 over the junk yard prices. CL is the trucks and my friend.

A Little Bit Of Parts Grab In My Life


During the afternoon of Aug 25th the postman didn't ring twice but he did leave my registration tags for my approved YOM plates from the DMV. These plates were once on my step fathers truck, he kept them for man cave wall art when his truck spun out and slammed broadside into the center divider on the freeway in 1986. The accident totaled the truck but didn't damage the plates so now their on my truck. The only thing better is if they read 71 402 G Then it would match the year as well as the engine and color. Oh well, still is slick to have them on the truck, I really like 'em, their a nice tribute and a big shout out for the man who was my male bonding mentor when I was growing up from a little 3 year old tyke.

Now Y'all Know It's Got To Be A 402 Rat Motor, Right? But Really, What Year Is It Again?
There Are Three Clues Present In The Picture Of This Original Truck. Can You Spot Them?


Quite by surprise on August 28th I scored even more JB8 dually brake parts. This time around I got the upper control arms, spindles, calipers, rotors, hydraulic brake booster, rear drums, rear backing plates, proportioning valve, master cylinder, JB8 (2 fluid return inlet tubes) power steering pump with BB brackets, 7 wheels with 1 brand spankin' new tire and 6 great tires, a factory GM 40 gallon side fill fuel tank with sending unit that fits between the trucks frame rails (exactly what I wanted), the tank hangers, a 454BB fan with cooling fan clutch, a single wire 60 amp alternator and a set of 14BFF axles and hubs. These all came from a 1984 P30 based, 10,000lb. GVW MHC with 86,000 miles. Everything appears in real good condition. The fuel tank is clean as a whistle inside and the master cylinder and calipers have reman stamps. Now I've got some extra parts I may need to find either a new box or dually for.

An Even Bigger Parts Score. Bigger Is Better Right?
The Upper Control Arms, 14BFF Axles, 14BFF Hubs And The JB8 Prop Valve Were All AWOL For The Photo Shoot. They Are Now All Present And Accounted For!


This deal cost me, well… um, let's see... I gave the legal owners agent… $100, then his boss (another of the legal owners agents) gave me... $100… and I got... 7 wheels with tires times… that plus… more accounting jargon… plus… multiply by... minus fuel expense... divide that by... carry the denominator... equals… are you ready… wait for it… yep… that's right… a… big… whopping… ZERO pennies… it was ALL free!

Yes!!! It's true!!! It was all… F-R-E-E ! ! !

Wow, an even better deal than the week before. But not only were the parts all free for the taking, this vehicle was actually abandoned property carefully hidden behind the foreclosed house directly across the street from mine! I could literally catch a faint narrow glimpse of the vehicles corner across the street over the top of my trucks stake side gates and thru the wind swept overgrown vegetation behind the houses chain-link fence gate while literally sitting on my front porch. My step fathers high power binoculars definitely enabled a clearer view. I'm so fortunate the legal owner wanted that monster off the property instead of in their own personal dilapidated car collection and as such first allowed me to take what I wanted. A big thank you is in order to the former property owner Juan who abandoned it there in the first place. It was missing the top end of the engine and didn't run. I think it was too big for Juan and his displaced housemate boarders to carry off the property before the foreclosures July 2nd abandoned property forfeiture deadline.

With desirable needed parts so close to home and up for a free-for-all grab fest I was flabbergasted… not to mention hungry (I actually responded more like I was starving!). That day was truly a Motor City Madhouse. So yep with no petroleum expenditure, defiantly a great deal and well within my meager budget.

The Backyard Brake Bonanza Blues, Part Deax, The Aftermath!!!
Featuring "A Big Ole Tree Stump" In The Best Supporting Arbor Category.
Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have A Winner. And The Oscar Goes To...


Well… since this "is" the what did you do "today" thread I better get to that! Well… I walked by the truck a few times, I stared at and admired the truck while sitting on the front porch a few times (no, I didn't use the binoculars), I posted in this forum about it a few times and then I finally went out and between green and red traffic signals dodged a few caravans of cars on my busy street as I took twilight time pictures of the big lady to post on this here wonderful topic.

What I Actually Did "Today"? Does It Really Qualify For The Topic? Or Is It Just Another Thinly Veiled Blatant Attempt To Post More Pictures Of My Currently Big "Dirty" Girl? You Be The Judge!


Ssssh, between you and me, I just wanted to babble some more on the forum. But please, don't tell the moderators, some of them admit they got mean nasty FANGS!

Thanks everybody for reading my ramblings and making this here forum what it is. Lots of great work in here and some wonderful ideas in this topic alone.

Please be well.

Cheers

[Blakeman350]

Put some new shoes one my 67 today. It's crazy the difference wheels and tires make.
Here's some before and after pics.

[9teen69]

Rebuilding my kick panel vents. Soaked them overnight in Evapo Rust...I'm in love with this stuff. Removed all the rust and most of the paint. Evapo Rust is so awesome. Also cleaned up the single pulley I plan on selling just for grins...even removed the grease.

Ready for some paint and then I have to figure out how they go back together

[9teen69]

FYI if anyone plans on buying the gasket material between the vents you can get it at a local art supply store. They call them "foamies" and sell for 45 cents a sheet, they even have different colors. Same stuff you ...I paid $5.00 bucks for in the parts catalogs.

[michael bustamante]

Whelp.... i tore apart my heater core box. Cleaned a big ol mouses nest from ALL the pockets and crevices. ( a five gallon wet or dry vac full) bleached the heck out of it. ( the last thing i need is hantavirus) recoditioned the motor and replaced the squirrel cage. Cleaned the core, lightly sanded and applied 4 coats of rattlecan clear on the box, resealed and reinstalled. It came out good
Dangit. It posted sideways again

[ujsf01]

Got my new wiring harness finished up, installed carpet after laying sound deadener, new heater core installed, new dash pad, new Dakota Digital VHX system installed, getting ready to install all cab rubber, get all the glass back in and be ready for Crusin' the Coast in about 3 weeks! Tried to post photos, but got some weird error message about a security token....whatever that means.

[9teen69]

Installed rear sway bar from CPP. Can wait to see...feel how it handles.

[Baker819]

Cut the front of my bed down 12"

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by Baker819

Cut the front of my bed down 12"

Nice cuts... that will give you some good strength...

[texjake]

I painted the inside of my tailgate with Rustoleum spray on bedliner just to see how it does & to get an idea how the rest of the inside of the bed walls & the wheel wheels are going to look once I finish sanding & prepping it. I was able to get two coats laid down before dark thirty and it turned out better than I expected. I know it's not Herculiner, Line-X or Rhino Liner but it will work fine and it's a heck of a lot cheaper too. I want to get the inside walls painted before putting down the new wood & rails.

[BugzC10]

Originally Posted by texjake

I painted the inside of my tailgate with Rustoleum spray on bedliner just to see how it does & to get an idea how the rest of the inside of the bed walls & the wheel wheels are going to look once I finish sanding & prepping it. I was able to get two coats laid down before dark thirty and it turned out better than I expected. I know it's not Herculiner, Line-X or Rhino Liner but it will work fine and it's a heck of a lot cheaper too. I want to get the inside walls painted before putting down the new wood & rails.

Where did you buy it? Home Depot?