Rat repair.

[DWilbur]

picture of door lock. the lever pointing down at bottom of picture might release the door. it can be accessed from inside the door you will have to remove the door panel.

[swamp rat]

Ok I'll try it when time permits, inner panel is off. thank you!

[swamp rat]

The deluge's on the weekends are lightening up a bit.

I got the door freed up, had to enter from the other side and lift up on the door by placing a tire iron under it and putting a little pressure on it, did more readjusting on it to get it to align to the body lines, and it opens fine now, but thinking back I'm sure that the twist in the door was there before I took it off the truck, I don't think any amount of tweaking with pressure and a well placed piece of timber is going to make it any better, I bounced on the thing pretty hard so I think when the time comes this door will need to be replaced so I'm not sure its worth the time to fine tune the strike plate to pull the rear of the door in at this point.

This weekend I replaced the battery box, placed some wiring loom on the light wiring going across the front of the radiator hung my wiring on the passenger fender and the washer reservoir bracket on the driver side. Then I decided it was time to install that inner fenderwell, I have not been looking forward to this at all knowing how much of a pita the driver side was, well I think the passenger side was even worse! nothing wanted to align up the way it should, I fought this one much more and to add to the frustration I had one oddball clip nut that I decided to go ahead and use that ended up snapping off while trying to tighten up the bolt and right now I don't really feel like removing the well to replace it, why did I put that nut towards the top of the well and not down low??

But I think i'm almost ready to fire the truck back up, the cowl, hood, grill and bumper are still off but I cant install them with the truck under the cover.

[rgunlock]

I feel your pain Mike, but sounds like you made pretty good progress in spite of setbacks. Just noticed the Fox shocks you have up front. I just spent the afternoon installing a pair of them on my truck for steering stabilizers.

[DD1]

You are making great progress, Mike! Keep it up!

[7dee2]

Dang doors! Glad you got it opened, keep plugging away.

[swamp rat]

Thanks guys, I have been plugging away.

Here's a tool I wish I had when my door was stuck, I just bought 2 of them for future use different brand but they should work the same. it would have been better than scratching my paint with a tire iron lifting the door, life goes on..

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1TYLQP...pg_640x640.jpg

I installed my push on door seals, very tight fit on both sides so hoping they will break in a bit when it warms up. there's got to be a way to make the fit better but I haven't found it yet, guess i'll let a body guy handle it in the future. I wish I was a better body guy instead of a guy who's body hurts at every movement LOL!

I laid down all the stereo cables and wires and tapped them in place on the floor then under layment which is a sound deadening layer, jute padding and carpet went back in to give it all a bit of time to lay flat before the seat go's back in. I still need to install the threshold plates to hold the carpet in place.

I spent a good portion of time trying to install the corner speaker mounts I bought here on the forum from bigblock73, they have a screw at the top and an angle bracket at the bottom that your supposed to drill and screw into the floor of the cab, well I really don't want to drill holes thru the floor so I tried to JB Weld them to the floor, I figured out where I needed the bracket then removed the paint from the floor with a 2" scotchbrite disk, roughed the bracket then cleaned with acetone, mixed the JB weld applied and let it sit overnight, as soon as I started attaching the screws the brackets popped off the floor and the JB weld was still soft, I guess it was too cold at about 40 something. Any ideas to bond the brackets to the floor would be appreciated. Here's the purchase thread showing pic's of the unit.

I should add, if I don't find a bonding agent soon i'll have to go ahead and drill and screw the bracket to the floor so I can get my seat installed.

EDIT: I know I can weld them in place, trying to avoid burning the paint on the bottom of the floor, another option is to go get some well nuts.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=476976

I reinstalled my battery, pulled the air fuel screws and gave each port a shot of carb cleaner and re installed, installed my remote start button and fired up the engine today! no need to tear the carb apart thanks to the non ethanol gas I have been running in it, last time I ran it was 10-10-16 when I turned the truck around to start the repair on this side, sure glad I can still buy this gas!

https://youtu.be/AqWj25ycLiQ

[swamp rat]

My biggest issue to date is the fan shroud seems to have shrunk thru the years, no matter what I keep smacking it with the blades, ether that or it's all in the cab and radiator support mounts. And that infamous belt squeal is back at high revs, many of you know I have been chasing they bugger forever.

[swamp rat]

Door sill plates.... need screw type and size?? Hole size is .231, not dimpled for countersink.

[swamp rat]

Next problem, front passenger caliper seeped dry, had to do a gravity bleed on that side to get the Rat to the driveway

[swamp rat]

Gave up on bonding the lower brackets for the cab corner speaker enclosures and went ahead and drilled holes, got the enclosures in a coat of primer and drilled the 4 holes to screw the speakers in place.

Hate the lack of daylight this time of year! being on dayshift certainly puts a damper on progress when your truck is outside.

Would it be safe to assume the screw size for the sill plates are the same size as the screws for the transfer case shifter boot?

[rgunlock]

Good to see your truck moving under its own power again. Engine sounds like its running smooth. I didn't hear the fan whacking the shroud in your video. Can't help with your screw size - I just found some stainless screws that had some bite going in and used them.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Good to see your truck moving under its own power again. Engine sounds like its running smooth. I didn't hear the fan whacking the shroud in your video. Can't help with your screw size - I just found some stainless screws that had some bite going in and used them.

Yea I had to mess with the shroud and the radiator a bit to get it to stop but its still being temperamental, keeps hitting on the bottom but I cant adjust it down any further, and I cant tighten the radiator support mounts down any further. I went and bought some #10 stainless oval (curved) faced countersunk screws, tonight after work, hopefully they will work out, if they don't grab the hole enough I'll have to use button heads. I cant for the life of me remember what type sheetmetal screw was stock as my sil plates were removed long before I did the repair work.

Having the truck mobile again feels pretty nice! but its still a ways away from a driver.

[swamp rat]

Working on the 25 or so year old stereo system (amplifier and rear speakers) it didn't take long to realize that the 1985 vintage Alpine 6x9 speakers were toast, still not sure if the amp is worth using, so I booked on down to Car Toys to listen to and purchase a new pair of speakers, was thinking oh, $80-$100..... Nope, not once you listen to them, ended up upping the anti to a pair of Focal 690ac coaxial 6x9's and because I was not really pleased with the Custom Autosound replacement stereo speaker I also sprung for a pair of Focal Isc100 4" speakers, I saved a thread where someone made there own bracket and stuffed 2 small speakers where the stock speaker was, figured I'd give it a shot. I still have a couple extra amps and crossover put away in my closet if I need a them.

I know I got lots more to do yet but daylight is an issue.

[7dee2]

It's ALIVE! Good thing you had better gas in the Rat...

[swamp rat]

Well what can I say, now that I'm a day shifter there's just been next to no daylight after work the last few months and what little I had was shrouded by the usual monsoon season, so I just put things on hold for a bit again, in the mean time not much in the way of progress.

Other things: I was at this place and wanted to take a picture of a tire and wheel on a truck, I had to back up a step to get it and didn't realize I stepped right next to a parking curb with my right foot, took the pic and stood up and tried to take a step to the right... my foot moved about an inch and hit the curb which through me off balance and all my weight on my right foot as I fell over the curb, took all that weight and pressure on the outside of my foot, no broken bones but a severely strained some tendons just below the outside ankle, 3 days on crutches, 3 days with a cane, still hurts with every step, and hurts worse the longer I'm on my feet, last thing I needed with my legs and feet but I'm dealing with it.

What was I doing at this business? see pic below. I have been drooling allover this truck (LT Z71) for the last 3 years, knowing that the new 2019 was revamped and not really liking the fact that I think it looks too much like a ford I decided to buy my retirement truck a few years early. I had the clear bra put on it, I have an appointment scheduled to get the front side windows tinted to match the rear sides, and doing my research for some aftermarket solid black wheels. One more thing I want to do is see if I can replace that piece of chrome on the lower front bumper with ether a matching black or body color piece, I've never been a chrome guy for the newer trucks, now classic trucks are a different story. Hopefully this will be the last newer truck I'll need to buy so I can concentrate on my hobbys!

[rgunlock]

That's a sharp looking truck - congratulations! Hope your ankle heals soon Mike.

[7dee2]

Yes sir very sharp, and I'm guessing most luxurious as well! Sorry to hear about the ankle Mike.

[Vic1947]

Nice truck, Mike! Hope you're on the mend. I'd consider taking it to a graphics shop and having the chrome piece wrapped with black vinyl. Pretty sturdy stuff and they have compound curves down to a science these days.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Nice truck, Mike! Hope you're on the mend. I'd consider taking it to a graphics shop and having the chrome piece wrapped with black vinyl. Pretty sturdy stuff and they have compound curves down to a science these days.

Great idea Vic! Thanks! And Thanks for the compliment too!

[swamp rat]

Rgunlock and 7dee2 thanks!

[swamp rat]

Got a question for the body guys:

Before I took the front end off my truck I snapped these pic's as documentation, on the upper fender bolts at the cab I had 2 shims in both of the front bolts and none in the back. Also looking at the truck before teardown it looks like the door also had the same misalignment problem of the top front door being in further than the top of the fender

Need to know what body spacers if any the rest of you guys have on your top fender bolts? and I'll assume that it allowed for proper hood fender gap?

[NONHOG]

Hey Mike how you doing?
How's the truck doing?

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Hey Mike how you doing?
How's the truck doing?

I'm doing ok, fighting my feet a bit.

The truck has not made much progress though, Guess I have been side tracked a little, but now hat I have been able to get a fence up in my front yard I'll be able to let my newest dog run free out there and be able to resume work on the truck, he has proven to be a handful unlike our older Shepard who is just the opposite.

[swamp rat]

The poke in the ribs from Nonhog did me some good....

Cleaned and blasted the hood hinges, got them primed and painted, mounted to the fenders (No pic)

The speaker enclosures were just in primer so I yarded them out and painted them Satin black and prepped them to mount the new speakers, remounted and installed the new Focal speakers


To recap I wired up the old Sherwood amp and the old Alpine speakers and they sounded like crap realized the old system was from the mid 80's and bought new Focal speakers that I posted a while back, I mounted the new Focal 6 X 9's and they still didn't make much of an improvement so I yarded out the old Sherwood amp and got a mid 90's Precision Power amp that I had in my old 95 S10, wired it up and it was an improvement but still not enough to make me smile. I come to the conclusion that that Custom Auto Sound head unit I bought about 4 years ago must be the problem so eventually its going to have to come out and be replaced.

I installed the sill plates today and noted that the lip on the rocker is leaning in a bit so the door seal lays in a bit, I may have to eventually bend them out a little?

Naturally Murphy's law kicked in and my passenger door handle gave up the ghost, I was fortunate enough to have bought a good used set on the parts form so I installed it sans gaskets for the time being

So my goal for the weekend was to get the seat into the truck, didn't happen, I forgot that I need to rig up the seat adjuster and I'll have to clear room out in the garage to move the seat out there to do it