ParB's 72 Orange Jimmy

[jeffg1010]

Originally Posted by parb

I got the gas shocks added to the rear hatch from motocityk5. Great stuff!
Pics of the rear hatch. Note that I'll have to trim a little bit of the the bottom mount of the gas strut bracket.

I went all over their website looking for these struts. How am I missing them?


EDIT:

Found them.

https://www.motorcityk5.com/i-13109-...f=category:664

[parb]

folks i've been travelling in Asia for the past few weeks.
Just got back as the truck spent its first few days in the upholstery shop.

I decided early on that i was not going to have the original vinyl upholstery as its not very comfortable in the california summer. I didn't think that connelly leather a'la rolls royce would look right either. After much research i went with the type of leather you find in the Tesla's. Its a really nice crisp white that nicely reflects the white top. I also found a nice brown from the same manufacturer.

This is a pic of the front seats. sorry for the poor lightning, and this was a cell phone photo.

[parb]

Back seat carries the same theme. i went with orange contrast stitching and orange seat belts.

[parb]

I covered the rear wheel in a similar style. not sure if i like it or not. May redo the spare tire cover....

[parb]

Note the center console. The original console was in poor shape. I bought an aftermarket console and clad it in the leather. note how i moved over the stock GMC logo from the original console!

[parb]

Thats it for tonight. Hope you enjoy the update, i got 2,200 hours of labor into the truck so far. Truck will be done next week.

[4x41971SWB]

Those seats look really nice and comfortable!!

[parb]

Originally Posted by 4x41971SWB

Those seats look really nice and comfortable!!

Thanks! I relocated the driver's seat back 2" with a metal bar mounted to the original holes.
I love that leather. Super expensive but such an amazing quality!

[4x41971SWB]

Yeah they look like they are just calling you to sit in them.
Really nice

[parb]

My car is done! The last decal has been applied!
I'm picking her up on monday but unfortunately i have only an hour or two with her before i have to park her again -heading out on a 8 week trip so it will be late august or september before i see her again.

par

[parb]

A few pics from earlier today. More on Monday!

[parb]

And the hood open pic...

[4x41971SWB]

JIMMY looks great. Enjoy your trip it will be there to enjoy when you get back.

[DeadheadNM]

Looks great - post more pics when possible. Are you pleased with the result?

[Green Monster]

Great job documenting the restoration and the final outcome is beautiful. I really like the tasteful personalized modern touches including LED lighting and leather interior with contrasting orange stitching.

I agree that the spare tire cover might look better set up differently than you have it now- unless it has grown on you. Perhaps it would look good in saddle or leave it naked.

Just curious... did you convert the headlights to LED too?

[jaros44sr]

looks great, glad to see the mirrors mounted, gave me another idea. I was going to use a mirror that was mounted to the top of the wind window post

maybe a truck of the month, but on this board, you have some stiff acts to follow

[parb]

Originally Posted by Green Monster

Great job documenting the restoration and the final outcome is beautiful. I really like the tasteful personalized modern touches including LED lighting and leather interior with contrasting orange stitching.

I agree that the spare tire cover might look better set up differently than you have it now- unless it has grown on you. Perhaps it would look good in saddle or leave it naked.

Just curious... did you convert the headlights to LED too?

I did not convert the LED headlights to LED. It just looks too modern when you do that. On the side markers and the rear stop lights the LED could concievable be a bulb, the colored lens diffracts the light enough that it looks close to stock.

But LED headlights are never convincing -they always look very modern to my eyes. Not just the color temperature, i think the assembly doesn't look very convincing.

I also doubt i will drive very much in darkness anyway. My reasoning for the brake lights and side markers was largely driven by making sure other drivers saw me and my intentions clearly. Here in super crowded northern California there are lots of distracted drivers. I wanted to retain the stock look as much as possible.

[parb]

Now that i've driven it a bit i got a few things going on this week.

I'm definitely going to replace the speakers that i got up front hanging off the dash near the AC controls. I bought them from one of the aftermarket companies, but they just don't sound good. I think i'll DIY something with better components from parts express or something similar. I got to research this a bit better but i know i can do better. I will focus those speakers on mid-high range coils to improve clarity.

I will likely put a low profile bass speaker under the drivers side or under the back bench. I haven't decided wich way i will go yet. Likely a custom enclosure to make it invisible.

I'm going to put PPF film (sometimes called invisble shield) on the instep of the truck at the painted area on the bottom of the door opening. Just to reduce risks of scratching the pant when i step in/out of the truck. I may do the same around the inside of the windows, i like to drive with the window open and my arms on opening, but i know from previous experiences that this wears the paint.

I'm going to tune up the carb. i think the idle is a bit high, and now that its back to sea level from 5,000ft altitude when it was last tuned i figured its best to get it done. I have no skill in that whatsoever so i found a guy who specializes in carb rebuild and tuning. I also will go back to a more high flowing air filter. I put back the old snorkel style air filter but i can absolutely tell the difference vs a high flowing circular filter. If i go to a show i may put on the snorkel for original looks but i like the higher HP. I have corvette horns and 2.5" exhaust and a higher flow carb so i think this makes sense.

I hear a whine from the engine. I suspect a pulley needs to be replaced. tried to find it with a stethoscope over the weekend but couldn't find it (or i don't know what i'm doing). It could be the new alternator that is on it. I'm going to have someone i trust take a look at it.

During transport on a trailer from Lake Tahoe to the bay area over the weekend my truck got shaken on the ****ty, potholed highways in california. I locked the passenger door with the key. Once i came home i can no longer unlock it. Something must have misaligned or fallen off. I can't pull up the lock from inside and they key doesn't work from outside. I will have to take off the door skin from the inside to see if i can get it open.

I think i got the 0-50ohm fuel level sender instead of the 0-90ohm. I'm trying to decide if i will design a voltage following current sink circuit to work around the problem. I'm pretty sure that i am going to do this, as pulling out the tank doesn't sound like fun. I'm appealled to do this, because its a real simple circuit, and this type of circuit can be made tunable to make sure that the gas gauge is linear (by compensating for variance in the fuel sensors variable resistor). And i like old school electronic design in general.


So a bit more stuff, but nothing super hard ahead.

par

[bL.A.zer90045]

k5 looks great and very good with originality....with the exception of center console...i have a excellent cond refurbished/customized ORIGINAL partchment center console when they get get on them points at the car show

[parb]

Originally Posted by bL.A.zer90045

k5 looks great and very good with originality....with the exception of center console...i have a excellent cond refurbished/customized ORIGINAL partchment center console when they get get on them points at the car show

Mine was pretty trashed. And i'm not that original in the interior -this is a much whiter color than the original parchment color. I did transfer the original logo over which worked out well.

I will probably not win any award points for originality on my interior -i just didn't like that the parchment color was not a perfect match to the fiber glass color. But i won back a lot of points in WAF (Wife Approval Factor).

[DeadheadNM]

The new door seals may also be the cause for the wonky door lock. Give it a bit to settle before tearing into the door. I had a similar couple of episodes and that has since resolved.

You’ll never get awesome sound from a single speaker but the replacements sold by Greg at S/M Electrotech sound much better than OEM and are USA made. These will jive with the grill for the below dash speaker.

Post more pics please.

[Hagendog]

Originally Posted by bL.A.zer90045

k5 looks great and very good with originality....with the exception of center console...i have a excellent cond refurbished/customized ORIGINAL partchment center console when they get get on them points at the car show

If he doesn’t want it, I may be interested

[parb]

Originally Posted by Hagendog

If he doesn’t want it, I may be interested

Go for it, I'm happy with what I got!

[Hagendog]

Originally Posted by parb

Go for it, I'm happy with what I got!

Just waiting for a picture and a price

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

I hear a whine from the engine. I suspect a pulley needs to be replaced. tried to find it with a stethoscope over the weekend but couldn't find it (or i don't know what i'm doing). It could be the new alternator that is on it. I'm going to have someone i trust take a look at it.



par[/QUOTE]


Check your power steering belt/pulley to make sure it's tight. might have come loose.