Omodified's 1970 SWB Custom/10

[omodified]

I got the new gaskets installed. Time to adjust the carb. It is amazing how little tuning you actually have to do to this Edelbrock. I was told that would be the case and it is true. I set the cold idle and regular idle and that was it. This new cam idles very nicely and the exhaust has a real nice rumble to it now. I am thoroughly impressed! Before I tidy up, I need to install 1 wheel stud in the right front hub. It was missing when we bought the truck and the new one has just been laying around. Got the wheel stud installed and now it's time to wrap it up! Hopefully the new inner fenders bolt right up as promised.

Well, almost all of the holes lined up. I think there were two holes on both sides that weren't close. For the most part they went in without a hitch, and I installed them by myself. Time for a test drive!!!


Drove it home with no problems! No leaks either. Runs real strong and tires chirped shifting into second gear. It never did that before! Here's the finished product...

[omodified]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Congrats on getting it fired up.
Your truck is still one of my favorite trucks here,...

Wow, thanks a lot Keith! I never expected to hear that considering how many nice trucks there are here.

[omodified]

I decided to venture into the world of NOS on Ebay. I am just curious what was out there. Interesting how little there is. I did come across some deluxe side markers. I have been wanting replace mine, but I was worried because I kept hearing about about the trim falling off the repops. Anyways, this Chevy dealer had them for sale in Oregon.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/69-72-CHEVY-...item4cfd3c3603

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-72-CHEV...item5647e7693e

They seemed reasonably priced, so I went for it. I got them in today. I didn't realize how bad off mine really were. They are deformed (heat I guess) and the black bezel is missing. I never even noticed that before. Anyways, they look great and I am very happy with this purchase.

[omodified]

I sure was getting tired of looking at this thing everytime I opened the hood, and I opened and closed that hood a bunch on the recent engine project.




Fortunately, I hooked up with member t_korinek and he sold me a really nice driver replacement. It needed a bit of polishing, but it cleaned up really nice!

[omodified]

Well, I'm gonna have to figure out how to stay out of NOS world. I found my self there again on Ebay and found a good deal on front turn signal marker lenses. I got them in today. I attempted to clean and polish the originals awhile back. As you can see, there is no comparison to new ones.





Here they are installed. Beautiful!

[omodified]

So we took the truck out for a Saturday afternoon drive. The sun was positioned just right that I had to use the visor. I noticed just how dingy the visors really are. I cleaned them once before, but they just don't shine like the seat vinyl does. So, I removed them to have better access. I started polishing on them and to my surprise, they started to turn blue. The PO had painted them black!!! He could've at at least used something besides a flat black. Here are my findings...

[omodified]

After researching visors and looking around on the board here for some nice drivers, I had made my decision. I wanted a set that still had the original starting instructions on them. It doesn't appear that is something you can add on and I couldn't find repops that had the label on them, so I set out on my search. It didn't take me long to find this set on Ebay. They were reasonably priced considering there few of these available with the label still intact...




I received them in just a few days. They are in really nice shape. I used some concentrated purple cleaner on the label. Then I polished them up and put them in their new home. That's more like it!

[omodified]

My wife wanted to take the truck out tonight to go shopping. Well, it rained and it rained HARD. So much for not taking the truck out in the rain. Anyways, it became very apparent that the wipers needed to be replaced. We nearly ran off the road a few times because I flat couldn't see out of the windshield. I considered buying some original Trico blades when I was at the Goodguys show last year, but I passed. I sure am regretting that decision now. Anyways, it is time to do something. I found some Trico blades on Ebay from the same Chevy dealer in Oregon that I dealt with on the side markers. They'll be here in a few days...

[lolife99]

Do you have a link to the Trico blades?

You did good buying the NOS marker lights.
The repop version of these suck.
I've bought 3 rear marker lights because the "chrome trim" flies off going down the road.

Keep up the progress!

[omodified]

Well, we hit the lottery today! I'm not gonna be able to restore the truck on my winnings or anything, but I do plan to see how far this $100 will get me. So, I offered to let my daughter decide what parts to spend it on. We drove over to Daves Truck Parts. Michaela picked out a new antenna, new door handles, new window cranks, new door panel escutcheons and I threw in a new ignition bezel. Looks like we will be busy for a bit.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Do you have a link to the Trico blades?

You did good buying the NOS marker lights.
The repop version of these suck.
I've bought 3 rear marker lights because the "chrome trim" flies off going down the road.

Keep up the progress!

Here ya go Keith...looks like they have more.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370515996708...84.m1497.l2649

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by omodified

Here ya go Keith...looks like they have more.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370515996708...84.m1497.l2649

Thank you!

[omodified]

Alright, the blades came in today and it was good timing too. We had just removed the wiper arms so we could start installing the new antenna.




Here is the antenna that we are removing. This obviously isn't original, but the worst it that the adjustment will not stay tight at the base and it keeps falling back onto the A-post. Plus the chrome is gone!




Here is what we found under the cowl once it was removed. Lots of Georgia dirt! Plus the wiper transmission arms are really rusted.

[KRUSTY 51]

Very nice...reading your thread, I really need to start documenting on film the work on my own truck.

[omodified]

Well, we tore in a bit deeper today. I thought since I would be removing the wiper transmission linkage, that it might be a good time to investigate why the washer pump doesn't work. I removed the gauge cluster and the defrost hoses/vent. That gave me access to the wiper motor and washer pump. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I broke the defrost vent due to it being welded to the hose (?!?!). It's ok though, because it was originally brown and the PO had painted it black. I pulled the hoses into the cab and ran them into a bucket. I primed the pump. It made a heck of a loud noise and kept getting louder. However, nothing ever came out of the hoses. I have seen the rebuild kits for these, but I haven't heard many success stories. So, time to remove the two units and get a closer look.

When I was testing the pump, I noticed how loud the wiper motor and everything attached to it really is. Lots of squeaks. I removed the wiper transmission linkage and most of the squeaking was coming from this thing. Hopefully after the cleanup, I can lube everything and quiet it down. Linkage off and cowl cleaned...




I got the old units out and onto the bench. The motor had a large mud clump stuck to the top of it. Apparently the mud clump used to be somebody's home. Now it's a tomb. Time to get two new units...yuck!

[omodified]

So, I took the wiper linkage to work today and clean it all up. Put some fresh primer/paint on it and brought it home. I ran the hose and mounted the linkage back up to the truck. I did manage to get some lithium grease in the tight spots and I will be sure to grease everything when I connect it back to the new pump. So far nothing is squeaking.

[omodified]

Today, I ordered the parts I will need to finish this interior/wiper motor/washer project. My local Advance Auto Parts had the wiper motor and washer pump in stock, so I went and picked those up. The motor is a reman. Still says Delco, made in Dayton, Ohio right on the case. The pump is brand new, made right here in the USA. Cool! Hopefully this all works cause I don't want to have to take it all apart again.

[omodified]

Since we are waiting on more parts I decided to go after installing some of the other new parts we are sitting on. The ignition bezel was up first. This was a really easy install, thanks to this site. FAQ is really helpful. All I needed was a paperclip and the rest was a breeze. Got the old one out. It was a mess. Years of getting the ignition key dug into I guess. Not pleasant to look at.



Here is the new one installed. Easier to put back in than it was to take it out.

[omodified]

Next up was Michaela's door accessories. She has been wanting to swap out the handles since we bought the truck. I got the drivers door panel off. The first thing I noticed was how terrible the chrome trim looked above the door panel. It was pitted a bit and rusting where the pits were. So, we took some copper wool pads and cleaned it up. It turned out nice enough to keep.

[omodified]

While the door panels are off, we thought it would be a good idea to look for some nice driver quality mirrors and door handles. Ours are pitted bad and the chrome is peeling off. So, we are on the hunt. We did go ahead and replace the escutcheons. The old ones were crushed and were torn as a result. These will look much better.

[omodified]

I became a premium member here today!!!

[Palf70Step]

Nice job on the wiper motor. Thanks for the tips. I'll have to do mine someday during assembly. (soon as I remember where in the shop it is )

[cobra_4]

Awesome build so far!!! Just read it from cover to cover

Hey you don't happen to have the link to the guy you got that radio from do you?? That would be perfect for my build, I hate to cut my dash and as long as I could get the news in the morning on am and then plug my Ipod in I'd be good to go.

Also I love the dash. Its AMAZING how much clean well lit gauges help the apperance of any classic car or truck.

[omodified]

Originally Posted by cobra_4

Awesome build so far!!! Just read it from cover to cover

Hey you don't happen to have the link to the guy you got that radio from do you?? That would be perfect for my build, I hate to cut my dash and as long as I could get the news in the morning on am and then plug my Ipod in I'd be good to go.

Also I love the dash. Its AMAZING how much clean well lit gauges help the apperance of any classic car or truck.

Thanks for the compliments guys. Cobra, here is a link to one of the things he is selling right now. I don't see one of our radios listed, but he may take requests. Super nice guy to deal with and he obviously has the conversion figured out. Looks like he will convert anything.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/42-6-7-48-Ch...item1c22edb138

[cobra_4]

Originally Posted by omodified

Thanks for the compliments guys. Cobra, here is a link to one of the things he is selling right now. I don't see one of our radios listed, but he may take requests. Super nice guy to deal with and he obviously has the conversion figured out. Looks like he will convert anything.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/42-6-7-48-Ch...item1c22edb138

Sweet!!! Gonna shoot him a message. I've got a bunch of old 40's radio's that need restored, maybe I can work out a trade with him