68 C50 Looongbed pickup build

[Advanced Design]

Good updates Richard. Often the parts fight me like that....sounds like the rest of the week was more of the same?

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Good updates Richard. Often the parts fight me like that....sounds like the rest of the week was more of the same?

Yes Sir, very much the same indeed. If I get some free time this evening I'll post some more. Thanks for checking in!

-Richard

[rusty76]

I'm late to the party but I'm really digging this build. So much in fact I added it to my low buck build threads. Really cool truck and lots of cool stuff. Great writing also.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I'm late to the party but I'm really digging this build. So much in fact I added it to my low buck build threads. Really cool truck and lots of cool stuff. Great writing also.

Thanks for checking it out! I love build threads too and I just bookmarked your build threads thread I'm honored to have made the list! Thanks for the comment about good writing; I often think I'm spending too much time choosing my words, I'm glad to see that it has some 'return on investment'!

-Richard

[rkn463]

Sorry for the slow updates folks. I guess that I got so frustrated that it kind of killed my desire to even think about the truck. OK, done belly-aching!

That brings us to Tuesday, November 8th (remember I was still on vacation…) I went hunting that morning and did not see much, it was still raining off and on. When I got back from the morning hunt I changed clothes and drove in to town to vote. This is a really small town and at around 10:00 AM I was only the 37th person to vote!

After lunch I bolted the auxiliary pump on to the hydroboost unit. I hit up the FSM for torque values for all of the bolts and torqued them accordingly.

Next up was to bolt the hydroboost unit to the firewall. I had test fit it prior to getting the auxiliary pump bolted on and it fit perfectly, that is until I bolted on the aux pump. Now it hits the firewall! I had not planned for firewall modifications, this was supposed to be a ten minute job! It was hitting on a raised portion that the steering column gasket screws down to. The raised part is probably an inch or so larger diameter on the 68 than the 89. In the first out of focus picture you can see where it was hitting and in the second photo the mark I made on the firewall for the piece that needed to come out.

I finally got to try out the pneumatic body saw that I bought a Northern Tool a few months back.

It worked pretty well except where things were multi-layered. After several cuts it looked like this:

To be continued…
-Richard

[rkn463]

A quick test fit and it looked much better. With the excuse of better clearance as well as to vent some frustration I beat the crap out of it with a BFH (big fancy hammer) clearance even better.



I bolted it up temporarily and decided to bolt up the master cylinder as well and had a moment of panic when it hit the power steering pump. Then I remembered that I had removed the belt and had the pump in the full upright position when I was flushing the system. As soon as I put the pump back in its normal position the master cleared just fine!



With that imagined crisis over I started making a template out of cardboard to A) make sure there was room to slide a cover over the hole and B) to get an idea of the shape I would need to cut out. Here is what I came up with:



Another whole day killed, time to go out hunting again...

-Richard

[flashed]

Im still reading and watching ,one of my favorite builds .

[rkn463]

Now that I had spent the day doing “a ten-minute job” it was time to head out for the afternoon hunt. About 4:30 I saw this:



Our area has historically had small deer with small antlers and I was so shocked that I about had a heart attack. I will not take a shot without knowing that it will be a quick clean kill and I did not have time to settle my nerves before he walked behind a tree and I was never able to get the shot in. Oh well, maybe there will be another chance before the season ends.

That night I spent a couple of hours looking at the butcher job I’d done on the firewall and thinking about just what to do next. The cab is on the truck and has all the insulation inside so I can’t weld a patch in. I really don’t like just screwing stuff on with sheet metal screws but that was going to have to do. Maybe someday If I ever build an extended cab or crew cab I’ll really stop and do it right, but once again this is a ranch truck. I just need to seal it up where it doesn’t leak or trap water and rust.

It was late and I headed to bed wondering how the election would turn out...

-Richard

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by flashed

Im still reading and watching ,one of my favorite builds .

Thanks Flashed!

[flashed]

Youre welcome ,look forward to more .

[rkn463]

Wednesday morning I slept in and did not hunt. I must say that when I heard the election results I was surprised. I will spare you my political leanings, let’s just say I was not very impressed with what either side had to offer up this time around.

I spent the day with my brother picking up some 2-7/8 pipe to use on the fence project that I wasn’t getting done because of the rain. Oh, did I forget to mention that IT WAS STILL RAINING! Don’t get me wrong, I’m in agriculture and rain is a blessing, but 5 days straight rain while I’m on vacation from my day job that supports my ranching habit… let’s just leave it at I was a bit frustrated at the timing. That afternoon I sawed a piece of roof panel out of an old suburban that my brother had parted out but I did not get to work on the patch until that night.



Finally started working on the patch about 10:00 PM. I traced the pattern on to the metal.



Then I made my cuts and put the bend in it to match the firewall. After verifying that it kind of fit I rounded off all of the edges with the grinder took it to the wire wheel and scuffed off all of the paint on the side that would be facing out.



Out of room for pictures, to be continued...

-Richard

[rkn463]

I held the patch in place again and wondered how I could fill this oblong hole that I had created. The flange and gasket that was native to the 68 just wasn’t going to work at all, way too big around, plus the rubber was old and stretched and would already leak water. I needed to use the one from the 89 but it couldn’t fit flush because the bend in the firewall cut across an edge. With that in mind I decided I could cut it so now I had to cut out the opening in my plate to make it fit in. So I held the patch in place and made reference marks with a sharpie and then cut the hole out round. I test fit the flange/gasket and it fit the hole nicely.



Next I cut the flange/gasket so that it would clear the bend in the patch and it fit perfect.



It fit great but the gap at the bottom would have to be filled. All this time I had been avoiding pulling the column back out but it would have to happen to swap this flange on. I knew that I really should just make a new patch but it was almost midnight so I decided I would figure out what to do the next day and I shut down for the evening.

-Richard

[rkn463]

Thursday after the morning hunt I made a small patch to fill the gap at the bottom of the patch panel and berated myself for rounding the inside corners!



I welded it in and cut the radius to match and ground down my bird-crap welds. I test fit the flange and it looked good.



I drilled some lead holes into my patch as I would be securing it with sheet metal screws. Next I pulled the column, removed the 68 style flange/gasket and replaced it with the one from the 89. I slid the column back in place slid my patch panel over the shaft and then bolted the column back in place. With everything in I shoved the flange through the hole in the patch panel to orient it properly then drilled two of the sheet metal screws in. After that I took a body hammer and formed the patch to the rest of the irregularities of the firewall adding screws as I went. When done it was skewed a bit from what I had planned but it won’t show anyway. I removed the sheet metal screws and put a thick bead of black silicone sealer on the back of the plate, screwed it back down and smoothed out the silicone.



Then I screwed the flange to the firewall/patch and painted the under-hood side black to match the firewall.



Finally, I bolted the booster back on with the patch in place and it cleared with room to spare!



-Richard

[rkn463]

Friday night I got to work on the truck again. I added the high pressure line that goes from the steering box to the hydroboost, installed the flow control switch in the low pressure side of the booster and ran the return hose back to the power steering pump. At last the steering brake booster system was closed up!



With the belt off I filled the reservoir and used my drill to spin the pump to prime things. The front axle was up on jack stands from when I replaced the solenoid so I was able to turn the column by grabbing the shaft with my right hand while spinning the pump with the drill in my left hand. I was able to prime the system without ever sucking in any air, it worked great!



I scrounged around and found my gallon of brake fluid and prepared to fill the master cylinder. When I pulled the cap and looked in I could see beads of hydraulic fluid floating on what was left of the brake fluid. Great they mixed the fluids on this part of the system too!

repeat

So... now I need to replace the master cylinder and the flex hoses that are near it. I don't think any hydraulic fluid made it down to the calipers. They make several different masters so I checked and this one uses a 1.75 inch bore:



I did not have a chance to source the parts yet to fix that problem yet.

So this concludes the saga of the frustrating vacation. I really (REALLY) thought that I would be able to have the thing almost put back together at the end of a week of vacation. Instead I finished two tasks that I would have assumed would have taken less than two hours combined.


FOOTNOTE:
Thanksgiving was great, I spent it with two of my brothers and my sister-in-law. We had a great meal and a great visit. This afternoon I went out and started poking around with running down a wire and hooked up power to do some testing. As I tested various circuits I hit the starter and it spun, so I decided to go ahead and fire it up. I had to bypass the missing oil cooler and had to prime it but it fired and sounded as good as I remembered. That really gave me a much better outlook on things.

Happy (late) Thanksgiving everyone!

-Richard

[flashed]

Happy Thanksgiving to you to ,great update .

[Hewfil1]

Originally Posted by rkn463

Sad because I said goodbye to my 2005 Duramax, happy because that money will likely go toward a life-long dream of owning a Corvette.

-Richard

Late but, they say there's two good days with a Corvette. The day you buy it, and the day you sell it.

[Hewfil1]

Originally Posted by rkn463

Now that I had spent the day doing “a ten-minute job” it was time to head out for the afternoon hunt. About 4:30 I saw this:

Attachment 1593717

Our area has historically had small deer with small antlers and I was so shocked that I about had a heart attack. I will not take a shot without knowing that it will be a quick clean kill and I did not have time to settle my nerves before he walked behind a tree and I was never able to get the shot in. Oh well, maybe there will be another chance before the season ends.
-Richard

What a beauty.

[sweetk30]

Originally Posted by Hewfil1

Late but, they say there's two good days with a Corvette. The day you buy it, and the day you sell it.

nope that's a BOAT

and

b - break
o - out
a - another
t - thousand

[notchbackgta]

Originally Posted by rkn463

I had never even heard of that...

I haven't used this one specifically, but it is nice. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-72038
When you wrap it back upon its self it makes a permanent bond. You could probably get it at an electrical supply too, we have it at work for the linemen so I would think they sell it there

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by flashed

Happy Thanksgiving to you to ,great update .

Thanks flashed. I know yours was probably difficult this year.

Originally Posted by Hewfil1

Late but, they say there's two good days with a Corvette. The day you buy it, and the day you sell it.

I still need to experience it for myself...

Originally Posted by Hewfil1

What a beauty.

I can still hardly believe it. As recently as this last Saturday he was still alive and well.

Originally Posted by sweetk30

nope that's a BOAT

and

b - break
o - out
a - another
t - thousand

Amen to the boat acronym, I have a good friend who always kept a boat and was kind enough to take me skiing, dang those things drink money!

Originally Posted by notchbackgta

I haven't used this one specifically, but it is nice. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-72038
When you wrap it back upon its self it makes a permanent bond. You could probably get it at an electrical supply too, we have it at work for the linemen so I would think they sell it there

Thanks for the link, looks like good stuff but WOW that is expensive tape. I think I'll buy a roll and try it out.

-Richard

[Deer_hunter_088]

I need updates!!!!!!! Doescit go blub blub blub and shake tge wotld or does she sound like rice? WE NEED THE STUFFS

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Deer_hunter_088

I need updates!!!!!!! Doescit go blub blub blub and shake tge wotld or does she sound like rice? WE NEED THE STUFFS

Assuming I interpreted that correctly I'd definitely go with blub blub blub

Not much happened over the weekend. I spent a few hours with a shop vac pulling crap out of the cowl all the way down to the kick panel vents. Actually I removed the vent doors and painted them while I was at it. The only other thing I did was asses (that don't look right) the wiring for the two speed rear. The segment of the harness that is connected to the shifter had crumbling insulation on the part of the wires where they connected to the junction block on the firewall. I worked my way back from the connections and ultimately cut off 12 or 14 inch inches of that section of the harness. I'm out of spade terminals right now so I did not finish that part of the wiring.

In order to be ready for next weekend I got on Amazon this morning and ordered a fuse block and a circuit breaker so that I can finish up some under hood wiring.

Before anyone else mentions it...

Yep, I get it, just one of those weekends. I hope to do better soon!

- Richard

[Advanced Design]

Richard, you certainly have good progress and updates on your build. The cleaning, wiring work or repairs, organizing, planning all take a lot of time. Most non car folks would have no clue...

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Richard, you certainly have good progress and updates on your build. The cleaning, wiring work or repairs, organizing, planning all take a lot of time. Most non car folks would have no clue...

Thanks for checking in Doug, I just checked out your burb build and it's looking great.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

... Most non car folks would have no clue...

So very true, it really is funny how on the one hand they can't comprehend that we "know how to do that stuff" while at the same time can't imagine that "you haven't finished that yet."

-Richard

[Deer_hunter_088]

People at school are like "why aint the 69 done?" i always say, "well because $$$" then they ask "why aint ya parents paying for it?" Then i always say " It wouldnt be my truck then would it?"But i go to a school where evreyones mommy and daddies pay for their cars, minus a few. but you can tell the people with silver spoons, and the ones that know the word work.