Omodified's 1970 SWB Custom/10

[gcburdic]

works looks great Chris!!!...have you seen the FAQ about making those side markers flush mount??...I'll see if I can't find it...might look cool on your truck

[jeffg1010]

I just saw you are in Statesville. I am on the North side of Mooresville, almost in Troutman. So, I guess we are practically neighbors, Hope to see that truck running around soon. I scrolled through a few pages and it looks like you are putting together one sweet ride!

So, I am SUBSCRIBED to keep up with your progress.

and I see Geoff replied above me. Hey Burdic... we still getting together Friday? 80% chance of rain. Does yours get out in the rain? If so, text me to let me know where ya wanna eat lunch.

[gcburdic]

here ya go...Frenched side markers

[bondo510]

I love your truck! Nice job!

[omodified]

Thanks a lot Geoff, Jeff and Bondo. Geoff, I appreciate the link, I may consider that down the road when the paint prep starts to happen.

[omodified]

It was nice on Friday and I got off work early. Since I got the parts in this week that will help me tie up my loose ends, I figured it was time to get busy on the truck.

I got the new washer motor and pump installed.



I ran the new line from the washer tank to the pump. Then I hooked up the old lines and ran them through the dash and into a bucket. Primed the pump for 30 seconds or so and it started squirting with force! It worked great and no leaks. So, I cut the new lines to the proper length and hooked them up.


I read here about people complaining that water was coming into their cabs from various places. That doesn't sound fun to me. I did use a new washer motor to firewall gasket, but I thought using some additional sealant wouldn't hurt either. It doesn't look great here, but after everything is in place, it will hardly be noticeable. Not gonna leak either!




I lubed up the wiper transmission linkage and put it in place. Wouldn't you know it, it was rubbing the cowl support. That surely was part of the horrible noise I was hearing in the beginning. I noticed that GM had already notched this area out, so I just ground on it some more. Once I got it to clear, I touched it up with some black paint. Gave it a test run and it is soooo quiet!




Here is the finished product with wipers installed.




I got the antenna hooked up as well. AM stations are coming in strong! Notice the new defrost vents in place too.

[omodified]

Saturday was even nicer than Friday. 60 degrees in January rocks! We were definitely going for a drive today. First, I wanted to do a few things that I had been putting off.

I have been sitting on these new bumper bolts for some time now. They were getting put on today. I am tired of hearing the bracket rattle against the bumper. No more rattles.






Next up, the radiator. I have this nice new aluminum radiator that I should have polished before I installed it, but I was in a hurry. So, I took off the shroud and loosened up the radiator and I got to work. I only polished what could be seen. Good thing too, cause now it wants to be seen! Also, when I was putting it all back together, the plastic piece that houses the power wire on top of radiator core support got my attention. It was loose in several spots causing it to be really wavy. There were 4 screws holding it to the support and also a few rivets. A few of the rivets were broken. So I drilled out all of the rivets, opened up those holes and installed new stainless screws in all of the available holes. Now the piece is nice and straight and very well restrained. Here is the finished product.








Finally, we backed it out of the garage, and gave it a quick clean. I realized that I haven't taken any pics of it outside yet. Here it is, ready for our Saturday winter cruise!

[omodified]

Sunday was a light day. After church, we ate and napped. I did manage to do a few small things.

The last thing really needing restored on the dash is the heater controls. I did my research here to see what to expect. Sounds like it can break easily if you aren't careful. To my knowledge, it isn't broken now, it just doesn't look good. All of the the controls do work and it puts out a ton of heat. I did look up the cost of replacing each item, just in case the worst happened. So, I started to remove it. I was careful and took my time and it did come out pretty easily. As I suspected, everything is in great shape, just filthy. Now that I have it out, I am noticing that the casing is silver painted chrome. Being that is an area that gets touched frequently, I am not sure that I want to try and repaint it. So, I tried stripping the paint off. I did get it all off, but the chrome underneath isn't great, lots of yellow. So, now, I am at a crossroad. I can buy the rebuild kit and deal with the chrome, rebuild kit and repaint the silver, or just buy a whole new unit. Any suggestions out there?






Last thing for today was the cigarette lighter. The trim ring had black paint on it and I really wanted to polish it up. Once I got it out of the dash, I realized the lighter itself was kind of nasty. The black ring around the lighter looked like it had 40 years of filth built up on it. So, I put some polish on it. At first, it started to shine the black up real nice. Then it started to look layered. So, like the visors, I assumed that it got painted at some point. Rather than hand polishing it I put the buffing wheel to it with a #4 compound. I really was just trying to get what I thought was a top layer of paint off. I assumed that the outer ring was black plastic. LOL, nope! Here is how it turned out.




It turned out pretty friggin sweet. However, I am not sure how I will like it once I put it back in the truck. So, it may go up for sale. What do you guys think?

[gcburdic]

Looks great Chris....I took my truck out yesterday....it's just beautiful in January!!!

On the heater control, if you can deal with the chrome, buy the rebuild kit and update those control arms...if they are original, they are prone to break....it's a "might-as-well" item in my book!...BTW...that lighter button looks sweet!

[67cheby]

nice work on all the details !

[GCncsuHD]

Just found this thread and read through it. Looks like it is coming together nicely, hope to see it around town.

[omodified]

It's been awhile since I have updated and I have some time tonight, so here it goes...

Thanks to member t korinek for giving me a great deal one these o.e. mirrors and handles. Can't wait to get them installed. Hopefully they are as nice in person as they look in this photo.

[omodified]

Well, I received my goodies from t korinek. With just a little bit a cleaning and polishing, they turned out very nice. Thanks Tom.

While I was waiting for the new parts to arrive, I visited Dave's Truck Parts and picked up some new handle and mirror gaskets. I went with aftermarket because I just couldn't justify NOS pricing on these. So, I will cross my fingers that these hold up. When I went to install the new pieces, I quickly realized that the old ones had been installed without gaskets. PO's kill me!!! Anyways, they turned out awesome. Much netter than what I had previously. Check it out...

[lolife99]

Your truck keeps getting better!

[omodified]

Thanks Keith! It's been a good pace so far. Plenty of time to enjoy it between projects.

[omodified]

My last visit to Dave's also yielded a new set of vent window handles. My current handles are pitted badly. They are so sloppy fitting that it keeps the window from shutting tight against the seal. I am really hoping that I don't have to hear the wind whistling anymore. Here they are installed against the original. Much improved!



Went for a test drive and no more whistle!

[omodified]

I replaced the power brake check valve once already. I thought it would be good to replace it when I changed out all of the hoses. However, the one I bought was an ugly yellowish-green color. I happened to find a black one today and I though that would go better with the theme under the hood. Details...

[Dustydog]

Great looking truck! Nice job you are doing with her.

Dusty

[omodified]

We took the truck out for a drive tonight. I usually like to keep an eye on my water temp while driving, but I just realized that the Sunpro temp gauge is not backlit. Time to place an order with Summit Racing.

[omodified]

Thanks Dusty and thanks for dropping by!

[omodified]

The Sunpro lighting arrived today. Got it installed with wires nice and neat. While I was waiting on it to arrive, I purchased a pair of led bulbs for it. Well, unfortunately the tone didn't match the blue-green color of the gauges in the instrument cluster. So, I went to Lowes and bought the closest color spray paint I could find and I sprayed right over the led bulb. The bulb is low temp so it should be just fine. The color is close to matching but not exact. I will keep looking for a better match, but here it is for now...

[omodified]

Today, I made some magic happen. I finally pulled the trigger and turned this...



into this...



...with the help of Old Air Products of course. They also were nice enough to include some new cables.



I considered reconditioning the old cables, but when they told me that the new cables were coated and would never need servicing, I was sold. The install was pretty straight forward. The adjustments were sort of tricky but persistence paid off. The new control also came with a new heater switch, so I am confident this will be an worthwhile upgrade. Everything is installed and is working great! My only complaint is that the sticker they use for the backlit indicator was white and not blue-green like oe. So, I had to spray paint the led again.

[omodified]

Member PipsC10 posted up some nice powdercoated parts today. I would like to buy them all, but it's not in the cards. He was nice enough to sell me a pair of alternator brackets that will be a nice replacement for the rusted up, chrome peeling brackets that I currently have. I hope they are as nice as what his picture shows...

[omodified]

I got the brackets in today form PipsC10. Absolutely beautiful!



Removed the old brackets. Wow!



Everything back together and looking right. Thanks a lot Jarrod!

[omodified]

Well, I went to put the door panels back on today. My daughter has been chomping at the bit to install the inner door handles. I didn't get very far before I realized how worn out the door controls were for the inner door handle. Super loose. It doesn't make sense to replace them later, so I placed an order with Classic Parts of America.



I also noticed the the door bumpers were missing on both sides of the cab. So I added those to the order as well. Might as well throw in a tailgate bumper set too.