What did you do to your truck today? Chapter II

[VWNate1]

As usual , I see a lot of good , hard work here .

About your hood springs : if you bead blast them , they prolly won't hold the hood open anymore .

Agreed stretching for cleaning and re painting is good idea but they tend to loose tension when blasted , leaf springs do too .

A word about hardware : the original stuff is the very best ~ most new hardware is so cheaply made it begins to rust immediately , even here in Los Angeles .

There are many ways to easily de rust it , vibratory cleaners with fine media work great and allow the re use of many unobtanium hard ware items .

Of a dilute mix of distilled water and phosphoric acid with great on ferrous metals .

[88Stanger]

sand blast, sand blast and more sand blast. i hate sand now. Still not done....

[midniteblues]

[quote=VWNate1;7268022]As usual , I see a lot of good , hard work here .

About your hood springs : if you bead blast them , they prolly won't hold the hood open anymore .

Agreed stretching for cleaning and re painting is good idea but they tend to loose tension when blasted , leaf springs do too .

that makes sense so i figured i'll take a differnt aproach to derusting these springs.
so i took a lil' time too construct a electrolisis tote/tank after all the only thing i needed was the washing soda.
so off too wally world the wifey an i went(cant go there without the woman) and of course their "super washing soda"shelf was empty but her cart was full of everything i didnt go there for.
so i had the wife ask'm if anymore was in the store....of course not...three differnt stores and an hour 20 min later i had two boxes in my hand. also paid the wifey the dollar i owed her after i lost the bet that the next store wouldnt have any either.
kinda followed instructions that the big kid wrote down and posted in the garage a few years ago on how too set the tank/tote up.

I set it up and proceded too grill dinner(not anywhere near the tank) after dinner it got late quick but i checked in the dark an i saw bubbles.

so after work today i was all giddy about clean hood springs i ran over to check on my 2 springs hanging in the tank and boy did they look more rusty than before.....but wait a minute i have nice clean rebar???? so i came in too do a search and wouldnt you know it the kids instructions on the leads were backwards. so i fixed the leads and cranked the charger up.i guess i can be giddy again tomarrow.

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

sand blast, sand blast and more sand blast. i hate sand now. Still not done....

just wait you'll be sleeping in bed and STILL FEEL SAND
my driveway still looks like the beach.

[BossHogg69]

...

[fartblossom]

I finally achieved light bulb nirvana this weekend. After replacing flashers, connectors, bulbs, sockets and lenses, every STINKING bulb is now working. Even the fiber optic lit column gear indicator, and the glove box light.

[pritch]

I finally got around to installing some valve stem extenders so I can air up my tires without taking off the wheel covers. And I discovered that my trailer wires plug was shot, so I got a new one and put it on. After I hauled two loads to the dump, of course





And, after finding my front-side brake fluid res empty once again, I've come to the decision that I must have a brake fluid leak. First time, maybe I forgot to fill it up after my brake job. Second time was probably out-right denial. Third time is the charm. I got a leak.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Originally Posted by fartblossom

I finally achieved light bulb nirvana this weekend. After replacing flashers, connectors, bulbs, sockets and lenses, every STINKING bulb is now working. Even the fiber optic lit column gear indicator, and the glove box light.

Everything works?

That's just not right!!!

[fartblossom]

Originally Posted by magwakeenercew2jh

Everything works?

That's just not right!!!

Well, the right turn signal isn't switching off. Need a new cancelling cam. So that should make it "right".

[mike16]

I added another qt of oil

[jethro5333]

so far so good

[fartblossom]

I scared the crap out of myself. After coming out of a restaurant last night, where I had backed my longbed into a parking space, I cranked it and a cloud of white smoke drifted by. I thought "oh crap, somethings wrong with my valve stem seals." Drove it home, let it sit for a couple of hours, cranked it and absolutely no smoke. Realized when I backed in at the restaurant, my exhausts were past the curb, and with no rain for 32 days, I had blown up a dirt storm.

DOH.

[jethro5333]

ordered a bunch of parts. new fuel tank (mine has been sitting for 15 years...nasty), rear bumper, shoulder strap seat belts, and a lot of little stuff. trying hard to get this thing back on the road.

[dzbowtie]

Today, I completed connecting my horn along with aftermarket steering wheel from Lecarra. Also gave the ol girl some fresh oil, and added crush washers under the center-bolt valve cover bolts to stop that pesky leaking. Also, big thanks to those in the electrical section for their help with my novice horn questions!

[Andy4639]

Had a local guy come to the house and detailed it. Cleaned it up very nicely! Truck looks killer in the sunlight. We touched up the front of the hood and the bumper both.
Fixing to put some clear bra on it I hope in a week are so.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Me, too, Andy.

Drove to Oakhurst (fifteen miles one way) to have a detailer look at it.

Needs to be polished out after living a few years under the same cover.
I can do some stuff. But I know what I *can't* do. I don't know how to do that correctly.

Polishing is an art...Especially dodging those "on top of the clearcoat"
stripes.

The cover it has been under is a good one, but it's going south now.
Needs some shine from a pro.

Pro job: $250. Ouch. Made the appointment. There goes my gas money.

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by magwakeenercew2jh

Me, too, Andy.

Drove to Oakhurst (fifteen miles one way) to have a detailer look at it.

Needs to be polished out after living a few years under the same cover.
I can do some stuff. But I know what I *can't* do. I don't know how to do that correctly.

Polishing is an art...Especially dodging those "on top of the clearcoat"
stripes.

The cover it has been under is a good one, but it's going south now.
Needs some shine from a pro.

Pro job: $250. Ouch. Made the appointment. There goes my gas money.

Mine was $150.00! I thought it was high but after watching him do his magic I was very pleased with it. He started at 8am this morning and was almost 1PM when he finished.
He washed the truck and cleaned the tires and wheels. Polished the lip of the wheels and then touched up the front of the hood, bumper and a couple of other spots. He did a three step job. He used a rag instead of the clay bar made to do the same as the clay but he can rinse it out every so often to get the grit out of it. Then polished and sealed it.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

Mine was $150.00! I thought it was high but after watching him do his magic I was very pleased with it. He started at 8am this morning and was almost 1PM when he finished.

Right. One more disadvantage in living in California is that everything, even in my little burg, is higher than elsewhere in the country.

Maybe not a dinner out in NYC, but you know what I mean.

When I was driving up there, I was thinking, "Well, if it's $100, I'd be happy." "If it's $150, I'll still do it." "But, if he says anything over $150, I'm out."

Then, I began to think about the referrals I've had from people I trust, the pictures on his "site", seeing the work on cars he's done at car shows...
And seeing the cars of all kinds in his shop...not just upscale Ferraris...but Soccer Mom vehicles...I like that. Then, figuring from what he says, he's
on it at 9:00 a.m. on the day in question...no one else doing it but him... and RAT'll be done no earlier than 4:00 p.m.

That's $35.71/hr. His rental space and equipment and materials. Plus, I haven't done anything to the paint since It was new.
Time for a polish and seal and a new cover.

$250's a big bite for me. But I'm bellying up to the bar.

[ole dollor]

[QUOTE=Andy4639;7272977]Had a local guy come to the house and detailed it. Cleaned it up very nicely! Truck looks killer in the sunlight. We touched up the front of the hood and the bumper both.
Fixing to put some clear bra on it I hope in a week are so.



as nice as that truck is I did not think it needed any thing . its really got a shine now......I like it a lot...Don

[Andy4639]

[quote=ole dollor;7273793]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

Had a local guy come to the house and detailed it. Cleaned it up very nicely! Truck looks killer in the sunlight. We touched up the front of the hood and the bumper both.
Fixing to put some clear bra on it I hope in a week are so.



as nice as that truck is I did not think it needed any thing . its really got a shine now......I like it a lot...Don

Thanks Don, sorry I left for the beach and haven't had any computers there. Just my phone and it's not setup for this forum.
Going tomorrow and get pricing on the clear bra stuff I hope.

[dwreck812]

Figured out what type of 350 is in my truck learned I'll need to rebuild the rear end cleaned up my spark plug wires changed a headlight switch and fixed a couple of side markers

[jethro5333]

new moldings. same crappy camera.

[88fordf150]

Originally Posted by jethro5333

new moldings. same crappy camera.

Molding looks nice!!

[Bomp]

laid down some sealer on a bed side that I shortened.

[TheCougarine]

Put on this cool old front plate from the 70's I found online.

[9teen69]

Originally Posted by TheCougarine

Put on this cool old front plate from the 70's I found online.