picked my 71 today!!

[RedZ71]

well, i joined this forum with deep anticipation, with the turn in my stomach that this opportunity that fell into my lap could just as easily go *puff*. well today, my dream of owning a classic vehicle became reality!!

here are some updated pics, including vin and glovebox too. also, i luckily ran into my mechanic neighbor here at my apts, and he took a look under my hood. i asked him about what air cleaner i needed, and his response was music to my un-mechanically-trained ears: "well, any 4 barrel air cleaner would do... but get a chrome one!" i believe he said "looks like a rodchester", or something like that.

http://www.dfwlp.org/~jhorne/pics/truck/

man, and it sounds great too! ill probably get a recording of some sound bites this week, but not that it will have the same exhaust system when i get done. drives pretty good, squeaks as expected, and blows blueish (oil burning?) smoke when its under heavy acceleration. steering is nice and smooth, something i didnt expect.

i pulled up the cracked floor covering on the passenger side, to get a look at the floor, and all this dirt like substance spilled out. ill probably slice whats left of it off and sweep it out so i can get an idea of how much floor pan i still have. rear end appears to be a 12 bolt.

[bad_turbo]

good looking truck!! If you need a tailgate and grill, I'm sure you can find them in the parts section.

[FarmTruk]

Way to go. Looks like a lot of fun is getting ready to happen for you. She's certianly a "fixer-upper", but that's what makes these trucks so fun. And you've got the #1 resource for that right here on this board.

Someone's done jacked yer AC compressor Guess with all the ice, ya won't need it for a while anyways. Looks REAL cold there in Big D.

[RedZ71]

btw, anyone perusing my pics, feel free to "tell me what i dont know". i dont know squat about old trucks, so im ready to learn anything anyone can identify by what they see.

ill probably pick it up with my jack this week, and snap some pics of the condition of the underside.

[Spray-Bomb]

Sweet, I'm dig'n tha light green

It doesn't have to be a fixer-upper, there's more to old rides than shiny paint

[RedZ71]

heres a good one: how do i figure out what transmission i have?

[corn]

Looks good. I see an updated engine, seat, what looks to be a th400 trans (looks like a hi hump to me). Dont forget to deal with the open hole in the DS valve cover & the vacuum advance hose on the dist looks to be missing. Looks like a good project...

[Rokcrln]

Easy if you have a clutch and need to shift it then you have a manual. If you do not have a clutch then you have an auto! Hope that helps.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[corn]

Originally Posted by RedZ71

heres a good one: how do i figure out what transmission i have?

Does the center section of the floor have bolts or is it one piece? Thats a good sign of the trans. Also, if the trans pan is square with the one corner cut off its a th350. If its long with a lump on one side its a th400...

[Rick Mills]

Just checked out the pics of your new baby. Unlimited possibilities.
Welcome to the board from snow bound Colorado!
On the tranny... if you get under the truck and get some numbers, these guys on the forum can tell you just about anything... even the first date in that truck... well, that may be stretching it a bit.

[screamin_eagle]

is that a bullet hole in your hood

[IvelDesigns]

nice bullet hole in the hood

looks like a good truck. I'm sure you'll learn a lot while fixin' it up.

[RedZ71]

yeah, it does look like a bullet hole. about a 9mm unless im mistaken.

the engine is not the original my seller says, but that it is a 350. is there any way to identify what year 350 it is?

thanks for all the replys, ill get under it tomorrow and snap some pics.

[truckdude239]

did they put a temp gage in a vent hole?????

[RedZ71]

Originally Posted by truckdude239

did they put a temp gage in a vent hole?????

yeah, and that thing is actually on a very short list of "things that appear to actually work in the interior". im sure ill pull it and make it back into an a/c duct again.

[turner15]

Nice rig, shave those rain guters like I did, it will save you time and looks great.

[RedZ71]

oh, the transmission is really difficult to shift into gear. moving from park to reverse gives no tangible click into gear, as well as moving from rev to drive takes a bit of force on the shifter.

if i happen to need a new tranny, are there any modern chevy trannys that would mate up to my engine and operate without too much trouble?

[RedZ71]

Originally Posted by turner15

Nice rig, shave those rain guters like I did, it will save you time and looks great.

pics?

[Longhorn Man]

You have a TH350 tranny, if you look closely, you can see the kickdown cable hooked to the carb.
A high hump floor wouldn't have told you anything about the tranny anyways Th400's came under the low hump (as yours is) unless bolted to a big block. (others indicated that a high hump woulda implied a TH400)
Something you'll probably want to address, your front drivers side spring is worn and has a spacer in it. Those can pop out and then your truck will be sitting nosed down on that one corner.
That engine is not only newer than the truck... but much newer. I'm thinking 878 was when they went to center bolt valve covers.. and that dip stick handle makes me think more like 90-something. This is an awsome thing becouse it means you have a roller cam, and with the new oils having minimal zink in them, your engine will hold up much better.

[Longhorn Man]

your shifter being hard to operate is most likely the column. it was a junk design and a binding shifter is the common issue. Swaping in a tilt... even a van tilt will cure the problem, and is easier than trying to get someone to rebuild the crappy stock set up.

[RedZ71]

man, an engine that new is a really good thing to hear! one of my goals for this truck is to subltly update it so that i can hopefully get 15mpg hwy, possibly thru engine/transmission/rear end refinements. if i have an engine that new, then possibly something modern like a 4L60 might mate up without issue? what caveats would that bring?

[krue]

You'll need a new driveshaft to put a 700r4 (or 4l60) if you still have the original TH350 in the original position. There are many threads on this swap. Not too mention all the info on our FAQ board. Click the Index link in my sig for some good reading.

[SCOTI]

The 4L60e's (electronic version of the 700R4 O.D trans) little brother is the 200R4 & it's basically a direct swap w/a 6" tail-shaft T350. It would help w/your mpg goals w/o breaking the bank but they're not meant for towing of any kind.