What did you get done? 07/08 July 4th Edition

[N2TRUX]

All week I washed my truck, then it rained then I washed my truck, then it rained then I washed, then it rained then I washed my truck, then it rained then I washed, then it rained then I washed my truck, then it rained then I washed.

Every day for the past few weeks the skies have been clear in the morning. Of course I can't stand driving a dirty truck, so I wash it. By the end of the day it has rained again, and again, and....etc. Do you sense a pattern here?

Yesterday I got up early and .....washed my truck (you knew that was coming). Then I got the oil changed and tires rotated. Boring stuff.

Today I went and looked at a 74 model clip for my 82 Blazer. Of course with all the rain we have had I waded through swamp water to see it. Does anyone know what a Culex mosquito looks like?

The pics the owner had sent me made it look better than it was. I knew the P fender and liner was junk, but thought the D fender was worth saving.
Wrong! The D fender AND core support was rusted out. The hood was nice but was starting to bow along the D side so I passed on it as well.

Then I noticed a 79 LWB in the back of the swamp. This truck looked fairly solid so we looked at it. The P fender is trash, but the D fender, liner and core support are in great shape. Well that is if you don't count the bondo he globbed on the trim holes.

The hood would have been sweet too, but someone put one of those chrome covers on it and it rusted behind it.

I made a deal to get the good parts from the 79 and the lower filler panel from the 74 later this week. Anyone have some waders I can use...

What did you get done.

[pcmcobra]

I know all about the rain...It's been storming here in the panhandle since last saturday on and off every day, except for today and parts of yesterday.
Cleaned up the 86, still toying with some chrome and stuff under the hood, nothing special. Also trying to make some spacers for the serpentine support braces to fit with my headers, then get the ac back online, with some new hoses.
Finally sold my 05 Dodge van. I really liked it, but it sat in the driveway, never got driven. Had it 2.5 years and it had 17k miles on it, and that is from road trips.
So now I am looking at 07 silverado's. I'm really not sure what I am going to get, it also will sit in the driveway and rarely get driven. Maybe a used one...I don't know.
Wife and kids and my sister got back friday night, been a busy weekend, trying to get the yard done between the heat and rain...
Sorry for the rambling...

[cochino12]

Ken you missed out, I just picked up a straight rust free 77 clip for the balzer on the way to drop it off for paint and only had to give $80 for You gonna put color on the blazer or leave it flat black?

Adam

[KMK454]

I hear you, it's hard being OCD about car cleanliness with this trend of rain in Texas!

All I accomplished was the arrival of my truck to Texas... some work...

Oh, and this:

My truck should be in the next issue of Vintage Truck Magazine... possibly even on the cover. Not confirmed 100%, but that's what I've been hearing from the editor. It's bi-monthly, so they have yet to complete the next issue.

Vintage Truck is an awesome magazine dedicated to trucks of all marques that are stock, restored to original, or still in use. A lot of what they cover is pre-1950, but they'll slip some newer stuff in from time to time.

[68GMC454]

lets seee now,,i spent 5 hours yesterday watching a freind change the thermostat in my ranger i just got..also put in a new ujoint..man that thign did not want to come out..found out a new way to get the caps fromt he ujoints out..the guy that ended up gettign it out used a bigger socket that went on the out sides of the spot, then pounded on it, and the caps came right out..ive always just drove them in,, then flipped it over and did the same on the outher side..alot easier this new way...today i went to useing meguires paint cleaner on my ranger, since the paint was faded and oxidized bad..took abotu 4 coats on the left bed side to get it to look good...i rember there old bady scrub, i think it did a better job...but it took me all day just to do the left side of the bed, and the little extra cab part on the left side..sure wish i wasnt hurt,,could have got most of the truck done..i think it will take me a about another week or 2 just to get the whole truck done..then time to wax on,,wax off..lol...

then traded my 68 gmc for a 76 crew cab dually that is lowered,,and needs a motor..so in the next month or 2 i will get the stuff i need for my 454 and put it in the dually...i have wanted to fisn a crew cab dually for almost 20 years now,,but i refuse to pay 3000.00 plus for a beater..and a decent one, wil cost alot more..so all in all im happy..wore out,,and i over did it..but im happy..
billy

[Prong]

Worked on the LB 79 on Saturday: Adjust valves, plumbed new fuel lines, stuck on a new cap, rotor, plugs, air filter, fuel filters. Stuck a new thermostat gasket on to replace the leaky paper POS that was on there. Then I installed a new gas gauge and recharged the A/C. Today, I stuck a new alternator on my 79 SB because the bearing was starting to make some racket. Was going to do the wash and detail but threatening skies look to make that a futile activity.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by cochino12

Ken you missed out, I just picked up a straight rust free 77 clip for the balzer on the way to drop it off for paint and only had to give $80 for You gonna put color on the blazer or leave it flat black....

I guess I'm going to have to make a road trip up your way. I "thought" my area was full of rust free 73-87 but I'm not finding them.

Before I think about color on my Blazer I want it rolling again. Until I get the suspension completed, and the front clip converted, I'm leaving it in primer. It has a few heavy coats of DP 90 (the old version) on it so it's not going to rust any time soon.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by KMK454

...My truck should be in the next issue of Vintage Truck Magazine... possibly even on the cover. Not confirmed 100%, but that's what I've been hearing from the editor.....

Congrats on the coverage. It's well deserved....

[ocbaud]

got the b-quiet ultimate installed, new carpet installed, and put the seat back in last night!



also went and saw transformers yesterday and the family and i went to the zoo today

[85 c-10]

Got the brakes bled, got the air cleaner powder coated to match the VC and pullies. Got the carb tunes in. The trucks ready to go except it needs washed from sitting for the past year!

[dubdeuce80]

i didn't want to spend my weekend working on my truck, so i decided to just do the 2 'Z' sections and under the cab. during the week i'll make/mount the front cab brackets, then figure out of i'm gonna just raise the entire back half or keep it semi-stock like i originally planned...

[Eyegore]

Spent wednesday thru Saturday replacing uper/lower ball joints and bushings and shocks on the 86, my son convinced me to cut the spring, brought the front down 2 inches. It was so hot 115 degrees, wears you out real quick.

[method2mymadnes]

My car haulin trailer has had 2 flats for about 3 months. I FINALLY got 2 em fixed.

[benoit454]

hey 85 c-10 is that truck lowered? if so how much? Also is that one of the a/c delete boxes I see sold online? Any issues with installing them? Looks really nice, never got the chance to see one installed before.

[knightlife]

I went to work...

[bagged74]

After having my shop for 3 years, I finally installed the trim on the back side. And spent most of the day trying to reclaim my shop from the birds. It seems since I have been working out of town, the birds thought they could just move on in. I found where they were getting in and fixed the problem.

I also trimmed the inner wheelhouse on my blazer so I can tuck those 22s....pics of that to come later.

[kevinr1970]

Finally found a roof rack for my K5. In fact, I found (and bought) two!
The one the guy had already pulled had a bend in one of the bars. The one that was still mounted had a bend in the other bar so I bought both to make one good one.
Also got the trim strips that go with the rack and even a rear spoiler to keep the back window clean.

He had about three rigs he was parting out so I bought the cab trim that wraps around the back of the cab that is just above the height of the bed. Didn't think about until I was unloading but it has a bowtie emblem on the side pieces and I was wanting to put it on my GMC? Oh well, $10.

The last items I got were a set of charcoal pw/pl door panels. They aren't the greatest but they have all the trim pieces, map pockets, carpet, etc. I have a decent driver panel in charcoal and a passenger that will need to be redied but didn't have the rest of the trim pieces.
They looked like they were a dark, navy blue at first then I noticed that the rest of the interior was charcoal. BTW, if anyone was wanting a charcoal interior, its all still there. The only good parts are the plastic pieces and the seat-belts (which will need a good cleaning). This guy is looking to get rid of these things so if anyone wanted I could give you his contact info.

[SSC's76]

Spent the 4th and nearly all this weekend getting my friends 76 F100 going. Total wiring nightmare on this project and I told him I would remove and hide as much as possible. I did get to fire it up for a few seconds to make sure the engine ran. I put an Edelcrap performance package on it with the good heads, cam, roller rockers headers, ect..Now I just need to finish up the bottem half and wait for the powertrax to come in so I can set the new ring and pinion up all in one whack. Seems I'm going to have to reduce the pics after work.

At least I was able to take a nice 2-1/2 hour ride saturday night.

[beaterC10]

I finished lowering my truck with the installation of a flip kit in the rear. It was only about a 10 hour thrash. The biggest issue was the seized bolts in the shackle and spring eyes.

[85 c-10]

Originally Posted by benoit454

hey 85 c-10 is that truck lowered? if so how much? Also is that one of the a/c delete boxes I see sold online? Any issues with installing them? Looks really nice, never got the chance to see one installed before.

It was on the truck when I bought it. It appears to been an add-on pc. When I sanded the firewall before paint, I found where it had been fiberglassed in. There were a few spots that were real thin, so I had to fix those. I really don't know where the previous owner got it from. The rear is lowered 3-4" I can't remember exactly. The front is anyones guess. It looks to have been lowered also, but the springs and spindles look like originals. I'd say 1.5" at the most.

Josh

[Captkaos]

After our initial bout with the TBI on the Burb, I moved to the next project: Exhaust
Sunday July 1st: I removed the rotted tail pipe, muffler and what appears to be the original AC cat.
Monday July 2nd we started piecing together a replacement exhaust. I used one of the 3" tails from a leftover X pipe kit, the Magnaflow muffler off my Jimmy that is currently undergoing a TPI conversion and a portion of the 6.0L LS motor with the cat. We completed the system that evening.

Then I moved to the next project: Air Conditioning
We converted the Burb over to 134a over the past week. Last weekend we found out why the AC wasn't working. We dyed the system and immediately found the compressor was leaking out of the housing, so I picked up a new compressor.
Tuesday evening I removed the old compressor, cleaned up the Sepentine brackets and the front AC lines components were flushed out.
Saturday July 7th I reinstalled the compressor and pulled the rear portion apart and flushed the rear portion out.
Sunday July 8th we pressurized the system and found a leaky O-ring/seal replace it. Vac'd the system and installed the 134a. The rear system is Seriously blowing cold air, but it appears there is some clearance issues with the fan as it is grinding some (no headliner right now)
The front of the system appears to have some vacuum issues as half the cold air is going to the floor vents.

Oh yeah, It rained here for the most part of the week, but we are 17" below average for rain. I think Ken is getting it all.

[Rc 415]

Originally Posted by kevinr1970

He had about three rigs he was parting out so I bought the cab trim that wraps around the back of the cab that is just above the height of the bed. Didn't think about until I was unloading but it has a bowtie emblem on the side pieces and I was wanting to put it on my GMC? Oh well, $10.

I'm lookin for that trim for my chevy

[jchav62]

I did nothing to my '83. But I did re-do the tailgate letters on my '62.

85 c-10: Nice truck! The engine compartment looks real clean! Love the powder coating...

[85 c-10]

Thanks jchav62. I just got back from picking it up though. I exploded the trans on the way home from work. I'll have to get carnage pics. It took out the trans, exhaust, split the drive shaft, took out the trans crossmember, flexplate, tq. converter, starter. Just about everything under the truck between the engine, and rear end!

Josh

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Captkaos

.... Oh yeah, It rained here for the most part of the week, but we are 17" below average for rain. I think Ken is getting it all.

Nope.... Kens not getting all of it. It feels like Florida or Washington around here; it's rained almost daily since May. Texas is a big honkin' state. Him & I both getting a bunch of rain says something . . .....

My 4th was spent @ work. Actually, I worked from 7a~9p Tues, 7a~7p the 4th, & 7a~11:30p Thurs. But it was worth it to be able to take Friday off for a once in a lifetime event & then some vacation time next week!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to a rangers game Fri night & they actually won.... again .

Sat was spent doing quality time w/the family unit since the young-one was leaving Sun morning for a 2wk trip abroad (Europe/Germany). Sun was spent going back & forth to the airport & then getting the GF ready for a trip. She's sneeking abroad as well to suprise the young-one on 7-11 (young-ones 14th B-day). We think the young-one will be pretty dang suprised when she shows up for dinner Wed night & gets a b-day celebration, in Germany, w/her mom, grand-mother, & great-grandmother .

Today I yanked all the brake stuff off the 74. I lost a wheel cylinder out back & the other was seeping so it's getting some much needed TLC: both rear brake cyl's replaced, the front rotors turned, front pads, rear shoes, & drums cleaned up. I'm also going to go ahead & replace the master cylinder/vac booster since I'm going through the trouble of re-bleeding the system (they weren't replaced when I did all the suspension/brake stuff after purchasing the truck in 02).

I should have that all swapped by Wed afternoon for my brother to come over & assist w/bleeding duties. Thursday I'm going to attempt to get the 74's c-sections welded in (lifting the bed will be the main issue because of the driveways tilt); Thurs night a beer or 2 w/my brother for his 34th b-day; & then Friday it's off to Columbus to meet up w/my buddies @ the GoodGuys show!!

I might even get to work on the 68 some before leaving . . .....