It's Been A Bad Couple of Weeks

[69C10@16]

Man guys, It's been a bad last few weeks. Mostly in regards to my truck but other things as well.

Two weeks ago I found that my rear trailing arms are jacked up beyond all belief. I posted it on here and am currently awaiting arrival of a set from Ih8the24. I got in trouble for the post, which i COMPLETELY understand don't take me wrong. So anyways at that pont the truck was rendered undriveable. I have 250$ left and a 400$ insurance payment in February. No job. So we got out for christmas break and since I knew the truck couldn't be driven I decided to do some pidly stuff on it that wouldn't cost me any money (as if those actually exist, something ALWAYS costs you). The first thing I decided to do was check all my spark plugs, gapping, odd deposits, etc. I had just pulled Cylinder 5's plug and set the ratchet on the hood latch in between the firewall support and the grille. Not ten seconds later I bumped it and it hit the radiator. This ugly greenish brown (i had used Bar's Stop Leak a few weeks earlier) started immediately spraying from the point of impact. So after a blue streak or two and a hissy fit I called up a buddy who had just pulled his 350 out of his 88 Silverado to drop in his 91 Camaro. He gave me the radiator quite graciously. At this point things had begun to look up. I even saw an old friend at the Gas Station who was driving a nice shiney 71 and we started talking. I learned that her husband has a 67 that he's pulling the engine and giving the truck away. So I now have me a new parts truck. YAY. Ten minutes later as I'm removing the water outlet from my intake to put on the one from my friends 88 (I have to use the 88 style upper radiator hose because of inlet/outlet sizes) one of the bolts snap off in the intake. Despite our many efforts the thing isn't coming out. We tried a bolt extractor, it snapped off in the bolt. We tried applying heat and using vice grips to turn it out. Its locked TIGHT. The new radiator is in and the water pump put back in place but now I'm intakeless. My parents decided they'd buy me an Edelbrock 2101 Intake Manifold for my birthday. Its a month early but they figure it's worth breaking their usual rule of no early presents. I'd say it couldnt get worse but then the garage would burn down and I'd really be mad. I finally got the opportunity to take some pics with my phone of the bad trailing arm situation. They're below. Sorry if your depressed after reading this but I needed to vent. Oh yeah, to top it off this girl I like was talking to me online right after all this happened and I said some things I ROYALLY regret saying. And last night I was informed that a friend who graduated a few years ago commited suicide last night. Living in as small a town as we do it really hits home. Like I said, sorry for the depressing thread, but I feel a little better. I still can't think straight though.

Cya guys around,
Newton

[odog]

Don't feel to bad. Things usually get worse before they get better. I read your post about the trailing arms and it sounded bad, then I read this and it sounded worse, so maybe its about to get better. Hope everything works out for you.

[PanelDeland]

69c10, You are young yet but a well learned lesson is that most things in life are temporary.The bad times in life usually wind up being the memories we keep.I've been on road trips that would curl your toes,hated every minute of what was happening while it was going on.But in the end i remember fondly the fun i had those times overcoming the difficulty.This too shall pass.
After all the trouble and all the work,at some point you will get in that truck start it up and think"I did this" and that feeling will be one of the best you ever had.

[69C10@16]

Things are looking up a bit. I mean my paretns did decide to buy the intake for me so at least that won't hurt my pocketbook any. The girl i reffered to in the last couple of sentences called me tonight and everything is ok and that makes me feel a LOT better. And yeah, when that thing gets started and I hear that sweet familiar rumble out of those glasspacks I just might cry it sounds so good. lol. Unfortunately hearing that rumble at idle will make me want to drive it. We've got this great hill I like to drive up b/c its right in between two buildings and in 3rd gear with the windows down, it's just beautiful! But since the trailing arms are in such condition, as seen in picture four above, I can't drive it until the new set from Ih8the24 arrives AND I have time to put them on. School will be starting again soon and the only time I will have will be after school and after homework. So it may be awhile before I actually get to drive it. But boy will life seem absolutely awesome when it's over. lol

[greasemonkey]

You're 16, get a job. That way, you have something to occupy your free time and you can pay for the stuff you need to fix.

[willis0107]

hey I'm moving to Missouri in a month if you still need the trailing arms or want a spare pair let me know mine are 100% rust free

[69C10@16]

I've applyed for every job I hear about but it always seems like I'm too late. I applyed at O'Reilly's the other day so maybe something will come through there. But trust me when i say, IM TRYING.

[68K20 x Drill]

Wow, those arms do look rough.
You can amuse yourself by WD40 ing the trailing arm bolts each day till your parts arrive.
When I was your age,one of my friends wanted a job, and what he did was walk across town entering every business on the way. He would explain that he didn't have much work experience, but wanted a Job, were they looking for help. I think he ended up at a surfboard company where they liked his attitude.

[c10addict]

Bad streaks of luck come around and hit us all at one time or another... Its part of life! One day you will look back and laugh... Just remember there is always someone in the world that is alot worse off than you... Your very lucky you found the rusted trailing arms ... If one would have broke you may have had a parts truck to give away... Keep your head up kid!

[mnunn454]

Sorry about your circumstances. Can identify w/you a great deal.

The encouragement above reminds me of something my dad used to say when I was down and out or I hurt myself.

He'd say ....
"It'll feel good when it quits hurting".

For about 20 years all I heard was his sincere sympathy. Then I stopped to listen to what he was really saying. Duhhhh!

Then after I had kids, I started telling them the same thing. They caught on much earlier, but it was still funny as hell when they finally caught on.

Guess all I can offer you then is..... IFGWIQH

Seriously, hope all works out well.

[corn]

Free trailing arms, free parts truck, free radiator, new free intake. Its like you have an old truck fairy to replace everything that breaks. I wish I had bad luck like that...

I guess its all how you look at things...

[69C10@16]

I'd rather have a 'it wont break' fairy. lol. and yes it will feel GREAT when this is all over and I can drive my truck without too much worry. theres always a little bit with it being as old as it is. Heres the real kicker for tonight though.

We were replacing the water outlet because we were using a hose from the 88 pickup becuase the water outlet is 1.5" and the radiator is 1.25". I couldnt get a flex hose to fit. I was able to get one for the bottom (1.5 to 1.75) but they didnt have one for the upper. The angle on the water outlet was wrong for the newer style hose. But for some reason today I got to wondering if they could ORDER the hose. So i went up there and of course they can. SO, i didnt need to change the outlet in the first palce which means i wouldnt have snapped the bolt and I wouldnt have needed the intake. I could kick myself for not thinking of ordering it in the first place.

And yes, the trailing arms are in terrible condition. Even when its running again it wont be driven for fear that the back axle will just dissapear. I cant wait until the new ones get here. Im going to take pics of the old and the new ones side by side so you guys can see how much they've bent up. I'll get some more close ups with them off.

We're having the family christmas tomorrow so im putting the intake on at my grandpas house and then my uncle is going to reset the timing and everything for me because I KNOW i messed it all up and he worked on these trucks for years in his shop so he can do it. he set it the first time.
Anyways, thats the update for now. I appreciate all the encouraging words. they really help.

[Weezer67]

Dog, man..don't drive that truck with those arms! I know it's bad when it seems life gangs up on you. That's what happens when you grow into adulthood. Deal with each thing as it happens in life and remember to always find a way or a person to talk to..we're always listening. Sounds like it is already getting better!
Weezer67
Dodge City, Kansas
Cowboy Capitol of the World

[72BlckButy]

Hang in there, sometimes it seems like everything is working against you and then all of a sudden the pieces seem to come together... and it sounds like things might be turning around as we speak...

Keep us posted on your progress...

[69C10@16]

well the engine is up n running again. better than ever it seems like. I still havn't heard back from eyeh8the24 about the trailing arms so I have no idea when it will be full up n running again. I drove it some to make sure the timing was good and we had no pinging and i drove it to a friends house twice n i figure im now getting about 6-7 mpg. but its pretty much parked now that i know its running again. the radiator from the 88 works better than great. engine never gets above 200 n the thermostat opens @ 195. i thought that was pretty good but i dont know much so. anyways, until the new trailing arms get here. it goes NOWHERE... things seem a LOT better now