The Truck of Doom: An Occasional Build Thread

[ArdWrknTrk]

My truck is stone reliable locally, and I beat it like a red headed stepchild.
Cruising on the highway is never an issue, so I don't worry.

The only time I had a problem was coming back from Florida one time when the fan clutch seized up in Virginia.
Luckily, I found a NAPA right off the exit and was on my way in 40 minutes.

[Dorsai]

Funny, I have the same two lists... All the interior work (seats, floor, painting) at the start of this thread was from list 2. Everything else is list 1...and that's the one I hope to get done by the end of August, so I have time for any problems to show themselves before I hit the road. List 1 currently looks something like this:

• Ignition system refresh DONE
• Carb rebuild/engine tuneup
• U-joint replacement
• Rear diff oil change
• Engine oil change
• Coolant change
• Transmission oil change/pan replacement

The new starter, relay, and belts weren't part of the list, but I'm happy to have replaced them now instead of on the side of I-40 somewhere. Still a lot to do, and only six weeks or so to do them in...

[ArdWrknTrk]

Did you pick up some wiper bushings?

You probably don't want to see what the caulk inside your cowl looks like.
(at least you have a garage)

[Dorsai]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Did you pick up some wiper bushings?

You probably don't want to see what the caulk inside your cowl looks like.
(at least you have a garage)

No, that's all list 2, I'll worry about it after September.  I know my caulk is going bad, I've got some sealant for it whenever I get up the nerve to start fiddling with the hood and cowl.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Dorsai wrote

It's not going to be quite that bad here, but it won't be pleasant, either...90 degrees and a chance of thunderstorms all weekend.  I'm just hoping we don't get rained out.

Well keep an eye on those guys, and keep hydrated.  
Heat stroke (hyperthermia) is no joke!

[Gary Lewis]

I love ticking the boxes to show I've done something, so have a running list on both Dad's truck and Big Blue in the first post of their threads. (It is an embedded Word document, which is lots easier than HTML, although I see you are good at the latter.)

And I sometimes cheat a bit by editing the document to split out the thing(s) I just did so's I can tick them off. In other words, if the list originally said "R&R ball joints" and the only thing I got done that day was one of them, then the list would suddenly have entries for both left and right. Not only that, but when I do things that weren't previously on the list they magically appear, only to get ticked off.

I think Mick & the boys were missing something when they couldn't get no/any satisfaction. They just didn't know how.

[Dorsai]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Dorsai wrote

It's not going to be quite that bad here, but it won't be pleasant, either...90 degrees and a chance of thunderstorms all weekend.  I'm just hoping we don't get rained out.

Well keep an eye on those guys, and keep hydrated.  
Heat stroke (hyperthermia) is no joke!

Nice thing about Scouts (and our troop in particular) is that they’re all about outdoor safety and first aid.  It’s rare for someone to get in trouble in the heat, and it’s always mild and quickly taken care of when it happens.

Fortunately, today went well - they got all the tables built for the camp with no difficulty.  Tomorrow we haul them up (that’s where the truck comes in), and once that’s done I’m free to work on my list.

[Gary Lewis]

Glad it went well.  And I'm sure the truck will shine tomorrow.  

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Glad it went well.  And I'm sure the truck will shine tomorrow.  

Mission accomplished - the Eagle project was to build four benches for a mountain camp for troubled urban kids, and my task was to deliver two of them:



If you're thinking that's not much of a load, you're right.  It never occurred to anyone to ask me how big my truck was; they didn't realize I had a real bed and could have hauled all four benches without difficulty.  They had located a second truck, so no big deal.

After stopping for some good north Georgia BBQ (Bigun's BBQ - recommended if you're in the area), we made it to the camp in good order:



I'm happy to report the truck ran great - it actually seemed a little smoother and quieter than before, so I'm wondering if something had been going on with that belt I lost that I hadn't realized.  The trip was an hour up into the mountains (well, 'mountains' - our tallest is less than 5,000') and an hour back, so I'm declaring all the work done to this point a success.

I don't have any more obligations lined up for the truck, so now it's time to get to work on my list in earnest.  Sometime this week I'm going to try to get those U-joints out, and while the truck is immobile for that I might as well pull the carburetor and introduce Dominic to it.  And if the carburetor and air cleaner are going to be out of the way anyway, now would be a good time to put that new valve cover gasket in, and maybe even do that valve stem seal replacement job I've been putting off...

[Gary Lewis]

Well done!  I'll bet the Boy Scouts were impressed.  

And Dominic is going to be getting some good hands-on experiences.  Good plan, Stan.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Okay!  . Satisfaction!

Glad your truck did well and the kids have more facilities at camp.
Building things is always an experience in cooperation.

Two thumbs up Matthew!

[Dorsai]

So today I had a few minutes between work and school to fiddle with the truck, and I decided to pull the air cleaner housing in preparation for carb removal.  I got the housing off and something didn't seem right:



Yeah, shouldn't there be another screw there?  Now, where could it have gone?  Oh...



That could have been bad, but disaster was averted:



I see threadlocker in the carb's future.  At any rate, over the next few days as I have time I'll get the carburetor and valve cover off, and then after exams are complete this weekend I should have about three weeks to really get stuff done on the truck before fall semester kicks into gear.

[Gary Lewis]

That certainly could have been bad.  I'll tell you how I know......

On my '58 Impala w/a 348 and a Will Carter Four Barrel (WCFB) I read in some hot rod magazine that the thing to do was to drill the seat out larger so it would pass more gas at WOT.  And then, to ensure the hole was smooth, you were supposed to lay a small ball out of a ball bearing in there and strike the ball with a hammer.

I did as described and put it back together.  The car ran fine but with no more power.  However, when my date, named Janey, and I parked it later that night (I chose the wording carefully) it didn't want to start after it had set for an hour or so.  Turned out it was flooded - yep, the needle didn't like the seat.  

So, having pulled the aluminum tab off the end of the secondary lockout mechanism so it would open them at any point (please don't ask) and having laid it on the intake manifold, I thought I had the perfect tool with which to block the choke open.  And it did work perfectly until I pressed the throttle to the floor.  (Some of you are thinking "NO!  Don't do it!!!!")  Yep, the choke kick mechanism opened the choke even further, dropping the tab through the carb and into the engine - which started about then.  Clank, clank, clank........

So, I flagged down a friend who, oddly enough, happened to be nearby and he/they took us back to the dorms.  The next morning I got a new head gasket and pulled the head off - with the 3/8" ratchet I still have.  Sure enough, that tab was much wider and thinner than it had originally been, but there weren't any marks on the piston, so all was well.

I say all that to say that I like your plan to use threadlocker.  

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

That certainly could have been bad.  I'll tell you how I know......

LOL...good story, and you got to keep the girl.  Too bad you didn't keep the '58 as well, those early Impalas were sweet.

[Gary Lewis]

Yep, I loved that car.  It would ROLL!

When we bought it the seller told us that he went for a trip to Wyoming with his MiL.  (Doesn't everyone travel with theirs?)  They'd been driving for a while and he was sleepy so climbed into the back seat to take a nap and left her to drive.  When he woke up the scenery was going by rather quickly, so he peered over her shoulder and saw the speedo setting above 100 MPH.  No muss, no fuss, just roll.......

[Dorsai]

Since I've been very happy with how the interior plastic painting turned out, I've decided to try my hand at painting underhood components.  

Air intake before:



And after:



I like the color just fine (Duplicolor DE1621 'Old Ford Blue'), but I'm not sure about the gloss.  Maybe it will dull a bit as it dries further, but this isn't really a high-gloss kind of truck.  Do they make a low-gloss variant of this paint?

[salans7]

It dulls out. Trust me. Haha.

I did the same thing on my old 300.

[ArdWrknTrk]

X2

Though my air cleaner is black, it looked 'too new' with fresh Duplicolor.

It doesn't stand out now.

[Dorsai]

I did get a low-gloss black for the air cleaner body - I think that will look nice, although it will clash a bit with the shiny intake as well as the valve cover until they dull a bit.

[Gary Lewis]

Can't wait to see it, Matthew!  It is going to look awesome.