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Archive for August, 2009

The Great Vacuum Mystery

August 8th, 2009 Comments off

So my transmission fix didn’t quite do anything.  Color me not surprised.  It still shifts the same – getting up to highway speeds and then shifting down.  I let James ride along to hear it – he says “Oh, that’s just your passing gear.”  Hmmmm….  I am dubious of that.  I’m going to have it serviced – I’m going to get it flushed, and have them install a new pan and gasket and fix the leak on the speedo cable.  I’m figuring I’m in for about $300 of work.

Oh but that isn’t the best part!  My vacuum lines are a complete mess, I come to find out.  In fact, a vacuum issue might be what is behind the tranny problem for all I know.  Here is the situation.  I have no PCV valve.  Plus the line that SHOULD go to the PCV goes to the brake boost.  I got some help from the guys on the forum and got it straightened out I think.

Here are some pics of what I faced…

Overview of engine.

Overview of engine.Passenger SideDriver Side

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Transmission Woes and the Dark Underside of the Truck

August 5th, 2009 Comments off

Got the truck back from SHA – they totally hooked me up.  Anyone who lives in the Knoxville area who owns an import (what they mainly work on) and needs a good mechanic should look them up.

They led me over to the alignment shop who got my wheels straight.  Pete’s Alignment – nice people.  All said and done the total front end work, including parts, labor, and the alignment was $280.  A far cry from the $800 Firestone quoted me.

I had forgotten my Garmin, so while the alignment place was working on the truck, I was getting directions to the office.  When I left, I followed the directions I had found and hit the interstate.  That is when I ran into an issue.  The truck kept deciding it wanted to be in a lower gear.  I’d be rolling along at highway speeds and suddenly it would shift down and the RPMS would shoot to 3k.  So I’d have to slow down or risk blowing the tranny.  After some experimentation, I figured out that if I let teh speed drop to 45 and kept it at 2k RPM, it would shift up.  Then it would hold the higher gear for a bit – followed by another swift and scary downshift.

James diagnosed it as a vacuum issue (he’s had something similar happen before) so I replaced the rubber components of that vacuum line and the vacuum modulator.  It started and moved up the driveway fine, but I have to take it out for a spin to be sure if that has it fixed.  In the process, I discovered that the screw that holds the modulator in had been over torqued like crazy and the hole was stripped (it is part of the housing).  Fantastic.

But there were more interesting finds under there!  Ha ha!  😐

First of all, I knew it leaked oil – I just didn’t know it was THIS much oil.  The oil was full when I got the truck home – it now has about a 1/4 quart.  Also, it leaks ATF like crazy.  I should mention here that a rebuilt transmission would set me back $2k.  Not something I want to do right now.  Hopefully it can kick along till I get this bodywork done.  Or I guess I could rebuild it myself…  No.

Anyway – other fun stuff underneath: there is a weird bit of sheet metal all twisted under there.  Not sure what it is for.  The ebrake cable looks like it was hung with coat hanger – but that could be stock.  The speedo cable is leaking really badly.  In fact, it seems like many of the things done to this truck in the past were done incorrectly.

Well, I’ll find out more tomorrow.

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Shift Indicator, Window Handles, Wipers

August 5th, 2009 Comments off

I replaced the shift indicator finally.  It was easier than I had expected.  Took of the dash bezel, took off the old indicator, rebuilt it with the needles and spring from the newer one, and put it back on. I had to manufacture a post for the wire that connects the indicator to the shifter – the original post is long ago broken off.  I made it out of some UHMW, so hopefully it won’t snag anytime soon.

I also got new wipers, and new window handles.  I can finally roll my window down without struggling with the knobless stick that I’ve been using.  I also replaced the lock knobs because the ones I had were broken.  Picked up a new air filter, oil filter, gas filter and fresh ATF and oil but I didn’t have time to get to that tonight.  James was working on his truck and we had the place get give us the wrong starter, so we ended up burning a lot of time.  I’ll get to it later.

Old and Bustexd and New Hotness

Old and Busted and New Hotness

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Manuals Have Arrived!

August 5th, 2009 Comments off

The manuals came!  Actually, they came a couple of days ago, I just hadn’t had a chance to go through them.

But I’ve given them a once over now – very cool.  Very in depth.  Worth the $40 I paid for them.

Unit Repair, Wiring, and Service.

Unit Repair, Wiring, and Service.

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Paint Booth

August 3rd, 2009 Comments off

Lunch finally!

I went ahead and ordered my new body panels – though two of them will not be going on MY truck.  James has graciously agreed to let me to test my hand on his Cheyenne!  I’m grateful for that, as I know practice is the one thing I need, and we have the same body panels.  We will be replacing his floorpan and cab support – two of the same areas I will have to repair on mine.  He is a brave soul….

I also ordered some brushable rust converter and some seal sealer.  (Also I couldn’t help myself and I ordered my tail lenses!)   I figured we’d do the test welding on his truck, then if it works out ok I can head out to Royce’s and do mine there.  Course, that means I’ll have to clean it up and primer it and all – but that’s no big deal.  Hopefully I’ll be an old hand by then and get the welding done quickly leaving time for the other bits.

I also plan on starting one of the doors soon.  Probably the driver side.  I’m going to take it apart, strip it, sand off any rust, treat it with convertor, and then smooth everything out reeeeeealy well.  Then primer it and put it back together.  This is all part of my “Restoration by Attrition” concept.  Work on each peice a bit at the time and get it in top shape (or as close as I can) for paint.  Then when it comes time for paint, all I’ll have to do is a little gapping and some touch up and I’ll be ready to roll!

Doing all that primer though means I need to use real auto primer – which means I need a compressor, a gun, and most importantly – somewhere to paint.  So I’ve designed a little paint booth that I can put up and take down quickly.  I’ll make it out of 2×4’s and 1×2’s and some clear heavy drop-cloth plastic.

This was actually Amanda's idea (when I complained I had nowhere to paint)

This was actually Amanda's idea (when I complained I had nowhere to paint)

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Welding Test

August 2nd, 2009 Comments off

Gave the welder a spin.  I won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon.  I tried some thin bandsaw material first, but it was a complete failure.  then I got some 1/8″ mild stock and cleaned it up and tried that.  I did one side and it was terrible.  I changed my tack on the back side and it came out a little better, excet the weld didn’t go all the way through (form improper preperation).  I bought some sheet metal to practice butt-welds on.

First side - really bad.

First side - really bad.

Second side - not as bad.

Second side - not as bad.

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Harbor Freight

August 1st, 2009 Comments off

I finally got some tools that I’ve been putting off getting for too long.  All of these are things I can both use on the truck, and on knifemaking.  Amanda says I’m dual-speccing.

First and foremost is the MIG welder.  Got it dirt cheap – $109 instead of $149.  Is it top of the line?  No.  But it will do.  Got a auto darkening helmet to go with it.  I also got a 6″ buffer with a stand – needed that for a long time.  Got an angle grinder and tons of consumables to go with it (that’ll be very necessary for welding stuff).  Got a new 1/2″ ratchet as mine bit the farm this morning.  Also got lots of sandpaper, some welding gloves, and various and sundry other stuff.

You know, harbor freight has some good deals.  The tools are not great – but if you aren’t using them really really heavily, they hold up.

tools-harbor-freight

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Pull-A-Part Trip

August 1st, 2009 Comments off

Well it was a moderate success.  Plus it was really a cool trip – very interesting!  That place is HUGE.  They won’t let you take any tools that have batteries or cutting torches, so I was lugging around a huge tool box filled with all my sockets and whatnot.  Fortunately, they give you free use of wheelbarrows.  Our wheelbarrow was crap and squeaked a lot.  I should have taken the camera to get pictures – I will next time.  It would certainly make for some interesting shots.

There were maybe ten or fifteen trucks that were of the correct year range (James has a ’77 and I have a ’78).  Most of those had been there a while and were picked clean.  Anything that looked like it might have had a decent door was doorless.  So I gave it over.  I think I will repair the ones I have if nothing better comes along.  But I did snag quite a few other bits and bobs that will make the truck a bit more livable.

  • New driverside vent window (current one is broken on the bottom and does not open)
  • AC vent for dash bezel (my bezel has no vent – just a hole)
  • New shift indicator assembly (currently, I have no way of knowing which gear I’m in so often I end up in low by accident)
  • New cab trim!  (really excited about that – it would have been a bitch to clean up what is on there now.  And what I found is in fantastic shape.)
  • One right hand headlight bezel – the real kind.  Steel, not plastic.  Still need to find the left hand side.

Things I wish I had found:

  • Stock grille.  I swear every grille there was broken.
  • The other headlight bezel.
  • The center grille trim.
  • Some frikken doors.
  • A new hood for James – his is bent really badly.
  • A stock steering wheel that wasn’t covered in moss.
  • A tailgate in perfect shape. (yeah, right)
  • A cargo light lens.
  • Tail light lenses.

But hey.  I got a bunch of stuff.  And it was only about $40 for the whole lot.  The needle alone will be worth that!  I am going to do some restoration on the vent window before I install it, and I’ll take pictures.

Here are some pictures of some of the finds from today:

Needle, Trim, Air vent.

Needle, Trim, Air vent.

Vent Window

Vent Window

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