Yep, I've seen motors with broken connecting rods where they'll spin half-way, but not all the way around. Good practice to get into.

 

Went over and hooked up the PS lines on dad's truck. Found an unhooked vacuum hose at the resivour can, and hooked it back up. Now the HVAC will blow out the dash and floor vents, not just the defroster. Knew it was a vacuum issue, but didn't expect it to be that simple.....
Got the brake line bracket bolted back on.
Had it running for about 1/2 hour. The longer it ran, the better it ran.
Then, I took it off the jackstands. It's now sitting on all 4 wheels, with nothing else supporting it.
Wanted to go for a spin around the block, but the mushy brake pedal is a bit of a concern. I know the pedal is mushy due to either air in the system from cracking open the bleeders before retracting the pistons for the front pad swap, or from backing off the adjuster to get one drum off. Could also be related to the fact that the front chamber (rear curcuit) in the master was dry when I picked up the truck.
I'd bet on all 3 having a part in the pedal feel.....
The pedal may be a bit mushy, but it doesn't go to the floor, and it will hold the truck when running and in drive or reverse.
Had it not been dark, and 1 headlight nearly 1/2 full of water, I might have gone ahead and went for a spin. Dunno how the water got in there, can't find any hole in the light. It was that way when I picked it up.... It does work, though. Both beams.
Got 1 turn signal and marker light that doesn't work. Same bulb, and the bulb is most certainly blown, from the appearance of it.
All the dash lights work, even the ashtray light. Sometime during the spell of it running, the overhead domelight started working again, had been relying solely on the underdash lights.
Flipped the switch for cargo light, and after a brief delay, it came on.

It almost seems like everything I go to do on the truck, and the truck does it's level best to make it easy for me. kinda like it has a soul of it's own........
Maybe I'll get it out for a short cruise tomorrow....... After bleeding the front brakes.

 

Well now it was yesterday but pulled the starter thinking it was bad it was fine discovered main power wire to starter is bad, truck still won't start so I pulled the injection pump off and pulled an injector... Peeped into the pre chamber and discovered it has oil in it now I'm pulling the intake and heads later

 

Not a thing . But I cant stop thinkin bout what I will be doin.

 

Hobbystock, that is a good opinion, and one worthy of consideration. I am thinking of taking it to a local body shop and asking for some advise as well (maybe even a dollar amount).

 

Could you get the roof from LMC Truck? If so, would it maybe be better than a JY roof?

 

No such luck.

 

Bummer... What about seeing if you can order that panel from a local body shop?

 

I am thinking of leaving work a little early tomorrow to go by the local body shop to see how much $$$, or if they can give some advise on repairing it myself, or get me some metal to do it myself. Anything will be helpful at this point.

 

I just looked through our (Keystone) catalog, we list every other effing panel but the roof... go figure. Goodmark doesnt show it either. You probably will need a cut from the salvage yard. IIRC, the cab really didnt change much so you may be able to get one from a later year as well.

As for my project the rust demon is still cursing me. I think I'm going to have to fab something up to use a slide hammer... Maybe a plate behind the locknut and a balancer or hub puller.

 

I've bought some stuff from Keystone, as we have one in town. A buddy of mine works in a body shop, and turned me onto them. Sometimes it will surprise you what they have, and how cheaply it can be bought. Local salvage yards wanted $35-45 for a used plastic fender inner liner. Keystone sold me a new one for $25. Had to order it in, but no extra shipping or any other special order price increase.
Might not be OEM parts, but better than a salvage.

 

We have one of the most awesome intra company shipping systems I have ever worked with. I see alot of it as my location is a crossdock as well. 170k sq ft multi building compound and almost 7.5 mill in inventory, just here. I have next day access to 45 million more from 6 other stores in our trucking system/region. The parent company, LKQ bought us in October, merged us with Keystone and I was just overwhelmed by the size. I was used to my little 5 and 6k sq ft warehouses. Of course all the different places LKQ owns, we have our fingers in just about everything to do with a vehicle, light or HD...

EDIT: not trying to sound like an ad... just amazed at the size of this company

 

I was looking into a new outer roof skin for my truck a couple years ago (the inner roof is not available) and after much calling, found ONE at an obsolete parts dealer, for somewhere over $400 and at least $100 to ship. Went to the u-pull-it with a cordless sawzall and walked out with a whole roof for about $70.

 

Finally got to do the leak-down test on the '85 351W HO - the one I pulled out of a pasture, literally, on Tuesday. The one that hasn't run for years. The one w/the seized oil pump. The one I squirted PB Blaster into the cylinders of 2 days ago.

First, none of the cylinders seemed to have any leakage to the intake, exhaust, or cooling system. That tells me the heads and valves are probably good.

1 = 70% leakage
3 = 82% leakage
7 = 80%
2 = 32% (not a mistake)
6 = 57%
5 = 54%
4 = 78%
8 = 80%

For those thinking these #'s seem familiar, the 351W I overheated had similar leakage an hour after it ran. In fact, its high leakage was 84% and its low was 38%, while the HO had a high of 82% and a low of 32%.

So, the question to y'all is whether I should pull this engine and inspect it with a consideration of rebuilding, or maybe just refreshing, it. Here are my thoughts:

• Yes, I should pull it as it is probably a better base from which to build
• While the heads seem good I should have them checked out professionally
• That would allow me to view the cylinders, and if they have very little wear maybe just hone them
• If the crank and rod bearings are trashed or the crank scored maybe it is time for a rebuilt engine.

 

Those numbers don't look too good, but the heads sealing that well is certainly a good sign.
I'd pull it, and check it out at a minimum. Might actually be in decent shape. I would also pull the oil pump, and see about taking it apart to investigate why it locked up. May have just sat so long it lost it's prime and the gears rusted together......