Sounds like a better idea, a mild cam would give me more bang for less buck. Plus they're fun to instal and break in.

Hey, if someone else is footing the bill.....I'm game.

 

I got a bit done this weekend, not a lot of pictures though. We were kind of rushed to get a lot of projects done over the weekend, so spare time was not often available. I'll take some more pics once I get back tot he truck, gotta spend some time with the girlfriend though after spending the weekend under hoods.

We finally got her fired up and running strong, found a severly plugged cat was causing all of the troubles that the previous owner was complaining of. Got the bench seat back in her, put on the mirrors, cleaned all the trash out of the cab, and fixed the hood latch. We then took her for a 5 mile drive down the highway to my shop. The engine, trans, and drivetrain felt good over all, but the brakes need some serious help, and the steering just felt wierd. At least I know she runs well, and she is back at my shop where I can work on her much easier.

 

Well, I got a little time to get out and work on her this weekend. I wound up doing some jobs for a few friends so I didn't get much time with the old girl. I did get a big start on getting the interior cleaned out. All the junk is tossed and the dirt and trash shop-vac'd off the floors. I spent some time taking apart the dash components and cleaning out all of the dust and dirt from years in the high sierra desert. Got a bunch of old tinting adhesive scraped off the rear window, got the bed sweeped out, tires inflated, and cut all of the old rusty exhaust out. Still have to do a good cleaning on the entire interior surface panels, but I got a preliminary wipe down done. Also made a trip to the local auto parts store and got a couple bags worth of tune-up parts for her. Here are a few pics from my few hours at work.

Before:



After:

 

Just a few more shots from the day.

 

Got quite a bit more work done over the weekend. Took all of the brakes and hubs apart for inspection and cleaning. Regreased and put them all back together and flushed all the old black brake fuild, refilled with new fluid and did a full bleed. I'm going to need some new front lines sometime soon, but for now the pedal is solid and she stops quite well.

I also took the door panels off, cleaned up and regreased all of the door internals. Replaced the lock cylinders (so I can now use the locks), replaced the speakers with some new Sony 6 1/2", and replaced all of the plastic push pins holding the door panel on. Her doors are now almost as clean and solid as they were brand new. Also installed a Kenwood CD player I had in my shop and got that whole part of the dash cleaned up and wired correctly again.

I also removed a lot of extra wiring that had been added by owners over the years. There were a bunch of things that were jimmy-rigged and made to work in some very odd ways.... I most of that pulled out and straightened up as best I can. Got new terminals on the battery cables, and got a lot of the old corrosion out of the battery tray area. Almost everything seems to be working properly, be she is still missing tail and brake lights, horn, and turn signals.....more work for next weekend.

Not much in pictures this time around. I figure with everything being pretty much routine, everyone knows what all this work looks like. Pictures would have just wound up looking like others before. I got a nice list going for the junkyard, so hopefully I can make a successful run soon and have the interior mostly complete in the near future. She still needs a new headliner, and I want to replace the old vinyl mat with some new carpet.

I can hardly wait to get this girl on the road, she really is coming along great.

 

Here's a couple of the interior pics i took after the work from my last post.





And one from this morning as last night's ice was melting....just for kicks.

 

So it has been a while since my last post, and I've been busy as hell... Truck is ready for the road, FINALLY! Still have no exhaust yet, but that's just details. Interior is finished for now. Once I get my little Blazer sold I'm going to order a carpet kit and some minor stereo equipment for the pickup. I've been driving the truck around the dirt roads surrounding my shop quite a bit, so she has had a couple tanks of fuel and fuel system cleaner through her now, and is running great. I got all of the tune up parts all done, got the belts and hoses replaced, and flushed out the cooling system, and got the brakes all adjusted and bled out. Found out someone had cut off the pigtail for the tail light harness, so I replaced it with a junkyard harness and now all the lights work like they should. I haven't taken many pictures yet, mostly because it has been raining off and on while I've been working. I do have a few, but as soon as I get a day at the shop with no rain then I'll get a bunch of new pics in her cleaned up state to share. I'm also waiting for the weather to warm up a little bit so my land lord at the shop will turn the water faucets back on. Once they are on I can get her all washed and cleaned up good. I should be able to start driving it sometime here in the next couple weeks!

SO FREAKING STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Making some sparks with the grinder while working on getting the old cat. flange off of the exhaust.


Yeah, that explains why the tail lights won't work...


Engine is ready to go, that is until my water faucet gets turned back on and I can get it all cleaned up.


Backed out of the shop and waiting for her drive up Diamond Mt. while I'm locking up.


And back from an 80+ mile drive on old logging roads up and down the mountain. She ran beautifully, and I couldn't be more happy.

Ugh, didn't realize that picture was so blurry until I posted it here, sorry.

NEXT STOP: DMV and then the highway!

 

ALRIGHT! Lookin' good man.....I love progress...

 

pwr window motor works but does not engage, looks like there is an adjustment cam on top. How to adjust it. Bad River Boys want to know.

 

I really dig the color scheme of this truck, it looks great and getting better all the time, excellent job!

 

Thanks guys!

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post....summer has been insanely busy for me and the old Ford. She is fully registered now, passed smog and all, and has been on the road pretty steadily for the passed few months. Tried to help my brother move to Reno from Chico and had a tire start coming apart on me half way up Interstate 80....found new wheels and used tires, got her muddy a few times, hauled some new project cars home, hauled junk to the recyclers and dump....summer is always crazy busy for me. So many projects, so little free time. I'll try to forward some more pictures so i can do a better update tomorrow night. She is running strong, and rides nice and smooth on the highway. For now here is the only current picture I have saved on this computer. Just after putting my junkyard score wheels and tires on last week, and pulled into the parking lot here at work....


I'll try to get more up tomorrow night, G'nite!

 

I finally gave her a first bath! Considering I have owned her since January 1st of this year and I've never washed her, that's kind of sad. I did spray her off after getting her decently muddy in the spring, but never really gave her a full bath. Looks like I might be able to put some work into her paint and make her shine up really nice. The blue is definitely aftermarket and has some really nice looking metal flake, she should really look nice with a little massaging. Also I got into installing my CB radio equipment, and realized that I couldn't mount my radio in a way that was not horribly obstructive with the hardware I had. Got some brackets coming, but for now it's just antennas and cable....I know, redneck....lol. Also her front end is getting increasingly loose, so I've started collecting replacement parts for a complete front end rebuild. Gonna be a little spendy, but she should ride a whole lot more solid once done. Anyhow, here are a couple pictures after her first bath.

 

Looks great! I've got the opposite color scheme, blue on white, but I like yours better.

 

i like the dark blue better than mine with the lite blue

 

Thanks guys. I like the reversed scheme as well because it isn't as common, and still looks good. I also like the lighter blues combined with the white, with the right blue it can be gorgeous. A buddy of mine has an '88 Bronco that he used the same lighter blue his '88 GT Mustang has, combined with an Alpine White stripe it looks killer.