Well I guess it is time to make myself a project thread. I don't expect it to balloon into a beautiful butterfly or be as well updated as other peoples but hopefully I will keep it going for a while. So as my fist update after i got my new tires everyone was telling me to get an alignment so i figured if i get an alignment i should replace my tie rod ends cause their looking a bit worn, so after talking to a tech who does a lot of offroading at my work i had him inspect my truck and he said that was basically the least of my worries because my "Pan Head Bar" was messed up and the passenger side radius arm bracket is only held on by 2 bolts that are loose, so when i am holding the brake and i let off and roll then hit them the bracket moves. He was telling me that if those 2 bolts get sheared off that bracket won't keep the front axle from going back and pretty much destroying my truck. Other than that i need the left front ball joint and *should* replace tie rod ends but it isn't going to cause problems yet. That was just the front he didn't look at the rest of it so i don't know what else could be wrong but i know i have transmission issues too. Other than that right now there isn't much else, the rear main seal leaks along with other things but i can't deal with that at the moment.

 

I know what you mean. It seems as though I can't ever get around to all the sweet "upgrades" I have planned because I'm stuck in "just keep it on the road" mode.

 

Exactly, I planned to do a suspension lit and a stereo and all these other things but now i need to keep it road worthy till i get my ranger back from my brother...

 

So today i figure i'll start working on it today and get a few pictures. I need to get the radius arm bolts replaced so that my front axle doesn't kill me... Does anyone know if you have to replace the entire panhard bar or can i do the bushings separately?

 

So I got my radius arm bracket secured with some new bolts now, here is the driver side:

This side wasn't bad the bolts holding the cross member were all loose though so i added some washers to ensure the bolts would hold and cranked them down.
This is the passenger side, the troubled one you can see the spots where it was moving:

Heres the new bolts among an old one:

And the new bolts installed on the bracket:

I still need to have someone watch it to make sure it isn't moving but at least i know it won't fall apart.

My next mission is to get that panhard bar secured with new bushings and such, and to add more bolts to the tranny crossmember, as it only has 4 of those small bolts in the pictures holding it on...

 

You should have washers on both sides there.

Also if the "pan head" bar is the same thing as the Trac bar, then yes you can get jsut the bushings

Trac-Bar Bushings, Red

Also make sure those Radius arm bushings are fresh

Radius Arm Bushings, Red

One thing that made a big difference for me was my C bushings. One side on my 78 was completely gone, letting the axle flop around in the bracket.

C-Bushing Kit, 2 Degree Red

I look forward to seeing the progress of The Green Machine!

 

Ya same as the Trac bar, i already priced up the Moog ones from rockauto and when i get the monies i planned to get those, And the guy that was looking at the radius arms said the "biscuit" bushings were good, but never mentioned anything about a C bushing. I assume these are what connects the radius arms to the axle? Might look into those to see if their worn.
Thanks I plan to try to keep it updated with anything i do from carpet to electrical etc. I went to try to look behind my dash at the wires cause a lot of the ones i can see through the radio hole are chopped and bare so i was going to start doing some housekeeping but i had a hell of a time getting the headlight **** off so instead of breaking something i figured i'll wait till i have more time to fiddle with it. I also need to get a box of glass fuses cause the PO decided to stuff tin foil in 2 spots where fuses would go so that tells me either he ran out or there is some sort of short somewhere.

 

Well just ordered new bushings for the trac bar it came out to about $21 after shipping. Not bad, plus their oil resistant so all my leaking oil won't eat away at them >

 

So i ran into a bit of a pickle today, I went to leave for work and after stopping at the gas station i went to start my truck and the starter quit. I thought finally the thing gave out cause i had been having a lot of problems with it cranking slow and catching pretty hard, so i went and poked around but didn't see anything. The manager of the gas station (my boss on Wednesday nights) said we need to move it so customers can park there. We had 5 people pushing this thing over to an abandoned lot across the street and once it got there i called my mom asking if she could bring my creeper down so i didn't have to lay on the wet pavement. While waiting and eating breakfast i tried to turn my lights on and got nothing, What the heck???? So i wiggled my neg battery cable and went to turn the key and got it to crank once. Grabbed my hammer and proceeded to bang on the negative cable and got it to start. I decided it was time to fix both problems so i got a starter $36 + $15 core and a cable about $7, and started working. I have never worked with a starter and that covers removal and instal of them so i had a heck of a time but it got done and so far no problems.
I managed to stuff it in the garage:

Here is one end of the negative cable where it grounds to the block

Old starter with chipped teeth, the flywheel had a few chipped but nothing too bad. When i get the tranny rebuilt i plan to get a new one anyways:

My shiny and "new" re-man starter courtesy of my local O'Reilly auto parts, not very good customer service and sometimes not very good parts but good prices:

And finally the only thing GM made worthwhile is their glass cleaner, gets up all the greasyness and for the hard stuff, carb cleaner

 

Got me some bushings

Just came in today, now i just have to find a suitable bolt for it and wait for the weekend to put them in.

 

I'm so jealous, I never get any cool magnets like that.

The battery cable is a common problem, I had it on both my 78 and my 95, glad to hear you got it fixed.

 

Ya the magnet is cool, i might need to find a cool place in my truck for it. I had had a few issues with the end of it going to the battery terminal and it was loose, but after hitting it with a hammer, it worked for a bit I just didn't know it had melted through on the other side.

 

So got some measurements on the bolts to replace my one faulty one and the old one fro my trac-bar:

But i had a bunch of issues with it. One being that the bolt on the axle end was going to be too short, and i couldn't get any tools on the castle nut besides a big adjustable wrench, then i wasn't strong enough to break it loose. I think on monday i am going to see how much my work would charge to pull the bar, install my bushings, and reinstall the bar. I get a certain percent off labor and since i pretty much got all the parts i would be paying about $90 for them to do the work. I don't want to appear like i am giving up but i am at a loss as to what i am supposed to do.

 

I did however replace the frame side bolt and it looked like the holes might be slightly ovaled. I heard it was bad but i don't know how bad. That one bolt was the only thing i got done...

 

Get a good can of penetrating oil. I like crystal creep by seafoam. Soak those bolts for a few days. Slide a pipe over your wrench for more leverage and let her have it. $90 to swap 2 bolts is crazy when its too easy. Just let the oil work for a day it two. Then use the $90 on more new parts!