I had bought an alternator with an 8 rib pulley on it from oreilly's too. took it back and they didnt have the right one so I had to go to NAPA.

 

It's been way too long since I've had any progress to report here. A combination of working on stuff for family, working on my other vehicles, needing to have the truck available for towing and hauling and just being too doggone busy have kept me from making any headway here lately.

That changed last night. I have been keeping the truck parked in the shop lately so it's out of the weather, and so I don't put something else in there to work on instead of the truck.

I decided to start with some low-hanging fruit and fix the rear seats. I've not been happy with how they were sitting on the frame I built and there was something back there that was squeaking every time I would drive the truck...little stuff like that drives me absolutely batty...

So out they came a couple nights ago and last night I was able to rework the brackets to get the front of the seats down to where I like them. I chose to mount these to a set of sliding tracks from a bench seat, and then retained the flip feature that these seats had so they can be folded forward and lay almost flat. I should have taken a picture of them folded down as well. Maybe next time I'm out there...



I kind of wish I could make the backs sit just a little bit more vertically so they could slide back a little more, but the way the seats are designed to mount, it would be a big task to make a new bracket just to adjust the seat back angle. I sat in them this way and I'm satisfied (for now) that they'll work as they are.

The next step is to pull the bed, so I started soaking the bed bolts last night, and I pulled the toolbox, tailgate and bed mat out last night to prep. Hopefully this weekend I can get some hands to help me pull the bed, but I have an out of town wedding that will more or less shoot the day on Saturday, so that may be a bit ambitious. We shall see.

I don't have a lot of time or money to put into the truck, so my hopes for mods this year are being scaled back somewhat. My goals are:
Pull the bed and repair the midship tank pickup, and paint the rear part of the frame.
Install the IC and plumbing I have and do some painting and cleaning up front while I have the front clip apart
Install E-fuel
Replace my finicky IPR
Maybe build a set of truck steps for it
Maybe try and straighten out the bed I have for it somewhat.
Install new headlights and markers
Perform a few little repairs and fixes on the interior and get it running as well as I can with what I have now.
Have it all done by RRE in July.

After that, I'll start saving for T-500, Stage 1's, chip re-burn, a WW2, maybe a 1.0 housing. I may try and swing the housing before RRE as well as I think it would do a great job waking up the turbo with my stock injectors.

Time will tell how much of this I can get done, but I'm wading into it and I'm gonna give it a go and see what I can accomplish.

I've had to pass up a couple of deals on decent looking beds here recently so I can save my money for functional mods and fixes, but if I can get the groundwork laid out to make the truck work, I can make it look better later on.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me

 

I bet there is a spring or bolt that is located in the hinge that if removed or altered would allow you to swing it differently. I know on some of the modern seat swaps into older couple cars that guys do that, so they can take a seat with no forward forward tilt seat and make it tilt so people can get in the back.

 

Sounds like a good plan.git er dun!

 

Sounds like a plan to me Nate. Sure does look like there is a lot of room in that back seat.

 

I'll bounce the echo back at you again, sounds like a good plan Nate!

 

Sounds like a terrible plan....it needs dodge mirrors...maybe truck nuts!!?? LOL

 

There was more legroom back there before the seat swap. These don't sit up as straight as the old bench did, and they're taller since they have headrests, so they don't slide back as far before they hit the back window. I'm pretty pleased with them though. They seem comfortable enough, and the kids don't really complain too much about the seats anyway. On long trips they're either preoccupied with their electronics or too busy squabbling over something else to say much about the creature comforts.

I've got your Dodge mirrors....



Maybe when I'm done with the Dodge mirrors, I'll do a Cummings swap...

And I keep the truck nuts up front....

 

I have nothing to add to that^^^ only to shake my head in disgust lol

 

Just for you guys

 

You got a lot of nerve posting that in here. It looks like somebody else keeps the truck nuts up in the cab too!
That's not a bad looking truck, Mike. It's no drop dead classic beauty like a nicely dressed OBS though. Here's a few of my favorites from my truck **** collection.







We know you're an OBS guy at heart, you have just gone slightly astray....

 

that's a real nice lookin sheep you got there mike

I like the blue and white one. Looks aharp

 

That blue and white one is what I'm working towards, but with a few differences. I want to do crystal clear lights on the front end, and no brush guard, but with N-fab style steps like the one in the second picture has. Oh, and no visor...

 

I like the blacked out one