So far all I've done to my truck today is curse at it. Damn wooden beds in the stepsides, garbage!

 

You are making me realize my decision to pass on the cheap stepside and engine/tranny combo was a good one. Not only will the fender need some 'glass work, but surely the wood in the bed will be bad after sitting in a pasture for years. And, from what I'm hearing (reading) the wood holds moisture against the metal, so it rusts badly.

And, I forgot to explain in my previous post how much fun I had getting the flex plate-to-torque converter nuts off today. Dunno how tight they were put on, but two of them wouldn't come off. Even with a 6-point socket they just rounded off. Finally had to run another nut down against them and weld the two together. That gave me just enough of a good nut to get hold of that I got them off.

 

Ah yes, I've posted a few times recently griping about the no good cheap wood, moisture holding rust inducing genius wooden bed. Especially since my bedside recently collapsed. I'll be building a new bed from scratch in a few months, all metal. Love the look of the stepsides with some fat meats under em though!

 

Ya know, I read all this criticism of the wooden beds and have to think to myself....

1. Has anybody seen a brand new truck with a wooden bed?
2. Has anybody considered the fact they lasted close to 30 years?

I was in high school in 1980/81 and remember seeing one of these things in the student parking lot. it was brand new and was obviously come kid's parents' truck, but I remember feeling:

• The "stepside" box looked small and almost useless.
• The entire back end styling looked very 1950s-ish-retro to me and, quite frankly, ugly.
• The wooden bed, though, looked pretty slick.

Park ANYTHING outside for 30 years and it WILL deteriorate.

 

Someone suggested using Trex, the synthetic "wood" for decks, in a Stepside bed. I told my brother about that and he just he-hawed. He rebuilt a back porch glider for our mother a couple of years ago. It looked very good and has held up well, but when he was ready to move it he had to get help - the Trex must've tripled the weight of the glider. You'd have to put bigger springs on the truck just to keep it level.

 

I've been hearing people suggest that too. Someones replaced the wood in this before, current bed is two sheets of plywood, no slats, nothing.

 

I would think as long as you kept up with the urethane (like any exterior wood house door) everything would be fine forever!


And i got the grill portion put back together, the factory original plate glass rear window (removed the old slider), and the driver's side done.







*The glass came with the truck when i bought it, the Original owner kept it all these years. Funny note, My father in law put the slider in the truck in 1982 shortly after the original owner purchased the truck.

 

Greyf100 - It just keeps getting better! Love it! But, a couple of questions: First, why did you remove the slider? I personally think the window you installed, which is the way mine is, looks better as it isn't busy. It is clean.

Second, what did you shoot the grill with? I mean the accent or shadow? I need to repaint mine, but wondered what paint you used awa what the process was.

 

That is looking REALLY REALLY good!

 

It was an OLD style slider and the aluminum housing was pushed out from the rubber seal...you are right the plate glass does look better, this is why i changed to the plate window.

As for the re painting:
scuff inside
mask off
wipe down with wax/grease remover
spray with satin black rattle can
let dry about 2 min, then remove masking

Let me also say the ENTIRE grille, doors, upper, and lower molding, and the emblem are all new. I repainted the headlight door inserts due to mismatched paint on the new pieces.


@jthorne, THANKS!

 

Man, that truck is looking super-sharp.....

Well, I took that little fan and hooked it inside the cab of dad's truck. There was a drop cord close to the truck, which made it nice.
Got the seal kit installed, and stuck the column back in loosely. Topped off the PS fluid, raised the front wheels back off the ground, and proceeded to start bleeding out the air. It seems to be holding.
I then gathered up all the various pieces that dad had left loose, and buttoned the column up correctly. Well, 2 small screws were missing, so they got left out, easy to fix later.
My buddy wasn't home, and since he took his bike (vulcan 1500) for a cruise, his truck was blocking the exit, so I couldn't take a test drive.
I did drop it back to the ground, and test the power steering. All seems good. I may have missed by 1 tooth on the flex coupler. Kinda hard to tell for sure until it goes down the road.

Gary, as soon as I can can swing the funds for some rear brake parts and axle seals, I'll be looking at trying to make a visit to your place. It's too derned hot to be working outside, and by the time it cools down enough to be liveable, it's nearly too dark to see.
Might be a week or two down the road though. Gotta get a couple bills paid first.

 

RW - Works for me. Only issue is rolling the parts truck in/out. RR brake rolls nicely for 3/4 turn then drags. Not an issue w/a young pup like Ray, but maybe for one old dude and a middle-ager like you. Guess I'll pull the drum and "fix" it.

 

Grey the truck is lookin' sharp!

 

Tore the 351 HO down today, the rebuilt one that has 30k miles on it. Crank looks fair on both the main awa rod journals and has been turned .010" under. But, the bearings are bad with dark spots where they've worn.

Oddly enough, there is no land at the top of the cylinders. In fact, I pushed #4 out easily and the bore looks good, with some of the hone marks still showing. However, the cylinder mikes 4.080"! I used an inside mike to determine that, but confirmed it with dial calipers, although I haven't had time to check for wear or taper. I'm not even sure that I can find .080 over rings, but surely can if the rebuilder did - although my first attempt via Google netted nada.

Everything I've read says don't go beyond .040" over. But, this engine has run for 30k miles with this bore and, while I haven't truly inspected every cylinder yet, there wasn't anything that looked bad at first blush. If there isn't too much taper and I can find rings for it, should I go back w/this block? Please keep in mind that this truck isn't my all-time forever keeper, but I do want it to run well.

 

Wow, .080 over? That's a bit further than *I* would want to run.
Do the pistons have any markings on them? Most oversize pistons are stamped to clearly indicate the oversize.

Not sure about ring thickness, but a 360/390 starts life with a 4.050 bore, so .030 over rings are 4.080. Just thought I'd toss that out, to aid in the search for rings. If the ring thickness is the same, they would work, and *should* be much easier to find than .080 over for a 351W....

I believe I'd look for another block, if this one really is .080 over. While it *could* be fine, many engines start having cooling issues once .030 is exceeded.
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me that it's .080 over, considering the supplier that built the engine. They have a less than great reputation in this area, if ya know what I mean......