What am I missing? Everything. When the brakes were done in the rear at one point by the previous owner, he just took ALL of the parking brake equipment out of the rear drums. The only thing I got back there are the pins holding the shoes, the self adjuster, and my wheel cylinders. Oh yeah, the parking brake cable sticks through the backing plate if you wanna count that.

I plan on converting my 8.8 to take disc brakes in the future, so I'll use what comes with the kit to fix the parking brake. Either that, or I'll take the complete drums off of a truck at a junk yard and just keep the drum brakes in the rear.

Regarding the emissions inspection... If I remember right (and inspections depend on what county you live in), in North Carolina if it's newer than a 1996 model vehicle, you have to have it sniffed and all the equipment checked. If it's a current year vehicle, then no inspection is necessary. If it's a 1996 or older, but younger than 35 years old, all the equipment has to be in place and you have to pass a "visual" inspection. The kicker is that none of it has to work and you don't have to pass a sniff test, but it's got to be there. This is what was told to me by a man at an inspection station after I found out on NC's DMV site that a vehicle older than 1996 "doesn't have to have an emissions inspection". The DMV site (that I saw) also didn't mention a visual emissions inspection of any sort. That guy said it didn't matter what the DMV site said.

Called another inspection station and they said once all the safety equipment on it was fixed, to drive it to them and get a sticker. I just said screw it and waited till I got down here in SC to get a tag.

Bear in mind, the guy that wanted all my emissions equipment back on my truck was also going to junkyards and picking up stuff for a late 70's model Chevrolet pickup so it could pass an "emissions test". He also asked me, "You want THAT inspected?" when he saw the truck. When asked if he even wanted to look at it, he said, "No." That, and other stories have led me to believe he's just another gumbo who's trying to lighten people's wallets.

I can't stand certain people.

 

Didn't do anything to the truck today other than wash it, along with the rest of the cars outside. It sure looks a lot better after getting the mold off of it, a lot shinier too.

 

Can't do that here 6* when I got up, high of 23.
Hose is still frozen.

Not that I have a right to complain. The upper plains states are downright bone chilling.

 

it was 48* outside and I was in shorts and a t shirt, it felt warm! for the last week at least it has been very foggy and bone chilling cold, it was a nice chance for once.

 

Take it while you got it Matthew!

 

The truck I got the grill from has the wood on the doors, but the door panels are red and disintegrating. Mine are presentablr, have both the chrome and map pockets. I can probably get the wood free. I ones on the truck i got the dash from are very nice, but red and i would have to buy the whole door panel. So far I'm doing pretty good on the cheap.

 

If you get an extra set of good wood panels I'd buy them from you.

 

Let's see... 3/4 ton type 3 hubcaps, and wood panels, got it. I'm really trying to remember what you guys are looking for while I'm out and about. :-)
Edit: saw a truck in another jy had the chrome Explorer emblems I need, but he was closed.

 

Installed a Salt Spreader... No more hand salting...

I also discovered that even though I didn't use my plow last year, when they say flush the hydraulic fluid every year they mean flush the hydraulic fluid every year...

There was some moisture in it and with the 11° weather we've been having the plow no wanted to work... Had to sit there with a torch on it to thaw it out...

Oh and I finally got around to realigning the plow lights. For some reason the PO thought directly down, 5' in front of the truck was a good aiming point... It was fine when plowing but on the road I had to drop the blade down and use the main headlights.

 

Yesterday morning, -17* at 6 in the morning. This morning, -4*. Its warming up some!

 

More jy treasures. The steering wheel part cost me $10. And....
Wait for it....
My cruise works!!!
Maybe doesn't look brand new but a significant improvement, and I can't believe the cruise works now. I hoped it might fix it, but figured it would be too good to be true. The wood for the doors was free, from the burned f250, I had to clean off fire extinguisher powder. Ithink I can cheat on the silver pinstripes with some pinstripe tape. Very happy with what I got done today. Also have an install kit for the stereo, but ran out of time.

 

9wire - Congrat's! It is such a good feeling when everything falls into place and an easy fix for one thing fixes others.

 

Looks Great!

 

Found out I have what appears to be a leaky radiator today.

I noticed some steam coming up from the passenger side of the radiator this morning, not much but enough to notice. There's always the possibility that it's just a loose hose clamp, since I did reuse the old one when I replaced the upper radiator hose, but judging by the overall appearance of the radiator itself, it's probably about time for a replacement. It's green in lots of places.

 

Well today I got my new locks, locking lug nuts, and tail light all put on. I also cleaned my pickup out vacuumed the whole cab, and used New Start and really got all of the plastic clean. After all that I used my new drill with a wire brush attachment to grind down my frame and put some undercoating on. It was a beautiful day in Kansas, and a very productive day for me. Last but not least I went through some of the emission wiring and cut some of those out and some extra not needed wires.