Sw1tchfoot - Sounds all too familiar. And it isn't summer yet! Hope you don't wind up having the problem I have - head gasket/head/block leak. Gotta do some serious work soon.

In fact, all I'm using my truck for right now is to figure out which fastener goes where under the hood. As discussed in another thread, I'm trying to document where things go, and having two trucks is helping. Hopefully at least one of them is representative.

Dad's been staying w/us for 2 weeks and it is hard to get anything done while he's here. But, he's gotten quite a bit better and is going home on Thursday, although he doesn't yet know he's not going to drive again. Anyway, maybe I can get something done next week. Gotta get the parts truck out and the Explorer into the shop - it's HOT out there!

 

Yeah, hopefully I don't suffer from those problems. If I ever have to pull the engine out; it probably won't be going back in; it will get an IDI or Cummins. I would buy a project car to put the 302 in.

I would hate to see the 302 go to waste but it sucks down gas. I recorded 12-13mpg. However that included some cold starts. In one shot it ought to get 14-15.

 

Well, I did some work last night. It's too hot to work on my truck during the day, so I wait until the sun goes down and the temps get under 90.

I pulled the seat out and ripped up the carpet. The cab corners have been rotten for some time, and I was expecting the floors to be just as bad so I figured it was time to see for myself. It turns out the floors are great, but the rockers are rusty at the lip that the weatherstrip sits under the door sills. I scuffed everything down vacuumed up the dirt and put some "Restore" rust converter on any rusty areas. This will slow down the rust until I can get enough time to repair it. When I fix it all I'll do a spray in bedliner on the floor, followed up by either new rubber floor or new carpet.

I also fixed the seat springs on the drivers side. The support band snapped in 2 places and 2 of the springs fell loose. I made some tube clamps to repair the band and got the springs and tensioners back on. Feels like a different seat now. This is temporary since I plan to put a mid 90's split bench/console in it.

Oh yeah, I found the "D" letter for the tailgate that I had been missing. It's been cleaned up and reinstalled with some Liquid Nails since the tabs broke.

 

Took the time to hear the motor in my '80 F-350 run. I bought it non-running... brought along some gas, fuel line, and tools. She ended up having a bad fuel pump. Gravity fed the carb with a soda bottle and some fuel line to hear her run. Truck was last tagged in '06, so who knows when the last time it ran was. But hey, she lives...

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Oh and sorry for the low quality, my cell is only good for video in a pinch.

 

Last night I got the driver side radius arm bushing installed on dad's truck. The old one was completely gone, prolly due to the power steering leak having soaked the rubber.
Pretty simple task, since the frame was already on a stand. Just remove the tire, unbolt the bottom of the shock, and remove the nut on the radius arm. Lower jack until the spring is clear of the upper seat, and push the I-beam forward until the radius arm clears the frame bracket. Slip on the front bushing, and reverse the process, adding the rear half of the bushing before putting the washer and nut on, torquing to spec.
I'll get to the other side once the frame is done, and the steering box has been resealed and bolted back into place. For safety reasons, I only have the driver side tire off while working in this area, with a jackstand under the frame behind the radius arm, another located under the front of the frame, along with a jack positioned under the I-beam. The weight of the driver front corner is spread over those 3 points, and the other 3 wheels are still supporting the rest of the truck. When finished for the day, the LF tire goes back on, just in case the two 3 ton stands happen to fail...... I'm not taking any chances on this truck.

BTW, I do have an ongoing thread in the 73-79 section. I just add updates here since this is where I have spent most of my time since joining, so most of the longer term members of this section are "freinds".

 

dohc - Was that birds chirping or belts/pulleys? And, down low, I heard what I think was an engine w/o rods, pistons, or lifters rattling. Yeah! What's next?

 

The belts were squeaking and the truck has an exhaust leak at the manifold flange. Everything sounds loud echoing off of the inside of the building (the truck is wedged between a cinder block wall and my friends '71 tow truck/paper weight). The motor overall seems to run pretty good with only a slight bobble at idle. Holds great oil pressure and got it up to temp with no other issues.

Next step is the body is getting pillaged for any good parts and the rest is getting pulled and scrapped. If the frame looks good, it's getting cleaned, painted, and my '81 F-150 is going on it. Either way, the motor is getting pulled, torn apart, clearances checked, re-gasketed, and whatever needs replacing, replaced. I need to fix a blown brake line (which blew in the middle of loading it on the trailer... fun stuff, nearly ran over the guy I bought it from) and get a fuel pump on it so I can see how everything works on the road.

The 460 is out of a '76 car... not the greatest year, but hoping to pep it up with an earlier timing chain setup and some ign work. I'll be keeping my eyes open for some earlier vintage 460 heads as well with all the swap meets this summer. I'm not looking to make a beast of a motor, but I want it to work well towing my junk around. This truck is being built solely to replace my Chevy K2500 I've grown tired of throwing money at... i know, i know

 

Last night I was the last of several nights of work on the truck. When I brought her home a year ago, I had to limp her across town to get home. The engine stumbled and shook, and never wanted to restart, the bed and cab were FULL of trash, it squeaked and squealed, it smelled, and even though I only paid $500 for it, my wife was sure I had gotten the raw end of that deal. I bought the truck strictly to go to the dump, pick up the occasional load of mulch, and generally haul crap from here to there as needed. It was fine for those tasks except that it was generally unpleasant to drive, a pain to start, got horrible mileage, and if it got over 50 MPH, I was sure it was going to either explode or shake itself apart.

A while ago, my wife's van required a couple of days in the shop, and I was forced to drive the truck to work while she drove my car. After 2 days of that, I decided it was time to either improve the driveability, or sell the truck for something slightly more livable.

In the past month or so, I have rebuilt the carb, replaced the vac lines, replaced the fuel pump and filter, replaced the plugs, wires, cap, rotor and coil, Seafoamed the engine and crankcase, replaced the PCV valve, replaced the starter, replaced the alternator, refilled the A/C, replaced the belts, flushed the coolant, replaced the front brake pads, replaced front and rear shocks, replaced both U-joints, removed the cat full of broken up catalyst, patched 2 exhaust leaks, tightened down the manifolds, replaced the valve cover gasket, installed a choke tube, installed an intake pre-heater tube, got the tires balanced, secured the drivers side door panel, installed new door strikers, adjusted the timing, idle and mixture, replaced a truly filthy air filter, replaced a faulty thermostat, and installed a cluster with a tach.

The engine now runs smoothly, I have no problem doing 65 on the interstate, most of the squeaks and rattles are gone, the ride is a lot better, and the truck is generally pretty pleasant to drive. After I replace the sending unit, I wouldn't hesitate to use it as a daily driver. In fact, I drove it to work today to celebrate

Now, If I could just do something about the cosmetic issues!

 

I'll bet if you replaced the bushings it would ride even better than a new one.

 

They do "clunk" every once in a while. It's on the list, but not a priority.

 

I know, mine did too and they weren't a priority either. I just replaced them last year with some poly ones that I had bought previously. It wasn't nearly as difficult to replace them as I had thought. And, it made the truck ride better than it did when it was new. I truly wish I had done it years ago.

 

Broke something in the front end of the '84. Still need to investigate...

This is getting awfully tempting...

 

Stopped by my father in laws yesterday, he had the door jambs Painted and cleared! Should be pulling the truck out of the garage saturday and painting / clearing the backs of the doors and the underside of the hood.

 

Got the whole truck wet sanded today, getting ready for sealer coat.

Will be painting the underside of the hood and backs of the doors tomorrow.

 

If it's not one thing it's another. I finally go it running beautifully just last week. Went to pull it up in the yard to load some brush to haul to the dump, and the stupid throttle cable broke. $40 fix, I can live with that