Well I am starting a build thread to track my work done to the truck since I bought her.

Purchase $1250

The first real project was getting it road legal. Registered, reworked the brakes with new master cylinder, fresh shoes all around with new brake hardware, new brake cables, and replaced the brake cylinder in front left. New turn signal switch and brake pedal switch fixed the lights after all new bulbs. Texas Inspection.

Suspension - Fixing the "death rattle". New drag link and tie rod (inner and outer), new radius and axle bushings, new king pin. New shocks all around. Rides nice now.

New bearings real hubs, new seals at the axle.

Tune up - Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points and condenser. Thought the distributor was too worn out but it's fine. Oil change along with new air and fuel filters. Took all tires and had them checked for problems and balance. Front end alignment.

Cooling system first attempt. Truck was running hot, tried a radiator flush and new thermostat. Found that prior owner had no thermostat in. Installed a overflow tank and a new temperature sending unit. Also found that even after flush radiator looked plugged. Still running a bit hot.

Electrical. After inspection, fuse panel apparently started having issues. Fuse was good but panel too corroded to make good contacts. Had to pull the fuse panel and install generic fuse boxes from parts house. Installed a white vinyl tile behind it to mark what each fuse is until I can fashion a more permanent setup. Found prior owner has random leads that I cannot figure out purpose to. Marked them for later. Because of all the odd wires, all of my work is done with quick disconnects (the good weatherproof kind that can't touch and short) and heat shrink wire tubes, then I use the numbered wire markers and a log. Wired in trailer lights and installed trailer ball.

New lenses for taillights and one cracked park lamp (other was fine) and gaskets for new lenses.

Bench seat from salvage that was out of 75 Ranger. Has rips but 1000% better than what I had.

Siliconed the windshield. Door window driver side seal is real bad, water just runs down door and is starting to rust bottom. Also just noticed water that must be from heater core leaking on floorboard.

I keep failing when trying to get a rearview mirror to stick. It is my arch enemy.

Upcoming projects:
Exhaust Manifold gasket
Entire cooling system
Tranny/Steering Column/Carb repair (mechanic)
Window anti-rattle kits
Antenna install
Permanent fuse box setup
Glove box install
Heater core removal and inspection
Rust control/repair
Body repair
Bed repair
Replace rubber filler tank seal (body exterior to neck piece)
Clean undercarriage

 

One little tip, don't buy any rubber seals of any type from LMC there junk and will need replacing in a few yrs or they don't fit right. They are: you get what you pay for with them! . Mac's , NPD, DC better..my 2cents and many others..
orich

 

FYIs.. $0.02

Both radiator hoses should contain an anti-collapse spring.

I'd address the electrical ASAP. Do a stem to stern full systems check and unhack the PO's mystery wiring. It's the foundation for your systems so take it out of the equation.

Running hot - consider using a bottle or Redline Water Wetter, Royal Purple's Purple Ice, or a similar product and see what it does.

Rear view mirror - I tied (twice!) sticking the button to the windshield only to find the next day the mirror on the dash board. I ended up fabricating a plate with a drop arm to mount behind the center sun visor bracket. 'Tack-welded that stupid button to the drop arm. SOLVED.

Heater core - Ya might as well replace it since you'll be that deep into the project.

Clean out your door drains, cowl area, and the footwell vent "bowls". My 70 literally had four inches of mulch in there. Also pull the tar paper-like water shield behind each front wheel and wash out any trapped debris. It can cause the lower front fender to rust out.

 

I have pretty much cancelled my LMC order and bought From a Foed distributor Numberdummy recommended. I did get a reproduction anti rattle kit at another spot "Classic Automotive" I think. It is reproduction but I couldnt swing the $140 or so now, so in 4 years so be it I can afford to do it right then. Mechanical is first priority.

The wiring is a priority, but right now any loose lead is covered so no arc potential.

 

Well I finished the cooling system... For now. My salvaged shroud was off on fan placement vertically. I had the other measurements right, I would have cleared, I just assumed the vertical line was good... Oh well. I got a list of trucks that would have the correct shroud for my next round of scavenging.

I had bought a new radiator, but the damn thing didn't come with the right mounting bracket. I took the old junk one off the truck to a radiator shop to pull the bracket and attach it to my new radiator, and apparently I had a really nice high quality radiator totally within repair. Same cost for a bracket swap it was roddled out and cleaned. I wish I could have painted it but timing didn't allow. But I got to take the new one back and return, so wallet was happy. I saved enough to buy the temp relay switch for the electric pusher fan I installed, everything's running nice. Heater core totally bypassed for now.

Still haven't gotten to the exhaust bolt broken off... Probably need to wait until column is out for room to work.

yanked out the heater core, found another birds nest in the core, and yet another in the fender. All the air hoses were rotting away and falling apart, and the prior owner had some strange hack-job wiring setup going where he spliced the radio hot into the heater? Yeah it all came out. Radio sucked anyway, the speakers are water damaged and the antenna was broken off in the door. It also gives me room to work on the other wiring, and build a glove box (22ga sheet metal).

Also, now that we have had some rains the black primer paint job is running. Prior owner must have literally painted on top of a dirty surface to cover up.... Looks like I am going to have body work sooner than I wanted. Also located a couple more rust spots.

Oh and I am finally getting to where I hav the right tools to do the job. Really all we had when I bought the truck was a mini set of random crap tools in the apartment.

 

Pics or yer makin all this up!

 

That one was prolly a mouse's nest.

I found a bird nest behind my taillight housing... complete with old, uncracked eggs.

 

I have pics in my album I don't have ability to post in threads yet... BTW does anyone know how many posts you have to do until you can attach in thread?

It could very well be a rat/mouse nest... I found more acorns today hiding in a crevice by the carb....

 

Well my water pump install wasn't a complete success... I have a very slow leak from the mount on passenger side. The intake hose seemed to have one also, but might have got that one. I think that after running the truck a while the hoses all seemed to take some more tightening. I am bummed about the actual water pump leak though. It's slow enough it doesn't justify ripping it all apart considering how much of an ordeal it is to find somewhere to do it, but it bothers me.

Also, now that I have been driving the truck more it appears like I do have an oil pan leak. Slow but annoying. There was some residue of something under the fuel pump mounts, but I didn't get the smell of gas, so I am hoping that was just some other mess.

Basically all I got done today was put a generic antenna on so rain can't come in the empty antenna hole ( I couldn't get in there before the heater core was in the way), and put some black conduit on the wires going to the electric fan so it looks cleaner and more protected there in front of radiator.

I am thinking of trying to do my steering column repair myself, but I am nervous since it is column shift and I can't find any repair manuals. I am going to search the threads for info about that. If I can do it myself I have more cash for these other things on the list.

 

I pulled the door panels to do the anti rattle kit and rain has threatened so I cancelled, I didn't want to have to rush to dry her up.

I installed a small tach to measure my RPMs at the speeds posted (30, 45, 55, 65,and 75). It seems to be running a bit fast to turn highway speeds. I want to measure it so I can make a more informed decision about rear end gear ratios when I go into the ring and pinion. I actually don't know what my gear ratio is. The door panel was blank?

Other than that, I cleaned up some electrical and that is about it. I started to cut some of the rust out of the hood on the lower lip, the part that isn't seen when it's closed. I ate through the Dremel cutting disks pretty fast... I am going to practice the angle grinder in the bed before I work in more visible areas.

That's about it for now.

 

Some guys use a GPS for checking speeds when speedometer not working correct..
orich

 

Well my speedometer is about 5-6 mph off, but I am actually talking about the engine sounding like it's working a bit too hard to push the truck at highway speeds. Since I may have rear end work in the near future anyway, I was asked by the mechanic at the performance shop if I wanted to change out my gear ratio. IF I do I want to make sure I don't totally rob the low end power for highway driving. I don't do a lot of heavy stuff but I don't want to be afraid that it couldn't pull a bass boat out of the lake either. So I got the tach to basically see if I really am getting a lot of RPMs on highway or if the old truck just sounds louder than I am realizing.

Pics are going up in the album.

 

All I got done was some minor wire lead tracking... I am starting to weigh what it would be worth to just gut it all and start over... On the up side I did confirm with my test light the truck did, at some point, have a windshield washer pump, and the switch and power to the pigtail still works! To the junkyard I will be going. That will be a "make it work" special, I cannot do the almost $100 for new parts on a luxury like window washers just yet. Mainly I want to do it so I can have another success under my belt in a series of frustrations tracing electrical issues.

BTW if anyone can link to the electrical diagrams my searches are not pulling up the right pages now that I really need them...

 

I was able to post pics by uploading them to Photobucket then pasting the info in the "direct Link" box in the box that pops up when you click the "image" button.

Old trucks/cars/bike can be frustrating but can't beat the satisfaction of forward progress.

 

Well my truck is turning 2600 RPMs at 65, about 2750 at 75. 75 is the fastest posted speed in Texas so that is fastest I really care about. I am curious where "redline" should be on a 360... The door panel said the HP rating was at 3800 RPM if I understood it right.

I have been trying to decipher the numbers from the truck. Pretty sure I have a 3.25 rear end gear. Apparently the truck was a special order (code 71) and they didn't quite line up the numbers in the VIN plate so it looked like numbers were missing at first... Photo of the VIN Plate in album for anyone who could help on that. Also photo of the differential tag and numbers stamped on block. Other than probable gear ratio I don't know anything about rear end like make, and the numbers on block are "48" and "352". I really don't have a clue what this means.

I bought parts for column bearings repair, I just wish I had a good how-to since its a columnshift, I am nervous about the linkage.