Took the truck out to drive around today, went just fine. And bought a proper air cleaner! So now my engine looks normal.

I paid more attention to the transmission today- so when it's cold, it shifts fine. When it warms up, the 1-2 shift is OK, but the 2-3 shift slips every time. Doesn't fall out of gear or anything like that and fluid level is perfect, so I guess I'll start troubleshooting from there. Don't know much about transmissions or where to start really, but that'll be the next concern to look in to.



no more Edelbrock Triangle of Death

 

Your new air filter 'looks more like it'.

If you shorten the stud, it will not only look neater, it will gain you an extra 25 horsepower.

I'll assume your transmission is a C6, but I've attached a diagram for you to verify for yourself.

A cruise-o-matic usually refers to an earlier type of transmission.

With regard to the slippage when the oil is hot, I'll 'assume' for now that the C6 simply needs a service, which would entail 'band adjustment' and a new filter.

An oil change, inclusive of the TC, wouldn't hurt either, and would give you a starting point with regard to future services.

If you don't have a C6 manual, see if you can google how to do that (and/or search here in FTE).

You could consider installing a 'shift kit'. https://www.summitracing.com/search?...%20shift%20kit

If the oil pan has no drain plug, you could consider fitting one, which would make future servicing a lot easier. (Picture attached.)

Or you could consider an ally after market pan, which might have a magnetic drain plug, and might be finned. https://www.summitracing.com/int/sea...tOrder=Default

 

So I did my very first "real job" with the truck the other day! With COVID shutting down most of the donation centers we had a TON of donations that piled up in the house, to where I literally needed to fill the entire bed with stuff. Of course I didn't take a picture...you'll just have to take my word for it. Drive went flawless, loaded up the truck, the redneck tailgate worked fine, and drive was uneventful. It still has that 2-3 slip, but it drives fine otherwise.

I also took it through the drive through at McDonalds...I have a 460 with a glasspack and none of the original emissions equipment...I realized my truck is SUPER loud lol.

Drove it back up to my inlaws, next task is to service the transmission, and I'm going to rebuild the carburetor because I'm sure it's not set up right. Might be sitting for a while though as I save up some money.

I did do the door lock cylinders, so now I can lock the doors, and also took a look at some of the sketchy wiring under the dash. So there have always been some wires hanging down, including two bare wires that looked like they should be twisted together. So I figured why not, twisted them together to see what they did. I thought nothing at first, but as you can see from the picture, there was a blue LED strip under the hood. These POs I tell you...traced the very small gauge wires to figure out they were wired directly to the battery with no fuse lol. Accidentally touched the bare metal and made a pretty good burn mark! Ripped those out pretty quick...nothing like a fire hazard of wiring to make you roll your eyes. Looks like the radiator fans are wired pretty sketchy as well...I'll have to do some electrical work and get everything straightened out one day.

Hard to believe I've made it this far with the truck- a few months ago it had bald tires, no power steering, random problems I'd discover every time I tried to fix something, and a lot of anxiety around whether I just bought a money pit. Now I can actually use it for "truck stuff", and my wife is excited to try painting it to make it look great too! Future's looking bright for the ol' girl.



Wired directly to the battery, no fuse. Yay fire hazard!

 

Be sure to adjust the bands on the transmission when you service it, and put the right fluid in it.

Correct fluid makes a difference on a C6, at least on the ones I had back in the day.

 

That's such a cool feeling! I've got my truck registered on old plates too, it's a neat thing that the state is cool with for classic/antique vehicles. Mine have an original '85 registration sticker and were in really great shape.

I've got some work to get my truck fully ready to do truck stuff but having another kiddo has put these plans on the backburner. I actually have two OEM tailgates that are both in horrible shape - the original that's dented to hell and a midnight blue from a custom trim that's rusted to hell...not sure which is better!

 

Just a quick update- truck projects are on hold for a little while as I'm paying off some big bills, but I still drive it around occasionally. Also, the wife got to drive the truck for the first time! The story behind this is her dad was mowing the lawn and she wanted to drive the mower, he said no. I told her she could drive the truck around the yard, so we got these priceless pics as she snuck up behind him...

 

LOL.....

Great pics!!