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I was pulling up to a stop sign on the summit and the efi was doing efi things and it died. I went to start it and nothing. I had no power to the cab.
I tried jumping it by rolling it down the hill and letting the clutch out but nothing.
it seemed like I wasn’t getting power to the cab.
I went and checked the battery brain and it seemed like it was working. Just in case I unhooked it and when I did it seemed like the starter solenoid rod on the positive side spun some.
I hooked the battery to the solenoid and it got it to crank.
I think either the ignition switch is bad or the starter solenoid. I found some new old stock ones and ordered them.
the starter is original and at one point I was going to replace it at one point but didn’t. It definitely feels like it has some dead spots in it and with the solenoid being original as well it’s just hard to tell.
Before this mess I was tuning in my way home and found that my timing needed retarded and I did that. I need to recurve the distributor to bring the total timing back some.
Came across this thread looking for cab bushing recommendations. First off, nice work! This was a good read and I applaud your staying power. So many people get halfway through a project like this and lose interest or motivation.
I did the same searches you did for the cab bushings and it seems the Prothane versions are the only option if you want a quality bushing. After finishing your build, how do you find the ride quality? Any complaints?
Came across this thread looking for cab bushing recommendations. First off, nice work! This was a good read and I applaud your staying power. So many people get halfway through a project like this and lose interest or motivation.
I did the same searches you did for the cab bushings and it seems the Prothane versions are the only option if you want a quality bushing. After finishing your build, how do you find the ride quality? Any complaints?
hey thank you.
yea it was difficult. I definitely was loosing interest along the way and at times felt like not finishing. It was a much bigger and more expensive process than I anticipated but I don’t know why i thought that because I always go to the extreme with stuff haha.
Wheb it comes to ride quality im not sure I can tell any kind of ride quality difference as it has leaf springs front and rear and just rides like a buckboard wagon overall.
I will say that I had to cut the front cab mounts down considerably in order to get body alignment right.
I had to use a lot of shims as well.
I wish i would have taken my frame to a frame shop to have it checked for twist and get it fixed as it definitely has a twist in it from what I guess being stuck in the mud or snow and then having a chain wrapped to the front cross member and jerked on.
It was my first frame off. Can’t get everything right the first time.
I did some troubleshooting and found that the culprit for the loss of power to the cab was actually a bad power cable from the battery brain to the starter solenoid. I replaced it and problem solved. At least for now.
I decided I wanted a receiver hitch for the truck and went digging through the junkyard to try and find one.
This truck has a frame width of 34 inches so I was going to try and find one off of a cab and chassis truck or just get one off of a 80+ truck and cut it down.
I ended up looking under a late 70’s half ton Chevy truck that was in a stack of trucks and it happened to be the exact fit I needed.
I mocked it up, drilled some holes and slapped it on.
I don’t plan on doing any insane towing but it will be nice to have the receiver for a myriad of reasons.
yea it was difficult. I definitely was loosing interest along the way and at times felt like not finishing. It was a much bigger and more expensive process than I anticipated but I don’t know why i thought that because I always go to the extreme with stuff haha.
Wheb it comes to ride quality im not sure I can tell any kind of ride quality difference as it has leaf springs front and rear and just rides like a buckboard wagon overall.
I will say that I had to cut the front cab mounts down considerably in order to get body alignment right.
I had to use a lot of shims as well.
I wish i would have taken my frame to a frame shop to have it checked for twist and get it fixed as it definitely has a twist in it from what I guess being stuck in the mud or snow and then having a chain wrapped to the front cross member and jerked on.
It was my first frame off. Can’t get everything right the first time.
Interesting about your cab mounts. I'm getting my truck in the final stages of being done, and I had to use a lot of shims on the PS core support mount to get the front fender parallel with the cowl. That makes the bumper gap uneven from left to right. I think I could make the PS front cab mount thinner to bring the front down and remove some shims from the PS core support. Curious if that is the same process you went through? Would dropping the front PS lift the DS rear of the cab?
Thanks
To me it sounds like you have a twisted frame or a cab mound not placed correctly.
When I had the cab mounts on themselves the front of the cab was way too high so none of the body lines matched. In order to fix that I had to have inches of shims on the core support.
I couldn’t shim the back of the cab otherwise it would have been higher than the bed.
I shaved the front body mounts down to where I think they were roughly an inch. At that point the bed and tha cab matched as close as I could.
I then had to still shim the core support but it wasn’t as bad.
The driver side core support for mine had more shims than the opposite and I had to shim various other spots to make everything somewhat line up.
I tried to base the base the body lines off the bed since it went straight to the bed.
with everything as it was it’s all within a 1/16th or 1/8th of an inch.
I was a loon about it as I felt like it’s something I would always notice and be the first thing everyone else would as well.
Thanks,
Yes my cab does sit high in the back as well and I was thinking of shimming it up to meet the cab. The prothane bushings are just too think I'm guessing. Instead, I'm going to start shaving cab mounts like you did. Your truck looks nice. Did you fix the rear intake leak?
I dont think my frame is twisted, but the factory mounts did have shims on it.
I took a lot of time and was as patient as I could be when it came to shaving the bushings.
I fixed it once but not as of my last post. It is still seeping. I just got all the gaskets and stuff ordered in to do it. My shop is heated by wood and I think I’m going to wait till it’s warmer to do it.
I took the truck for a drive today. I didn’t get on it very much due to the weather but it pulled 5th gear much better and felt way more powerful and responsive.
I think with having the timing able to come
in earlier really helped.
So far initial impressions are good.
Im going to have to put traction bars on this thing.
Oh man... I'm about to rip into my front axle to do the same. Can't wait.....Both sides are leaking.
What drag link is that?
Its the adjustable one from Steerman cycle who is the company that made my electric power steering kit.
Not that you or anyone was asking but I found the best way to remove those old seals is with a mallet that fits in the hole. A normal seal remover does not work.
