June 26th, 2009

My time in South Florida has ended! I am now back in the Sanford area full time! I now have plenty of time, in between looking for a job, to play my favorite truck-related game- Just How Bad Is It, Anyway?

Okay, so it was Friday afternoon, my girlfriend was going to be tied up several hours in the evening, and I'd had enough housecleaning to last me a while. So I decided to go after my truck with my wire brush.

I started on the passenger side door. Yes, that disgusting orange thing off the parts truck that was partially spraypainted a distant blue with wirewheel marks on the window. The surface featured, among the traditional surface rust, this amazing textured paint job. It appears that someone in that trucks past had applied a paint incompatible to what was already there, or simply decided that sanding was unnecessary before painting. If the surface already looked like that, then I guess I can see where anything would have been an improvement, sanding or no.

I started just behind the window and brushed down a small spot, then moved below the window to some particularly grievous looking surface rust. And so, "Just How Bad Was It?" Surprisingly, not bad. I was actually able to expose bare metal easily enough, and the offending mostly orange paint gave way to smooth steel underneath. Even the surface rust had only minimally pitted the surface.

Encouraged by these results, I covered up the bare metal I had uncovered with sanding primer to protect it from rusting, and moved on to the rear corner of the hood on the passenger side. There were some rust holes visible and the surface was bubbling, a classic indication of a poorly done repair job. After some liberal application of the wire wheel, I uncovered the ugly truth. So, "How bad was it, Anyway?" The original rust hole had formed where two pieces of metal joined and were spot welded. This created a water trap, and both pieces rusted through. Our would-be restorer (recall that this hood came from a different parts truck) filled up the holes with fiberglass and smoothed it over. After some time, no less than ten years, rust started bubbling up the paint and glass and it became obvious that a better repair job was in order. I also covered this up with sanding primer and left it for later, when I really start in on the hood and weld in some new metal.

Quit while I'm ahead? Never! I moved onto another spot, this one on top of the hood on the drivers side. Now this one looked easy. It looks like a dent had been repaired at one time, but the fiberglass had bubbled and popped away from the center, leaving a hole about 6" long and 3" wide, revealing the metal underneath, which featured some surface rust. No problem, right? Simply remove the fiberglass back to metal, remove the rust, and bang out the dent. "Just How Bad Was It?" Well, getting back to the norm, the answer with this spot was the usual "worse than I thought." I chipped back some of the Bondo with a screwdriver and started attacking the rest with the wire wheel. As it turned out, it was more than a simple dent- it was a scratch that ran almost the whole length of the hood. The cracked out part was just the deepest part. I took out the Bondo forward of there I started and some backward. I removed as much surface rust as I could with the wire wheel (which was starting to look pretty sad at this point) and treated the area with this rust converter stuff. Available at many auto parts stores, this his chemical converts iron oxide to "iron chromo-phosphate" and leaves a sealed surface. I'll get back with you on how it works. I covered this too with primer to ward off rust and that was a day.

April 26th, 2009

Looks like I haven't mentioned in any of my posts that earlier this year, I took a weekend and pulled out the old sheet aluminum that some of us had installed on the floor ten years or so ago, when the truck was in operation. It was the remains of an old sign, cut up, banged into rough shape, and affixed over the worst areas of the floor with screws and pop-rivets. Hundreds of pop-rivets. At any rate, I took it all out, mostly with an angle grinder, to assess the damage. Have a look.





Left- This was taken looking in the passenger side window. Yes, that's daylight. Looks like the bottom of the door post is gone, as well as the top of the rocker panel. Well, I guess because it is.

Below- This is between the drivers side seat and the door. The seat mounts are further inboard, resting on more solid metal.

....Mostly.

 

Before I installed the aluminum, people were actually afraid to ride in my truck, for some reason. The plan is to get a MIG welder (since the fine Craftsman stick welder my roommate scavenged from his dad's garage tends to blow holes in thinner metals) and buy some replacement floorboards from my LMC Truck catalog. This is an excellent source of parts (I have used them before). Plus, the exploded diagrams have offered a few clues as to how the truck was put together, though it's no substitute for a real factory or shop manual. I intend to get one, they tend to run around $30 online.

March 1, 2009

March 1, 2009

Well, as birthdays go, this was a memorable one. I drove over to my parents house in Citrus County with my girlfriend to spend the weekend there. I was excited that she had agreed to come with us to the Webster Auto Swap, which was being held that Sunday. My roommate, who rarely gets to come to one of these events, drove over and met us Sunday morning, and after breakfast we piled into his big red Silverado and headed toward Webster. The forcast was that there was to be a cold front passing through the area that morning, and wouldn't you know it, the forecasters were right. We got there in the middle of it. The rain wasn't really that bad- we had been provided warm clothes and umbrellas by my parents- it was the stiff and gusty wind that drove the rain into our allegedly waterproof jackets that made the cold. They still charged us admission. The show itself was in the pasture north of its usual location, due to the concurrent Sumter County Fair. It was also half the size of the Winter Extravaganza two weeks prior, or at least it would have been had the weather not been driving off all but the most hard-core of vendors. The three of us walked around the show, looking at the stuff that vendors had not packed away or thrown tarps over, usually not lingering too long at any one spot. We did stop at a hot dog stand under a canopy for a few minutes, though. I knocked on a few windows and walked into a few trailers to ask some questions, but I didn't find any truck or Camaro parts. I figured, though, that if these guys were committed enough to be out there in that infernal cold, I would at least look at what they had to offer. Toward the end of our time there, it had pretty much stopped raining, but the wind was still howling at a good clip. By that point, however my girlfriend decided that she's rather wait in the Silverado out of the weather. And, as she has little interest in old car parts, I don't blame her.

February 14, 2009

Why do so many things have to happen on the same weekend? My roommate had plans, I had plans, it just happened to be valentines day, but most importantly (for the subject matter in this blog) it was the same weekend as the Webster Auto Swap Winter Extravaganza! I found this guy, Darren, from Texas on craigslist who specializes in 60-66 Chevy trucks and Suburbans. He makes trips to Florida and different areas of the southeast for events like the auto swap. I can provide contact information if anyone wants it, just leave a comment requesting it.

Friday I left from south of Miami, stopped in Orlando for dinner with the girlfriend, and on to Citrus County to my parents house, a convenient 30 miles from Webster (if you know the back way). My dad and I headed for the swap meet the next morning after an early breakfast. Now, the auto swap is held monthly, but this being their special event, it was twice the size it normally is. For those of you unfamiliar with this show, its like a big flea market with an auto theme and a car show. Hundreds of people from all over the southeast (and Texas, like Darren) set up tables or benches in this big field, or many sell stuff right off their trailers. Car parts, model cars, whole cars, mostly classics set up in an almost orderly fashion as far as the eye can see. They have a smattering of vendors that sell things that aren't even car related, which I have always found to be frustrating. I'm there to look for parts and accessories, not rugs or toys or wood carvings.

My dad and I walked around for probably over an hour, with my dad having to stop to rest a few times. By the time I found Darren, we had walked almost the whole place, and dad was out of steam. So he left. I bought the bedside panels and fenders that he brought with him. In the process of walking back across the fairgrounds to the ATM, I wound up finding other parts for sale. The long and short of it is that I left there with two sets of rear fenders, two sides of the box that makes up the bed, a tailgate, a rear bumper, and a seat. Sure, I spent more than I planned on, but I can use the best parts and sell the ones I don't use and get my money back. Plus, I can sell the fenders that are currently on the truck (a different shape, since they're off a '68) and get a little back for them, too.

All in all, it was a good trip. I drove back to my house with the back of my Taco piled high with parts, unloaded the truck, and still had time for a shower and a lovely evening with my girlfriend. Best Valentines Day ever.

Post Written on 4/15/09

A Week of Vacation

August 30 - September 6, 2008



It's pretty sad, to me anyway, that I have to take a week of vacation time to spend a week at my own house. But that's what I did, so thats how I got here. The previous post (September 2) takes place during this period.

This video was taken hours before the "big" USF @ UCF game on September 6th. For some reason, I decided that the most fun time to roll my truck out of the garage would be when all my friends were at the house. By the time this video was taken, I had replaced the last remaining brake lines, installed the new master cylinder, filled and bled the lines and popped the new drums on. And, as you can see, I'm sporting four brand new tires. For the first time since I've owned the truck, I have four matching tires and four working brakes!

The remaining brake lines went on without too much hassle, except the last tee I went to install turned out to be stripped out on one side. A quick trip to the auto parts store remedied that, but set me back an hour. I hadn't bothered to install the anti rattle clips yet (and as of this writing, still haven't gotten around to it yet). Since then, a failed attempt to adjust the parking brake cable tension has led me to believe that the cables are seized in their sheathes at the back wheels. Other than those two items, the brakes are done!

I had some interesting comments during the event. Mostly in response to the noise. My girlfriend said, "I'm NOT riding with you in THAT."

...so, with the brakes out of the way, now what?

September 2, 2008

Well, the truck is proving to be a worthy adversary. I'm still working on it on the weekends, but I'm spending much less time on it than I could be, due to a voluntary rearrangement of priorities that are outside the scope of this blog. At any rate, Tropical Storm Fay gave me a good reason to hurry up and finish the shed. We got it together and loaded up with truck parts and lawn tools just in time for it not to get blown away. You know, by several inches of rain.

The storm gave me another day at home, so I cleaned out all the junk in the bed of the truck. This allowed me to weigh down the shed (and the trash can) with truck parts. I threw away years of trash, and looked at half of it and wondered why I had kept it so long. Of note, there was the rubber floor mat that I had taken from the parts truck nigh a decade ago, which due to improper storage had torn and broken and was no longer worth saving.

In addition to that, most of the weekend work has involved trying to pull that anchor pin out so I can finish that front right wheel, and working on running the new lines. The lines have been going in fairly well, though I think I may have gotten some air in the brake system. (That's a joke.) Mike and I have been cutting and flaring brake lines, and the back lines are done, as well as the long line leading to the back of the truck. Shockingly enough, today I was able to buy some clips to hold the lines in place at AutoZone. The real reason I was at the store, though, was to trade in the third breaker bar the truck claimed while we were trying the anchor pin again. They were out of stock of the 18" ones, so I traded it in towards a 24" one. This one looks pretty stout.

I came home and decided to re-evaluate my strategy. Obviously no mere breaker bar is going to break this one. I removed the anchor pin on the drivers side and examined it. I re-checked the cylinder to see if there was any way to rebuild it in place. The plan that came up with was one involving, brute force, cutting, and breaking. As usual. I decided to try to remove the old cylinder by breaking the loop off that was being held in by the anchor pin. This would accomplish three things- first, I'd be able to put the socket farther onto the bolt in my attempt to break it loose. Second, it would give me better access to the bolt threads, for direct application of lubricant. Third, and possibly most importantly, it would reduce the pressure on the bolt itself, which could make it easier to loosen.

I drilled into the loop from either side, them proceeded to hit the cylinder with a hammer until it broke off. Unfortunately, it didn't break where I had drilled, rather at the bottom of the loop. So the rest was driven out by drilling another hole at the top, and much beating with a hammer and chisel. As it turns out, this was what it took. The anchor pin has been removed (it came out rather easily), and now the brake can be rebuilt.

Oh, by the way, I missed my August 31st goal of having the brakes done, but I'm on vacation this week, so I expect to be finished before I have to go back to work.

Mid Week Update

I really got to thinking about it last night, and maybe getting the shed was a little premature. I mean, the plan was to get brakes and wheels on the truck, and then start worrying about the body. The opportune time to work on mechanical systems (engine, suspension, etc) is when the body is removed. So, the shed wouldn't be really necessary until I get brakes and wheels on (goal: by the end of August.) So maybe I was a few weeks early. It might set my goal back a bit. But now, what's done is done, and I've got to finish the shed and get it out of the garage!

I've also bid on a gas tank on ebay. It might not work, as it's for a '72, but it looks as though it could be modified to fit. I figure it's worth a shot, for the price, and if not, I can get my money back out of it and the Sumter Auto Swap.

I've had some title issues. I have a "salvage-rebuildable" title, but to register it, I need a "Rebuilt" title. To do this, I need to get the truck inspected, show before and after pictures, pictures of the accident, and show receipts for all major components I have replaced. This last one is difficult, since the body panels came off the 2nd parts truck, and of course we got rid of that 9 years ago. I did, recently, find the title for the parts truck, so I think I can use that. Now, just for fun, do I put the truck in bare minimum legal condition, get it inspected and back on the road, or actually keep it in the garage and finish?

Oh, be sure to check out the Facebook albums I've linked this page to, over on the right side of the page.