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Buck the Truck '78 Revival

8K views 64 replies 7 participants last post by  newageroman 
#1 ·
More of a repair thread for now, but showing a little potential. My grandad's name was Buck.
It's a 78, with racetrack trim blue and grey, blue and black and white interior. 351, 4spd, np205, mostly original from what I can tell. Has been sitting in garage for a few years and got some funds earmarked from old uncle sam's loan(tax money).

Main culprit was leaky oil pan, low oil pressure. I thought it had a f'ed up oil pump. Tested that a couple weeks ago and was good, held good oil pressure so the revival continues. I'm just kicking myself now for waiting so long...

To avoid tank/fuel line issues, Ive been running a 2 gallon tank off the front bumper. Works well enough for test driving down the street. When I did run low on gas, it would sputter and BIG backfire through the carb. That blew the power valve and started the flooding. I've dealt with this in the past and had enough. I got a PV plug and put it in temporarily. I have to feather the throttle and be real gentle through it to the mains. After I get my fuel tank and lines worked out/tested out good, I'll put a new PV in.

Current issues:
  • drain plug leaks oil - Changed the oil and the drainplug still leaks and is stripped out fairly bad(not by me). I'm already using a nylon washer and oversized plug and still drips.
  • exhaust manifold leaks on passenger side - May be the collector, I dunno... I do know that those bolts are really old and rusty and I ain't touching them except with a can of PB blaster morning and night.
  • Throw out bearing squeals like a cameo in deliverance (I am really close to the TN boarder, but yeah its the clutch)
  • Drivers side floorpans rusted - have replacement pan, dont have welder

Since it was running off the bumper gas tank so well, I figured try to get the stock tank up and going in order to drive it to the shop to fix some other issues. Yesterday I put 5 gals in it and then about drained my battery with the stock lines hooked up and never got fuel. Today I tried siphoning off the front fuel line that goes to the fuel pump with one of those bulb syphons. Nothing... I hate to admit it, but I made sure no one was looking and sucked like a 10$ job and still nothing. OK.... traced the fuel line to the rear tank, tried siphoning off that lead and same thing, nothing. I was about ready to give up on it, but then got the air compressor, removed the fill cap and sprayed air into the tank line. Heard bubbles. OK, tried siphoning with the bulb and whallah Fuel from the tank! Hooked that line back up and then siphoned some from the front line as well. There were some rust flakes in the fuel, I drained it into a gas tank until I didn't see any more bad stuff and then hooked up the fuel pump. A few cranks over and he runs. Rode to the local station and put in 10 gallons and the fuel gauge didn't move. Actually it moved from past E to just on E, but I think it should show more full than E. I'll fix that down the road.

So... now I'm to the point of getting it to the local shop ~15 miles away and getting some long tube fender wells, new exhaust and oil pan on it. This truck will mostly be a fun weekend cruizer, with occasional trail/mud/hunting. I'm leaning toward fender well exits because its cheap and easy and will provide room/clearance to get at the drivetrain in the future ( did I mention the squealing throw out bearing). While at the shop, I'm also considering putting on a good oil pan, as I don't want this thing leaking oil like it has been. Somebody mentioned a helicoil for the drainplug, but I'm not sold on that idea.

Next ups are planned to be:
3G alternator - I already have a good one I snagged from the yard years ago - yes procrastinational hoarding pays off.
dual electirc fans - flexite most likely or something similar
4bbl intake
then EFI holly sniper and poly fuel tank

Anybody have experience/suggestions on fenderwells or oil pans, please chime in. I'm fairly noob at those. I am planning on getting an O2 bung welded in they system in prep for EFI. are o2 bungs universal as far as size/threads? I'm skipping the coating, and going to have them dump out before the rear tire.

Here's a few pics of the truck in its best days and a driveshaft I redid when I was bored, years ago (before marriage...)
Ohh, Also heres a pic of the fornt axle swap me and dad did after the jade greeen 78 got smashed by a white oak during tornado - now parts truck, but its about 100 miles away and full of snakes and wasps and rats...
Last one is my last day at crappy job in Montgomery..

Looking forward to banging the old 4 speed again! I'm always amazed at the stuff I see on here, it's quite inspiring I'm gonna steal a bun of your cheap fix ideas so beware.
 

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#2 ·
Ran it on the highway and has some carb issues (mid range throttle and WOT) in 3rd and 4th. It's good enough to get to the local shop to get headers done, so IDC. Will just prompt me to get EFI conversion done sooner.

I did break the gas tank strap bolts loose using a borrowed impact gun and a 3gal compressor - that was more of a chore than I thought. I'm going to replace the rusty bolts for now with new grade 8 so they will be easier to remove for the new poly tank and EFI pickup (soonish).

Talked to local shop to schedule removing the old manifolds and get the new exhaust installed. Scheduled shop time a couple weeks from now. Until then it will be a little general cleaning and trying to get the 3G alternator in (in preparation for dual elec fans).

Found potential good used 4bbl dual plane intake for $140.
 
#4 ·
Replaced the old tank strap bolts with new ones in prep for poly tank/EFI. Well when I dropped just one end of one strap the forward drivers side, the strap separated from the tank and slow fuel leak started to form. Great, more motivation... It was a pain mostly because the PO has installed a towbar and holding a wrench on the top of the old bolts while impacting from the underside was not easy. I ended up using a wood dowel shoved into a hole on the underside of the body to keep the top end wrench from spinning.

Looking at the old straps vs the newer ones on JBG, the older ones look much beefier. I am now thinking I will blast them and repaint/reuse them.

Took my scrap alternator to the Auto parts store and they confirmed it was still good. I was missing some connectors, but got them today, so there is a slight possibility of the 3G going in this weekend. If that happens the dual fans will be ordered/installed stat.

Was going to adjust my drum brakes, but I have lost my old bottle jack. Time to go to a CVS, find a dirt rag, rip the HF 20% coupon out and head to Chinese wonderland...

BONUS: rear window still works with the key on the rear panel. I don't think it works from the switch though. Good to know that won't be a total overhaul.
 
#5 ·
halfway through the 3G alt install. Need longer mounting bolt for the bottom ear and a spacer washer under the pulley. the Vbelt pulley was a pain to get off and is still stuck on there. Luckily I snagged another alternator off the old parts bronco a while back and that one came off lickety split in spite of it being much more rusty looking.

Was looking at the wiring side and of course the local shop didn't have the mega fuse holder and some other stuff I needed. returned home dejected. started cleaning up the garage and went through all my old parts. and found the fuse holder, fuse, 4ga. power wire and bunch of other stuff I forgot I had. Hoping to finish today, we will see.

Also found some green rear armrest and an ashtray that I wont need (scavanged off the old parts truck years ago). I'm hoping the spicer joing caps will smooth out enough to be a good spare.

Talked to my dad and he said he has a spare 94 taurus fan so might see about using that.

Lastly found some inspiring items while cleaning the cab and looking for parts. I never can seem to care/remember to comb my hair even today...
 

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#6 ·
Finished the 3G install - I have a few questions that I posted in this 3G alternator thread: https://www.fullsizebronco.com/foru...ator-facts-its-wins-agian-19.html#post7195248

Mainly, the voltage seems a little low, is this normal? I didn't have a before test run/voltage numbers.

The 175AMP fuse will be switched to a 150 - local only had 175.

So glad to be gone with that voltage regulator mess on the firewall, this is so much cleaner, less rats nest...
Best lesson for today - I friggin love how 3 layers of heat shrink tubing hides bubba'ed up solder joints...

Assuming this setup is GTG I'm off to research Taurus fans and flexlite dual fan kits.
 

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#7 ·
Had some problems running a little hot, so checked the radiator today. Coolant that was in there looked nice and green, no sludge or flakes. Put a water hose down the top and seemed to flow well, no issues. Going to try a 180 thermostat tomorrow. Got a used 4 bbl intake on the way for decent price. Sprayed more pb blaster on the exhaust bolts in prep for the shop to remove those.
 
#8 ·
Tested the water pump today and that is GTG so I went ahead and tried installing a 180 deg. thermostat. It was a comedy show. I cleaned the housing really good, new gasket and thought I sealed it up good.

Filled the radiator with coolant and distilled water to the top, started the truck. Idled for about 15 mins, up to 190. I was looking for the thermostat to open up and gulp some coolant down, but that never did happen. I think it may have been because the engine already had coolant in the block (I remember seeing coolant when changing the themostat). Oh well, must be good, off for a test drive...

Usual loop around the neighborhood, temp stayed about 190/200 ish. Went to the local gas station for celebratory beers. My good times celebration ended when I opened the door on the way out of the gas station to see a green puddle under the truck. Crap, just get home... nope, was hot around 210 and wouldn't start. Had to let him sit for about 10 mins just to get started. Got home and decided to save the beers for when the problem is actually resolved.

When removing the old thermostat, I noticed there was a gasket as well as gasket sealer. I didn't use gasket sealer, I guess I should have. Live and learn. Is it normal procedure to use gasket AND gasket sealer on a thermostat housing? I torqued the bolts pretty tight, but not overly tight.
 
#9 ·
Took another stab at the thermostat leaking and got that fixed. New gasket with sealer on both sides = no leaks.

Swapped the 175A mega fuse for a 150A from recent 3G upgrade.

Craigslist Eldlebrock 4 bbl intake came yesterday, looks recently blasted or barely used. Need to paint it and get gaskets for it.

Ordered fenderwell headers and glasspacks for upcoming trip to shop to remove the stock manifolds and old exhaust system. I can't freaking wait. Should be shop bound by Tuesday next week.

Was going to have them change the oilpan as well, but that was when I figured I could just order a stock one for $79 from anywhere. Well finding a rear sump pan for these is motors has been challenging, the only ones I could find were +$350, so screw that for now. I have ordered the eco-plug for steel pans from amazon, and hopefully that will fix my problem and save tons of $$$ - but we will see... My other alternative for oilpan is to pull/swap from the parts truck. But I don't have it directly accessible at the moment.
 
#10 ·
Got Buck the Truck back from the shop yesterday. I got it home just a couple miles from the shop and put in the eco-plug. it leaked at first, just a little. Then I twisted it a bit and gently tapped it on to seal the pan. It was dry after 15 min of waiting and dry again after some running around. Pic below is the plug beside a double-oversized plug for comparison.

They installed the hedman fenderwell longtubes and glasspacks that dump under the truck before the rear wheels. I sprung for stage8 locking header bolts and solid copper gaskets. They couldn't use the copper gaskets as they were for 4V heads. They also found a couple of vaccuum leaks and now the truck runs soooooo much better.

I went down the highway and the power is back and the sound - OHH MY GOD! Hit a gas station that has a dirt lot and semis parked there on the back end with lots of mudholes. Couldn't help myself but to just plow through them and do a few donuts accopanied by a rebel yell on a sunny Friday afternoon - I mean you couldn't peel the grin of my face with a 10 ft crowbar!

I was thinking the crappy running was something with the carb, but no vaccuum leak. I'm a believer now, I will make sure to check ALL vaccuum lines when/if issues arise. I have a 4 bbl intake to put on it, and was planning EFI, but I think now I'll move to brakes and steering. I still need a new gas tank as the one now is leaking a bit where the straps attach. Not enough to form a drip or puddle, but wets the bottom side and evaporates.

My braking issues are as follows:
master cylinder leaks fluid all over the place. I'm not sure if its the master cylinder or the brake booster that is actually leaking. I have a new master cylinder to put on it, just haven't done it yet. Besides that the rear drums need new pads and the emergency brake bracket in the cab needs to be replace/reinforced/welded.

Hopefully we will run a bit today with the top off. its been a long time coming!
 

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#11 ·
Washed the truck this weekend for the first time in about 8 years. Lots of grime gone, looking much better.

Ran the bronco out of gas and removed the old tank. I just cut the filling hose and vent hose to make it easier to remove. I'm all for saving a buck but was ready to have this thing gone. On top of that someone put the hoseclamps positioned so that they were impossible to remove - how they installed in that position I'll never know. Also removing the pigtail connection on top of the tank was not easy. Then the top straps were being a pain to remove (mostly due to the hitch support installed by PO). I'm going to blast them clean and paint them. New poly 33 gal tank is on the way. I ordered off ebay with free shipping I think it was 175ish, but still much cheaper than JBG with their 75 shipping cost. This tank adventure has come full circle. At first I didn't want to mess with it and considered just paying someone to deal with it. Then talking to some friends convinced me to try it based on their experiences. After checking it out from under the truck I got motivated because it looks like - ohh yeah just 4 bolts right there. Then fighting the rusty bolts and hoses dirt and rust sprinkling your eyeballs and everything had me wishing I'd just got someone else to deal with it. Whatever, it's gone now new and refurbished hardware should make it easier to come out the next time if needed.

I need to order new filler/breather hoses, but found a place for that in another build thread on here. Will probably go ahead and buy some brake line and flare tool and redo some of the lines that were just bent out of the way during the header install.

Eco-plug still holding tight with no drips.

Wasps are trying to make this truck their home - Its a constant battle.
 
#13 ·
Wasps are trying to make this truck their home - Its a constant battle.
Reminds me of a couple days ago when I was driving in my truck. I had one buzzing on the inside of my back window, so at a stop light I took my hat off and beat the crap out of it. I'm sure the people behind me were like "wth is that guy's problem".
 
#12 ·
Ordered the filler tube and vent tube (about $50 to the door). If anyone is wondering about the correct filler tube size for the 78 it is 2 1/4" and the vent is 3/4" and I ordered them at 16" long each.

Cleaned out the rear of the truck and found more parts, chrome cab trim and jade green sunshades (from ol rusty) and the drivers side floorpan (comping up eventually).

Went today at lunch to the local auto skills center did their safety walkthrough and such then proceeded to blast away the rust and grime on the upper and lower tank straps. I only had time for three out of the four, so one will finish up tomorrow. This is the first time I've got on a blast cabinet and man it is awesome. It's a full service shop with very reasonable prices if you do the work yourself so my opportunities have opened immensely. Lifts, welders, press, brake, all sorts of things that I'd love to spend all day on. Very inspiring.. more to come.
 
#14 ·
Tank straps cleaned and painted blue sparkley. filler and vent hose to arrive tomorrow. New poly tank arrived today. https://www.ebay.com/itm/382426847917

The mounting for the sending unit looks different though. IDK how the hell to install sending unit, but my best guess is to back out the sheet metal screws, then peel back the top layer of the tank and sandwich the sending unit between the inner and outer layers.

Also I was considering getting one of the borgeson steering shafts to improve my steering. The shaft does have a bit of play and I will probably go ahead and get one, but I adjusted the steering gear about 1/4 turn tighter and it steers MUCH better, a lot of the slop is now gone.

Going to shoot for the gas tank, new master cylinder and brake lines from it to the prop valve this weekend.
 

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#17 ·
As far as the color scheme goes, I'm ho hum about it. I really like the darker midnight or cobalt blue, and a silvery grey would be my prefereance but whatevs. This thing will probably never see paint (by me). Its got too much rust to be a frame off rebuild, but nice enough to be a fun driver/light trail rig. If I repainted it I would feel bad about going in the woods and such, which is not the case now. Soooo I'm working with the colors that it has. I forget what the first part I painted was (driveshaft or skidplate or something), but I just couldn't bring myself to buy the matching metal flake baby blue or light blue color, so I literally grabbed the best looking dark blue sparkle rattlecan from the autoparts store and went from there. That way it's easy to see what's been redone by me or since if got my hands on it. When I washed it this weekend for the first time in about 6 years, I noticed under the rear tailgate area is not as sun faded and is actually a much darker blue, not as dark as I'm painting the accessories.

My parts truck is a mint green interior with jade green exterior. I freaking loved that shiny dark green color, but alas that one is no more. When I got it I named it Rusty so that I would have a funny retort when someone jumped in and said "man this thing is rusty". I did save the rear bench seat from it which is about 95% immaculate/original and made a garage loveseat from it.

Shoe polish was a take off the old Kenny Powers series. Its on HBO, but I'm sure you can find clips. funniest show of that era. He was a baseball pitcher whos tag line was "Your F-ing out!" after striking batters out. That was my last day at a job that I learned a lot at, but was underpaid and appreciated. It was lost on all the nerds there, as no one really thought it was funny, but I did get some funny looks and thumbs up in traffic on the way home that day.
 
#18 ·
Well, I'm in a bit of a mess now. Basically I've got a 33 gallon poly halfway installed in the truck, but the tank straps I have are for a 25 gallon tank. so I'm lacking about 4-5 inches from making that work.

I confirmed that the unit I had from long ago is for a 33 gallon tank. Looks like I'll just put some longer bolts in today and nab the gas tank straps off the parts truck when I get to it.
 
#19 ·
Well, the tank is in and seems to be working well enough. As my gun instinct told me though it was a royal pain in the anis overall.

The first set of long bolts I used was a 5" and a 6" (local store didn't have 2 of the same len), and both of those were too long for the front holes in the lower tank straps. Again, this is using a 25 gal tank straps on a 33 gal tank with 3" bolts in the rear holes. So... went to lowes and got 4" bolts and just like the 3 bears that was just right. I even managed to get some of the cusion foam cutouts between the tank and the straps on the lower side, upper side was a futile effort.

Next and perhaps the biggest pain with this tank setup was the filler hose to the tank door filler area. The big metal tube that goes from the tank door to the hose. This tank hose WILL NOT EXPAND enough to get over the first bump of the filler neck. It has metal banding inside the hose. I tried and tried while under the truck and gave up in frustration. Then I put a relief cut (required ***** for the metal bands) on the bottom of the filler hose. That worked, but was kinda dumb - but it was late, I was frustrated and it did after all fit. Hoseclamp on the filler hose/neck and tested filling the tank and sure enough there was a constant drain from the relief cut where it met the first lip. If I had thought about it, put the relief cut on the top of the filler hose would have been fine. Whatever, another secondary hose clamp and some specialized positioning and it is holding now. The vent hose was just right, not too tight or loose, and did not have the metal banding.

Filled the tank up with about 10 gallons of gas and the fuel gauge still reads past E, I mean it didn't even budge. Oh well. I'll sort that out later on. Brake line kit should be here today so I get to dive into that mess next.

As fare as the poly tank and filler hose goes, If I had to do it over again, I would pick a hose that was flexible enough to fit over the filler neck bump, OR use the same type of hose with one size up to fit over the bump and use a filler band on the tank hose bung. And I would also test fit the tank, hose and filler neck all while outside the truck, to see what will and wont work as far as fitment goes.

Here are some pics, the upper tanks straps will probably never be seen by anyone else so please feel appropriately special.
 

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#20 ·
Beating the brakes off Buck the truck...
Removed the old leaky MC, wiper fluid resivior, and old brake lines from the MC to the Prop valve. You can see how mangled my brake lines were.
Ordered some stuff off amazon, 3/16" steel line, cutter and flare tool.
The cutter sucks (for Steel), I did manage to cut one section using it, but I had to use channel locks on the tightening nut to get it to cut appropriately, and had to do that like 5 or 6 times. In all fairness, it wasn't meant for steel line, but was only $10 so..
The line seems GTG, no issues with it, I tried a vise to hold it while I cut with hacksaw, a little sketchy, but works, still need to finish up with a file. Then tried a HF dremel tool, that was more like a polishing wheel than a cutting disk. Finally moved on to an angle grinder and cutting wheel and that does the trick nicely. Still need to finish up with a file.
The flare tool is really good and easy to use, and seems to make good flares (my first time, but seems GTG). It clamps down on the tube very well without marring/stamping it. It has an easy depth nut setting, and a 2 stage operation that a smart monkey could do. Added bonus, you can remove the handle and put it in the vise - my prefereance.

I managed to straighten out the coiled line pretty decent by hand while watching a TV show. I had read about tube straighteners and was pondering making my own, but its 95% straight that will just be bent up for fitting anyway and no one will care or even see it so figured that was a waste of time/money. Cut the two pieces a little long and ran the two lines up from the prop valve toward the MC area. I will coil and terminate them when I get the MC bled (hopefully this weekend). One thing that is funky is that the fittings on the MC end of the lines are not the same as the prop valve end of the line. The prop valve end of the line is a smaller fitting - this drove me a bit nuts as I tested the fittings on the MC but couldn't get them to catch threads on the prop valve.

To make good smooth bends I put a wood dowel into the vise and bent the lines near the fittings at 90 deg using that, other bends were started in the vise and finished adjusting by hand under the truck. I did notice previously that the lines went forward along the frame and fuel line and then came up to the MC, but really after dodging the clutch linkage I ran the lines in an easier and more direct route between the the plug wires/headers and the steering shaft.

Also be sure to remove the negative cable on the battery terminal. I got a facefull of sparks when I was running the straight lines up through the bottom and they glanced off the positive battery terminal on the extra battery - WTF - lesson learned.

Hoping that I can get this brake line and MC done by the weekend. Then on to rear brakes and emergency brakes.
 

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#21 ·
Got the new MC installed, now I'm about 1/2 way through drum brake job on the left rear (right will soon follow). I was kind of dreading it, watched a bunch of videos over and over, but man all that stuff came off QUICK after getting the drum off. pushing the adjuster locker to dis-engauge it to loosen the brakes was the hardest part, but once you get used to it, went quick.

So the new plan is to replace the parking brake cables, Wheel cylinders, and hardlines on the rear, clean up everything in general. All the springs and shoes are still newish, as me and my dad redid everything but the wheel cylinders not long before it was parked a few years ago. I think we skipped the wheel cylinders (they are bad and pitted as you can see in the pics) to avoid messing with the hard lines at the time. But now that I'm in the midst of making hard lines, the rears will be done. Rear flex line and hard line from the prop valve to the flex line will be done at a later time. I think I have a leaky axle seal on the left, it was pretty grimy. The diff still has fluid so i'm running it for now, might get them done later on. Parking brake cables should be here tomorrow. I've been having some issues with soft parking brake, but I think that is mostly due to the adjustment end of the front cable. Still I'm redoing them while in the drum for peace of mind.

My tips as a second timer are, get the HF brake tool kit and a stiff wire brush with a wood handle (like from the welding section). Get the Pro grade brake clean spray and don't breathe it in. Also old pizza boxes make perfect place to lay out tools and parts taken off the wheel. If need to make a hard line plug, snip it, crimp and bend it then reinstall. Also the rear axle vent has a nut under it that holds the rear hardline t block. if your fittings are rusty (like mine), consider removing the fitting and T block in order to get a line wrench on the brake fitting, or you may round it off.

I am an idiot and filled and bench bled the MC before doing the rear hardlines, so it was a constant drain until I bent and crimped it the rear left hardline like in the pic. If I had to do it over again, I'd save the MC for last. I borrowed a pressure bleed system from my cousin, but the attachment I need is $47 - a bit much for a one time use thing so I guess I'll enlist someone to pump and release when the time comes.

Hoping to be done with brakes by the weekend.
 

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#22 ·
So, got pretty much everything ready to bleed. My helper (dad) will be by tomorrow to pump the brakes. I'm so over drum brakes now. I did the left side first, that was a re-learning experience. I was thinking to myself, man, I should use a rachet strap to keep the shoes together and make putting the springs on easier, then I saw someone do that in a YT vid, so next time, that will be done. The HF brake tool kit did definatly make it a bit easier once I figured out what the hell I was doing and how to use the tools.

The only hickup I ran into was when doing the right side I realized it had a cap on the parking brake spring and I didn't remember having one on the left side. Refered to old pics before I touched anything and sure enough it was not there. It's just an anti-rattle bracket, hasn't been on there in who knows how many years so if I can't find one local parts store tomorrow, I'm gonna run it as is. You can see where it should be circled in red in the pic.

I painted the wheel cylinders because who the hell does that? And will be easy to spot ohh yeah that's been done by me and should be easy to spot if it starts leaking and eating the paint away. The hard lines down the axle weren't really near as bad as I thought they would be, the biggest part of that was removing the breather plug to get enough of a line wrench under the fittings to not strip them. Also, again with the coiled line, don't sweat getting it perfectly straight, its gonna be bent anyway. 5 minutes withy your thumbs by hand was plenty good enough for me.

I ran new raybestos parking brake cables. The stock ones were a bit of a pain to get out of the brake housing. I ended up using wire ***** to bend the little clip fingers back and forth until they broke off, then channel locks and flathead to wedge the rest through the hole. Replacements were much easier to install. I saved the line that runs from the footpedal in cab to join the other cables for another time down the road. Probably for when I clean up the underside a bit more, check/rerun wiring and make hardlines to run the rail.

As in pretty much everything else, it was a learning experience. There was some cursing trying to get all the springs jsut right on the drums, and that took a bit. I used the brake tool to set the top springs and lineman pliers to set the bottom spring above the self adjuster.

Assuming the bleeding goes well tomorrow, next will be steering stabilizer, front tires, and shocks all around.
 

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#23 ·
Got the brakes bled. They feel about the same as they did before, but I'm back on the road now and the MC isn't spraying fluid all over the engine bay. The fluid that was in the lines was a yellowish tint, but not near as bad as I had expected. I may just go ahead and run rear hardline and new flexline in the near future. Parking brake is MUCH better now, but I think that is mostly due to proper adjustment at the Y bracket under the truck. On to other stuff for now.

Next up: digging through old parts to find steering stabilizer brackets, new front tires
 
#24 ·
Quick update. I ran the truck to a Milsurp shoot top off perfect weather and it did really well the whole way and back. I got to ride over the Lake Guntersville bridge with the top off - lets just say it was a great time and a long time coming. It really cruises 60-65 quite nicely and comfortably. I even got to use the armrests on the captain's chair. The range owner was excited to see the 78 and said he grew up with one back in the day that was green.

I just had a temp gauge go out that freaked me out a bit - thinking I was running it under temp. Installed new Robert Shaw high flow 333-180 in, and then new temp gauge as mentioned here:
here
and
here

Also I fixed an issue with popping in the exhaust under load by putting new plugs in.

I think I'm running a bit rich on the carb as I recently upped the jets. I have an AEM A/F gauge ready to install, just haven't had time. So that is next.
Here is short to do list:
A/F gauge
Jet carb for proper AF mixture
steering stabilizer
new front tires
Rework and install matching Visors
fix sticky throttle - have brass bushing for throttle plate
new shocks
Re-install wiper fluid box
 
#25 ·
Found that old egg crates are good to hold plugs for readings.
Got the AEM A/F gauge installed. Not the best mounting option, but lets just say I was determined to get this mounted in the truck.
Having some issues with a lean condition after it gets warmed up.
 

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#26 ·
Quick update.
I've been fighting the AF gauge readings. It will start out on 14.7 then sweep up to max lean within 2 or three seconds. Hot start/cold start, all the same as far as I can tell. I got some copper gasket sealer and put it around the header collector ball joint. The shop put the bung in the collector a few inches before the ball joint, so I thought this might be leaking air and causing false reading. The nuts on the 3 bolts that hold the ball joint together were barely hand tight, so fixed all that and same thing for the AF gauge.

So today I checked timing. It was set to around 0 or maybe even a few deg. ATC. Thought that might be causing the lean problem, so spun the dist a bit to get 10 deg BTC and engine ran much better. Well that also didn't resolve the AF issue, same thing there..

So after that, I figured hey, I paid the shop to add the O2 bung in each side of the headers, so try switching sides and see what the AF gauge says there. I was thinking that maybe there was a header gasket leak on the drivers side. Switched the O2 sensor to the passenger side, ran the wires and such and you guessed it, same thing as far as the AF gauge goes. no change.

At this point a bit frustrated, I figured I needed some pedal time to see if it at least drove better with the ~15 deg of adv timing I put on it. It drove much better. I guess my bar is kinda low after driving it with a vacuum leak for years before it sat way back when, but man it runs better now than I can ever remember or before my DA took ownership and started messing with it. The whole time the AF gauge is pegged out lean "- - - " but it's hard to believe it runs that great while being so lean.

So the next thing I'm gonna check for the AF gauge is wiring - in my rush to get it in, there were some less than ideal wiring connections performed. I'm going to call the gauge mfg and see if they have anything to advise. If none of that works out, I'm gonna try the local shop again and see if they can spot WTH is going on with the AF mixture/gauge.

One other thing is recently I've gotten some sticky throttle on the carb. This is a long standing issue, but has gotten a bit worse recently. It will hold throttle when you let off the pedal, then you gouge it a bit and it will let loose. A couple months ago you could just barley feather the pedal to relase it and return to idle. It has 2 throttle return springs on the carb. I could add another, but that would just band-aid the issue. This carb is kind of old and has some play in the baseplate which I am guessing might play a role to the sticky throttle. Any other quick tips to free it up, please let me know.

Freaking AF gauge!!! why wont you just work like I paid summit to have you do...
 
#27 ·
more good and bad...
Front passenger tire has been wearing out lately, it was bald on the outside edge. It finally showed wire and bulged out about a mile from home last week. I've been waiting to get the last matching sawblade rim off the parts truck before replacing the tire. Family went to visit dad this pas weekend (host to the parts truck), so perfect timing for that.

Bushogged a bit on the side of ol rusty and swapped the wheel. Dug around in the basement and found more lost parts. A complete seal kit, an NIB Auto meter Fuel gauge, and the old instrument cluster from the parts truck.

Called around and found a pair of goodyear mud grapplers 33x15s for 80$ each, so got them installed on the fronts. Now have matching wheels at least, but, as freaking luck would have it, I now have a bit of vibration coming from the front right wheel. Its the general hum-hum-hum on the highway at speed, but when putting the brakes on it feels like the tire has some bumps on it. The tires are in really great condition with 89-90% tread left and look fine. I took the new tire/rim off and replaced it with a steel wagon wheel rim and tire that was on the left side and got the same vibration issue, gets bad under hard braking.

The only thing I can think it might be when putting the sawblade rim and new tire on the first time, I hand tightened the lugnuts, but rolled to the back of the driveway before really torqueing them down. IDK if that's what may have caused the issue or not. Could be that it needs new brake pads, as it feels kind of notchy, but I didn't have the problem before changing wheels.

The funny part of all this is when I was putting the new wheel on the first time, I had the wheel standing next to me next to the passenger door in the garage. I went and jacked the truck up and got the old wheel off and turned around to put the new one on and it was GONE! I mean WTH it was right here. I looked in the garage, in the driveway, in the hard, in the street and finally spotted it in standing up the neighbors grass across the street. Lesson learned. Pics coming
 
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