Mildew.

Yesterday was one of those slow peaceful Sundays. So, of course, I was a little bored. I crawled under the kitchen sink and found some cleaners and went out to the truck to see how many stains and mildew spots I could scrub off. I should have taken before and after pics because the interior got all bright and stuff. The door panels are nice now and the head liner is like new. If it weren't for the worn out chrome it would look new. One thing I've discovered about the old truck that I wish all cars had is the floor that stays flat all of the way to the door. I don't have to vacuum it. I just sweep (wisk provided by Grandma) the pine needles and crap right out of the truck. Sooo cool. All cars should be built like that. My KIA would definitely be cleaner if I could just sweep it out.

Getting rid of those mirrors.

I ordered the stock mirrors for the truck last week. Hopefully they'll show up in a timely fashion. I've heard that some of those repro parts dealers can take a while to actually send you the stuff. Fingers crossed.

Ten degrees before top dead center.

I pulled out the old timing light today and took a peek at the ignition timing. Prognosis... The ignition timing was retarded by four degrees. Now there's something. I adjusted the timing from 6˚ to 10˚ before top dead center. The result? Holy mackerel! I have a V8! More power, smoother acceleration, smoother idle and (for vanity's sake) better sound. I imagine it'll get better fuel economy too. But that remains to be seen. Yay progress. I would never have known that the timing was off had I not checked with the peeps on the Chevy/GMC forum I follow. I love networking.

Little things...

The old truck had a wonky throttle pedal and I got to looking at it and realized it was connected wrong. So I fixed it. I don't think that truck has used the secondaries on the carb since, well, a really long time. Now the truck has more power but the choke sticks. Once the truck is warmed up, and I get under the hood, and unstick the choke, it idles too low. It barely wants to run when it's warmed up. Throttle stop screw? Fuel air mixture? Ignition timing? All three? More investigation is required.

More photos

Here are a few more pics I shot today.

This is a pic of the dried out interior.
Sorry for not rotating.

This image of the engine I shot after I treated the air cleaner to a bath and a fresh coat of black paint. It made a world of difference.

Front view...Obviously.

It still looks pretty good for as old as it is. It's never really had any restorative work done on it. That's going to change. I've gotta get rid of those mirrors.

You'll never guess what I found!

In my rummaging through the glove box of the truck I discovered, among many service invoices and copious maps, the original "Owner's and Driver's" manual for 1500 trough 3500. I'm so thrilled. I can only assume that the manual is the original on since my Grandfather bought the truck almost new from his neighbor. Wow. Here a re the first three pages.

It's finally here.

I finally go the truck licensed and in my driveway. I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to start. I have already gotten the ingition switch reinstalled in the dash. It had been previously dangling, but, after a little research I figured out how to pull the lock out and get it back into the dash. Yay. Here are the four pics I have so far.