A Little Drive.

Prior to the big heater core swap, I drove the truck up to Dad's place to help him put his 51 back together. It was the first big trip on the new carb rebuild and manifold swap. I must say it ran and drove pretty well. The old truck seemed happy. Dad says that my grandfather would be very happy to see, and hear, how well the thing is running these days. I hope so. Old GM trucks seem to be the McDowell family legacy. I'm itching to put the dual exhaust on to replace the stock two-into-one system that's on it now. I'm saving my pennies to get the Summit racing manifold back system. I've opted to stay with the manifolds because cheap headers aren't worth the time it takes to put them in, since you have to pull them out again and again to try to keep them from leaking. I also heard that the old buck horn manifolds flow almost as well as headers any way. I'll save a bit of cash on the headers and get better mufflers. Maybe...

Warm air

The truck had been mysteriously "using" water. I replaced the heater core. I swear there were new life forms growing the box that the core is mounted in. It's all cleaned out now though. And, the blower motor, having been lubed and cleaned, stopped making that horrible rattling noise. The worst thing about putting a new heater core in a 70 GMC truck is the fact that you have to pull out the passenger side inner fender to get the thing out. I realize that it's something that I need to be aware of, but I was happier when I didn't know how much rust was in the body of this truck. It's warmer now though.