More stuff.

I've been pretty busy with the old truck lately.  In my last post I had put on a couple of new headlights that are a considerable upgrade to the stock ones.  I got such a good deal on them that I went ahead and got another set for the high beams.  They rock.  I also got around to putting that new exhaust on.  I bought it what seems like a year ago and only just got around to doing it.  It was, of course, not with out it's challenges.  I took the truck over to a friends house to take advantage of his space.  The old home owners association dislikes my truck enough without having to see me going at it with a sawsall.  So Andrew and I cut out the old exhaust and got everything cleared out.  I couldn't resist firing it up without the pipes on it just to see what it sounds like.  It was really loud.  We spent a day crawling around under and around the truck and had just about got it all done.  Then I had the bright idea to give the pipe under the drivers side a jiggle to see if they were tight enough.  And there was the beginning of the problems.  That jiggle broke the antique exhaust manifold that's been on there for ever.  Long story short,  I broke the drivers side, the passenger side had a stripped stud and, I eventually found, a crack.  So two new used manifolds from craigs list, a lot of laying under truck, a bunch of new grade 8 bolts and some new gaskets and the truck thumps.  I'm guessing I gained about thirty horses and whole lot of additude.  Grandpa's old truck that once was reluctant to do fifty-five is now happy to clip along at 70.  All in all, I'd say it's been a success.  I made a recording of the exhaust sound before we made the swap, and I'll make one of the after now that it's all done and post it.  You can hear it for yourself.



I also, thanks to the old guy truck network,  came up with a new set of wheels for it.  Three inches taller, two inches wider and a lot more shiny.  Check it out.

I'm not sure what Grandpa would think of these, but I like them.

Head lights

I've always thought it would be cool to have an old ride that has the nice new upgraded headlights that have the bulbs you put in the back like on new cars.  I researched it and found a pair.  ebay, 40 bucks.  they look sweet.  Pics? Of course.

I'm so going to get another set for the high beams.  I should probably polish those bezels.

Committed now.

It's official, I've begun the stripping of the trim off of the old truck. I'm sure old Grand Dad is frowning somewhere. I've been looking at many a pic of restored trucks and it seems that most people are in favor of my desire to have a cleaner exterior. I'm not sure if it's all going or just the upper set. I've started with the uppers and plan to leave the rest until I'm sure what to do. Unfortunately now that I have the trim off, I've got lots of holes in the body of the truck. Interestingly there are more on the left side than on the right. It appears that the passenger door has been replaced (which I knew about), and possibly the passenger side of the truck bed (which I didn't know about). Both of those parts are missing all of the holes because the trim was applied using stick on clips. who knows when or for how long. Here are some pics. you can compare them to pics in previous posts.

Some stuff.

It's been quite a while since I posted anything. Let see, what's going on with the truck... I got some new exhaust pipes for it. So I'll be going to a dual exhaust system over the two into one that's on the truck now. If I ever get the time that is. That'll make it sound better at the very least. It's been "summer" here so I haven't been doing much. I did get some time in on the motorcycle. It still doesn't run though. maybe I'll add updates on the bike to the blog now and then.

Oh! I remember something! I bought a Pertronix ignition kit to replace the points in the truck. I've never been one to adjust the breaker points on my old rides, so I thought this might be the thing for me. So far so good. It' starts well, and the miss is gone unless a spark plug wire rides the exhaust manifold. I don't know about the fuel economy as I haven't really kept track of it since I've had the truck. It seems like it's better. But that's just based on what I feel like it's getting. So nothing really scientific. I like the replacement. It's one less thing to have to worry about and maintain. I'm thinking I'll start doing some body work. First thing, Those rocker panels...

High Voltage

So Dad gave me a hi output ignition coil when I got the truck. Initially I didn't put it on because it had this weird extension thing on the top that did not match what was in my truck. Any how, I finally got around to installing it. I found that if you put a plier on the top of the coil and pull real hard that modified top comes right off and your Mopar coil turns into a Delco coil. For years and years Grandpa had been trying to get rid of a miss that has plagued the old truck. He had the heads rebuilt several times. He did carb rebuilds, and new points and maybe even a new distributor. He never upgraded the ignition from stock though, and that may have been the problem. As of right now the miss is gone. Not only does the engine run smoother, it accelerates more smoothly and has more power. I'm gonna modify the distributor to get rid of the points in the near future. Once that's done I shouldn't, in theory, ever have to worry about the ignition system again. It's amazing how inefficient these engines were back in the day.

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.

Chrome and aluminum.

Well, I finally got around to rebuilding the old Quadrajet and putting the new manifold on. I have high hopes for the result. I had no idea how heavy the stock steel manifold was until it was time to take it off of the truck. Let's just say the truck is forty pounds lighter with the new manifold on there. I also think that, unlike as I said previously, that Weiland manifold is actually new. After having seen the condition of the old one and, noticing that there were no wrench marks on the new one, I think it's never been used, if installed at all. Anyhow, barring a few little tweaks, it's done. Now to see if it runs. Here are some pictures...

The engine as it was before the big swap.

The carburetor, prior to the rebuild.
I ended up getting rid of that weird sleeve thing on the top.
The block sans 50 pound steel manifold.

Manifold installed and carburetor post rebuild.
It's a little shocking looking at all that aluminum.

I also broke down and added a new air filter and housing.
I think this one will flow better than the old one.

The next thing.

I got a screaming deal from a friend at work on some engine parts. For a C note I bought an almost new Weiland intake manifold and two Holley Spread bore carbs. I thought it was the deal of the century but Michelle was less than happy. That's a whole different blog.

Any how, now I have to decide how to proceed. I'm sure I'm going to use the manifold, but those carbs I'm not sure about. I had been gung ho to use the Holley with the mechanical secondaries, but since I've been reading about the Q-jet, I've found that nearly everyone says it's a better carb for street application. It's said that it'll flow up to 800cfm. That's way over the Holley's 650cfm. And it's supposed to get better mileage too. Go figure. So now to rebuild a Q-jet. Hmm, not the most attractive prospect. I've been reading and studying it for a few days and I think I have the gist but I've never rebuilt a four barrel. I'd hate to do it and be worse off that I started out.

Additionally, I figure, while I've got the distributor out I may as well convert the points over to electronic ignition. The "while I'm in theres" are the thing that's going to make this project more costly. We'll see what the CFO says.

Here's a pic of the manifold. Incidentally, Olivia took it.

The new mirrors.

I got the new mirrors on. I think the old ones may have been a factory option. The new ones are the standard for this year. You may have been able to get the "sport" mirrors as an option in '70. I like the stock ones though.

Mirror brackets. Finally!

I'm not sure if I wrote about the whole fiasco regarding the new mirrors that I've had on order, but I finally have all the parts I need to get the new mirrors on. Originally, all of the parts were supposed to arrive on the same day, but, at some point I failed to give Mane's Truck the correct mailing address, and UPS delivered to the wrong address as a result. Consequently, I've had the mirrors for almost a week and no brackets to mount them with. I walked over the other address, and found them this morning. Now I have the brackets and can, finally, put them on the truck. Not only that, but the big effing holes that are in the door from the old mirrors line up perfectly with the new ones. So that answers the question of how I'm going to fill those honking holes. Pictures later.

In the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson, "Power!" (steering that is).

After much running around and tapping the network of friends, I finally got the part I needed to make the power steering work. Wow what a difference. What I learned: it is extremely important to make sure that the hose is on the brass fitting straight, else you will cross thread. I also found that the brass fitting that is used on the back of a delco power steering pump, is exceedingly difficult to get. That is, unless you buy the whole assembly. That having been said, I now have a spare pressure hose for my truck. Any body need a pressure hose? It's new, and cheap?

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.