Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I've been working on seat/console/carpet fitment the last few days, along with door panel design and fab. Amazingly, everything in the door now plays nicely together.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I installed my throwout bearing on the trans. I received the bearing on Friday and then figured out I needed longer bolts. I was like a kid on Christmas with a new toy and no batteries. Saturday I went to the local AZ parts store hoping they would have four 5/16" x 1 1/4" ARP bolts. 3 people working there and none of them knew what an ARP bolt was! I got them from Summit today. I called Mcleod when I ordered the bearing and told them my application. Nothing was mentioned about bolts. The bearing is thicker than the piece that you take off. It always burns me when you pay $500 for a part and they can't send you bolts or mention that you may need them. Anyway it's in. now waiting for the bolts for the trans and bellhousing that I thought I ordered at the same time but evidently didn't. BTW the locktite in the stick works well as these were not blind holes. Then my dog stole it and chewed it up on my bed but AZ has that.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Nice work.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Good stuff guys!

Brian:metal:

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thanks, Mick...and that's a WHOLE LOT of transmission! Lookin' good!

Progress is painfully slow. (And no, I'm not very good at this fiberglass stuff.) Also, the 22 ga. staples that my pneumatic stapler eats appear to be going obsolete, so I used my manual stapler that can't penetrate the ABS. The staples come out after the resin dries anyway. Spent a big part of the day picking up leaves. I also checked my birth certificate to see if I'm really 71.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I made this cover for my hydraulic throwout bearing lines to exit the bellhousing a couple of years ago. I was pretty proud of it at the time. The problem is that when I went to a duel disk clutch the pressure plate is close to the bleeder line. Also it has a backer plate that if it came off would cause catastrophic failure. So I'm remaking it with no backer plate and the lines coming out further back. My nearest metal supply house is an hour and a half away so I'm making a piece from some scrap I found laying around the shop.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Getting to the fun part (not)...FIBERGLASS DUST this afternoon !!!

...then "Rondo" (a mix of resin and Bondo) that I learned about on YouTube.

I forgot that you don't have to be good at this stuff, you just have to not quit.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Well, somebody's not lacking in the talent department... I keep saying I'm going to thin out my scrap pile to make some room. Then I don't, just because of situations like this. I have sources within 20 miles, but I always need something on Friday night.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Gaining on it.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I'm probably posting too much, sorry. After playing with the mill I rounded the corners on the disk sander. I traced it onto the rubber and punched the inner and outer holes with a gasket punch. I double taped it to the mill and cut what recess I could with the mill and finished up the rubber by hand. I have it roughed in. I'll work on pretty tomorrow. I need to figure something for the hole in the back. I may be getting a little carried away but I'm learning to use my tools. One of my favorite parts of this forum is that nobody calls me an idiot for what I do. Thank you for your time.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

call you an idiot?? with that kind of creativity why would any one do that??? Just makes me want to get a little more comfortable with the tools I have. Keep it up.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Mick, I'm still trying to figure out how you got that aluminum plate to stick to the oil pan... :haha:

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

All I can do is look the English Bulldog in the eye and ask her if this is her relative!!!!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Thank you for the support.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Got it aligned. First ever test drive was 11 miles back to the house....in the rain

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Tested for leaks, just like the factory on a new truck! Job well done!

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Still working on my cover. I got some layout die and sprayed it on there. I have never used it before. I may have gotten it on too thick in some spots. It seems like varnish. I mounted it and scribed a line at the top of the rubber. The dye made it easy to see where I was rounding the edge and holes. I broke the edge on the back and the back of the holes so they would not cut the rubber. I think I'm ready to start polishing.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I decided to put some contour in the piece so it didn't look so plain. After going to 400 gr on the tool I sanded by hand 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 gr. Then I hit it with the buffer. Sanded the rubber to 1000.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

yesterday while driving I had some steam coming from under the hood and `some coolant hitting my windshield. I was immediately terrified. I pulled over to find coolant spewing from the rad cap. my motor was covered. luckily tightening the cap cured the issue but I was concerned about how much coolant I had lost and the motor was to hot for me to remove the cap to check. took it back home and parked it. later in the evening I checked the level and it just at the edge of the top fins. so no real harm besides the mess. added some coolant and ran the motor until the thermostat opened to make sure I had antifreeze in the motor. no leaks that I could see but im keeping an eye on it. just about ready to get the passenger fender back on.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Sounds normal for a loose radiator cap. When the system is under pressure the boiling point goes up about 3 degrees for every pound of pressure. (E.g., if there's 10 psi, straight water, it won't boil until it reaches around 242 degrees.) If there's no pressure, straight water will, of course, boil at 212. A 50-50 mix of antifreeze and water boils at a slightly higher temperature than water, but you get the idea.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

Well, my cab is finished rust wise

New roof and a lot of new metal

Check out my build in my profile below

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

I installed the cover I made today. I put black sealant between the rubber and the aluminum to fill any voids. It worked so well holding the plate to the oil pan I figured it would help. The fittings on the throwout bearing pivot. I struggled to try to get the trans on so I took it of and smoothed the front edge of the input shaft ever so slightly and it went right together. I spent about 12 hours on this (not counting staring time) some would say simple thing. I got a lot of tool time in and learned some techniques so not a waist of time for me. The bellhousing was one of my first attempts at polishing and now needs some more work as my skills have improved since then. Thank you for your time.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

This was a little nuts but I pulled it off. I have no help.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

looked into my non working coolant temp gauge. the wiring is pretty straight forward. one wire to ignition, 1 wire to ground, and 1 wire to the temp sensor on the intake manifold. got the new pigtail and wired it manually. by manually I mean its just a mechanical connection I haven't soldered and heat shrank it yet. I wanted to verify that I had it wired correctly and that it was going to work. the temp sensor did start working but the truck never got over 130 degrees. it was cool today but it should have been warmer. the valve covers weren't to hot to touch so maybe. I will keep an eye on it over the next couple of days. hope I dint need a new gauge.

Re: What did you do with your truck today, Part 3
 

man I want to know all about this motor.