Zane's 71

[rcazwillis]

Rebuild the vent windows. Not a tough project. Made much easier with all the threads showing how to do it. Used seals from Classic Parts. They fit like a dream. Setting the rivets is not hard as long as you get a good solid surface on the head of the rivet.

[rcazwillis]

Brakes, we have brakes. Purchased master cylinder and front hoses from Classic parts. They ship quick!

Bleeding went quick with a stop for homework.

Went through all the wiring under the dash. Lots of DIY tap into hot wire for power spots. Quick to fix. However, I did come across a plug with no home. Must be part of HVAC; one wire connects to the switch on the diverter box. Any idea to what this is supposed to connect?

[cornerstone]

Really moving along nicely guys! I like Zanes wheel choice also. Kudos for such an in depth project/ mechanical education with the young man... He will never forget it.

[rcazwillis]

Truck is scheduled to go to paint on Jan 5. Painter is someone I have used before. He will have it back to me before end of January. He is going to paint inside and out of fenders, hood, cowel, cab interior, jams, and doors.

Truck now runs and moves on it's own. Had the distributor 180 out of time. Once I fixed that, it started right up. Had one rocker that needed adjustment. Still need to put a reservoir on for the power steering.

[rcazwillis]

Originally Posted by rcazwillis

Brakes, we have brakes. Purchased master cylinder and front hoses from Classic parts. They ship quick!

Bleeding went quick with a stop for homework.

Went through all the wiring under the dash. Lots of DIY tap into hot wire for power spots. Quick to fix. However, I did come across a plug with no home. Must be part of HVAC; one wire connects to the switch on the diverter box. Any idea to what this is supposed to connect?

For anyone wondering in the future, the plug is the anti-dieseling relay plug. No relay present in the truck at this time. Should I add it back or continue to run without.

[rcazwillis]

Truck went to painter on Saturday. Saturday afternoon, I purchased a vehicle for my older son. His current vehicle is a 2005 Mustang. Sunday, had the car detailed preparing to sale it. Oh, the clear coat is pealing off the car! Had it painted 18 months ago by the painter I dropped the truck off to Saturday. Went to see him today to discuss our future business relations...

On the way, I noticed the diff was making an awful noise. More repairs.

He saw the paint and said "I can respray it next week. I was using a brand of paint that has done that on a number of vehicles. I no longer use it and the truck will not have that issue." Perfect answer. In addition, he had the truck bed 3/4 of the way stripped.

With that said, I proposed a trade. He gets the car and gives me some cash. He jumped all over the deal. I was honest about the diff noise. In the end, I don't have to fix the diff or put any effort into selling the car and realized about what I thought I could sell it for prior to diff noise.

Now, just have to make sure the paint comes out as expected.

[rcazwillis]

Truck is back from paint. A few areas are going to need his attention, but he agreed before we settled. Pushed him to get it done quickly, if you can call 4 weeks quick. Zane is happy and that is what counts!

We started putting it back together Saturday and Sunday. About 11 hours of work between the two days.

Dash looks good. Doors are coming together. Should be done with the interior and deep into the exterior by end of this coming weekend.

He turns 16 on 3/5/19. Has to be done by then!

[rcazwillis]

Lot of progress this weekend. Big items were carpet, seat, back glass, windshield, speaker panels. Carpet was wriggled, but after one day was laying flatter. Already looking a lot better.

Back glass was easy. No issue getting trim in the gasket or installing the window. The trim for the front glass took a long minute to get into the gasket. Between Zane and I, the trim finally set into place. After reading every post, watching every YouTube video, and worrying about it, the front glass went in without any real issue. Lubrication, lot's of lubrication makes a difference. Making sure the outside lip is in the proper place and pushing the window down while working the inside lip helps too.

The speaker panels are poorly formed. Not a big issue, but you would think they would fit. Trimmed quite a bit of material off the back side. The panels came with screws, but used 3M 2-sided tape to install to avoid more holes. Had to move the hi/lo beam switch as it was under the speaker panel. Easy change, but not expected.

[Custom 68]

Awesome read along. Great project and way to go Zane.

[El Dorado Jim]

nice truck, so cool that it was your dad's and now your son's!! great project for you and your son, I did builds with both my sons when they were teenagers and they still have their trucks today...

[rcazwillis]

Originally Posted by El Dorado Jim

nice truck, so cool that it was your dad's and now your son's!! great project for you and your son, I did builds with both my sons when they were teenagers and they still have their trucks today...

Cool. He claims he will drive it forever. I hope not, cause I want it when he moves on...

[rcazwillis]

Busy weekend. Zane purchased a new grill surround with some money he had saved. Looks great, but quality is no where close to an original. Closer to aluminum foil than the factory material. Oh well, looks good.

Put some molding back on. Have three pieces still to polish and paint. One cab corner piece is crooked, not sure why.

Ground issue with the bed. No tail lights. Will run some grounds to bed, does not appear to be any connecting the bed to the frame.

[rcazwillis]

Door seals suck! Glued in a new set, doors were no where close to closing. After numerous adjustments, doors were so far out of alignment that we took the seals back out. Not sure what to do next. May try the Honda Civic ones.

[Redneck Rydes]

GMC Pauls, they have press on door rubbers,easy to put on and no messy glue, nicer to work with if you have to take them off to make door adjustments.

[a.c.ward]

I went to the local pick and pull, got door seals from 91-99 dodge Dakota, press on and only about 3" longer than the 67-72 door opening, already pre shrunk from the dodge, cost me $18 for two sets, got second set just in case they were not long enough, wound up having a set for my other truck, so bonus

[rcazwillis]

Zane had the day off school today. He and a buddy went to the pick and pull. He found a decent set of seals off a 2007 Honda Civic. They fit perfect. Length is perfect. Press on. Door shuts perfect. Needs a little adjustment on top, but very pleased. Will post a picture of the glue on vs HC seals.

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by a.c.ward

I went to the local pick and pull, got door seals from 91-99 dodge Dakota, press on and only about 3" longer than the 67-72 door opening, already pre shrunk from the dodge, cost me $18 for two sets, got second set just in case they were not long enough, wound up having a set for my other truck, so bonus

thats what I did and they fit perfectly

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by rcazwillis

Zane had the day off school today. He and a buddy went to the pick and pull. He found a decent set of seals off a 2007 Honda Civic. They fit perfect. Length is perfect. Press on. Door shuts perfect. Needs a little adjustment on top, but very pleased. Will post a picture of the glue on vs HC seals.

very cool!

[rcazwillis]

Have you ever had one of those weekends where nothing you do is correct? Saturday the plan was state inspection. Couple of minor things to address such as license plate light. Truck has been having a problem with starter/flex plate, you know the old grind grind, catch and start. Put a new starter on it, but did not fix the problem. Guessing flex plate, but will fix later...

Truck started at house, drove to gas station. 10 gallons. Nothing I do will get it to engage the starter. Maiden voyage resulted in a tow to the house.

Guess I will swap a flex plate. Took about 3 hours in the street cause I can't get it up the drive. Turn the key, same issue. What the *(&#(^(Q#&$?

Now is when I get stupid and desperate and tired. Looking at the starter, the starter gear is engaged with the flex plate sitting on top of the teeth. Is the starter too far from the flex plate? Only way to move the starter closer is to mill some material off the starter. Off to the mill. Took .05" off the surface. If I am wrong, I can shim it. Truck starts, but still sounds bad. Something is still not right.

Have Zane try to start it with me on my back under the truck. The starter is jumping all over the place. Threads are shot in the block. I new one was iffy, but longer bolt tightened down with torque wrench. Other seemed fine. Truck starts and goes back in garage.

Sunday morning. Helicoil both holes. Holes are deep, so I put two in each hole. Still plenty of room for knurl to go into block. Research to locate proper starter bolts. Nobody shows the "proper bolt." Summit has ARP that seems to have the correct lengths. Summit is 32 miles one way. Off we go to summit. $15 later, I have two killer bolts...that don't fit. Knurl hits the helicoil...you know the 2nd one I put in each hole.

Using the wrong, not starter bolts and the killer washers that came with the ARP bolts, I shim the starter back to the position before I machined it. Truck starts without issue...sort of.

After the starter disengages, the flex plate is tapping something 2 or 3 times. Then quiet. Thinking the starter is too close to the flexplate. Going to shim it a bit unless someone else has a better idea.

Drove truck to inspection station. Won't shift out of first. I know the problem is no vacuum line to TH400. Passes inspection. Lot's of complements from the lady that did the inspection. Her dream truck!

Spend 2 hours trying to get the factory vacuum tube in place. Take it for a drive...it shifts and runs good.

Unresolved issues:
Park won't hold truck. Obviously have the bracket in the trans pan wrong.
Common issue.
Something is ticking towards the back of trans. Increases with frequency as speed increases. Not dependent on engine RPM. Sounds like something bouncing off drive shaft. Nothing there at all. Thinking it might be the parking prawl (the thing that holds the car stopped when in park). Bracket is wrong, maybe the spring that holds back the prawl is wrong. Any ideas? Going to take pan off and fix bracket and inspect for other issues.

[rcazwillis]

Fixed the parking brake issue this evening. Bracket was backwards.

I used a fluid extractor (necessary for the boat to change fluids) to suck the trans fluid out of the pan through the dipstick tube. Sure made it easy to take the pan off without having it full of fluid. Four quarts out, four new quarts back in.

[El Dorado Jim]

the truck is looking good!

[rcazwillis]

Originally Posted by El Dorado Jim

the truck is looking good!

Thank you. We're are very proud of it.

[Barnfind46]

Today is the big day! Were you able to get the starter issue fixed? I hope he enjoys the truck as much as I did the '68 I drove in high school! That was a looooong time ago!

[rcazwillis]

Originally Posted by Barnfind46

Today is the big day! Were you able to get the starter issue fixed? I hope he enjoys the truck as much as I did the '68 I drove in high school! That was a looooong time ago!

Yes, the starter and leak were fixed over last weekend. He passed his driving test today and is a legal driver. Already driving the wheels off it.

It is very kind of you to comment!

[Barnfind46]

That's great! When the youngsters invest some time and effort in the rebuild they tend to take care of it. Also a great time with dad they never forget!