Project "Booger"

[americanthunder]

Hey Guys - First I'd like to say Im so glad I found this site! For a while now I've been looking for a project to do with my 11 year old son. Although I am a diesel fanatic I have always wanted to build a 67-72 GM pickup. After watching Craigslist for what felt like years looking at hacked up trucks the other morning I spotted a two owner Green (thus why we lovingly call her booger) 1970 Long Bed 350/Auto/PS/PB/and something you gotta have her in AZ AC!! The price of a mere $1000 (non running) seemed decent and on my arrival I found a pretty unmolested rust free truck! After a little haggling due to the pictures not showing the bashed in drivers side front due to a deer collision we came to a deal. This is gonna be a long first post because we worked ALL weekend on it.

Here is the truck sitting in the yard:



Done deal we loaded it on the trailer and made a quick stop at Home Depot for some Honey Do's supplies:



Finally resting in my minimal garage space:



Even though I planned on freshening up the tired old 350 I couldn't help but try and get the old girl running. Threw in a fresh battery and I Drained the gas and put in some fresh and turned the key and she cranked! Here is the gas that came out of the tank:



Needless to say the guy said it was running 6 months ago but not very well then suddenly died. so I did some more investigating and found the fuel line from the hard line to the fuel pump looked like this:



Replaced the line and it still wasnt pumping fuel. Ok must be the pump? Next morning I headed over to Napa and grabbed me a new fuel pump. 4 hours and 15 new cuts on my hands later the pump was in. Did it pump fuel? Heck no. Time to tear out the seat and get at that gas tank. Upon removing the pickup line I found the problem and I wish I had gotten a picture because the pickup tube is sitting in about 3 inches of gum and plugged solid. Whats the best way to clean out an old tank?

Anyway ok its not gonna run this weekend I guess its time to get rid of all the collision parts and see what we have to work with body wise. Time to remove the front bumper, Hood, Quarter Panel, Grille, and whatever else is bent.

Pic of my boy hard at work:



After removing the deer inflicted wound what we have to work with:



And thats as far as we got this weekend. Next week I hope to get the old 350 mill yanked and start the clean up process under the hood where there is about 6" of thick dirt and oil. Hoping someone on here can point me in the best direction for something to strip all that gunk off the frame. Im not building a show truck, just a driver and someday pass this truck down to my son but I'd like it to start off at least clean. Well none of the honey do's got done this weekend but I'll update as I progress!

[Low Elco]

Mean Green from Wally world or the dolla store. soak 'er good for a coupla days and roll to the carwash. Acetone and a chunk of chain on the tank. Throw it in and give 'er hell. Watch in amazement as the nasty rolls out. Great project!

[americanthunder]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Mean Green from Wally world or the dolla store. soak 'er good for a coupla days and roll to the carwash. Acetone and a chunk of chain on the tank. Throw it in and give 'er hell. Watch in amazement as the nasty rolls out. Great project!

Had some purple power and tried that this weekend. Unfortunately this time of year the air is so dry anything I put on it dries almost instantly so soaking the frame isn't much of an option. I've never seen grease this thick. I think once the motor is pulled i'll scrape off the real thick stuff off onto a tarp and then try and degrease some more. Funny my dad told me a chain in the tank with some kerosene and I thought he was nuts Thanks for the ideas!

[Low Elco]

Alternatively, rent a badazz Honda pressure washer and have at it- Them thaings is baaaaad. Literally, it'll rip it to to the steel.

[BuiltwithIvy]

i have a nice gas tank that I won't be using if you wanna pay for the trip from texas, no idea what that would cost, pulled all the gas from it a year ago, and everything came out clean, truck ran fine, well before I tore it to shreds anyways lol

[Ghostryder79]

Welcome! Nice find. Looks to be a good start for you and your son. I just started a 68 C10 CST LWB with my son. I'm down in Sierra Vista, so it's nice to see someone relatively close.

[sgaylord]

I like father and son projects. Good luck with the build!

Steve

[dunyet]

Try easy off oven cleaner on the greased up frame
Posted via Mobile Device

[gdavis]

How is the floor and rockers. That is where most of the rust appears. and aroung the inside of the roof.

[americanthunder]

Originally Posted by dunyet

Try easy off oven cleaner on the greased up frame
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks I'll give that a shot!

[americanthunder]

Originally Posted by gdavis

How is the floor and rockers. That is where most of the rust appears. and aroung the inside of the roof.

Speaking of rust...Everything is pretty sold but I did remove the sound insulation (Tar sheets?) and rubber floor this evening and there was alot of water between the two and I found this:

Passenger side


Driver side


Appears to just be surface rust after using the old screwdriver test. I'll sand it down at some point to be sure.

Also removed the fancy schmancy cb antenna from the roof



A little bit at a time...

[67cheby]

nice solid truck, love that inside color also !

[Zoomin]

You know anything called Booger is destined to be a classic.

Go after the grease with a putty knife first. Do you plan on taking the engine out, cab off, etc?

[americanthunder]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

You know anything called Booger is destined to be a classic.

Go after the grease with a putty knife first. Do you plan on taking the engine out, cab off, etc?

Yea I was going to yank the motor/tranny this weekend which will give alot more access. The cab I was hoping not to have to tackle that mainly due to lack of manpower to lift it off

[gdavis]

It looks like you have a solid truck. Some of these trucks are like a rust bucket. Mine is a example of that. But My cab is almost done.

[americanthunder]

Made some progress the last few days. First I cleaned out the gas tank and WOW was it filthy. Thanks to Lo Elco for the info on cleaning it came out so clean its the nicest part of the truck now

I decided to finish removing interior dash pieces, radio, heater hoses etc only to find that the whole HVAC system was loaded with rags, leaves and dirt. Seems a pack rat had built his own Ritz Carlton inside the heater core/ac box and the fresh air vents in the lower kick panels. After some shop vacuuming, compressed air, and alot of awkward positions pulling little pieces of old rages out with my fingers I got the system cleaned out. Figuring this was why the blower fan didnt work during my evaluation stage I turned it on but it still didnt work! A little more investigation revealed that the power to the blower was corroded so a little cleaning and it was blowing AIR. Felt like I really accomplished something then I guess it really is the little things.

Progress photo sorry I was focused on cleaning and forgot about the pics:



During my journey I found that I need to replace all the heater and ac air vent hoses, my glovebox disintegrated (cardboard + AZ = No Buenos), the original motorola radio is trashed, dash speaker disintegrated, defrost vents disintegrated, and countless other things! Such is life in the desert. Did I mention the fan is working? LOL

Ok on to the steering column. When I got the truck the gear shift lever absolutely would not move into park. I could do it manually under the hood on the column and the transmission moved freely. Thanks to this board I realized the shifter lever actually PULLS BACK but mine did not. I pulled the shifter lever and shot a bunch of PB Blaster in....20 mins later it shifted smooth as butta Accomplishment #2!

On another note I scored a NICE Fender, Hood, and Hood Hinge to replace the deer damage old booger sustained in the past. Everything is rust free and straight as an arrow and for 200 bucks I think I did ok. Im becoming a craigslist junkie!

Made some calls to rebuild the engine but found most want 1000+ to rebuild boogers existing mill so I bit the bullet and ordered a Goodwrench 350 from Jegs on sale for $1499. Installed one of these in an 80's blazer I had and it was nice knowing it had a warranty. I guess since Im installing it in a vehicle older than a 73 they wont honor the 3yr 100k warranty but instead give it only a 12mo unlimited warranty. Also grabbed an edelbrock carb/intake and a HEI ignition for good measure.

Also made some calls to rebuild the old th350 and I dunno if its just me but the prices these rebuilders get in Tucson is INSANE. A grand to rebuild a tranny seems a bit stiff to me. I've decided since i went over my budget on the motor rebuild a bit Im going to rebuild the trans myself. I ordered Ron Sessions book that was mentioned several times here and on other forums hopefully that will give me a better understanding of what Im up against. I've rebuilt almost everything but a transmission so it will definitely be a learning experience.

Well I budgeted 5 grand to rebuild this truck into a driver and I think I'll have that spent before it even gets to paint. No one tell my wife Patina is looking better every day!

[americanthunder]

Originally Posted by Ghostryder79

Welcome! Nice find. Looks to be a good start for you and your son. I just started a 68 C10 CST LWB with my son. I'm down in Sierra Vista, so it's nice to see someone relatively close.

Thanks and good luck with yours..You any good with trannys? LOL Stay in touch I'd love to see what your working on!

[Low Elco]

Glad it came out good for ya! If you have a cherry picker, pulling the cab is no great shakes. Put a chain with a little slack between the front seat holes, an hook on in the middle, over the hump. Jack up and pull off. Don't forget the oil line. There are pics on the yeller thread kinda in the middle of this process.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BuiltwithIvy]

Originally Posted by americanthunder

Also made some calls to rebuild the old th350 and I dunno if its just me but the prices these rebuilders get in Tucson is INSANE. A grand to rebuild a tranny seems a bit stiff to me. I've decided since i went over my budget on the motor rebuild a bit Im going to rebuild the trans myself. I ordered Ron Sessions book that was mentioned several times here and on other forums hopefully that will give me a better understanding of what Im up against. I've rebuilt almost everything but a transmission so it will definitely be a learning experience.

when rebuilding the trans, the most important part is to stay EXTREMELY organized, find or build a nice big bench, and as you take things out, keep them in order, and label stuff as top or bottom, check to see if you need any special tools FIRST, and then start on it, if everything is organized should only take half a day or so, I think the first time i rebuilt a trans took about 6 hours, and I did that without reading a book, just look whats there, match the new pieces in same order, and replace

[jlsanborn]

Welcome to the board A-Thunder! That's a sweet truck you've got to start with and you've also found the crowd that'll answer any questions you've got. It really is invaluable.
What plans do you have for this build? Are you going to paint it yourself?

[Bomp]

It's nice to see a solid truck getting a shot at a new life.
Truck is coming along great.
The boy will learn tons from you. Priceless.

[wild4wheels]

Very cool. subscribed

[americanthunder]

Originally Posted by BuiltwithIvy

when rebuilding the trans, the most important part is to stay EXTREMELY organized, find or build a nice big bench, and as you take things out, keep them in order, and label stuff as top or bottom, check to see if you need any special tools FIRST, and then start on it, if everything is organized should only take half a day or so, I think the first time i rebuilt a trans took about 6 hours, and I did that without reading a book, just look whats there, match the new pieces in same order, and replace

I learned to stay organized doing just the valve body mods on Allison transmissions but Im sure there will be alot more parts. Still up in the air about this guess it will depend on time and budget. Started reading the Ron Sessions book last night for a few mins and already Im a bit uneasy..LOL

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Glad it came out good for ya! If you have a cherry picker, pulling the cab is no great shakes. Put a chain with a little slack between the front seat holes, an hook on in the middle, over the hump. Jack up and pull off. Don't forget the oil line. There are pics on the yeller thread kinda in the middle of this process.
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks for the tip, I read your thread once but apparently missed it. I'll look through it again!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Welcome to the board A-Thunder! That's a sweet truck you've got to start with and you've also found the crowd that'll answer any questions you've got. It really is invaluable.
What plans do you have for this build? Are you going to paint it yourself?

Your right this place is the absolute best for knowledge and help. Everyones been great. My plans for the build is just to be a more clean, straight, OE style daily driver but the deeper I get into this the more stuff I see that I want to make "perfect" so its evolving. As for paint, I have no knowledge of paint but wish I did because I think thats something I'd love to try (On an old quarter panel first)..LOL Never painted with anything more high tech than a rattle can.

Originally Posted by Bomp

It's nice to see a solid truck getting a shot at a new life.
Truck is coming along great.
The boy will learn tons from you. Priceless.

With the world wide web, video games, ipods, and cell phones its kind of hard to drag him into a cold garage to get dirty and maybe skin a knuckle. But I'm certain from personal experience with my dad they will be memories and knowledge he will have forever.

Originally Posted by wild4wheels

Very cool. subscribed

Thanks wild4wheels. Im trying to do a little every evening so hopefully I'll keep ya interested!

[americanthunder]

Ok made some more progress last night. Started off my evening by removing the passenger fender which was the "good" fender I thought I had and found that it had glass on the backside in the wheel well opening and the work was less than marginal. Probably never see it when its installed, but I'll know its there so I called my new best friend who I got the other fender and hood from to see if he still had another fender. Meeting him to pick that up today Here is what I found just to the right of my shoe:



Since I plan on pulling the engine/trans this weekend and try and get the front frame/suspension cleaned up and ready for the new engine that will arrive next week I went ahead and pulled the inner fenders and core support. When I disconnected the AC lines it was bone dry. A little part of me was hoping it was still holding a charge but I knew better

Anyway here is what old booger looked like at the end of the evening:



Well my parts list grew longer over the course of this evening, and I started a new "must purchase before reassembly" list. This includes core support bushings, fan shroud, radiator retaining pads, power steering pump/lines, water pump, belts, wiring harness gutters, and some other things.

I'm still puzzled by where this truck was driven the coating of whatever its is is so thick on the metal parts underneath its like concrete. Scraper doesn't work on it only a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer which nicks the hell out of the metal sometimes. Cant wait to try the oven cleaner and see if that works. I'm sure there was more but I gotta get to work!

[BuiltwithIvy]

Originally Posted by americanthunder

I learned to stay organized doing just the valve body mods on Allison transmissions but Im sure there will be alot more parts. Still up in the air about this guess it will depend on time and budget. Started reading the Ron Sessions book last night for a few mins and already Im a bit uneasy..LOL

look at some youtube videos that show the step by step process as well, this should let you know exactly what you are getting into, with pictures, hopefully of a transmission that is exactly like yours, and it will give you a better idea than a book, there are lots of pieces, but they are mostly "kits" of pieces that go together as you do it