Frankentruck

[Braunschweiger]

I also have this switch, it's actually supposed to spray water on the windshield and wipe it, it never worked with the button, without pressing the button, just the pen, it works, I'll probably put an extra switch too.
Congratulations on the working air conditioning and the overdrive.

[straight6chevyguy]

Great job on the ac install Christian!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

I also have this switch, it's actually supposed to spray water on the windshield and wipe it, it never worked with the button, without pressing the button, just the pen, it works, I'll probably put an extra switch too.
Congratulations on the working air conditioning and the overdrive.

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

Great job on the ac install Christian!

Thanks fellas, I enjoy driving the truck even more now. The install didn’t come without issues though

[cwcarpenter98]

Two weekends ago I noticed the alternator light was faintly on while driving home from my friend’s wedding. I figured the externally regulated alternator was to blame, so I decided to pick up an internally regulated alternator that also put out more amps. What I thought would take a day or two ended up taking two weeks.

The first alternator that showed up was bad out of the box. That sucked, so got another. The second one tested good but the alternator light was still coming on when I turned on the a/c. I finally found out that the voltage at the blower motor fuse dropped to 10.4 or so volts when the a/c was turned on. I also discovered that the ignition switch plug melted from excess heat. Although I had replaced the fuse block several years ago, it was a reproduction of the original, so apparently the wire size is too small to effectively run the a/c system.

The fix? Relays. I ran two relays to bypass the fuse block and just triggered the relays with the heater circuit on the fuse block. The relays will only send power to the a/c system when the key is on. That did the trick and the a/c is back to working great. I tested it by cruising over to Acworth, Ga for a cruise in. I did notice that the fan belt wasn’t sitting well in the pulley on the new alternator, so when I got home after dinner, I went ahead and swapped out the pulleys from the old alternator to the new one. The belt fits much better now.

Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to park next to a suburban. It’s got a 502 big block and a th400

[cwcarpenter98]

I did a little tinkering this morning and figured out why the solenoid wasn't working for the overdrive. The solenoid stopped working on me after I got to Lebanon last month. Finally decided to look at it today just to find that all I had to do was clean up the contact points again in the solenoid. I do love the easy fixes though!

[350TacoZilla]

I love easy fixes but hate it when I put them off for awhile because I think they are some huge task only to find out it was a 5 min job lol.

[cwcarpenter98]

So shortly after I thought the solenoid was fixed, it stopped working again.
I’ve been working on Penny and just driving Frankentruck as a standard 3 speed. On Thursday, I just happened to see a for sale ad on Facebook Marketplace. So now I have four 3 speed overdrive transmissions.
A new solenoid is around $300. These two transmissions were $150 for both. As long as one of those solenoids works, I’ll be in good shape

[cwcarpenter98]

Decided to try the solenoid from the transmission on the right, and it worked out of the vehicle. It's also very clean inside with a lot of life left on the contact points. My guess is that the solenoid was replaced at one point and then the transmission got pulled somewhat shortly after. I changed the gear oil and swapped solenoids.

Apparently something else is actually my problem with the overdrive electricals. I'll be checking the governor and relays later this week.

[cwcarpenter98]

Oh no, my rust got rained on

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Apparently something else is actually my problem with the overdrive electricals. I'll be checking the governor and relays later this week.

Yes, there was something else wrong with the electricals. Turns out the governor decided to break internally. The weights would still move, but some sort of spring or something inside must have broke. With the cap on the governor, it's supposed to keep open the contact points that ground the entire system. Once the truck gets to around 28 mph, the weights pull the assembly down and the contact points close to ground the entire system. The governor was not keeping the contact points open like it should.

I ended up taking one of the governors off the two transmissions I picked up recently, but that one also didn't work. Apparently the weights are a little frozen up on that one because it wasn't working either. I tried the other governor this afternoon, and sure enough, I have overdrive again. I now have a really good condition solenoid and good governor, so I should be good to go for awhile now!

[cwcarpenter98]

I haven’t had to do anything to Frankentruck since fixing the overdrive other than just driving around a bunch. I’ve been working a lot on Penny over the past couple weeks. Frankentruck worked great for keeping enough charge on the battery to finally figure out that Penny’s engine has probably jumped time. Looks like I’ll be driving Frankentruck a good bit longer before doing the rust repair

[cwcarpenter98]

Merry Christmas!

[Braunschweiger]

A little early, but nice.
Winter has arrived here today.

[cwcarpenter98]

Frankentruck did a little light hauling this evening. Picked up a 350 for Penny.
Frankentruck has now hauled 3 engines home. The first one was the engine for the Dakota that went to and from the machine shop. The second was the 283 currently in Frankentruck, and now the 350 for Penny. Didn’t drive all that bad with all the weight at the rear, but I took it slow and careful anyways because I didn’t want to yeet the engine into the cab

[Braunschweiger]

We like to transport engines on an old car tire where it sits securely with the oil pan and lash the engine around the cylinder head, once left and right,

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

We like to transport engines on an old car tire where it sits securely with the oil pan and lash the engine around the cylinder head, once left and right,

I would have done that method if needed, but the guy I got the engine from is only about a 15 minute drive from me. We left the engine on the storage stand, so I just have to return the stand next week

[cwcarpenter98]

Took a trip this weekend to hang out with a bunch of my college buddies, so of course I had to take my favorite road trip vehicle. Stopped at one of my favorite BBQ restaurants in Winder, GA: Smokin Po-Boys. Definitely would recommend stopping there if you find yourself in Winder.

I did start hearing a funky, intermittent rattling noise at idle, however, but didn’t check it out until I got home. Found out Sunday after getting home that I apparently didn’t tighten the crank pulleys enough. One of the bolts decided to exit the vehicle. Down one bolt and missing a smidge of material on the remaining two, I did the right thing and stole the pulley bolts from Penny. I also finally added a harmonic dampener bolt by stealing the one off Penny. The bolt seemed just a smidge too long, so I went on the hunt for a shorter bolt. Finally found one just right but it was dark by the time I got back. Finished putting everything back together after work today and all seems back to normal. I’ve already got new bolts for Penny in the Summit Racing cart that I’ve been putting together.

[cwcarpenter98]

A glimpse into the past two weekends. Road trips in Frankentruck, catching some sunsets, and a great start to car show season. Sure is fun to drive around in an old rust bucket!

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Took a trip this weekend to hang out with a bunch of my college buddies, so of course I had to take my favorite road trip vehicle. Stopped at one of my favorite BBQ restaurants in Winder, GA: Smokin Po-Boys. Definitely would recommend stopping there if you find yourself in Winder.

I did start hearing a funky, intermittent rattling noise at idle, however, but didn’t check it out until I got home. Found out Sunday after getting home that I apparently didn’t tighten the crank pulleys enough. One of the bolts decided to exit the vehicle. Down one bolt and missing a smidge of material on the remaining two, I did the right thing and stole the pulley bolts from Penny. I also finally added a harmonic dampener bolt by stealing the one off Penny. The bolt seemed just a smidge too long, so I went on the hunt for a shorter bolt. Finally found one just right but it was dark by the time I got back. Finished putting everything back together after work today and all seems back to normal. I’ve already got new bolts for Penny in the Summit Racing cart that I’ve been putting together.

Did you put some Loctite on those bolts?

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

Did you put some Loctite on those bolts?

This time, I did!
I think the combo between no Loctite and reusing the original, single pulley bolts when switching to a triple pulley for the a/c and maybe future power steering left the bolts at a disadvantage of clamping force. Or I just messed up and didn’t get them tight enough to begin with. Either way, oops.
I did check the bolts again last night while doing an oil change. All seems to be ok

[cwcarpenter98]

Since the odometer is still broken, I mapped out the route driven and I put about 500 miles on Frankentruck this weekend with about 11 hours or so of driving. I only towed the trailer about 150 miles or so.
Got to go to the C10 Club Ga swap meet Saturday morning, then drove up to Lake Jocassee to watch the sunset at Jumping Off Rock Overlook. The forestry road up to the overlook was a lot of fun with a bunch of twists and turns and beautiful scenery. The whole weekend was a great trip!

[Braunschweiger]

I always enjoy your adventures with the truck, a great reliable truck.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

I always enjoy your adventures with the truck, a great reliable truck.

Thanks Harald. This truck has treated me well so far!