89 Crew Cab resurrection.....

[Leedogg]

Nice detial on the bracketry....gonna look nice!

[wyattglock]

Originally Posted by Leedogg

Nice detial on the bracketry....gonna look nice!

Thanks! I wish I could have bead blasted them, but didn't have access since my air compressor is broke down right now. I used a LOT of elbow grease and wire brushed, sanded, and hand washed the parts to get them like they are. They are by no means perfect, but then I am not going for a show truck as of now either.

[wyattglock]

A little update since I havent done one in a while. I have been able to get out and work on the truck a couple of times in the last week. Finally got the engine to crank over with the ignition. Still have to finish hooking up the harness, fuel lines, and exhaust. But for all the other stuff I have had going on, that shouldn't take that long. If the rain holds off this afternoon, I am going to try and finish up the wiring and connect the fuel lines. Might go ahead and start it today also, we will see about that.

[wyattglock]

Well, the truck is running! I am still trying to get the exhaust built. I am cutting and welding the whole thing myself. The only part of the exhaust tube that isn't going to be totally fabbed up by me is the x-pipe kit.
Things have been crazy for the last few months, work and medical stuff. In fact, in the last three weeks I have only been able to work on the truck one time. I really need to buckle down and finish the exhaust so I can tweak the engine and get her on the road. My daughter has surgery in Cincinnati on June 23, so I would really like to have the truck running in case I need to drive down separately from the wife. She will have to stay with her, but if all goes well and God is willing. My daughter will only be in the hospital for a couple of days. This surgery should take care of her kidney issues. Then she will hopefully be in the clear and not require any more corrective surgeries. I will keep you posted.

[Gordonr1973]

Prayers for health going out to your family...

[twoodson]

My prayers are with you and your family as well!!!!

[wyattglock]

Thanks guys for the prayers and thoughts! My daughter goes in for her pre-surgery physical tomorrow. Then it is going to be non-stop again until next week when she goes to Cincy for the surgery. We are trying to get as much fun packed in to a short time as we can before he summer is ruined by all this.
I got the truck running and the exhaust good enough to drive tonight. I had to install a separate tranny cooler due to some factory fittings being stripped out. They were pretty soft when I took them apart so it didn't surprise me. Drove to the nearest gas station to fill up with some fresh gas. Got within one block before the ignition module went out. Thankfully a friend pulled me to the grocery store parking lot next to the gas station. Tomorrow I am going to get a Delco module and install that. Hopefully that takes care of it. I have ran the truck for about 3 hours total while on the driveway, this includes a couple of sessions where I broke in the cam or let it run at more than 2k rpm for an extended period of time. It sounds great! I had to put in Accel header plugs today also. The crappy Autolites werent firing correctly. Changing the plugs took care of that.
The exhaust has a very nice tone to it with the dual 3 inch pipes running into an x-pipe then 2 super turbo mufflers. I will take it to a shop and have them run the tailpipes out the back later on. I'll try and post some of the pics of my first attempt at a full exhaust. Learned a lot with the fitting and welding. Thankfully a good friend let me borrow his welder and chop saw. That was a life saver!

[wyattglock]

So I got the ignition module swapped out yesterday. In the process I found that the 4 pin connector on the distributor had a wire pulled completely out of it! Fairly certain the module was good, but went ahead and put the Delco in anyway. Got the truck home, but the power steering pump is leaking so bad that I decided to change it out. Now I have a big problem. I got the pump out of the truck, and got the pulley off. However, I can't get the sheet metal tank around the pump off! I am afraid that I will probably destroy the tin around the pump removing it. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I am thinking that heating the tank up a little and trying to drive it out with some bolts in the back of the pump might get it, but I am still not sure.

[jltait]

They usually pop right off once I pull the regulator valve ( I usually smack them a few times, then stare at it in confusion as to why if will not come off, then remember the regulator valve needs to come out too) which is what the pressure hose screws into. this is additional to removing the 2 bolts (or studs in some cases) that hold the reservoir on. I think it takes a 1" socket, or somewhere near that.
JLT

[wyattglock]

Thanks JLT! Fortunately I had a moment of lucidity after I got home from work tonight and remembered that myself. So I took that fitting out and used an old cylinder head bolt to break the rust ring around the edge and voila! The pump fell right out. Go figure. Oh well, at least now I can paint the case and the reservoir while they are out of the truck.

[wyattglock]

Well, I have got the power steering system going again. In the process, I realized that during the last towing escapade my friend and I had got in a hurry and wrapped the chain around the non-structural crossmember that holds the brake lines and proportioning valve. So now that it is ripped halfway out of the truck, I am going to re-run the lines. While I have the crossmember out, I am going to straighten it out and then brace up the edges a little. After that, the truck should be good for a little while.
On a more important note, my daughter had her surgery today. She came through it fine. We just got into her room, and I will probably be heading back home in a couple of hours. I will update her and the trucks status as I have time and get updates.

[jltait]

Good news, Glad to hear your daughter is doing well!!
JLT

[wyattglock]

Thanks for the well wishes. Hopefully she gets home in the next couple of days.
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[wyattglock]

I got the brake lines ran yesterday. Finished installing the new calipers and flexible brake lines also. Should be able to change the O2 sensor to a three wire today, along with bleeding the brakes and reinstalling the crossmember that holds the proportioning valve. I got it welded back up last night after running the lines.

[wyattglock]

Quick update on my daughter: She got home on Monday June 27. Way before she was expected to come home, not that we weren't happy to get her back here! Her incision is just about healed completely, the joys of being young. We have her pretty much regulated with her meds again, always good! So thankful that she was ok through it all!!! Thanks to all of you for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers!

[Zane M]

Congrats on your daughter's progress. Stories like that are needed to help keep our truck obsessions in perspective to what is really important.

[wyattglock]

Absolutely! I just wish it wasn't her that had to go through it, but we figure there is a reason for it. We just have to find it. This has been a struggle that she has had to go through for the last 4 years. Keep in mind she is only 6. Hopefully this was the last surgery she will need, it keeps getting harder to convince her that his will help her someday. Thankfully, she had a nurse that stopped and talked to her while she was in. Turns out the nurse had the same surgery 18 years ago and had such good things to say about the hospital that she works there now.

[wyattglock]

Had a productive day! Got the brakes bled and the crossmember installed. Had to get a little creative with the crossmember, but since it wasnt structural anyway, that helped me. I ended up tack welding it back into place, which should work fine for protecting the brake lines.
Now I am going to get some valve stem extenders for the inner wheels so I don't have to take off the outer wheel just to put air in them.

[wyattglock]

Well, I had a decent day today. Got the O2 sensor swapped out to a 3 wire. Wired in a relay to power it, also re-bled the brakes. I was running low on fluid when I got the lines installed, so I wanted to be sure I had all the air out. Took the truck for a drive to see what was pretty uneventful. The only thing is, I still can't get the truck to idle correctly. I have sealed off all the vacuum leaks, I sprayed carb and choke cleaner around the intake and the base of the tbi. That produced no change in rpm. I am kind of wondering if my IAC has headed south. The only time it idled very well was after I drove for 30 minutes. Then the engine idled like a champ. Not sure about that one.
Then I got home and had to help one of my neighbors change the rear brakes on his BMW Z3. He and the kid he had helping him couldn't figure out the rear calipers. Turns out they are a quick change caliper and they were trying to unbolt the entire caliper from the spindle instead of taking the piston body off. Easy $20 bucks for me anyway, I guess he had been messing with them for three days trying to figure it out. Took about 40 minutes for both sides once I showed him how to do it.

[wyattglock]

Buttoned up a few things on the truck today. Got her all cleaned out, washed, and ready to go camping this weekend. I think I finally have a pretty good handle on the idle issue. It seems I had the timing to far advanced before plugging in the computer. It would run great off the computer, but wouldn't idle in gear when connected. I retarded the timing using the swag method, and got pretty stinkin close to what I needed. Now the truck starts normally, idles well in gear, and doesn't die when trying to take off.
I'll get a picture of the truck hooked to the camper tomorrow after I get off work. We aren't going very far this weekend. I still want to stay close to home until I am sure the bugs are worked out. So we are just going about 20 minutes north to Prophetstown State Park in Lafayette, IN. Pretty much the other side of the county. Should be fun!

[wyattglock]

Here is my rig all setup and ready to roll out for camping. WOOHOO!!!! Its about time we got out this year and communed with nature!
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[wyattglock]

Got back from camping today. The truck ran pretty good during the whole weekend. This freakin heat is killing it, but can't do much about that. I am having a few problems when it initially starts up. Doesn't want to run for about 2 or 3 minutes, then it smooths out and runs good the rest of the day. I am going to put a timing light back on it and make sure I am at least close to what the timing should be. I figure if I can get it as close to 4 degrees BTDC as possible, then I can have a chip setup to compensate for the rest.
My next things to work on are, timing, a/c, rear sway bar end links, and rear diff cover. I have the new diff cover already, I just need to fit it to the sway bar and make sure that the cooling fins will clear the bar. I will also replace the bushing back there while I am at it. Then I will replace the shocks, not sure how old they are, but I am not very confident in them.

[wyattglock]

Here is a pic of the truck sitting in front of the camper. The site was almost to short to get the whole rig in there. I think I only had a couple of feet before I was in the road!

[wyattglock]

Been a while since I have posted anything on here. Not that things haven't been done, just no time to take good pictures and get them on here.
Today I finished rebuilding the tbi unit on my truck. I ended up with two cracked fuel injector pods. Decided it would be to risky to try and tig them back up. So I cleaned them up with emery cloth and mineral spirits. Then used some 4 hour JB Weld to lay a heavy coating on the lower half of the bowl. After it set up, I tried it, and luckily it worked! I put about 40 miles on it today. No leaks at this point.
While rebuilding the tbi, I put in a spring that allows up to 15psi. I also replaced all the gaskets and o-rings. I also added a gasket under the injector pod to raise it 1/8". All this with the new diaphragm definitely helped my midrange throttle problems. I re-used the TPS sensor, but replaced the IAC. That took my idle to 850 rpm with no accessories on, and 700 with the a/c on.
I also modified the stock air cleaner by cutting the center of the top and bottom plates so it would be an open element filter. I figured if I am going for more fuel, more air isn't going to hurt! I will take a pic tomorrow and post it up. I also had to come up with a different air cleaner hold down. Couldn't find a 1" offset stud anywhere. So I took a piece of 1/4-20 all thread and a piece of 1/4 in flat stock. Drilled 2 holes 1" apart, and used 2 nuts and lock washers on each piece. Works great and with an air cleaner on, you can't tell any different.
Definitely more to come, just no time to do any of it!

[wyattglock]

I have finally had it with my drum brakes! I just blew another wheel cylinder this week. Not sure what keeps causing it, but I am tired of taking the heavy freakin hubs off the old Dana 70. So I ordered a set of brackets from www.diy4x.com to convert over to disc. Might take a while to get everything together for the swap, but I will definitely take some pictures.
In the meantime, if there is anyone out there who did the same thing on a dually that might have some tips. Opinions are welcome!