Re: Restoring Rusty
 

hey man is you even sure that's where it was a leakin' from in the first place, I mean what else have you done with that there new(er) transmission, sometimes guys replace the speedo cable and put it in just hand tight and forgit' to tighten it all the way with some TOOL, just sayin' bra, not saying that could possibly be the case here, but you know you may wanna crawl under that rig with a light and take a looksie

oh by the way try crawlin' under from the driver side, there's a bit more clearance on that side minus the gas tank and all, I've noticed you put on a few pounds lately on the account of the Soft Serve Season, just sayin' bro just sayin'

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Oh, I indeed did end up liking it. But when I saw that front end dropped further than the rear before you fixed it. I almost cried.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

well just dang it! sounds like some of my projects. fix one thing that ain't even broke.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

My Harley has that same attitude.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so the saga of the leaky transmission continues, though as you shall see the hand tight speedo cable was not the problem

after further investigation the leak does come from the speedo gear housing, so it was time to yank it out, not only to fix the leak but to see if we can replace the speedo gear with one that is a bit more accurate, as my truck says I went 6.5 miles for every 6 I actually drove (tested with another vehicle)

it appears I have a 40T tooth gear, so with it being 8% off I think I need the 43 tooth one.

6.5 divided by 6 = 1.08

40 teeth times 1.08 (carry the circumfrance of the earth) gives us 43.3333333333333333333333333333333 approximately

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Looks like your MY6 uses a similar speedometer gear carrier to the NP208 in my 76 & M1008 and some, but not all, TH350 & TH700R4 from that timeframe.
There's an O-Ring round the large part of the housing and a seal around the cable end of the gear. Either one can leak but usually it's the seal inside the threaded end around the gear stem.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1511809...&ul_noapp=true
I believe part #s are as follows
12440382 SEAL, SPEEDO DRIVEN GEAR (the orange seal in your pic)
1361618 OIL SEAL RETAINER, SPEEDO DRIVEN GEAR (C-Clip in your pic)
I believe it's # 326563 SEAL, SPEEDO DRIVEN GEAR SLEEVE (Black o-ring in the gear carrier)

You can find the orange seal online and probably locally.

The GM 43 tooth driven gear is Purple and probably around $25.
More than you want to know about speedo gears in the 73-87 trucks. http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/drivetrain/speedo.htm

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

You are my Saviour!!! thank you so much, I just spent an hour at NAPA looking for this stuff and only came away with the large rubber O-ring part number 1-3895 from a TH350 I believe

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I am beginning to think the same thing!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Nonsense, I love this stuff and you have no idea how much I appreciate you helping me out, thank you very much.

ok so I checked and I have the blue drive gear ie 18 teef so using their formula it validates that I need the 43 tooth driven gear.

18 x 3.42 x (20168/29) = 42.76 or round up to 43

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so while we wait on the speedometer housing seal, o-ring and a 43T tooth driven gear I might as well tell you what else I was up to

couple days ago Pick N Pull had a 50% off sale, so I went a huntin' for a few things and scored a thermo nuclear 7 blade fan for only $12 bucks, which we will clean up, paint and mount some day, for now we just brought it up for show n tell

a kind '78 happened to be the organ donor in this case

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

also got some grille brackets off the same truck in case I ever find and or decide to go to a newer style grille, this time they only wanted $6 bucks per bracket unlike that other dude who wanted $16 each or something like that in Chico, CA

these also will be cleaned up, and painted green to match the grille some day, (or maybe black, donno)

shoot I just remembered I should have grabbed the center hood latch support bracket too, as it also be different than my '74, oh well

Re: Restoring Rusty - Front Anti Sway Bar
 

now I hate sitting around waitin' for parts and it is a 3 day weekend on the account of Memorial Day and all, so I decided to pull out the 1-1/16 anti sway bar I picked up a few weeks back, also a Pick N Pull score for $30 bucks, the plan is to soak it in acid/water bath to get the corrosion off, than wire wheel it, prime it, paint it cast iron color and the brackets black, and clear coat it, NICE

this one came off of a '79 GMC

TOP TIP: when you go a pullin this thing, bring a battery powered drill to drill out the rivets to get the front brackets, something I did not do thinking they was bolted on

Re: Restoring Rusty - Anti Sway Bar Brackets
 

I got the front anti sway bar brackets from that expensive yard in Chico, CA since I worked so hard to drill the 4 rivets out in the field, I decided to pay the $11 bucks a piece for them, I know my local yard would have charged me half that

these came off of an '84 GMC and I think it had a 1-1/8 sway bar, I don't recall if it was still on when I got to it or if someone already bought it, if I knew it was the bigger kind I would have bought it also, well depending on the Devil's price

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

pulled the anti sway bar out of the acid bath this morning and hosed it off, than wire wheeled it clean, it really takes both acid and abrasives (wire wheel) to get the rust completely off

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

the brackets that come rivited to the frame from the factory was next, can any of youz tell me what the V is for, is that V for Victory or hey my name is Victor and I made these, LOL? or is that an arrow and I have two left ones or two right ones, ha ha

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and soon enuff both of those were clean

i was thinking / comparing media a blastin' to wire wheelins and I think you can get in the came for a whole lot cheaper with a wire wheel (Harbor Freight $15 bucks) than media blasting which you need an air compressor $250 for plus a media bucket $100

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and than I got started on the small brackets

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and soon enuff those was down to bare metal

now Greg why you is working so hard taking them down to bare metal, well cause I gotta tell you in my experience 100% of the time or more, (LOL) they got rust beneath the paint, I kid you not, so I exterminate that cancer

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

another question time (AQT)

is they supposed to a have those indentations in the brackets, cause either they forgot to put some in, in all the brackets or these are just wear marks I can't tell the difference non

so is that by design or is they supposed to be nice and flat

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

all clean and ready for the paint

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Urethane bushings come with Yellow Zinc galvanized U-Straps. Yellow Zinc looks similar to the old Cadmium bolt and hardware coatings GM used at least till the 80's and probably into the 90's. Much better than the old clapped out rubber bushings or even new rubber bushings. They change the character of the sway bar operation enough that you may not miss the slightly larger piece.
This is a set of Red 1.125" (1-1/8") Greaseable Urethane Bushings. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ens-3-5176r/overview/

Pick your sway bar diameter and get a set... They are available in Black if you aren't looking to draw attention to them.http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/search.asp

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

this is sorta what we are going for, not quite the hammered finish as they call it, but just cast iron grayish contrast of the bar to the semi flat black brackets

money

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

As you always do please take good pics of installing the sway bar as I need to do one when I am able to work again .

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I chose the Dupli-Color [ahem] Wheel Coating "System" of Primer | Paint | Clear for the following two reasons:

1. they offer Graphite base coast

2. they offer Matte clear coat

and so we start with two medium coats of primer (although they call for 4 light ones)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

LOL, this is how it came off, glad I took these pics

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

You know are the frame brackets left and right? I put a sway bar on my truck and never did paint it. I just put it on the truck. I couldn't tell a difference with it really. Although I never did push it hard. Looking good dude.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I thought about that, but that would mean my donor truck had two of the same kind. Plus LMC Truck which is usually good in their diagrams does not list a left and right one when selling them, just says you need two.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Mine is scattered about my shop in all directions ,I hope to get it organized soon though.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

So I've been running this cheap ($125) Proform distributor part number 66941BK for about a year. I say cheap because they make a bit more expensive one part number 141-682 for $150 that I wish I would have bought instead.

Now mine works fine, great actually, but it feels cheap and the guts are very clunky, feel so loose that I think my engine ticking noise is coming from the distributor. I also noticed that my weights do not have any plastic bushings on them, yet the kit came with two different pairs.

So I went out and bought this PROFORM Advance Spring and Weight Kit (Made in Taiwan) I figure I'll try a different weight and bushing set and play around with the different spring settings as well. I figure maybe I'll learn a thing or two about timing curves etc. can't hurt right

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

also I think the Taiwanies have a sick sense of humor cause look how they packaged the weights, I don't think that's how they go on, I think they have to go on upside down (shinny side down) like in my pic below

Left - my original set

Right - the new weights from the kit how they should go one

difficult to tell but my old weights (though I call them cheap) are machined way nicer than the Taiwaneese ones, the Proform kit would not even fit the Proform distributor, I had to use a rat tail file to open up the two holes more in the center plate to get it to slide on the two studs, shame I tell you!

That kit is junk, don't waste your money on it.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

OK, I tried the Medium Silver springs with the 600 - 2800 RPM range and I swear they only gave me 8* of Total Advance. I tested them in two configurations:

Test 1 - 0* Initial Timing gave me 8* Total Timing (no vacum, engine all reved up to 3500 RPM) even with my vacuum canister hooked up to give us some more advnace, the truck did not run good, felt under powered, and choked/sputtered/backfired under acceleration a couple times

Test 2 - 10* Initial Timing gave me 18* Total Timing (no vacuum, engine all reved up to 3500 RPM) also with the vacuum canister hooked up, the truck ran better but I would not say good, not full power, I think may have backfired under acceleration a time or two

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Are the bushings on in that pic?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

The setup that worked best for me is 16 base, 20 centrifugal, giving 36 total, and 15 vacuum.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yes, tiny little black plastic thingies under the outside studs of the little springs, hard to see

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Thanks Rich, so what was your what I would call All In Timining, that would be your Base + Centrifugal + Vacuum?

I ask because before I messed with anything I had a similar setup

16 + 23 centrifugal, giving me 32 total somehow (maybe reading error on my part)

But my All In Timing was 55*, which I never understood since there should be little to no Vacuum advance at 3500 RPM so how could 10 Initial plus 23 Mechanical add up to 55, that leaves me with 15 vacuum at WOT, made no sense, so I started messing with it

I think for starters I need to get a timing tape put on my harmonic balancer so I don't rely on my digital Snap On timing light to get the Total Timing numbers, as that's tricky to do with one light

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

a buddy of mine gave me this CRANE CAMS Adjustable Vacuum Advance Kit part number 99600-1 it comes with a set of springs

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so what did I do? I went out and bought my own, ha ha, what do you do after you buy a cheap distributor and one cheap kit for it? well naturally you go out and buy another cheap kit for it, a Financial Wizard I'm not!

Yup, another Made in Taiwan Proform kit part number 66952C. Now hear me out, I really couldn't tell if the canister on my distributor was adjustable or not, who ever said well just look inside that tinny vacuum hole and you will be able to tell, has never done it themselves or has Superman vision, cause I couldn't tell even with the distributor off the truck outside with the sun shinning and me using a flashlight to see whats in there, so I have no idea how they can see in there with the unit still in the truck, IMPOSSIBLE I tell ya

anyway plus I wanted to have a Proform unit to go with the Proform distributor, I am just built that way is all I am sayin', possibly some of you may relate

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

This is a perfect example of how many friends and well wishers often do not understand the desire to get something done correctly. I fully agree with you here. I feel that, if I am to go this extent, finishing the project halfway is pointless. It only takes very little extra time to get the job done right!

Yeah, I feel you here.