[dagnabbitt]

The guy I bought this truck from was certain that it was a body swap, ie that they just put a 72 body on top of a 1989 diesel chassis. I doubted that immensely - which is why I did not mention it earlier in this thread - having been under the truck I could see no evidence that the body and chassis were not meant for each other. There were no bolt holes that didn't belong and no others that seemed added. There were no weird body shims, everything lined up. I have a 1959 Apache on a 1997 Tahoe chassis so I know what to look for, I think. To add to my certainty, the bumper I put on last week literally needed just four bolts: the perfect holes were already there and it needed none of the adjustment that every other bumper install I have ever done had required. It fit like a glove.

I think that he just couldn't fathom any other way that the truck could have a diesel in it. But when ordering brake shoes and a pinion seals I did wonder for a moment. I needn't have worried, the 1972 shoes were the right ones. The rotors were in excellent condition and I left them alone.

The brake shoes were an easy install, sort of, except that when turning the wheel to get at everything I found that I am not crazy, the truck really does not turn right as well as it turns left. Turning left I can get 1 and 7/8 turns out of the wheel; turning right only 1 and 1/4. The tilt steering which I have figured out from the build sheet was not original was installed a bit hastily, the steering box is off center. I will be removing it and reinstalling that I guess.

As to the pinion seal there are a few different ones you can get for a 1972 2500: I ordered the one for the Dana 60, which is what I figured I had. When the box arrived it looked familiar. That's when I realized that I already had one: it was behind the seat in the truck, still in the box. Then when we got under the truck I noted that the u joint had been changed recently... why did they not put the pinion seal in at the same time? Looked like it had been leaking since the 90's. I got my answer when I tried to take off the nut (pinon nut?) and found I could not, even with a half inch socket and a snipe. Then a 3/4 inch impact wrench was used: the entire truck was shaking, dust and mud from 40 years ago was flying everywhere. Nothing, the nut not budge one bit. It was incredible. Finally my friend got out his torch and bbq'd it for a few minutes. At that point the 3/4 inch impact got it off. Clearly the PO had bought the seal, tried to remove the nut, could not manage to do it... and said the hell with it and threw it behind the seat. The diff was down a quart and since it only holds about two quarts, so quite a bit.

While I waited for the nut to cool off enough to reinstall I fixed a corroded wire for the interior light, that was pretty satisfying.

Next week is the crankcase or timing chain seal, this truck is making a mess of the street I park it on and I want to be able to put it in my driveway this winter. Also ordering rear parking brake cables, these are seized. At that point I will find out about the rear shoes and if I need a wheel cylinder, I am losing brake fluid from somewhere.