Greetings to those following this thread. Here is the latest status.
The truck is now insured and registered for the first time in 20 years. I had the dual Flowmaster exhaust replaced with a single pipe and Magnaflow muffler in a stock route out behind the drivers side rear tire. A much better set up for this truck. And this past Thursday it had a full front end alignment. With these things done I've been doing short test drives to identify any bugs to be worked out. So far I have three things that need immediate attention:
1. Steering box. This brand new CPP 500 series steering gear has way too much play. It feels as if I'm driving a truck with a worn out steering box. This along with the problems I had with the wrong hose fitting seats, is leading me to replace this steering box with a standard replacement box for a 72 C20. But, I'm going to speak with CPP first.
2. Intake manifold water leak. There is a slow drip at the front of the intake manifold. I believe there is also a leak internally as there is a bit of white smoke or vapor coming out of the exhaust.
3. The windshield. I've had this glass installed twice now and it is still not seated correctly. The second time I provided a Precision gasket. But it seems like the gaskets are too small. They don't fill the channel like the old dried up one did. I still have gaps around most of the windshield mounting area and especially at the lower corners by the doors. I don't know if it is the shop I'm using or the materials. In any case, I've made arrangements to have it looked at by a shop whose owner has a 56 truck. So he knows what he is dealing with.
Here are some pics of the hood work and the assembled truck. First is the hood. The underside of the hood was heavily oxidized. I scrubbed it as clean as I could and then primed and painted. I used the same eggshell white that I used on the firewall. I painted the braces the same gloss gray I used on multiple areas so far. Also installed new black insulation material between the hood and the braces as well as the AAW turn signal harness. The truck is now completely re-wired. The new park lights/turn signals are LED and they are cool.
Underside of hood -
The sun gave these pics a gauzy appearance. But this is what the truck looks like today, and you can see the exhaust is now behind the rear wheel -
Passenger side -
