What have you done to your square lately??

[mikeoverland]

Hello all,

I finally got my driveshaft installed so now it's onto other issues with the basket case. I went and dropped the fuel tank so I could clean out the fuel tank. Come to find out the gas gauge DOES work because i dropped the tank with about 6 gallons in it. After pulling the tank and the taking out the sending unit i figured out a few things. First off the tank is in decent shape and the pickup needs the top cleaned. That is the good news. The kind of bad news is that the fuel sock is hashed and since i removed the fuel pickup the gasket needs to be replaced as well. I went from having to pay 175$ for a new tank and pickup to having to replace a fuel sock and a gasket. I already have a spool of rubber fuel line to replace all of the rubber parts of the fuel system. Now this truck is being converted to an electric fuel pump because I can't find a mechanical pump that is worth anything. I do have a plan to put a switch that will kill the fuel pump if the oil pressure gets below 3psi (think accident). On ward and upward...

Mike Overland
Leon Springs Tx
owner of the 1981 C10 known as the "basket case"

 

[CRM]

Thought I'd post some pics of the restored interior.

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[AyWoSch Motors]

Sunday session:
Installed the new sun visors and brackets. Attempted to finally take it out on the road but the clutch pedal had to hit the floor before I was able to (barely) shift it into reverse. I looked for an adjustment but found none at the master or slave cylinder, or the pedal rod. Could it be that the system has air in it? I don't remember having this issue when I bought it and drove it home. I flushed the coolant system with 9 gallons of distilled water and then put coolant in it. I discovered that the passenger side exhaust manifold gasket is leaking like a sieve and ordered a new set.

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I'm having big issues my my hydraulic clutch on my 86 right now too.
Pedal goes all the way to the floor, and it still wont shift. Low grinds, and 2 3 4 and R just wont go.

 

[BRetty]

I'll answer a few questions:

Install new radiator:
Common when replacing a worn trans is to flush the trans cooler lines and rad. Blow out old oil with shop air. Then a spray can of trans cooler flush. It will come with plastic fittings and a hose to spray right into the cooler lines. Let sit a few minutes then clear it out with shop air. Repeat again, one can will work several times.

Replace water pump (and thermostat):
You will have different opinions on this, but I would use Permatex #2 sealant, coat both sides of each gasket.
The 5/8" heater hose needs to connect to the top of the intake manifold. (hot coolant). The 3/4" hose will go to the water pump or the fitting on the top of the radiator depending on the year of the parts.

Re-mount P/S pump:
Before you remove the pulley, take note to the end of the pump shaft, is it flush with the pulley or recessed? Reinstall to the same place. When installing the pulley don't use different length bolts to pull it on. You may end up pulling the threads off the pump shaft. Instead screw a stud all the way into all the threads on the shaft, then use a nut and flat washers to pull the pulley on.

Thanks for this valuable advice. Info on PS pump particularly helpful. I just got my can of trans cooler flush from Summit, so don't have to track down inverted flare fittings to make my own rig.

Unfortunately, ckeaning the reolacement rsdiotor I discovered a leak....I'll put up a thread about it and my attempt to find a fepair shop starting Monday.

Thanks again!

 

[CRM]

I'm having big issues my my hydraulic clutch on my 86 right now too.
Pedal goes all the way to the floor, and it still wont shift. Low grinds, and 2 3 4 and R just wont go.

Sounds exactly like what mine is doing.

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

Sounds exactly like what mine is doing.

I've bled it a few times, but I'm going to give it one last try, doing it differently..

 

[SirRobyn0]

@CRM If your still trying to decide on what to do with the exhaust and you want close to factory here's my $.02 This is what I did, I wanted quiet, factory quiet, but I wanted a little more flow due to towing and hauling and my 305 can use all the help it can get in the power department. I used the stock 2 1/2" Y-pipe (actually mine was still good so just ran it), I went from the factory 2 1/2" mid-pipe to 3" and installed a high flow cat. For a muffler I installed a walker soundFX single inlet 3" dual outlet 2". My truck came factory with single exhaust and dual exits on the drivers side so I was able to reuse my tail pipes. It has served me well. It's been nice and quiet and preformed well, but probably need to do something with it one of these days as my Y-pipe and tails and starting to fall apart now lol.

 

[CRM]

Thanks for the input Rob. So far I have the y pipe on order and I've received the Walker SoundFX with single inlet and outlet. I'm going with a single pipe exiting behind the driver's side rear tire. I've also got the gaskets and clamps. The only thing that's been impossible to find is the intermediate and tail pipes. I'm thinking about just building them out of parts store pieces, or going to a muffler shop and having them made.

 

[CRM]

I've bled it a few times, but I'm going to give it one last try, doing it differently..

According to everything I've learned, if the pedal is soft it's air, and if the pedal is hard it's the clutch. I'm awaiting you're outcome.....

 

[Mr Clean]

I don't post much here, usually just in my build thread, but had to post this here. I have not cleaned or polished these wheels in 20 years. My buddy told me about this polish, and wheel cleaner. Holy crap. Took me about two hours. The best part was, it didn't take and power anything. It was all done by hand. A little before and after.

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

According to everything I've learned, if the pedal is soft it's air, and if the pedal is hard it's the clutch. I'm awaiting you're outcome.....

Mines of hard and soft. Line it feels okay at first, and then it loses something. I'll let you know how it comes out.

 

[Blue Ox]

I don't post much here, usually just in my build thread, but had to post this here. I have not cleaned or polished these wheels in 20 years. My buddy told me about this polish, and wheel cleaner. Holy crap. Took me about two hours. The best part was, it didn't take and power anything. It was all done by hand. A little before and after.

Looks good!

I don't suppose you'd like to share the name of this miracle product, would you?

 

[Mr Clean]

Looks good!

I don't suppose you'd like to share the name of this miracle product, would you?

Go look at my build thread....

 

[smullen]

Well, I got somewhat motivated on Sunday. I wanted to take out the seats, carpet and any underlayment and see what kinda rust I might be dealing with before I do much else.

I got all the seat bolts out, the seat belt roller mechanisms on either side of the bench seat. Got one out, will have to Drill and maybe tap the other. Got one of the middle seat belts out and I'm working on the rest. Trying to be careful and not strip out the head or threads. So far I've only broke one.

Vacuumed it real good, Pulled the old carpet out and all the underlayment crap. Vacuumed more then saw all the rust and was big sad.
I've certainly see much worse, but its much worse than I thought or expected.
I'll probably do another thread on it as there are some things I'm not sure how to handle. I might just send it to a body guy as I want everything done right. I mean, If I'm going to put time and money in this thing I want to do it right, or as best as I can do or afford done....

Also pulled out some 4 Gauge wire, the P.O. had ran for his stereo and an bed mounted Compressor for a train horn...

 

[Finkaire]

Stainless steel sill guards