Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Love your color, We should hook up this spring being you live so close.
Chris

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Got two more of those "El Camino" bedrail tie downs off FleaBay. I am pretty sure with all 6 of them I paid more for them than the rails or darn near it.

Since they are plastic I won't trust them to hold much down, the point for me was "there has to be something that can slide in the inner gap of the rails"! So in that regard I am very happy with them. It is the little things that bug me to no end LOL

Speaking of bugging me, my inside of my spear tire annoys me to no end. I kick myself in the butt all the time for not dealing with it before I had the tire mounted on the wheel. I was so eager to get the tire on my wheel on, then mounted inside the the bed I didn't take the time to "think" about how nasty the inside of the wheel would look. Grrrr.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Installed one of those GAMA battery disconnects which saves me from eventually stripping/ wearing out the battery threads.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Replaced the radiator and it doesn't leak yet.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

My custom tonneau cover arrived today. Very impressed with the quality and ease of installation. The cover was $349 plus 60 bucks shipping. I also paid 50 bucks for a piece of angle aluminum to support the cover at the toolbox. Had I known it was simply going to be cut to length and nothing else, I would have gone to Home Depot and saved 30 bucks. Overall, very happy with the cover and a bit butt hurt about the $50 aluminum. In their defense, they made it clear I did not have to buy it from them, but I did thinking it might be drilled and include some hardware. Live and learn on that one. I got it from J&R Upholstery. They were great to deal with, answered my initial inquiry late on a Friday evening and continued to respond on the weekend. Once I called to place the order, they built and shipped it in under a week.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

The tonneau went on so easily, I decided to hit up a local salvage yard in search of new seats. I found a set out of an '03 Silverado for 200 bucks, so I snagged them and got them installed as well. Like others have done, I had to drill new holes and support the floor, but it went pretty smooth and a big improvement for me.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Very nice box cover and seats Brent, when you get a chance, can I see a pic of the frame work for the cover please, I'm interested in the box side rails and how they clamp to the box ...... tia
If my seat was that comfy, I might fall asleep, LoL

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Absolutely. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow. It's a real simple setup. Aluminum frame about 2" wide, maybe 1/2" tall on the inside, tapering to the edge with the snaps attached. There are 4 clamps that sit in slots in the frame and grab under the bed rail. Hope that makes sense.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Here are some pics of the frame clamped to the bed:

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Ok thanks Brent, that looks nice and strong.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Pulled my engine last night. I've been trying to make time to do this for over a month.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

very interesting, you can do that in a regular sized garage! Though you photos makes it look easy!

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

It was easy coming off. Not so sure it will be easy to put the hood back on though. Getting the two rear straps back on the hood may be tricky. I may try doubling up the straps so they are long enough to pick the hood up from flat on the floor.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Rebuilt engine is in place. Someday I'm going to get lucky and the motor mount bolts are going to thread in without loosening the engine stands first. Not today, though!

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Well done PJ, she looks good in there!!

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Finished installing my rebuilt engine. It started right up. Took it for a ring-seating test drive. No smoke, and it isn't overheating. What a relief!

Made a little throttle spring bracket so I wouldn't have to use one of the intake manifold bolts. I still need to paint it.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Right on! :metal:

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Great and congrats on the start up. Bracket looks good.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

That's great PJ, glad to hear it went well. nice truck

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Thanks, guys

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Nice work on that bracket!!!

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

Congrats on the engine, and I must say that is a really cool bracket!

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

The TCI 700R4 bracket it is screwed to has a little throttle spring mounting tab in the back, but I believe it is designed to work with a Holley, so it doesn't work with my Edelbrock carb.

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

So when did you swap to an auto trans?

Re: What did you do to your truck today.The 3rd chapter
 

My truck had a TH400 in it when I bought it. I pulled a '93 4L60 from a Caprice at the local pick-n-pull and rebuilt it last year. I did this to improve highway driving. I am concerned about its long-term reliability though. My plan is to install a Tremec TKX when funds allow, or if the 4L60 self-destructs. I have gathered all of the main truck-specific manual parts so far, most of which came out of a '67 C20 at that same pick-n-pull. That way I'm ready when the time comes.

-Bell housing
-V8 manual transmission cross member (probably won't use this)
-Clutch pedal
-Z bar & frame mount
-Clutch rods
-Clutch fork
-High hump cab floor cover
-Floor-shift steering column (converted from automatic with OE parts purchased from Mel of Classic Bowties)