Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks! It's definitely a low buck build, and I will probably keep it that way for a long time :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Yesterday I pulled the 21 tooth driven gear out to find that it was just a slightly smaller diameter than the 22 tooth driven gear. I am sticking with the 22 tooth gear and dealing with the speedo reading 5 mph slow. I don't want to pull the tailhousing off the trans to switch drive gears..

I also got some new bulbs. Ended up going with some Sylvania halogen bulb sealed beams. It only ended up being 30 bucks for two because I have a team member discount at Advance Auto Parts. I didn't do a night test last night, but I probably will tonight.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Did not take any pictures, but the new headlights are definitely brighter for both hi and lo beams. Being only 30 bucks for both, I'm happy with it. At some point, I need to aim them, but the backyard behind my house is not flat enough, and I'm probably going to get some drop springs in the near future, so I would need to adjust them for that too.

Re: Frankentruck
 

What lights did you go with Christian?

Re: Frankentruck
 

Hey John, I went with Sylvania XtraVision H6024 bulbs. They fit in the factory buckets very well, and are much brighter than the stock sealed beams. The new ones are sealed beams, but they use a halogen bulb. I believe list price was somewhere around 16-17 dollars each. For that price, I could't complain.

Now I keep tossing around the idea of replacing the what I presume to be original springs with some 2/3 drop springs. It never ends....

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks for letting us know what lights you ended up with. Glad they are better than what you had also. You are right...it never ends. So much we could do to the trucks.

Re: Frankentruck
 

For a budget upgrade, I would definitely recommend them. Once I decide on what to do about the coil springs, and install whatever I choose, I will probably find some place to get them professionally aimed. If that ends up being too expensive though, I'll do a back yard alignment and hope for the best :lol:

My dad keeps mentioning starting rust repair, but I don't want to start that knowing that the truck will be off the road for awhile. I want to keep driving it :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Have not done anything to the truck lately. Yesterday, I got the opportunity to drive a 1942 Ford GPW Military Jeep. Ford loved to stamp an F on all the components they produced to differentiate between theirs and the Willys version. This GPW is owned by one of the members of the church I attend in Milledgeville. That was the most fun I have ever had while driving at 30 ish mph :metal:

The guy on the left is the owner of the GPW. The guy on the right is a staff member of Campus Outreach, the campus ministry that I am a part of at GCSU, and this was his first time ever driving a manual. That's pretty cool for him to be able to say that he learned to drive stick in a military Jeep. Also there's my ugly mug :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thursday evening I grabbed the old hubcap I have hanging on the wall to try a trick I saw on the internets a couple of weeks ago. I took some aluminum foil and water then literally scrubbed the crap off the hubcap to reveal a driver quality chrome cap. Go back to page 1 to see the same cap on Frankentruck when I first got her.

I am not 100% sure what this cap came on, but I think it might be a 65 Biscayne hubcap? I really don't know, so if anyone does know, please chime in!

Once I go back home, I will pull the other caps out of storage and clean them up the same way

Re: Frankentruck
 

Super cool Jeep. I love the look of them. I bet it was fun driving it for sure. It's not about speed, it's the experience!

Great tip on the hubcap. I need to do my beauty rings and might have to try this! Thanks!

Re: Frankentruck
 

It was so much fun that I want one of my own :lol: The next time we take it out, we will hit the dirt instead of just cruising the blacktop

The aluminum does leave some visible scratches, but from 5 feet away, I don't really see them. If you just want it to look not rusty or dirty, it is a fairly easy way to get there. I think that if I were to polish the caps, it would look even better

Re: Frankentruck
 

Love the Jeep...My Uncle in Dawsonville has one he bought...its in rough shape and doesn't run but cool to look at.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Totally worth it to fix it up. This one I drove was used as a chicken coupe before it was rescued :lol:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Thanks Christian......Ill look at them when its time to put ole girl back together...Im sure they are much brighter than what I have.

Re: Frankentruck
 

I'll try and see about getting some pics tonight of the light output. I like the on road pics of the light, but that means I have to go back roads so I can safely get a pic.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Hey John, here's a comparison of the headlights. The first pic is the T3 sealed beams with the headlight relay upgrade. The second pic is the Sylvania xtravision halogen sealed beams. It is hard to tell, but the halogen bulbs illuminate the side of the road much better than the T3 bulbs. I believe they illuminate farther as well. I still need to get them aimed, but work great for now.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Today's adventure consisted of driving up to the Greensboro area to meet my dad at our deer camp. The plan for the day was to get the base completed for the new deer stand.
The drive up was uneventful, but I was able to spot a few c10s, just wasn't able to snap any pics of them.
We got the base put together in just over 2 hours with a little bit of hackery, but it is solid and standing. My dad has to finish up the rest of the sides and a roof so we can put it on top of the stand.

Re: Frankentruck
 

After we were done building and cleaning up, I had just enough time to snap a few decent pics. Frankentruck was used as a farm truck in Jasper, GA, before I got her, so she kinda returned to her roots today :lol:

We stopped at The Yesterday Cafe in downtown Greensboro for dinner, and Frankentruck looked real good under the street lights.

The drive home was uneventful as well, except for some person driving around 35 mph in a 55 mph zone. We were going so slow that I was in 2nd OD because 3rd OD would have been sitting at too low of an rpm. Once the sweet, sweet dashes in the yellow lines showed up, and no cars coming the other direction, I floored it and smacked the kickdown switch. The solenoid instantly snapped the transmission into 2nd direct, allowing me to quickly pass the annoyingly slow motorist. I shifted into 3rd direct half way around the car, then let off the gas after resuming travel in the proper lane to allow the solenoid to drop the trans into overdrive. All in all, it was a great day and a great roadtrip.

Get out and drive your truck! :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

Those really look great....I think I will be getting those.....Are the Svlanias just plug and play?

Re: Frankentruck
 

Yup, plug and play. For 30 bucks total, I can't complain

Re: Frankentruck
 

Nice to see trucks out doing truck things. Cool Jeep too.

Re: Frankentruck
 

Well, it is a truck :lol: :metal:

Re: Frankentruck
 

So I noticed today that my antenna base split allowing the antenna to easily come out. The base is still solid on the cowl extension, but where the rod of the antenna mounts split. I don't think my truck originally came with a radio. Anyone know or recognize my antenna base? Also, should I get a new antenna even though I pretty much only listen to music through a tape deck aux cord plugged into my phone or should I get a different cowl extension piece to replace this one and go with no antenna?

Re: Frankentruck
 

If you don't use the radio, I would just remove the antenna and weld the hole shut.

Re: Frankentruck
 

That's a great idea, just one small problem.. I don't have a welder lol. The current radio has a tape deck, so I have been playing music through my phone via a tape deck aux cord. Because of that, I can replace the panel for now, then when I get to the point of putting a better sound system in, I can either go back to the panel that has the hole, or make a new hole in the factory location with a factory style antenna.