Wow, it's already been over one month since I've had the truck running and I feel like I haven't updated this thread in forever! The last month has been extremely busy at home, but I have found time to get out and drive the truck a few times per week.
My son started baseball and we drove the truck to his first game.
Then one morning about two weeks ago I pulled the truck out of the garage and could smell coolant. When opening the hood I was greeted with a spray of coolant leaking from the water pump and scattered by the pulley. So, it was time to go back up on jackstands and get this fixed. The water pump was original to the motor, so for this fix I decided to skip junkyard pumps and just go with a new Gates replacement. A little orange paint and steam port fitting and it was ready to bolt on.
While the truck was up on jackstands, I figured it was a good time to take care of a few more items before I make it to my goal destination of the Fall Revival. I went back and forth on if I wanted to flip the tires to blackwalls out. Ultimately, I chose blackwalls and had the tires flipped. I think these tires match the overall vibe of the truck better. With the whitewalls, wheels, and caps it was a little too much white.
I also wanted to get my door and window seals installed so everything would quit rattling around while I drive (more on the seals in a later post). While I had the door panels off, I hit them with some cleaner and the pressure washer. On the left is original, right is washed. Overall they look significantly better, but as a whole they still look desperately worn out. One day I will replace these...
Then I started thinking, wouldn't it be nice if I could get the power steering upgrade done before I drive this thing 2 hours to the show? I searched around and found what I thought was a good deal on a power steering box, so I ordered it. Along with that I had to get lines, pump, pump brackets, pulley, belt, pitman arm, and steering coupler. These things add up quick! After bolting the box on things just weren't lining up right. I also had significant interference between the crossmember and tierod.
I started measuring between my manual box and this power box and found that the sector shaft was about 0.8" longer on the new box. Then I took a few steps back and really started analyzing this box and realized it wasn't even the correct box for our trucks! Although it was stamped with the part number that I wanted, the box itself was a Saginaw 800 series box.
At this point I was still determined to get this swap done, so I promptly ordered another box from a different supplier. This box should arrive today, so hopefully I will be back on track to getting this swap done. Once I do, I will update with all the details on the swap.