[Second Series]

Thanks for the words of encouragement Russell Ashley.
Mongocanfly, just keep looking, there is one for you somewhere.
Dan in Pasadena, I was about to get serious with my ’47 panel of 20 years, It was a daily driver for awhile, but just sits nowdays. My son likes to look out the window when we drive, so I bought him this Suburban for his Second Birthday. Dad logic for a family car, makes sense…or not. I’m enjoying getting my hands dirty, going through the systems, fixing and upgrading in no particular hurry, just need to continue. It may spark an interest with my son, and he may be the one who decides what we do with it. I look at it as an investment that I can spend time with. What I’m doing so far doesn’t increase the value, but rather retains value. The Patina. It looks good from 20 feet. It’s a green truck with one layer of red and has some areas with shiny steel exposed. Probably stored inside for years. I really need to paint it, but it needs rust repair too. I’m working on dirt and it’s raining again. The paint flakes off the dash. It could probably use a complete teardown, but I do what I can.
I think the first thing that I did was replace the oil and filter, I didn’t mention that before. When I went to the auto parts store, I asked what kind of oil I should get and was told to try Non-Detergent Oil. I was not aware of that variety. The Clerk said his brother’s truck smoked bad when he changed the oil, and that when he changed it again with Non-Detergent the smoking stopped. I have never had that happen with my ’47, but I went with it anyway. I am not in a big rush on this project, but I have been anxious to get it off Jack stands before the rainy season. I put the old Zerks back in. I received a new Intermediate Parking Brake Cable. It was the same length, but the treaded rod at the end was longer. This means I will not be able to tighten it more than the original Cables loosest setting. I tightened what I could up front, but I may need to cut the threaded shaft. The rear cables were seized. I tore apart the Drivers side rear brake assembly to remove the Parking Cable. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be so I do what I can. I was feeling along the cable to try to figure out how it attaches to the frame. I put my finger up in a bracket it goes through and felt a clip. I blindly used a screw driver to knock the clip out. That was easy enough, but how to remove it from the backing plate? Maybe I could put a hose clamp on it to compress the fingers. I’ll try another day. Checked on the forums and someone has used a hose clamp to remove it, so I’ll try that. It came out with a little effort. I sprayed it with penetrating oil a couple days, but decided it may not be worth the effort. I waited for another sale to order parts. Two new Rear Parking Brake Cables. These have a plastic coating on the cable and are really loose, I like that. Tried to remember how to re-assemble that rear Brake Assembly, got it. The passenger side rear, I didn’t want to tear down and re-assemble especially since I’m not replacing anything other than the cable. I have a set of wood chisels from the discount tool store that I have abused for demolition. One good rap and I severed the cable against the backing plate. Removed the old one and installed the new without tearing the assembly apart. Small victory there. I put the drums back on and adjusted the shoes, and then adjusted the rear cables. The Parking Brake lever under the dash gets close to the starter button, too close. I put the wheels back on and started it up and went up the drive in front of my house. It steers real easy now, maybe too easy, I won’t know until I get it on the road. Parked it and set the parking brake. I keep telling Henry that this is his truck and I tell him I’m fixing this or that each time I work on it. I told him it was ready to go and so he decided he wanted a ride. He gets in the passenger seat, and I push the starter button-nothing. The parking brake lever shorted it and blew the in-line fuse. We got another fuse in and I took him on a very short ride up and back the drive in front of my house. I then convinced him to have a ride in my ’47 panel, same short trip. He was over sensitive to loud noises this last year, but I think he’s getting over that. For awhile he acted terrified to go near either of these old trucks. So another not-so-small victory. Nap time for him and I’ll remove that radio bracket. Now I feel comfortable with driving it(to a custom shop if I go that route), but it’s not legal, no lights. Started tracing wires, I’ll need to study the wiring diagram, and get a fuse block. It doesn’t seem to have a distribution block, just a bunch of connections at the voltage regulator and random in-line fuses. Next on the to-do list: new Shock absorbers, and rewire. I think another swap meet is coming up in Monroe, I saw some fuse blocks last time. I actually enjoy electrical troubleshooting and rewiring, so I’m looking forward to this part. I am an electronics tech by trade.