Shoestring Budget 65/73 Chevy 2WD LWB

[chevy_man5]

Thanks Bubba!! I'm sure there will be plenty! I can do pretty much anything mechanical when I put my mind to it, but automotive electrical seems to be my weakness. Which is ironic, since I work with low voltage electrical all day every day. LOL

[bubba327]

I would rather run high voltage and controls all day than try to contort under the dash. I am getting old , And my back does not bend the way it did when I was young.
My knees are feeling the pain tonight after spending today on the ladder running conduits.

[chevy_man5]

We spent the afternoon tearing up the donor truck some more. Took most of the wiring harness and interior out of it.

[chevy_man5]

Sunday afternoon we finished taking out the dash wiring harness, pulled the steering wheel, and the power steering gearbox.

The power steering fluid was pretty dark, does anyone know if I should just tip the gearbox and drain it all, or will it be hard to get full again? I thought if I could drain it, and fill it with clean, then drain it again, it should flush out pretty well. Any opinions? All are welcome!!

[bubba327]

I would pull the return hose , let it drain and maybe use a little bit of low pressure air to blow the gearbox .
Cardone make a micron rated In-line cartridge filter that slips inside the return hose and is priced under 5 bucks.(Zone or schucks )
Sometime back I changed out a gearbox and paperwork said that they would not warranty if a filter was not installed.
I have one in the truck and the chevelle both . No problems or restrictions.


When you refill, just fill up, start the motor and turn the wheels back and forth once or twice, and keep adding fluid till the bubbles go away. I had to let the chevelle sit for a hour when it foamed up.
I put a quick turn Delphi gearbox from a 98 Jeep Cherokee on the Chevelle replacing the old worn out Saginaw. What difference!!

[chevy_man5]

Thanks for the info Bubba!

[bubba327]

Glad to help --I found the part number for the filter in my shoe box of receipts.
Cardone 20FLT1 I paid 3.99 in Jan 2009
200 micron screen that slips inside the 3/8 return line back to the power steering pump.
Happy Holidays!!

[chevy_man5]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL !!!!

Here is a picture of after we got all of the wiring out of the dash.



This morning, I took the all of rest of the wire out of the truck, and found a good surprise. The PO of the donor truck had trailer wiring installed, but for some reason the plug was wrapped in electrical tape, and looped around the frame.

Here is all of the wiring we have to try to get back in!



Well, I am off to get ready for the days festivities!! HAVE A GOOD DAY!!!

[chevy_man5]

We took the brake lines and the fuel lines out of the donor truck, and took most of the bolts out of the front end. We left four of the bolts in, so we could roll the donor truck out, and put hers in to start dismantling it.

BlondieK finally joined the busted knuckle club today as well. She has managed to not donate any blood to the project yet. Now that she has, it should go more smoothly right??

[irish1966]

Awwwww. I remember my first time. LOL. And not a scratch on the nails. I'm impressed. She is now officially a gearhead.

Happy new year to you both. Keep up the good work.

[chevy_man5]

Thanks Irish!! The same to you! I actually had her show her nails, because of the comment you made back on the second page. She said I should call attention to the dirt smudges on them. LOL

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice progress, the scrape stinks, but atleast it wasn't a deep one.

[chevy_man5]

Tried to make lunch in the garage yesterday. The woodstove was too hot, and just kept burning the bread, even with lots of butter. Oh well, they tasted ok, and the garage smelled good.



We spent most of the weekend cleaning up the front end of the '75, and finishing up stripping everything of value off of it. The pile of crap we scraped off is about 6" deep, and covers the newspaper.



We pushed the '75 out, and moved the '65 in, so we can strip it down to start assembling.

[javadoc]

Great project, Chevyman! My oldest is 15, and she too keeps bugging me to finish the truck, so she can drive it. She's DREAMING! She turns wrenches with me too, even helped with a turbo swap on my other car. If I could only get her to do body work...

My dad and sisters live in Nampa (one in Meridian actually). I'll have to come check out your truck next time I'm over there visiting.

[chevy_man5]

Javadoc, sounds like a great plan!! You should try to be up here visiting on February 12th. We are having a breakfast/BS fest out in Middleton at 9:00am. Sounds like a bunch of us are going to be there!! Last estimate (I think) is 15-20 people. If you look at Bubba's Recycling project http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...365170&page=10 post #238, you can see our last Breakfast.

I keep telling my daughter I am the brains and the heavy grunt work of our outfit, and she is the slave labor. She doesn't like that very much though!!

You have a pretty good looking truck there too!!

[chevy_man5]

This weekend, we stripped all of the wiring out of her '65. It's a much smaller pile that we pulled out of the donor truck. The PO ran new wire to the back of the bed that all needs replaced.





We took off the front suspension, and started cleaning up the frame.





When stripping the dash, I pulled out the original speaker. I found the problem. It appears to be melted. Now everything will work fine. LOL





After pulling up the carpet, we found the typical rust. I was hoping for better, but oh well. It's only metal!

[cokeb]

looks like your making progress and staying warm, a fire in that stove will turn a miserable day into something positive.

Craig

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice progress!

[chevy_man5]

Thanks Craig and Dieselwrencher!

Craig, that wood stove is a lifesaver out there!! We have gone out there a few times, when we only had a couple of hours, and worked without starting up the stove, and it sucks. On Saturday, we had to open the door between the house and the garage, and vent some of the 80 degree air into the house, to cool it off. My daughter and I were dying in there! My wife is the coldest blooded person I know, and she was loving it. She usually stays out of the garage while we are working, but when she came out to tell us lunch was ready, she didn't want to leave.

[Dieselwrencher]

I hear you on these wood stoves. I love mine. I just wish the insurance company did too.

[chevy_man5]

For ease, I would like to have some kind of forced air, but since when do any of us do things the easy way.

But you just can't beat wood for the feel of the heat. The furnace in the house is set for 70, and the garage at 60 feels warmer.

[irish1966]

Lookin good. That rust is not bad in the cab floor. I have seen a LOT worse.
I'm asking Santa for a nice big 3 bay shop for Christmas next year. Lol.

[chevy_man5]

Today we finished stripping out the cab.

Took out the gas tank.



Stripped everything out from under the dash.





When we took out the heater box, I noticed that the main damper? is broken. Does anyone know if this is repairable.

From the end that goes into the blower.



From the top.



And the bottom.



The central shaft seems to be broken off. There is no way to attach the cable to the controls.





Also, has anyone used the floor vents as speaker housings? I was thinking that I could weld a back on them, and mount them in the original locations, without cutting the doors.

[irish1966]

Ahhhhh, I'm getting flashbacks lookin at your pics. Good fwd progress though. Keep it up.

[chevy_man5]

Sorry for the flashbacks Irish! LOL

Today we cleaned out the cowl. It had a Walmart bag full of pine needles, leaves, sticks, and bird poop in it.



We cut off the manual transmission crossmember.



After cutting off the rivet heads, and beating them out of the holes, I still couldn't get the crossmember to move, so I had to "persuade" it to come out.





We also cleaned out the bed. It was full of parts and pieces, as well as a bunch of junk. Now we can take it off, so we can get to the back end of the frame easier for the rear axle swap, re-wiring, and the gas tank relocate.

That's all for this weekend. Any progress is good progress!!