regretted selling my '70 so i bought this '72

[XwalkerX]

no it was SUPER simple.
I just used the leads that go to the temp gauge for power/ground.

[BugzC10]

Originally Posted by XwalkerX

damn I thought I mentioned it but looks like I forgot to...

I used these energy suspension bump stops and shaved off the first tier to give some extra travel for the axle

Amazon.com: Energy Suspension 9.9101G All Purpose Bump Stop - Pack of 2: Automotive

Thanks ...just ordered a set.

[XwalkerX]

finally got the truck a proper tune this afternoon from Justin at Blackbear Performance.

right off the bat he noticed that the MAF was reading high causing the engine to run rich!!!! so he fixed that, dialed in the shifts, raised the idle a bit in anticipation for a cam swap, set up an aggressive shift mode in the tow/haul setting that i can run a momentary switch on pin 56 to activate.

after about 40 min of driving around and tweaking he he dialed it in and i was on my way. totally satisfied customer. i can already feel the difference in throttle response and the good ole butt dyno.

while he was working his magic we got to talking and i told him my current plans of a TSP 224r cam swap because i didnt want to deal with building the trans to run boost...turns out he has run 11psi through a 60e in his wifes tahoe for like 25k miles and all it has is a vette servo and his previous silverado had a blower running about the same psi through a 60e and it only had a shift kit...

so basically got my wheels turning again...


oh and all my cruise control stuff showed up today so hopefully i can set that up this coming week.

[Thanos]

Whats the rise on that cowl hood, 2 or 4"? Looks like 4...


I love how it looks.

[XwalkerX]

2" rise

[XwalkerX]

last night i got home from work and decided to toss on the cruise control setup.
few wires, few bolts and its done...yeah right

first i started by extending the pigtail that goes to the box. 9 wires. simple. done.

then i figured i would take off the engine cover and get an idea on the mounting...which was where all the fun began
the PO used a universal throttle cable and while it did work nice and smooth, after i saw how it was routed it had to go.
the wire went around the throttle body then out the bottom and actually hooked up on the ball mount where the cruise goes.
well of course i had some spare bike stuff laying around and went inside and grabbed a cable stop and hooked it up essentially where it should have went the first time.
throttle cable fixed. boom. done.

now on to actually mounting the cruise cable.
the ball mount to which i was referring to in the last paragraph actually turned out to be too big for the plastic cable hookup.
so of course my thought its...lets drill it!
well it got the job done BUT then the plastic c clip style piece wouldnt sit correctly or securely so another option was needed.
i decided to then file down the end of the ball a bit to sit deeper. nope. still not working. try again.
then i scrounged up a metal c-clip that looked like it could fit and modified it a bit to fit in the plastic piece and bingo!
mission accomplished finally.

next up i ran the pigtail through the firewall and into the cab and mounted the cruise module on the firewall.
this part was actually simple.
then i ran out of daylight and patience (more-so the 2nd)

wiring shall continue tonight...maybe

[kehstr]

got to love fixing other peoples problem

[DBK81]

45 year old truck are full of other peoples fixes, which more often become our problems!! LOL, the joys.

[kehstr]

Originally Posted by DBK81

45 year old truck are full of other peoples fixes, which more often become our problems!! LOL, the joys.

no joke!! i guess we are just too stupid to do anything else with our time

[XwalkerX]

so i know i havent updated in like a week but ive been pulling my hair out over the cruise control.
i spent a day last week and wired it up. nothing.

the only thing that changed is i was getting a faint brake light which i later tracked down to the cruise module sending 9/10v to the cold brake wire. so i went and grabbed a diode (thanks to CTN for pointing it out) then installed it. phantom brake lights gone!

double checked all my wiring and nothing.

triple checked everything....NOTHING.

so i figure the cruise box is smoked even though the seller claimed it was working prior to being sent out.
well ive been searching for another locally and even had a forum member who is familiar with the cruise control swap offer to help.

fast forward to last night.

i took some time to fix a few little annoying things. i had a minor split in the fabric where it meets the vinyl so i stitched it up quick.
next i decided to do something about that ANNOYING bumper sag in the rear.

pic for reference



first i mocked it up



then i "adjusted" the mounting points



and i know its not the greatest pic but it sits MUCH better now




so after it was all said and done i tested the running lights (to make sure the plate lights still worked) and i happened to hit the brakes. well i noticed only one worked so **** let me replace the bulb while im out here. well wouldnt you ****ing know it. i have ****ing LED brake lights! so the non working cruise control totally makes sense now because the cruise module cant find ground through the brake lights. ugh. so now this evening im going to wire in a relay to fix that...hopefully.

stay tuned.

[DBK81]

Man of all the things you'd think you wouldn't have to worry about on a 44 year old truck is LED's!!!! It's funny and maddening all at the same time. Hope you get it working.

[XwalkerX]

yeah and I mean its totally my fault for not actually pulling the lens in the first place and checking but man it really looked like a regular dual filament bulb through the lens.

[DBK81]

Originally Posted by XwalkerX

yeah and I mean its totally my fault for not actually pulling the lens in the first place and checking but man it really looked like a regular dual filament bulb through the lens.

It happens, I can remeber years back working on an old Honda CB 750 and couldn't get the turn signals to cycle on and off, fought with it for two days, finally to open them up and see they were LED's

[XwalkerX]

so obviously this has been consuming me all morning and I just had to know I actually found the problem.

so on lunch break I went home and wired in the relay and took a spin around the block...

IT WORKS!!!!

fyi here is the relay setup for those who may run into the same problems I did

[midnight rambler]

I'll have to remember that, hard work paid off. You. Pliny down to S.D. This weekend?

[XwalkerX]

no not this weekend but ill be there next weekend.

im going to try to make it to this next friday...

http://www.socalcarculture.com/Image...anteeLakes.pdf

[XwalkerX]

spent the afternoon doing a proper detail on the truck.
the paint literally felt like sandpaper

anyway. the list.
wash/dry
Meguiars claybar
Meguiars polish wax
Meguiars gold class carnauba

due to the color you may not be able to tell much of a difference in the paint but i assure you that it feels like glass now.
so...success!

[XwalkerX]

another successful evening

ever since i bought the truck the fuel gauge was stuck on Empty and i finally decided to investigate the situation

so i dropped the tank and everything looked normal





so i pulled off the wire heading to the sending unit (which should be a positive wire) and it was coming up grounded...then i just had to find out where
after tracing the wire from the fuse block back i finally found the short to ground where it was pinched on the frame above the rear spring.
so i cut out and replaced the broken wire and BAM!

[DBK81]

This thread gives me so much satisfaction, as your are going through your truck just as I would picking away all the things that have been neglected or done improperly by the PO, great work, saving these old girls one fix at a time.

[dmartin1]

Beautiful truck. love the wheels.

was the inspection station picture taken at the station just outside of needles california? looks just like the one like 4 miles from me.

[XwalkerX]

yup I took I-40 straight across

[XwalkerX]

tonights task was changing out the rear diff oil and inspecting the new rear end after about 5k of use.

but first these ****ty screws have been annoying me and i stopped at the local ACE hardware and swapped them out for stainless





and now the rear end



everything looking great inside.







didnt take a final pic of it all buttoned up since it was dusk by that time but here is an extra 'before' pic for you to pretend that i did.

[XwalkerX]

so ive been looking for replacement wheels with more of an old muscle era look.
i still plan on grabbing a set of rally wheels but my project this week was rescuing a set of old Cragar SS wheels.
found these of course on craigslist.
2- 15x7 with 2.5" of backspace
2- 15x10 with 4.25" of backspace

i also picked up some good condition used rubber on craigs site.
rears are 265/70/15 while the front tires are 215/70/15

i should have taken more pics but i always forget...or have greasy hands
anyway this is what i started with.
i would say there was one rear wheel that was worse than this but most were about this clapped out.



i did a quick 10 min cleanup using WD-40 and 0000 grade steelwool then a quick coat of chrome polish and here are the results



not too bad.
however, the real problem with these wheels (like most old Cragar wheels) is that the center is aluminum and its real corroded and the chrome is smoked beyond repair/even flaking off in spots.




then came the fun part of removing severely dry rotted tires and installing the "new" craigslist rubber.
i didnt take any pics of the process but i did it all without a tire machine.
it certainly took a bit to break the beads but its kind of satisfying doing it the old fashioned way.
once i got done mounting and balancing it was time to put them on...

so once i did my final torquing a lug stud snapped off and a slew of expletives began spewing from my mouth.
but i guess i was "lucky" that it happened now and not on the road somewhere.
i ended up buying two new studs from a place right down the street and slapped one back in on my lunch break today.
the real problem is that i was already down one Cragar specific lug and now a stud is broke off in this other so looks like only the rears are going on.

its not a huge issue for a few reasons.
-the current lug/washers are rusted and well worn
-bought a new set of 20 lugs and washers for $22
-bought a set of 4 center caps on ebay for $20 since im missing the two for the front wheels
-going to the Barona drag strip antique drags this sat and i can just look the part LOL

so here is how it looks now with the big meat in back

[XwalkerX]

center caps and lugs should be here today or tomorrow so i can put on the fronts...

here are a few pics from the sunset last night

[hamjet]

Does that fella behind the wheel have a license? ( and I don't mean a dog license ) LOL. Very nice truck!!