Father's day means that not too much was done on the truck today. A young man that was assisting me with the loading of the truck has some 8 lug chrome wheels with tires and threw them on the truck for me (Johnny, you rock).
I did some parts hunting with my daughter to get the brakes fully replaced (safety first) but very little could be found. This was the first clue that this truck has made the classic status. Seems like in the past I could get shoes for a 70's GM truck at the grocery store for 10 bucks. Now? One shop wanted $80... EIGHTY BUCKS!?!?!?! JUST FOR SHOES? I feel old now. AutoZone came to the rescue with all parts coming to about $30 a wheel (cylinder, hardware kit, and shoes) Ordered the parts that will be do the job and purchased what they had on hand and dropped them off with the truck. Johnny was still swapping wheels at the time. While the wheels were off, we took a look at the brakes. Just the front because I was not thinking about it until the back was already back on the ground. What did I find?
Hell, I have found brakes in much worse shape on trucks only a few years old. These look lightly used! I have no fluid in the master cylinder, so I know there is something leaking. Rubber lines? no cracks, great shape. So now I'm thinking that the wheel and master cylinders have blown seals from sitting for so long. I will check the rest of the wheels, and if they all look so good, I will just replace wheel cylinders and master cylinder for now. Until the disk brake upgrade.
A 350 was purchased for $100 with some headers to boot. That was delivered today and popping off the valve covers showed a really clean head. Optimism engaged.