67 GMC 1500 Project

[Corts60]

A little change to the grill; painted the GMC letters. I think that is about where I want it now.

[chewychevy67]

Perfection!

[Corts60]

Well I got a couple new goodies in the mail today. New cluster bezel and brake pedal pad. Unfortunately I cannot mount the gas pedal as I just realized the floor pans have been replaced by previous owner and they never re-installed the ball joints for the pedal. Bummer.

I also added some under-dash gauges I had laying around as I am trying not to spend too much money right now with everything that is going on.

I'm the kind of guy that likes all of my gauges to be in the factory spot so when I can spend some money again, I'll be getting rid of the under dash gauges and putting in a factory tach gauge package. NOTE: I didn't drill any holes in the dash for these gauges, haha. I used the existing bolts for the column cover and the heater control. Boom.

But I think everything looks juts a little better than before.

[raggedjim]

Get one of these plates and use the 71-72 pedal!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=746099

Rg

[Corts60]

Well I got a couple more things accomplished. I replaced the HD drive shaft carrier bearing this week and posted about it mostly on this thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=656307

Other than that I installed a solid state voltage regulator and now my 10DN alternator is finally charging correctly! So that is all good things. Sorry no pics right now....

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Get one of these plates and use the 71-72 pedal!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=746099

Rg

Thanks Roger, I reached out to him and he is in the process of having some more brackets made. Hopefully I'll get one by summertime.

[Corts60]

Well after a few good runs on the freeway with the new carrier bearing, I am quite satisfied with the overhaul. Very smooth. However, I still get unwanted vibration during hard acceleration and at idle for that matter. I've owned at least half a dozen 350 powered trucks over the years and have never had any vibration on acceleration. The engine just feels stiff.

Looking closer at the engine mounts, it appears they may be aftermarket replacements. I've had bad experiences in the past putting asian made mounts under an engine. My V6 G-van shook something awful after putting in "new" mounts. I finally had to track down a GM dealer that had the original mounts and buy them. After the GM mounts were installed, the van smoothed right out.

SO, I went ahead and found a NOS set of V8 mounts on eBay and bought them for the truck. When they get here I am going to swap them out and see if some of the nuisance vibration clears up.

[Corts60]

Got my NOS engine mounts today! Naturally, I couldn't wait, I went right out and installed them. I've never changed out early 350 mounts. And man, GM got it right when they got rid of these mounts and went to the 73-87 style. Those are butter compared to these. It took me forever to get the passenger side center bolt to line up and go in. Super frustrating. Of course, I was doing all this with only jacks in my driveway on my back...so I guess that was to be expected.

Anyways, I am so happy I changed them out. I thought the truck had aftermarket replacement mounts installed because there was so much vibration. It turns out the mounts were the originals and just completely worn out.

I went out for test drive and the truck is night and day difference! So much smoother.

Little by little, she becomes my truck.

[72 tigger]

Good deal- glad that helped the problem

[CG]

I really like the black on your truck. Its not super deep but looks great. Its almost a semi gloss but a little more gloss (if that makes sense?). I guess Id have to see it in person to figure it out ... Id love to achieve that look on a truck or a car.

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by CG

I really like the black on your truck. Its not super deep but looks great. Its almost a semi gloss but a little more gloss (if that makes sense?). I guess Id have to see it in person to figure it out ... Id love to achieve that look on a truck or a car.

Thanks! I'm not sure what type of paint the previous owner used, but it was a matte paint. I had to buff to shine after I removed the shop lettering. Didn't have a choice. Now it looks kind of dark chocolate-y in person.

[buds56]

That's a nice truck and the work looks good.

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by buds56

That's a nice truck and the work looks good.

Thank you!

[Corts60]

Got the rest of the a/c parts installed and started pulling a vacuum last night...I pulled down to 29 in. and let it sit for 20 min. Came back and the vacuum was at 10 in so...I have a leak. I'm probably going to buy some nitrogen and trace gas to charge the system with and find the leak.

But on the plus side: I found me some 8" rally wheels! Got to get these things cleaned up and buy some 275/60/15 meats to install. Super stoked about these. They're not turbine wheels, but these will do just fine for a few years until I can find a set.

[Corts60]

Got the towing wiring all set up and took the camper out for a trial on the freeway. I wanted to see how she did with a/c on and towing at 65. She did wonderful. Engine temp stayed right at 190/195.

So excited to go camping!

[chewychevy67]

That makes me want to add a hitch to my truck build now. That looks like fun!

[Boog]

Hey Cort. It's looking like a whole different truck.
On your condenser, where did you get it and is it the updated crossflow unit or a stock replacement? And the drier is for R134? I read that the drier desiccant is different too. Also how did you go about testing and setting your poa valve?

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by Boog

Hey Cort. It's looking like a whole different truck.
On your condenser, where did you get it and is it the updated crossflow unit or a stock replacement? And the drier is for R134? I read that the drier desiccant is different too. Also how did you go about testing and setting your poa valve?

Hey Boog,

The condenser is a stock unit from LMC. Basically a direct fit. The filter drier is from Rockauto P/N 33215 (FourSeasons) and is compatible with R12 and R134.

As for setting the POA, with the expansion valve removed, I injected air pressure into the evaporator at this fitting. I had the low pressure gauge hooked up to the low pressure port on the POA. I injected air and watched my gauge settle out at 29-30, which is the factory setting. You should hear the POA seat/unseat. I then loosened the locknut inside the POA (have to remove suction line from POA to get to this) and used, I think, a 7/32 socket to adjust the set screw. I believe I turned it counter clockwise, but I can't remember. Then I reset locknut and tested with air pressure. It's kind of tedious, but you have to keep fiddling with setting the locknut and also not move your new setting of 26 psi. Once you get her locked down at 26 psi, put her back together!

[MDPotter]

It doesn't have to be anything extreme to be interesting. What you're doing is a good approach - make upgrades and changes as you go while keeping the truck driveable. Tearing it down like I did and starting over means you don't get to drive it for quite some time and it costs SO much money.

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

It doesn't have to be anything extreme to be interesting. What you're doing is a good approach - make upgrades and changes as you go while keeping the truck driveable. Tearing it down like I did and starting over means you don't get to drive it for quite some time and it costs SO much money.

Yeah true that. I definitely want to keep it driveable during the summer months.

[68Gold/white]

Check around the compressor carefully for leaks. Lots'a soapy water!!!

8" Rally wheels look great to me!!!

There's a thread here, about painting Rally wheels different colors, might interest you!
Someone painted their rally's gold. I really liked that one. Gave me an idea for my 68, which is a golden anniversary pickup...

[Corts60]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Check around the compressor carefully for leaks. Lots'a soapy water!!!

8" Rally wheels look great to me!!!

There's a thread here, about painting Rally wheels different colors, might interest you!
Someone painted their rally's gold. I really liked that one. Gave me an idea for my 68, which is a golden anniversary pickup...

Thanks for the tip! Yeah, I was just thinking about colors today. I'll look for it!

[Corts60]

So I performed a pressure test of the a/c system and...bad compressor shaft seal. I can't say I'm shocked my $132 o-reilly compressor failed out of the box. Haha. The good news all the other components and connections were solid!

I got a new 4 seasons aluminum A6 on the way. I'll be installing the condenser fan this weekend; wiring it to kick-on whenever the compressor is on. Should work nicely. I'll post some pics.

[chewychevy67]

I bought a "new" compressor from these guys. http://www.almaproducts.com/products/a. I hear they are better than the reman A6 units. I sure hope it fairs better than yours. Those compressors are notoriously leaking in the front though new or old I hear.

[Corts60]

Roger that, the one I just purchased is a brand new aluminum version (not a reman) so fingers crossed that the shaft seal will hold....

Well I got the new condenser fan installed last night. Going to finish wiring today. Since the hood latch support bracket splits right down the middle of the condenser, I went with a little 10" fan. I figured something is better than nothing when trying to get a/c at slow speeds or in traffic. I wired the fan through a relay that is controlled with the compressor switch.

I also installed a battery isolator with a removable key. During the power tour we will be parked out hotels and I'm not interested in just "giving" my truck to a thief, I want to make them work for it. Hahaha.