9/2021 I decided to do the passenger side cargo area differently. I used a wire cup brush on it, and then ospho, cleaner degreaser, and then the two coats of grey. I then painted the strip at the front of the bed wood, and the rear threshold. Then it was time to install the wood. I started at the sides and placed bolts finger tight. I had to modify a few holes that were mis aligned, and drill some holes that were missing. I got all the bed wood and bolts in from above until the last plank. I went below and put on the nuts and washers for the last plank, then tightened everything up. It was nice to use painted bolts, the job was done once the wood was installed. Three planks have a T-nut at the front end, maybe for attaching something across the floor? I replaced one T-nut that was missing and installed bolts in the three places.
9/2021 I had to make some plow bolts for the strip that goes across the rear of the bed wood. I could not locate the ¼” size. These are called Countersunk carriage bolts aka 114 deg countersunk square neck bolts aka Flat square neck plow bolts. This is a ¼” bolt maybe ¼-20, and about 1 ¼” long. I got elevator bolts and ground them down to size and profile. Here is a post I started: https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...i-get-rear-endcap-bolts.html#Post1416343
It got cold and rainy here, so I moved on from paining for a few days before I could complete bed assembly, but finally had a couple nice days to get it done. In the mean time, I mangled up the power steering lines to clear the inner fender.
This weekend was a good time to go to the pick it yard. There was only one Chevy truck, but it was a ’89. I got the A/C bracket. My ’90 k1500 has cast brackets, but the ’88 k2500 has pressed steel brackets. The ’89 also has the pressed steel brackets, so it will bolt right on. I also found another DRAC from an Astro van, I’ll use that for my speedometer drive project for a bench setup. I had previously purchased seats from an Astro, but they don’t clear the storage cover in the seat riser. I found a ’99 Honda CRV and the seats look good and fit. I crawled all over the seats when removing and they were dry, then put the driver seat on it’s side in the back of my truck. When I unloaded it there was a wet spot that smelled like a dead animal. I dumped some cat spray cleaner on it and have a fan blowing, so I hope I can freshen it up. I’ll modify the mounting brackets and get them bolted in. I like that they are narrow and leave some room to access the cargo area. I also got the steering sector shaft from the ’89 chevy. I dismantled it to see how it goes together. I’m looking for a clean way to extend the steering shaft. I can get a ¾”dd shaft and machine it to replace the stock length with a longer one. I had thought about adding a length of shaft, but it looks easy enough to just put a longer one in there.
10/2021 I’m having a hard time focusing on one task, so getting a bunch of little things done. I bent the seat brackets so the mounting hole is parallel to the floor, that lowered the seats a couple inches. I played around with seat placement looking at how they clear the floor access covers and spacing between the two seats. I decided the driver seat should be centered with the steering wheel, it could go out an inch to increase the gap to the other seat, but driving comfort is more important. With the seats positioned I finalized steering wheel location. I’m not satisfied with the resto shops extension on the steering shaft, so I decided to put in a longer DD-shaft. I tore the steering shaft apart to see what could be done. I purchased a 2’ long 3/4” DD-shaft, machined out a channel for a spring, cut to length, and drilled a hole. Now it’s painted black and almost ready for assembly. I’ll check the hole size before putting the pin in. I partially assembled the front end with inner fenders and grill to fit the oil cooler radiator. I have determined how long the hoses need to be and will go to the hose shop this week. I also looked at the upper radiator hose, marked the stock radiator hose where it needed to be different and took it to the auto parts store. I looked through their rack and found four good candidates, the one I picked fits. Turns out it is for ’73 to ’83 chevy 4x4 lower hose P/N 7581. I also started on the t-case shifter position. I bent the linkage in about 2” and built a cardboard bracket. I’ll crawl underneath and see how the bracket fits sometime when the ground isn’t too muddy. With most of the fluid hoses lined up, the last one is the heater hoses. The supply comes from the rear top of the engine, originally a quick connect. I went to look, but something funny, had to get the shop light to see what was going on. O.K. the resto shop was a little too quick disconnecting it I guess because I found the hose had been disconnected and the fitting was snapped in half. I guess I won’t have the joy of breaking it myself. I had read up on this part being prone to break if you looked at it funny and was interested in replacing it with a nipple. Not surprised to find that it had broke, but surprised they neglected to mention it.
That heater hose coupler fragment came out with little effort and the right tool. Now I need to get a replacement fitting and hose, and coolant. I asked about getting hoses made at the local Flaps, they said they only do hydraulic. I went to a hose business, they only do hydraulic, but recommended a rubber business down the road. I went there and they came up with a solution for the oil cooler lines using Air Brake hose. I put that in and it looks like I got the lengths right. Now I need to come up with a bracket for the oil radiator, and the power steering radiator. I re-assembled the steering shaft with the custom dd shaft, and put it in place. I like it.
I haven’t put in much time now that it is cold and wet. I purchased the hose fitting for the heater hose, 7’ of heater hose, and a valve. I installed the fitting and started routing the hose. That required putting in the old fresh air heater. The original valve started leaking years ago and I had replaced it with a valve with a thumb screw, that was always hard to operate. I got a new valve for cable operation that I will figure out how to use. I’m not sure if it will be with the original control knob and some custom linkage, or something else. I never did like how I had to reach over to the passenger side to operate it, so I might locate it closer to the driver side. Once I get the fluids topped up, it’s on to wiring so I can fire it up. I have been poring over the wiring diagrams for the ’88. I removed the harness from under dash from the donor cab and started ohming out connectors. I’ll modify it some. The ’88 harness has a bulkhead connector on the driver side that goes to a convenience center, a fuse panel, the gage cluster, and some connectors in the dash, it also goes over to the passenger side to connect to wires from another bulkhead passthrough, wiring for the ECM. I’d like to eliminate the bulkhead connector, and reduce the size of the bulkhead passthrough.
It wasn’t raining and I had some time, so I opened up the bulkhead passthrough. It had a chunk of glue inside. I was able to shatter it with pliers. I stuffed the end through the heater valve hole. It’s a tight fit with the split loom tubing protecting the wires from the sheet metal, I might add a grommet. When I was fitting the old heater, I looked in the parts boxes for the gasket. I discovered the gasket set I purchased is for ‘55+. I also found some busted studs in the mounting holes, so I’ll have to get those out first. I just ordered the gaskets for left and right side vents, and I decided now is a good time to install the inner firewall cover, so ordered that too. The upper cowl vent has a broken hinge rivet, but I wanted to see how that all goes together and discovered the lever mechanism conflicts with the firewall mounted brake pedal. I’ll move the pedal over ½” or so.
We had snow for a couple weeks, I knocked 2” off the car tent. Even before that the 1 year old car tent was showing it’s age. There were leaks around the edges, the roof also seemed to either leak through, or just a lot of condensation. I had set up a utility shelf with the press board shelves. The shelves are all bowled. I have tarps over some things and a fan running constantly inside the truck to keep mildew down. After the snow melt, I placed a new tarp over the car tent. That blocks whatever light was getting through the car tent. I added a couple light bars to the inside. I also splurged and got an insulated coverall for myself. With my work environment slightly improved I spent 4 hours and moved the brake pedal over an inch. Now it clears the vent handle. I started looking at the gas pedal. The pedal from the ’88 GMC is an odd fit here. My ’55 bus has a similar pedal, but it may have been modified. The original ’47 pedal, the braket was removed at the resto shop without any plans on how to proceed. I had purchased a linkage for converting 6 to v8 that I hadn’t used and looked at that. That might work with the original pedal, if I can get a bracket. I was trying to figure out how to mount it to the firewall and found a location that might work just next to a bend in the sheet metal. I’ll try to find a gas pedal bracket, listed as an Accelerator Pedal Brake in the FAM. I’ll also consider other options. Meanwhile, the foot starter pedal is positioned near the edge of the hole, so I’ll move that over and down to center it. With the V8, the pedal bar is mounted to the firewall, no longer the bell housing. So more extra holes in the firewall.
I decided to use the donor gas pedal. I made a bracket and welded it in place. The pedal feels good. I’ve been doing a bunch of smaller tasks. I replaced a captive nut on the passenger cowl vent, drilled holes to mount the power bus and relays, made a list of fasteners needed, fastened the steering column to firewall bracket. The ground isn’t too muddy so I crawled underneath and checked and topped off the synchromesh transmission fluid. I checked the fit of the transfercase shifter bracket template that I had made awhile ago. I modified the template and will check for fit again.
I made a bracket for the oil cooler radiator, and hung the power steering radiator off the front of that. My welding skills are improving slightly. I needed additional clearance on both inner fenders. I have a dolly that came with an old toolbox and with ball peen hammer proceeded to pound out some bowls. I haven’t done that since middle school metal shop. It was easy. I got a plastic firewall cover and realized it may be more trouble than it’s worth. It needs to go in before wiring, but after anything bolted to the firewall is in place. I made a cardboard template and cut out for the brake and clutch pedal brackets. I test fit it and then cut the plastic cover. The holes for heater motor and hoses were just marked, and cutting the plastic with a utility knife is slow going on the round holes. I have that task to finish next time. I received the starter switch and solenoid and a new catalog full of neat parts that I may never order, but I like to look. I put a spring on the foot starter bracket, but it was too weak. Another trip to the hardware store, I got a couple more springs to try. Now with the button in hand, I’ll make a bracket for the starter button.
It’s been cold and wet out, but I have been doing several small tasks simultaneously. I sketched out plans for the starter button bracket. Cut the sheet metal and then had to wait until I could go get a 1” hole saw. Cut the hole and bent the bracket. Now I’m waiting for a dry warm day to paint it. I cut and bent the bracket for the transfer case shifter. I still need to contour the triangle pieces and weld them on (template pictured). Getting the cooler brackets painted, off to the side in the picture is a cover pan from a Hammond Organ. I found that while cleaning up after tearing down my workshop, thought it would make a good heat shield for the exhaust. I had purchased a heat shield from one of the parts vendors not knowing the dimensions, it was about 8” square.
I have mounted the Oil cooler, and the power steering cooler. Last week it was cold and rainy, but I had some time. I cut the bulkhead connector of the wiring harness and ran the wires through the firewall at the original location. This week I spent some time placing the starter button bracket. After I got it located and bolted in place I like the way it felt when pushing with my foot. The button screw terminals were really close to the bell housing, so I decided to relocate it. I made another shorter button bracket, added an extension to the foot bracket. I bolted in the shorter button bracket but the pedal throw wasn’t long enough. I was ready to give up for the day, but decided to use the first bracket in the new location. It worked well. Welded some reinforcement on the transfer case shifter bracket.
