Old Cars/Trucks Restoration and Modding

[greenpondmike]

Just about got my truck straight now. The problem was the combustion chamber was sometimes leaking at higher speeds and on acceleration although it ran good otherwise. The white/gray crust that was getting on the plugs were getting other places also. I think it's the gas I've been using regular.

Sea foam is some good stuff and has done more for that engine than anything else I've tryed.
I got a wild hair and bought some and did a pour in your carb treatment that I hadn't done since 2008.
You pour a little over half in while keeping your engine revved up to keep it running and then you use the rest to kill it.
Let it set 20 minutes and then crank it and enjoy the purdy white smoke it puts out.
Keep revving till it clears.

That treatment really helped and later on I put a whole bottle in the tank...man what an improvement! Truck gets better gas mileage also.
The treatment is supposed to burn off any crust or carbon on the valves and pistons and free up sticking rings. It seems to use less oil also- a half a quart compaired to a quart and a half at highway speeds or higher.

I like sleepers also bykfixer. I would like to fix up my "hutch" mobile under the hood and drive it around again. People would look at it and say "rag!" and then I would surprise them and grin my opossum eating grin at them as I pull ahead.

 

[greenpondmike]

Having problems with rolling the winders up and down now. Stupid truck....
If it ain't one thing it's another- if it ain't my wife it's her mother.

 

[bykfixer]

I had a Honda Prelude that had a built in window regulator issue. Being electric windows just aggrevated the situation because all would be normal until the day it was not. With a hand crank window you can feel it coming on and maybe even halt it before something gets bent. But with electric windows you push a button and feel nothing.

Oh there comes a day you push the button and you hear the motor strain or your lights go dim from the extra drain on the system. But by then it's too late. Something bent. See, the Prelude was just that. A prelude for things to come from Honda. Many of the things that worked are still in use today like some plastics, some manufacturing techniques and the electric window regulator system from the Prelude generation after the one I was having trouble with.

The window regulator itself was great. It was the grease they chose to lubricate gears in the "scissor" like parts that hardened and jammed up the gears in the cog. It was like sticking a penny in between one or more the gears after a while.

That may be what's going on with your 71 truck GP. Perhaps a good cleaning of all moving parts and a glob of silicone grease on moving parts will get things going normal again. That is if nothing has bent. When mine bent I went to a junkyard and found one, cleaned that sucker to be like new and sprayed it with lithium grease. When I sold the car the driver side window worked normal. The passenger side? Well that was the buyers problem.

Like Ford and Chrysler, GM is not real big on retooling things, failures be damned. So there is a chance they are still using those same parts here in the new millenium. The guy behind the parts counter at a small Chevy dealer may know, since by now they probably changed the part number. The crooked hat wearing kid at the big city dealer? Well maybe, maybe not. But at the small dealer there's a good chance somebody there still has a 71 floating around somewhere but knows if the same regulator is used in Silverado's or Suburbans, Perhaps Impalas. If so then you can go to a local junkyard and find one on a crashed ambulance or one of those stoopel-ee-doo jacked up numbers that was barrel rolled a few times.

 

[greenpondmike]

Thanks Bykfixer. I can get a new one from rock auto fairly resonable. I think the plastic on the rollers have deteriorated and is now crumbling. Yesterday they got sprayed and greased. The passenger side works just fine whereas before it was very stiff. The driver's side is better, but it is like the round plastic rollers are now square. I left the door panels off so I can service it often. I think a new regulator costs from $21- to somewhere around $40. I'm not sure, but rock auto has different brands to chose from if I remember correctly.

Got one for my Ford truck that works well. Just put a starter on my Ford F150 yesterday afternoon. Going to try to get it on the road in the next month or two. Had some wasp nests in it. Ether does not work on redwasps. Use gas, mineral spirits or wasp spray.

 

[greenpondmike]

Since we can now upload better here is my chevy and my Ford pickups I've been talking about.

 

[knucklegary]

Hello Greenpondmike,

My ongoing project is a 1953 GMC pickup.

Tom

53' I think can wear the earlier windshield visor, good looks and functional 👍

 

[raggie33]

i still say take a 69 vette and put a electric moter in each wheel

 

[greenpondmike]

Well, I think I've finally fixed it with wisdom from above.....The ignition switch. Man, that thing runs great, feels like it picked up 50 hp and has waaaay better bottom end. Doesn't randomly cut off either. I guess that thing should be part of a tune up after 60,000 miles. What came out wasn't original though- not with "made in Mexico" on it- not on a 71 chevy. It was also packed with a lot of grease which I think caused the connection problems. I put in the best switch Standard Inc. made.

 

[greenpondmike]

Well, the ol Ford F150 is coming along

 

[greenpondmike]

Engine needed some adjusting, vacuum hoses fixed, egr valve blocked off and fuel pump. It cranks and runs good---ol FE 360 V8 seems to run leaner than my 250 6 cyl in my chevy truck-- no problem though, I just need to warm it up with the choke on. The 6 cyl doesn't need a choke. Maybe I can squeese 15 or more miles per gallon out of it. Looks good with the ac stuff off of it and now it's lighter. I need to clean it up.....maybe detail it. C6 auto trans seems alright. Lot of brake work done and tie rods and drag link replaced. Replaced some wheel studs and lug nuts. Need to order some new back brake drums. Seems to be coming along. Has high pressure fuel injection line ran to the back. Can turn the steering wheel with one finger. Brother in law prefers chevies, but he likes my Ford.

 

[greenpondmike]

I don't think anyone is reading this. It's supposed to be a shared effort, but it looks like just me now, so I guess I'm backing out if it keeps going like it is.

Thanks to the ones that shared stuff a while back.

 

[bykfixer]

I was going to comment that I prefer old Ford engines over Chevy but prefer fixing old Chevy over Ford engines……but forgot to.

I miss the days when you could tap the starter solenoid on the firewall and get it to start. And that didn't work it was a $15 repair. Nowadays the starter has the solenoid attached and if you can even find the dam thing tapping on it is very difficult so you end up with a $500 repair.

I may have said this before, but once upon a time I changed the starter on my 200ci Ford engine under the hood of a 66 mustang without laying on the ground because I could fit between the fender and the engine block.

My latest money pit, a 2004 Lexus has a starter somewhere……

 

[greenpondmike]

Good to see you back in here bykfixer.

Toyota starters are kinda difficult to get to. My wife had a 93 toyota corola and her cousin and brother in law "thought" they were going to take it off, but they loosened the wrong bolts and took the starter apart instead. We got one from the junkyard and I almost fixed the other--I say almost because all I needed was an insulator. I think I gave it to someone that needed a starter.

The crazy thing is...if I remember right I think the original problem was just the battery, but I guess they were just itching to turn some wrenches. Kinda of like a coon dog that thinks he's chasing a coon only to be sprayed by a skunk, but I'm the one that got sprayed lol.

Fords can be a little more difficult to work on. On those fe blocks the intake manafold is heavy and you really need a hoist or something of a sort to carefully install it or at least the back gasket (the rubber one) will slip out and then it will leak oil real bad. That happened to me back in 85 or 86. Trying to balance yourself on the fender or in an awkward position sitting on the fender well and lowering that heavy thing just right can be difficult. I've had my trouble with chevies. Installing a fuel pump on a 283 v8 should be a simple job, but that rod keeps falling down as soon as you take your fingure off of it to quickly get the pump on is frustrating especially when your shirt is gas soaked on the side you're laying on. Some say to put some grease on it, but I didn't know. Fuel pump goes right on a Ford no problem.

The 200 six is a very good engine. I practically killed mine, but it was an effort. I didn't mean to--I was just rough on it. No engine can hold up to my lead foot forever, but I gave that 1979 fairmont futura....well, you know.

 

[greenpondmike]

One thing yall need to know--older pre 1980 Ford trucks will jump out of park if they are sitting level and running. They will drop down in reverse and take off. My 69 did that to me and I had to run and catch it and stop it. My 75 just did it to my brother in law. He ran and caught it and got it stopped thank God.

 

[bykfixer]

I had to chase a 79 model at work one time. Put it in park, got out and two steps away from the truck with the door still open the pin slipped and luckily the steering wheel was turned so it was turning until I caught it.

My neighbor got run over by his LTD so it wasn't just their trucks.

 

[greenpondmike]

I had to chase a 79 model at work one time. Put it in park, got out and two steps away from the truck with the door still open the pin slipped and luckily the steering wheel was turned so it was turning until I caught it.

My neighbor got run over by his LTD so it wasn't just their trucks.

I like Fords, but the emergency brake needs to be in working order and top notch on them. I've had several dodges and chevies that the emergency brake didn't work and I never had a situation where it need to. On the chevy I drive now the emergency brake doesn't work, but I never tried it.

Also on Fords the gear selector can get in a bind on autos to the point of breaking off the collar the lever is on. Seen it and also did it. Best to put it in neutral and apply the emergency brake first and then put it in park where there isn't a bind. Best to do this on all inclines, but if running and you step out on a level or uphill, have it in neutral with the emergency brake on real good.

Also the gear lever sags on older model cars and trucks--especially in the 60s and you need to lift up on it just to crank the vehicle. My 1980 LTD coupe doesn't show any signs of these troubles yet. I think Ford gave some attention to this after 79. You just have to take the good with the bad on some things. That never turned me off to Fords though. Seems like them jumping out of park was in the news back younder in the past.

 

[bykfixer]

Aside from the exploding Pinto I never had issue with Fords. But I know a few mechanics who whenever they see something bone head on a vehicle they say "another better idea by Ford" which apparently refers to a Pinto advertizement or something.

 

[Jim Bonney]

Oh man. I've had my share of classics. First was a beater 1970 Malibu coupe. Built a 3/4 cam 350 for it and created many clouds. After that I had a 1964 Studebaker Lark Sedan. After that I had a 1969 Ford F250 390/C6. Had a couple bikes too. Now I roll a 97 F250 with a 460 and some EPA approved modifications. I mainly help my buddy behind me who's taste is more exotic. We got a 2012 Audi R8 V10 up and going from being totaled with frame damage. Same for a second Gen Ariel Atom. I prefer to wrench and not pay for parts/insurance. I used to be a mechanic professionally for a short time about 18 years ago. Grew up working on old American cars.

 

[greenpondmike]

Aside from the exploding Pinto I never had issue with Fords. But I know a few mechanics who whenever they see something bone head on a vehicle they say "another better idea by Ford" which apparently refers to a Pinto advertizement or something.

74--77 mustangs also blew up when hit in the back and the classic ones were no better. I like them though. I also like the pintos.

 

[greenpondmike]

Oh man. I've had my share of classics. First was a beater 1970 Malibu coupe. Built a 3/4 cam 350 for it and created many clouds. After that I had a 1964 Studebaker Lark Sedan. After that I had a 1969 Ford F250 390/C6. Had a couple bikes too. Now I roll a 97 F250 with a 460 and some EPA approved modifications. I mainly help my buddy behind me who's taste is more exotic. We got a 2012 Audi R8 V10 up and going from being totaled with frame damage. Same for a second Gen Ariel Atom. I prefer to wrench and not pay for parts/insurance. I used to be a mechanic professionally for a short time about 18 years ago. Grew up working on old American cars.

Sounds like you had a lot of good ol vehicles Jim. I've never owned a chevelle malibu, but I sure wanted to. Custom wheels set them off--don't know why chevolet made them so drab from the factory except the SS model. My Ford F150 also has the C6 auto trans.