FuzzFace2

Ok on the tanks factory you had side tanks 16gal on the SB trucks, 19gal on the LB trucks. Out back you had a 19gal tank and you had the spare tire under it. Now others have said what they find why not to have a side tank on the right side but one that has been missed is how to fill it. In the early days Chevy had them on both sides and part of the problem was how to get fuel in it? Hose most of the time is too short to reach and forget it if you have a cap on the bed. Could fill 1 tank the turn truck around but if you don't shut the pump off someone can sneak in and fill on your dime. If you do shut if off then start again using the same credit card the card may not work as they think it was stolen. SO to KISS use factory tanks and if you need more fuel run an after market 33gal or 38gal rear tank but you can not have the spare tire mounted under it. Dave ----

Well, I might end up with rubber just for the simple fact that I was planning on buying new hangers and shackles, and it looks like they come with the "common" style bushings. I'm hoping to get it all sorted out today so I can get some parts on order. That snow ball is rolling along pretty good Keep up the good work. Dave ----

A few weeks ago I saw a leak from the radiator of my project so I used the pressure tester and found it coming from the lower hose nipple into the tank. So today being it is getting colder and I still had water in the cooling system of my project and the leak I drained it. Well just before I drained it I look the radiator over a little better and found 3 tube by the tank and 1 in the center. So looks like I am going to need a new radiator :'( Not on the truck but I had to replace a ballast for one of the lights in the garage so I can see to do the rest of the body work. It had to be one over the truck! Dave ----

A few weeks ago I saw a leak from the radiator of my project so I used the pressure tester and found it coming from the lower hose nipple into the tank. So today being it is getting colder and I still had water in the cooling system of my project and the leak I drained it. Well just before I drained it I look the radiator over a little better and found 3 tubes by the tank and 1 in the center. So looks like I am going to need a new radiator :'( Dave ----

That has to be fun putting it back together must need 4 people LOL. I did not know that if I did I might have done my headboard / floor a little different so I could use a stock headboard. I think my headboard is a little shorter from when I replaced the rusted bottom to fit the sides & the metal floor. If I was going to go with wood I would need to replace everything just like before the metal floor, all cross members, front & rear sills, and headboard, so nothing is lost. Dave ----

Is that because the headboard sits on top of the side panels to give the gap? Does the headboard sit on top of the metal strips or the strips stop just before it? Dave ----

I forgot to say the other box I will use if / when the leaky one fails has been outside on the fender and it has not leaked. I cant remember if either one is a true MC unit or aftermarket but am sure both have the blue retainer. I will have to check that out next time out in the garage. Dave ----

I know it does not help you but my metal floor flare does have drains up front. The front panel sits on top of the floor ribs, that is where I have sheet metal bolts thru the panel into the high rib of the floor. The low part of the ribbed floor is the drains. I wonder if you can maybe router out the end of the boards just under the front panel and use some kind of spacers where the bolts would be? Or maybe router out between where the bolts are so you would not need spacers but still have drains? Would like to see what you come up with. Dave ----

Ok guys & girls back about a month or so ago when my son was here and we were bleeding the brakes he pointed out to me the same thing. The module leaked goo out and down the fender liner. Now for all you that say wrong coil, I call bs on and the same if you were to say the key was left on bs. I say this because the truck has not been run other than in & out of the garage, maybe up to temp to test the temp gauge so not vary long run times. The coil has been on that motor before I bought the truck all be it with a different IGN box as this one came on the parts truck inner fender and it ran with a different motor. So I cant see it wrong coil and it never ran long enough. Oh I don't have a hood on the truck so cant trap any engine heat. As for leaving the key on, the battery cable is removed each time the motor is turned off because the head light switch is still pulled out from when I removed the knob and I don't want to install the knob yet as I have other dash work to be done yet. Now I can tell you it gets really hot in the garage. I would say many days it had to be over 100*f with it closed up as I have seen it mid 90's with everything open and a fan going. So I call the heat is why it leaked. I will run it till it stops / gives me issues and then will use the one that came with the truck. Dave ----

Look over your diagram for the single tank truck as I want to say it will also show the duel tank and if so you could follow it to make your own harness. Now we all know the easy way is to get a duel tank trucks harness, both the main in truck one and the one that runs down the frame rail. The easy one to make is the frame rail one and the easier one to get. Unplug under master/booster and follow it back along the frame rail. The main one that is inside the truck runs across the top of the dash and goes out the fire wall on each side. The right side does the heater/AC, charging system and power/solenoid. The left side does the head & parking/turn lights up front, horn, wiper & washer and everything going to the rear for lights and the fuel tank senders & valve switch. There other things I just hit the big ones. I think someone removed the main harness without removing the dash so guessing it can be done. When I did mine I was also using the dash from the parts truck as it had the AC vents (added factory AC to a non AC truck, not easy task) so I took the dash & wiring as 1 big bundle. It was when I started checking dash plug wiring for heater/AC/fuel tanks (some were cut off the parts truck harness) between the parts truck harness and my truck I found the difference in the harnesses. Now my 2 truck just happened to be the same years (1981's). I know 1980 dash gauges had some different wiring than later years. You will most likely find a different year than 80 so if you get the gauge cluster you would not have to deal with the 80 only gauge deal. I also think the mid to late 80's also changed wiring for the duel tanks so would need to watch for that. Or maybe it is for electric fuel pumps and non fuel pumps? Just wanted to give you a heads up on what you need to look out for. Dave ----

A word to the wise might want to look up Yale towne & Lock fire is Stamford, CT. It was an old think 3 floor wood floor building they did manufacturing in so the floors got a lot of oil on them. Some how the building caught fire and the fire dept. could not put it out as the oil kept it going. https://www.firehouse.com/home/news/10498379/sixalarm-fire-rips-through-connecticut-warehouse It says lack of water psi, maybe so? but I knew a fire fighter and he told me oil on the old floors. What do you think that black smoke was from????? That was my home town up till 2015 and L.I. sound is less than a 1/4 mile at the end of the road. 1 of the fire houses was at the other end of the road as the building took up a full city block. So be careful on that wood floor as any welding or torch cutting sparks can cause a fire. Dave ----

Again late to the party Here is a link to a post I did on what I use to fight rust. Depending how I feel and what out come I am looking for I pick what I think is best. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1488148-86-front-fender-small-hole-rust-repair.html What you posted I think is like the Oxy-Gone I posted in the link and a not so good link below as it is for a 5gal pail but shows 1 gal jug. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Oxy-Gone-Rust-Remover-Brand-New-5-gallon-pail-/251591511073?nma=true&si=71G1q8d0TeZoGsRrfUUEzOjv%252FeI%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 I used the oxy-gone on my flare as there was rust with deep pitting under body filler that was lifting because of the rust. Once the filler was off using the 7" disc I sprayed on the oxy-gone and let it sit for a day or 2 then rinsed with water & sponge. I did the roof, side bed panels and even inside the doors at the folded skin to frame to treat any rust that was there. I also used it on the frame before I painted it. You can see it turned white in some areas. A few days later with help from rain I used a water hose to rinse it off before painting. On 1 the fuel tanks that had surface rust I used the Eastwood brush on encapsulator, the other I used the same black paint I used on the frame. I have only primed over the oxy-gone and had no issues so far and don't see why I would. I have also painted (car paint with spray gun) over the brush on encapsulator also with no issues. I have used the Eastwood frame coating on a 1 year only hood between skin & frame to keep it from rusting away as that hood does. I did prime the hood and had no issues and don't think when it was painted they had any either. This frame coating would be good between the roof panels and the A pillars to keep them from rusting inside out. Hope that helps if not you maybe some one else. Dave ----

Sorry I am a little late to this. On the duel tanks there are 2 main truck wiring harness. One is made for duel tanks & the other is not. You will not find the plug to plug into the tank switch on that panel in your truck. Also know the rear harness that plugs into the main harness under the master/booster is also different as it should have the 2nd tank sender plug and the tank switch valve (that bolts to the frame) wires. Can you do with out them 2 harnesses? I am sure you can you will just have to make a harness to run along side what you have in the truck now now is all. I know all this as I converted my 81 flare side to duel tanks but I had a 81 parts truck I took it all from so it was plug-n-play. Don't know if mine works yet as I am still re-building my truck. Dave ----

I have not checked into this site for a bit. You had it easy with the fork lift. I had to use straps over the rafters to lift it on & off (many times I should add) 1 corner a little at a time. Your bed for the most part looks to be in pretty good shape other than that front panel and I think you said the sides at the wood like they all do. I had no cross members and the front & rear sills were rusted and patched so I would of had to get all that. I also would of had to get the front panel if I did not repair mine and it all added up to, to much $$ so went metal floor. I like that bottom picture on end. It shows the heat shields screwed? to the wood, mine were long gone. The style side shields are longer maybe because it was a long bed? but they screwed to the cross members. BTW the style side cross members are turned so the U is to the floor not the frame. I did quick look at reusing my shields when I was under the truck once but that was as far as I got but they will be installed. Keep us posted with pictures Dave ----

I am happy it helps. If you need other pictures just ask and I will try and get them. It may take a little time as I don't get on here much with my work hours and all. It sure is inspiring. Can't wait to see it finished. I also cant wait to see it finished either LOL I hope it cools off some now that fall is here but never know it, it has been in the low 90's last week and was almost 90 in the garage today. Dave ---- I did not do anything to the truck but to what is left of the parts truck (cab) so I can start cutting it up to scrap it. A few weeks ago we got hit with a hurricane and when I started looking at what was left of the cab the windshield that was busted from the roll over started to fall out into the cab. Being we have 2 dogs I was afraid they would run thru the cab and get cut on the glass so today I took it out the rest of the way. I then vacuumed the glass up on the floor and any in the grass. I also pulled off the hood hinges, wiper motor and linkage and any bolts, screws, clips, etc. so I have extras if ever need them. My son should be back here in a week or so and going to have him cut the cab up so I can run it to the town dump as they have a scrap metal bin. I cant see getting much $ for it and I dint know where to even take it so the town dump it is. That is where I took what was left of the bed and the guys said it was the first time someone brought in a truck for scrap. Dave ----

I am happy it helps. If you need other pictures just ask and I will try and get them. It may take a little time as I don't get on here much with my work hours and all. It sure is inspiring. Can't wait to see it finished. I also cant wait to see it finished either LOL I hope it cools off some now that fall is here but never know it, it has been in the low 90's last week and was almost 90 in the garage today. Dave ----

Yep from what I found between my 2 trucks it all has to do with power or non-power brakes. This also changes the kingpin sizes, spindles, rotors, dust shields and brakes front & rear. I did not know of this before I bought the parts truck but I am sure I would have still got it as I used a lot more of it than the front suspension. Dave ----

I used fiber glass rosin to "glue" it in. I sanded around the glue edges to give it some tooth to bite in and should never come apart. I do have plastic repair kit called Plastex (site was down so no link) thatI have used on another project to repair (make a new) lip for a dash bezel. I just did not think the kit was the way to go with the dash repair and why I went with fiber glass. Dave ----

I used fiber glass rosin to "glue" it in. I sanded around the glue edges to give it some tooth to bite in and should never come apart. I do have plastic repair kit called Plastex (site was down so no link) thatI have used on another project to repair (make a new) lip for a dash bezel. I just did not think the kit was the way to go with the dash repair and why I went with fiber glass. Dave ----

Fiber glass is not hard to do. Directions are on the can add a little cloth when needed and finish like you would body filler. Not all the holes line up so I would of needed to make new ones and fill others and that is just not me. If any one was to pull the HVAC box out you would never know the truck was never a factory AC truck Here you can see the AC wall over the non-AC wall. See Gary's post above on the wheel bolt pattern Dave ----

Thanks I do hope it does "inspire" others I know some of the other members projects inspire me. Dave ----

Thanks I do want to point out this was started Dec of 2015 till now and if my work hours and weather (not so hot) were better it would most likely be in paint. I know I have documented it on the other site but we have users here that are not over there and can see how I have "over come" things on my project that may help others. It can also give a kick that someone needs to start / finish their project. How about that metal flare side floor? No need to scrap a good style side floor when it can be recycled and used on the flare side. Same for the rear fuel tank recycled to be used on the flare side. And the thing I like is unless you know the trucks it all looks factory stock. Just like members have helped me on getting parts I needed I have helped others with parts I was not going to use. Off the top of my head, style side tail lights, 1 of the radiators that would not fit my truck and the parts truck frame went to someone up north that had a truck with a rotted frame. His turned into a frame off rebuild with the good frame from me. Dave ----

I should also say there are more pictures in the links in my sig. This was to get others that did not know what I have done up to speed. Now that it is cooling off I hope to get out to the garage on weekends when I have the time. So far 2 weekends in a row I have worked Saturdays the full day and when 90* out it just takes any energy you may have just to make it home. Then do yard work on my day off is not a good way to rest! This picture was taken on July 4th. Dave ----

I have done some other things to the truck like started to strip the tail gate to metal so I can treat the rust. Doing body work to the parts truck hood. Most of it was because of me removing the skin from the frame to fix the dent and made more work, still working on this. Played with repairing 1 of 2 dash pads using info found in the web to see what works and does not. Still working on this but I have a dash pad cover I will use on the truck. This is the 2nd try as the first failed. I hot glued sheet metal on the under side as a backer. Pulled the radiator laid it flat and filled with vinegar to get the crust out. I let it sit about6 weeks as I had the time. At this time I replaced the Tstat and found the housing broken. The first replacement from AZ had the wrong size for the heater hose fitting so had to hit a different store and that worked. That gets us up to a few weeks ago just after the hurricane hit, we lost power for about 27 hours but had a generator and most of that time was at night and was sleeping. Also had my son here and he was after me to get out and work on the truck but did not want to during the storm, then no power and the biggie to damn hot. Once power was back on and the wind calmed down on Sunday I did get out to the garage. I needed a hand to bleed the brakes because even using a SnapOn vacuum bleeder the pedal still went to the floor. Just doing 1 rear wheel got the pedal up but did all 4 wheels and the pedal feels pretty good. But, there's always a but, found the master leaks at the booster and if that was not enough the booster also leaks if you hit the pedal 5 or 6 times fast in a row and hold it. So at some point I will need to replace both master & booster. My son also pointed out the Motorcraft IGN box leaked out the bottom and down the fender liner. Thing is this was just sitting in the garage and battery disconnected. I do have to say it gets hot in that garage and why I don't work more in it. It still works and the other box I have, from the flare side, in a no name box. Both have blue retainers and I will keep the no name in the glove box when on the road. One time when I had the truck running I tried the HVAC controls only had air out the defrost vents. Thinking the worst and before I knew about the door hinge and to check it when I had the HVAC box out of the truck I was thinking hinge. With help from my son we started tracing out vacuum lines. One thing I found was the line from intake to the tree on the fire wall would not let enough vacuum thru, need to pick up more vacuum line. Got supply to the check valve but not out? A quick check and the vacuum can may not hold vacuum so plugged off I now get supply to the HVAC controls. I found if the temp is on cold the doors do not move till I go to hot then back. I also found if on max AC IIRC it went back to defrost. I will recheck this and make a post on it to see if someone can help. The last thing I did was to run a hot air line for the choke using a Dorman kit (that I did not really need) and copper line. I needed the copper line because I am using the EFI manifolds so there is no way to run the Dorman kit thru the intake like stock dose. Stock the hot air line goes in the bottom out the top to the choke, see the coat hanger top & bottom. I still use the fresh air supply port on the carb. I then ran the copper down to the manifold and made a few wraps around it to pick up heat. Then up to the choke housing with the insulated cover. Once hooked up I found a had a vacuum leak, the choke is pulling way too much air / vacuum and the cause of the leak. Someone said check for a piston type thing, choke pull off?, inside the choke housing as that limits the amount of vacuum pulled thru. So that is something I have to look into at some point. If it is not there I will see about pulling one from a spare carb, that is where I got some parts for this hot air fix. That is where I am at with this project to date. A little more body work to hood, tail gate and small dent in fender and I think I can get paint on it. Not bad for 3 years of work not all the time and 99% by my self. Dave ----

As Gary hinted and think I did in another post I wanted to use the after market wheels the truck came with as the steel wheels the parts truck came with did not fit the parts truck, center holes not big enough, and had the wrong size pattern. I had the parts truck front suspension under the truck because the kingpins on the flare side were frozen and so I can move it. Thinking I could just change the hubs / rotors and I would be good to reuse my after market wheels ...... WRONG! Spindles are different and will not let you swap rotors. Looking deeper into this I also found the kingpins are different sizes also so the beams are too. This all has to do with the flare side having non-power brakes and the style side parts truck having power brakes. So that meant taking apart, a job in it's self, cleaning up the flare side suspension and rebuild it. Had the only machine shop press out the old and the new kingpin bushing and ream to fit. Well they did ream to fit each bushing to the pin but did not ream them straight thru so when I went to put it all back together the pins would not fit. I had to use a wheel cly hone to get the pins to fit, not fun. I also replaced the rubber pivot bushings with poly ones. The dirty parts in the back is the ones I need to used before clean up. Spindles with new bushings installed. Had this done months before I found how they reamed the bushings. Beams & spindles as one again and painted. Now the next issue was the front calipers. I wanted to use the parts truck ones as they where working when the truck rolled, looked better than the flare side ones and were on the truck. Well the caliper brackets that are part of the spindles would not fit the power brake calipers. Oh the dust shields are also different between the 2 systems too. So I bought new calipers for non-power brakes to fit the spindles, and pads as they are different. So you need to use all power brake or all non-power brake suspension on out to the wheels to have it all play nice. Because of this (kingpin size) DJM does not make drop beams for our trucks. I now hear they make them for the small (power brake) kingpin trucks. Back on all 4 and matching wheels. My brother was out for the holidays and knew I needed a tail gate and chains, lights with brackets and a fuel door with filler neck and sent me the parts. You ask why the fuel door? Remember the rear tank from the parts truck need it graft it on to the rear of the fender to look stock. Also had to make the filler hose work between the style side parts and the filler my brother sent. I even made the vent hose inside the filler hose as part of the retro fit. Dave ----