ArdWrknTrk Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Gary, It’s not pretty but it’s functional and used materials on hand. The firewall needs it. It’s rusty and cracked, even though it was a mechanical linkage clutch truck originally. You've done an excellent job with that Cory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Gary, It’s not pretty but it’s functional and used materials on hand. The firewall needs it. It’s rusty and cracked, even though it was a mechanical linkage clutch truck originally. Yes, that looks great, Cory! Well done! And you have it installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Gary, It’s not pretty but it’s functional and used materials on hand. The firewall needs it. It’s rusty and cracked, even though it was a mechanical linkage clutch truck originally. Well done! I agree - I think the shifting tube would be too long to come out the bottom unless one wanted to chop it in pieces as it comes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Yes, that looks great, Cory! Well done! And you have it installed? Gary, Yes sir, installed. Working from my iPhone here so not sure it this will orient properly but here’s a pic: I had to notch the steering column mounting flange so that the bottom nut on the master cylinder can be accessed. The factory hydraulic clutch trucks are notched here, but this one being an ‘80 was not. It would be a cruel joke to play on a future owner to have to pull the steering column to change a master cylinder LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Well done! I agree - I think the shifting tube would be too long to come out the bottom unless one wanted to chop it in pieces as it comes out. Right! By the way, I just finally got that hydraulic pedal set installed today! So awesome!! The truck now has 3 pedals again! The pedal box that was in the truck had the same cast aluminum piece...I guess I didn't realize that they were the same. This truck originally had a T-18 4spd in it, but at some point was converted to an automatic...and then the auto trans was pulled out for reasons unknown. So it had the wide auto trans brake pedal, but it had a bunch of back yard butchery done in the pedal box to make it fit...bushings made out of PVC pipe barbs...lol. So I had a good couple of days while I was waiting for my new water pump to arrive. Converted auto column to a manual column, installed clutch master with firewall reinforcement brace, hydraulic pedal box, 5spd tunnel cover and shifter, and finally installed the 1995 4x4 shifter (in the floor, beside the tunnel cover). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Yes, that looks great, Cory! Well done! And you have it installed? Gary, Yes sir, installed. Working from my iPhone here so not sure it this will orient properly but here’s a pic: I had to notch the steering column mounting flange so that the bottom nut on the master cylinder can be accessed. The factory hydraulic clutch trucks are notched here, but this one being an ‘80 was not. It would be a cruel joke to play on a future owner to have to pull the steering column to change a master cylinder LOL. These smaller firewall braces seem the perfect sideline for Ron/Reamer with his press brake and plasma. Virtually NO up front cost in materials, can run them off a couple of dozen at a time. Take up NO space and fit in a small flat rate box with USPS. An afternoons work and they could be sitting, waiting for an address sticker. 💡 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 These smaller firewall braces seem the perfect sideline for Ron/Reamer with his press brake and plasma. Virtually NO up front cost in materials, can run them off a couple of dozen at a time. Take up NO space and fit in a small flat rate box with USPS. An afternoons work and they could be sitting, waiting for an address sticker. 💡 Right you are, Jim! Did you see the picture I posted in the Lounge for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 These smaller firewall braces seem the perfect sideline for Ron/Reamer with his press brake and plasma. Virtually NO up front cost in materials, can run them off a couple of dozen at a time. Take up NO space and fit in a small flat rate box with USPS. An afternoons work and they could be sitting, waiting for an address sticker. 💡 Right you are, Jim! Did you see the picture I posted in the Lounge for you? So, check out this oddity... This old '80 has a gauge mounted in the instrument bezel. It absolutely kills me because the 1980 instrument bezel is a one-year only item, and the rest of it is in pretty nice condition. ATM gauge? As in Atmospheric pressure, in units Bar? In other words, a vacuum gauge? It just seems really odd... Anyway, there was a clear plastic tube attached to it, that ran through the firewall but was just loose. Original engine was a 302, which was removed long ago. If I can't find another bezel for a reasonable price, I guess I'll just have to install a more functional gauge in the hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 So, check out this oddity... This old '80 has a gauge mounted in the instrument bezel. It absolutely kills me because the 1980 instrument bezel is a one-year only item, and the rest of it is in pretty nice condition. ATM gauge? As in Atmospheric pressure, in units Bar? In other words, a vacuum gauge? It just seems really odd... Anyway, there was a clear plastic tube attached to it, that ran through the firewall but was just loose. Original engine was a 302, which was removed long ago. If I can't find another bezel for a reasonable price, I guess I'll just have to install a more functional gauge in the hole. That is ODD! Don't think I've ever seen a vacuum gauge marked that way. But you might want to hook it back up. Having there, staring you in the face, is likely to change your driving habits. The pedals, shifter, and tranny cover look great. Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 So, check out this oddity... This old '80 has a gauge mounted in the instrument bezel. It absolutely kills me because the 1980 instrument bezel is a one-year only item, and the rest of it is in pretty nice condition. ATM gauge? As in Atmospheric pressure, in units Bar? In other words, a vacuum gauge? It just seems really odd... Anyway, there was a clear plastic tube attached to it, that ran through the firewall but was just loose. Original engine was a 302, which was removed long ago. If I can't find another bezel for a reasonable price, I guess I'll just have to install a more functional gauge in the hole. I had a semi-productive day wrenching on the old '80. Seems weird to say...but this truck is now forty-one years old. If you go by the build date and when it arrived at the dealer (October 1979), it's technically 42 years old. Anyway, I had been waiting several days for a new water pump to arrive. The shop lost the original new pump they ordered so then ordered in a reman pump for me, but I did finally get my hands on it yesterday morning. Grabbed a bunch of hose clamps, and some 5/16" copper tubing to make new fuel line with the really optimistic hopes of possibly cranking the engine over this weekend. Then I pull a bone-head move and bust the thermostat housing. So stupid too, because I had just spent an hour breaking the long pivot bolt in the alternator loose. Anyway, I'm not sure what happened...the surfaces seem flat...maybe the thermostat slipped out of place and lifted the lower ear off the head. It's not a big deal...the stupid things are worth something like $10 bucks, but I have to order from RockAuto so it will be a week or so getting here. It's a blessing in disguise, because I need a little time to prepare anyway. Spilled milk. I did get the core support back on the frame though, and that also turned out very good. I rebuilt the bottom of this core support, and installed a used 2 core 1994 radiator that I was worried would not fit. Turns out it fit perfectly, and as wild as the radiator angle looked in the core support, it appears to be perfectly parallel to the radiator fan. All good. I still need to shim it and tweak it a bit, but I ran out of time this morning. I'll pick at it tomorrow and try to get it ready to fire up next weekend. I also need to order some other little odds and ends....bushings and clutch and brake pedal covers, etc. Still, all in all pretty good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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