[Bentwheelbob]

The mission creep continues....

Well, the back of the truck is done, but work in the cab continues. In the rear, all the wiring has been finished and everything works. The spare tire has been reinstalled and the bumper is back from the body shop and installed. The last thing to do is buff the paint out, but that will wait until the whole truck can be buffed.

In the cab, all the wiring has been figured out and everything is connected. This was complicated by the addition of turn signals, a new headlight switch, and replacing the vacuum wiper motor with an electric motor. Now that everything is traced, hooked up and working, My Pal Dave is going to clean up the connections with weather tite connectors and tuck everything in its place.

The under dash heater/blower box has also been cleaned up and repainted using rustoleum hammered metal paint which matched the original very nicely. Also, new defroster duct hose was installed.

After much debate, I decided to replace the original floor mat. The floor under the mat was in pretty good shape. There are a couple of rust spots from surface water, mainly on the transmission cover. The metal is all very solid, and it won't be getting wet again, so I may draw the line on expansion of the mission and just leave it as is. 95% of the floor is so nice that I hate to not leave it original. Here's some pictures.

[The Boss]

Looking great Bob!

[Keith Vrabec]

maybe just paint the removable center section, and hit the rusty areas on the pass side with the wire wheel, and coat with some paint, just out of the need to stop the expansion of the rust?

Cool truck.

[Bentwheelbob]

Well, the cab is done....... almost. Two steps forward and one step back. All the wiring is finished, cleaned up and tucked away. Turn signals are in and working. The new electric wiper motor and switch are installed, as is the new floor mat and pad. Also, seat belts have been added as a nod toward safety, and at the insistence of the Child Bride. Unfortunately, the fuel tank has decided to start leaking - leaking very slowly, but leaking nonetheless. Soooooo....out comes the fuel tank to go to the local welding shop to be pressure tested and welded. It's always something. Here's a few pictures.







The Leak

[Keith Seymore]

Good thing it's behind the seat, where it's nice and safe.

Not outside the frame rail, like on my truck.



K

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Good thing it's behind the seat, where it's nice and safe.

Not outside the frame rail, like on my truck.



K

Yeah, you have to love it. Nice and safe inside the cab.

On a more somber note, there is bad news at the Hot Rod Garage. My Pal Dave has had a heart attack or some other cardiac related issue. He was admitted to the hospital last night. They did a heart catheterization today and found no blockage significant enough to insert a stent. They did find that the artery in his right leg groin area was totally blocked. He has had no numbness or other signs of blockage in this leg. The diagnosis of his problem is still unknown. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers please.

It hits particularly close to home because he was just here Wednesday night and we finished up this stage of work on the Green Truck. He brought back the gas tank which he had hauled off to his pal Joey for welding and pressure testing to fix the leak which had developed. We got it installed and filled, and then we got the seat put back in and fastened down. I noticed when we were putting the seat in that he was breathing hard and after we finished we talked about it. He said that he had not felt well the past several weeks - short of breath, tired and moments of confusion. I pushed him hard to call his doctor and was shocked the next day when he called and said he was in an ambulance headed for the hospital. There is a lesson here folks - if you are not feeling well call your doctor.

On the brighter side, the truck project is finished for the time being. I got it out tonight and took for its' maiden test cruise. Everything worked great and it drove much better than before. The difference the change in rear gear ratio made is remarkable, and the new shocks also make a noticeable improvement. It was also pretty cool having turn signals and dual rear lights. I did notice that the front park lights work in the park light position, but not when the headlights are on. The signal side of the park lights do work when the headlights are on. I'm not sure this is correct or not. Some research is in order.

I am going to put the truck to work tomorrow hauling the honeycomb wheels from my Firebird to the tire shop. I am going to get them broken down so I can refinish the wheels. This will also help get the remaining sand from the blasting blown off and I will try tomorrow afternoon to get it all washed and shined. Here's a few pictures. The seat cover is original 1959 GM. I wish I could an accurate reproduction, but no one carries them that I can find.

[Keith Seymore]

Sorry to hear about your friend; you speak the truth: If you are not feeling well - go to the doctor!

Re: park lamps and head lamps - that's the way it worked for early 60's Pontiacs as well (park lamps w/o head lamps; head lamps on / park lamps off). It may be correct for this vintage truck as well.

K

[6 Grrrs]

The truck looks great. My GTO's parking lights work as you stated. I think it changed in '68 or so. It is easy to wire the parking lights to come on with the headlights, if you want.

[Bentwheelbob]

I probably ought to put this in the electrical section, but since this is a thread on a Chevrolet truck in a Pontiac forum, WTH. I took the truck out at night for the first time and everything was fine until I turned on the high beams. Once the high beams were on, the headlights began flickering, the turn signals would not work, and no rear brake or park lights. Turn off the high beams and everything was fine. MPD and I worked on this yesterday, but could not find the source. Even more puzzling, it takes about 30 to 60 seconds for the flickering to begin. Until that time period elapses, the high beams work and everything else does as well. After 30 to 60 seconds it all goes Poltergeist????

During the project we replaced all wiring harnesses, replaced the headlight switch, and added turn signals. We checked the dimmer switch yesterday by unplugging the harness from the switch. We then jumped the wires to turn on the high beams and less than a minute later it looked like Squad 51 was on their way. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

[6 Grrrs]

How about cleaned all the paint from any ground connections and/or ground straps from the body to the engine and engine to frame, etc, etc.

Ground is very important in a DC electrical system. Star washers are a good idea when attaching grounds to painted surfaces.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

I probably ought to put this in the electrical section, but since this is a thread on a Chevrolet truck in a Pontiac forum, WTH. I took the truck out at night for the first time and everything was fine until I turned on the high beams. Once the high beams were on, the headlights began flickering, the turn signals would not work, and no rear brake or park lights. Turn off the high beams and everything was fine. MPD and I worked on this yesterday, but could not find the source. Even more puzzling, it takes about 30 to 60 seconds for the flickering to begin. Until that time period elapses, the high beams work and everything else does as well. After 30 to 60 seconds it all goes Poltergeist????

During the project we replaced all wiring harnesses, replaced the headlight switch, and added turn signals. We checked the dimmer switch yesterday by unplugging the harness from the switch. We then jumped the wires to turn on the high beams and less than a minute later it looked like Squad 51 was on their way. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

Voltage regulator coils warm up and cause issues with a heavier load.
6 volt still? could also be battery starting to internally short, cant handle the load.
check the generator current output?
Check the voltage regulator grounds on the firewall
For a head light to have same output in candle power on 6 volt, as one would on 12 volt, the current will be about double
Good luck, cool truck!

[Bentwheelbob]

Broke the Green Truck out today and drove it everywhere. Put about 50 miles on it including 15 to 20 of high speed 4 lane cruising. I feel bad that these cars mainly get shuffled around the garage when they are started. It was good to put some real miles on it and it was a beautiful day.

Here's a few pictures. The Green Truck is standing tall. She looks good for 56 years old and turned over 38,000 miles today.

[The Boss]

Great truck - I need to shuffle some stuff around myself!