Topless Alma needs some ice cream.

[Uncle Gump]

Boy... that one has it bad.

I owned three first gens back in the day... I feel your pain trying to brace stuff up.

I actually have to same paint booth too...

 

[tw205]

How redneck half ass mad man am I???. As crazy as it is I think it’s gonna work.

I need a good vacuum booster. And a starter. And a beer.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Hope it works. You moved the booster away from the pedal about 3/8". Did you get a longer pushrod?

 

[tw205]

Hope it works. You moved the booster away from the pedal about 3/8". Did you get a longer pushrod?

Only a 1/8” thick plate. I think the last booster I got had an adjustable rod.

 

[tw205]

With the new braces in place the firewall appears to be stable. No movement when the clutch is pressed. Still don’t have a brake booster. But I’m expecting the same result.
However, I still have no usable clutch. Bleeds out fine. Pedal feels great. I can hear it give a small squeak when the throw out pushed on the pressure plate fingers but it won’t release the input and allow the trans to spin freely.
Took a couple days off to contemplate. I got nothin. Sooooo..... I yanked the trans back out and inspected the pressure plate. 4 of 6 bolts were only finger tight. There is my problem. All the clutch travel was used up pushing the pressure plate on the flywheel. Torqued it all down to spec and stuck the trans back in. All the fluid drained from the res to the slave. Hooked up the line and filled the res. It gurgled going down. I did not bleed. Pumped the pedal to set the throwout and I got great clutch. Releasing as it should. I should have seen it when I put the new slave in. A lesson in being thorough. I’ll button up what I got left tore apart and move on to the brakes. Progress.

 

[tw205]

Started in on the brakes today. Ordered a new booster yesterday, came in this morning. Don’t know it I need a new brake master or not, but the booster was rusted solid.
I’m not mad about how the firewall braces turned out. I get no movement from applying either or both of the pedals. Good enough for a trail rig.

Everything went together well. Masters bad . Rear res ( front brakes ) bench bleeds ok. Was full of yuck nasty. Front res ( rear brakes ) will not move any fluid. I suspected something would be amiss. I’ll get one ordered. I went ahead and mounted it so I could fix some line damage. Bled some nasty out of the front. Waiting on parts. Back in a few days.

 

[tw205]

Advances were achieved!
I had a few brake masters setting on the shelf so I went through all of them and they’re all junk so I ordered a new one and a new starter. While I waited I disassembled the other rear axle U bolt plate and got it spun around. Put a new adjuster cable on the rear brake. Parts arrived but I had a couple days of painting that damn cast iron master. Put it all together today. Bled the brakes. Threw in a battery and hit the key. Fired up great. Clutch worked as it should. Brakes worked as they should till I popped a rusty rear line testing them. The rods I made to stabilize the rusted firewall worked fantastic. No movement what so ever. Blocked off the rear brakes and we’re good for the day. She needs some fluids and fuel and she’ll be ready for a test ride on my ol’dirt road.

 

[tw205]

Topped off the fluid and pulled her outta the driveway. Running ok but she don’t wanna go. I suspect this god awful duel exhaust is plugged up. Back to the barn. Cut the pipe behind the muffler.

Now there is some nasty. I’ll get it cleaned out and get a turn down tomorrow

 

[ekrampitzjr]

What is that in the exhaust? Looks like dog crap. Maybe someone played a joke on you?

 

[tw205]

What is that in the exhaust? Looks like dog crap. Maybe someone played a joke on you?

I have no idea. Some looked to be carpet insulation drug in from mice. The truck sat for lord knows how many years.

 

[Lefty]

Boy... that one has it bad.

I owned three first gens back in the day... I feel your pain trying to brace stuff up.

I actually have to same paint booth too...

Alma looks good topless, like a short bed regular cab pickup truck

 

[ekrampitzjr]

I have no idea. Some looked to be carpet insulation drug in from mice. The truck sat for lord knows how many years.

To get that stuff out, you could try a wire coat hanger cut off. The end of the wire could get past the stuff, then you could pull it out at an angle to get as much out as you can.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve blown mouse nests out of the exhaust of the Choptop twice now. Both times it was hard getting started and then suddenly it ran like a champ and there would be nesting blown 20’ behind it (pipe exits straight out the back). Hope a couple of the little bastards got blown out with the nest!

 

[gaz]

Master back in the truck. Bled it every conceivable way. Gravity, vacuum, forward, backward and upside down. I can get it to disengage the clutch once when I start it. It will go into gear if I keep clutch pedal in after I start. Put shifter in neutral and let off clutch, push it back in and it’s gone. I’m not leaking any fluid so I can’t figure out where the failure is.
I have now removed the transmission and it’s on a dolly in the middle of the barn. Pulled off the slave, it looks old. Says FoMoCo and USA. does this mean it’s factree? New slave and master are on order so I hope to be reassembling later this week. View attachment 97706
Spent a little time tinkering with small issues. When you turn the key to acc the dome and dash lights come on. I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way. With key off, opening a door won’t turn the dome light on. No tail lights, emergency flashers work but turn signals don’t. Crazy stuff happens when people do their own installs. It’s easy to believe anybody would have enough common sense to do simple things like change a light bulb or use the same power source for their new radio as the old one used. Apparently I over estimate people’s intelligence. So the radio (not original) used the same power wires as the original however, they used all of them. Always powered ( for clock and memory), acc power and dash light power all twisted together for power source to radio. That’s why dash and dome lights come on when you turn key to acc. Got that mess all sorted. Then found turn signal, brake light tail light bulb(1157) in the right tail light was installed backwards. It’s not supposed to even fit in the socket that way but there it was. It was allowing power to draw from the wrong source bypassing the flasher. That and some wires crushed and melted under the rear bumper mount bracket was the cause for the lighting issues. Some one removed half the fuses most likely because they ran out after continued blowing. Got that mess all sorted and now have functioning lighting with the exception of no dash lights and no dome light with headlight switch. I have all the other exterior light so I believe the trouble is in the headlight switch itself. I will swap it out with a spare to confirm.

Spent some time getting the rear axle u bolt brackets turned to the correct orientation. Again common sense has left the job sight. Trimmed the u bolts enough to get a deep well socket on them. Got the bolts off and spun the plated 90 degrees. Whoever did this had to splay the bolts to fit in the bracket. You would think that would be a clue but never mind View attachment 97707

Holli crapicus Batman!!

 

[tw205]

Kinda lost track of this thread. End of story, Alma is as perfect as she’s ever gonna be. She runs, drives and stops. I can bribe a grandchild to stand at the end of the driveway with a box of ice cream sandwiches if brother needs to take the ball and chain out for ice cream. Although I think a trip to town would be achievable the overall safety of this truck is no bueno. Her remaining days will be spent on the farm dragging firewood and venison from the forest and teaching the kids to drive a stick shift. Someday she’ll be broken down into parts but not today. For now she lives on in southern Michigan.