That's the cool thing about Instagram. I never could properly figure out Facebook. Someone wants to be your friend and then you're inundated with politics/religion/games/crap all over your feed. I just want to be car guy buddies. I don't care who you voted for or what you think about welfare.
Instagram allows you to have all the car guy buddies you want and stick to just the car stuff.
Man, I'm lovin this build. Makes me miss my Toyota more and more. Keep up the good work brotha.
JRH said:Man, I'm lovin this build. Makes me miss my Toyota more and more. Keep up the good work brotha.
Thanks man. I try to keep momentum up at least.
Speaking of that, today's projects were varied and not too involved so I didn't snap many photos. I did a lot of interior cleaning. I removed the seat and cleaned the seat tracks. I cleaned and adjusted the rear brakes.
One thing I did take pictures of was the seat hinge repair. The seat in this truck just felt wrong. It was too reclined and it rattled and moved.
The culprit was missing bushings in the pivots.
So I rummaged in my bolt bin in the meager selection of bushings until I found a shock bushing of some type that could work.
Cut to length, use the sander to reduce the OD just a hair.
And now the seatback is rock steady.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the next episode where Cousin Eddie installs a pair of cheap Amazon floor mats.
How do you refinish your bolts? Caswell kit?
Im planning a full bare shell resto in the next few months, and due to what it is, ill need to refinish the factory hardware from the car and parts cars.
Because nobody restores a neon.
Dusterbd13-michael said:How do you refinish your bolts? Caswell kit?
Im planning a full bare shell resto in the next few months, and due to what it is, ill need to refinish the factory hardware from the car and parts cars.
Because nobody restores a neon.
It's by far cheaper and easier to have the plating done professionally. I pay a buck per pound at my local plating shop and they give a 4 day turnaround.
I'm pretty sure that I'm about to rip a bunch of parts off this Mazda and send them in for replating. My shop does clear zinc (as seen above pics), yellow zinc which is what people usually call cad plated (no one actually uses cad anymore due to environmental concerns) and black. All the little trinkets in the engine bay, tailgate rods and hardware, door strikers, etc...It should perk up the look of things for about 25 dollars.
What do you Google to find a local plating shop? This seems to be the right way to go....
Dusterbd13-michael said:What do you Google to find a local plating shop? This seems to be the right way to go....
In my case, I googled "plating shop fort worth texas" and my place popped up. I went down to check the place out and get to know them. I've been using them 5 or 6 years so far. The minimum price for any job is 25 dollars, but that's for 25 pounds. So, you won't get out the door for less than 25, but if you wanted maximum return on investment, 25 pounds of hardware is a metric butt load of stuff. To me, even if I take in 5 pounds of stuff, it's still a bargain for the money.
Like mentioned way up in this thread somewhere, I have considered hitting the junkyard with my battery impact and empty coffee cans and just stock up on good quality hardware off of Toyotas and Hondas and such. All those little 6mm bolts and 8mm bolts, sheetmetal screws, clips, springs, spacers..... then drop it all off to be replated and I'd have a lifetime supply of uber high quality hardware.
Cousin_Eddie said:Dusterbd13-michael said:What do you Google to find a local plating shop? This seems to be the right way to go....
In my case, I googled "plating shop fort worth texas" and my place popped up. I went down to check the place out and get to know them. I've been using them 5 or 6 years so far. The minimum price for any job is 25 dollars, but that's for 25 pounds. So, you won't get out the door for less than 25, but if you wanted maximum return on investment, 25 pounds of hardware is a metric butt load of stuff. To me, even if I take in 5 pounds of stuff, it's still a bargain for the money.
Like mentioned way up in this thread somewhere, I have considered hitting the junkyard with my battery impact and empty coffee cans and just stock up on good quality hardware off of Toyotas and Hondas and such. All those little 6mm bolts and 8mm bolts, sheetmetal screws, clips, springs, spacers..... then drop it all off to be replated and I'd have a lifetime supply of uber high quality hardware.
This is GENIUS.
I need to find a shop first, and then do this. Two batteries, socket set 5 gallon bucket, two liter of mountain dew....
....."Dang. cousin Eddie has been pretty quiet on his build thread lately"....
I had to change priorities for a bit. My beloved Champion blew it's head gasket.
Frankly, it was a rabbit hole that I did not enjoy going down. It's a 2500 dollar compressor and it hurt my feelings for this to happen. I have treated it like a member of the family with proper maintenance and sympathetic usage without ever over working it. But, alas, 51 dollars and a couple of hours of work and it seems to be back as good as new.
But, in the end, it's back to making lots of air, quietly. Now I can focus on working on cars again.
Cousin_Eddie said:Scottah said:Seeing that picture of washing your Miata outside in January makes me really hate living in Pennsylvania. And it’s been a really mild winter here so far.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. I do not know how you fellows up in the salt states handle being a car guy. I have never been in a situation where one of my cars deteoriates. It would kill my soul to be in a constant race against the rust monster to try and keep my stuff in good shape. I'd just have to take up a different passion like model trains or something.
2 cars. The one you love and the one you sacrifice to the road salt gods. Half the year you drive something you're not that into while you blow the other one apart in the heated garage if you're fortunate. The excitement of having the car out again in the spring is pretty great, as is checking in with your fellow motorheads about what improvements or modifications they did over the long winter.
The truck is looking great! Carpet looks perfect from here.
PS: I followed you on Instagram
yep, what Gunchsta said. winter beater. it's a thing.
winter beaters can be fun adventure too. Here in MI, subbies are popular to trash until there is nothing left.
Now, back to trucks.
A guy on Facebook who works for LKQ was able to order a batch of 40 chrome grilles for these trucks. Chrome ones are no longer produced, but I guess buying 40 of them, they make an exception.
So, I grabbed one when it looked like he was about to sell out.
I did mask and paint argent the underhood section of the grille It just needed that done to my eyes.
Then remove the entire front fascia and do my thing. Bumper brackets needed a spa day.
They were ugly and rusty so I media blasted them and made them pretty for another 30 years.
The AC condensor is held to the core support by these little rubber mounts. Mine were all wasted and it made me sad.
McMaster Carr to the rescue for 1.88 each.
Now I can sleep at night knowing my condensor feels like it is properly supported in life.
Then I cracked open the corner lights for a clean, new bulbs, dielectric grease, and finally new strip caulk to seal the lens to the housing. I did not feel like paying 50 dollars for a pair of new sealed corner lights from China. Strip caulk is wonderful for sealing up light housings.
Finally, I sprung for yet another new bumper. The one I should have bought in the first place.
No, that's not something leaking from my truck. It's raining outside and the water is beginning to run down the driveway.
Beautiful work sir, keep it up.
The talk of winter beaters for the rust belt had me thinking about something.
I contend that folks "up North" consume more cars than we do here in the South. You can buy a new car here and it won't ever deteoriate very much. Whereas in some salt states, 10 years of use leaves nothing of value beyond some mechanical bits to be harvested.
So, I can see where cool mechanical bits would be way more readily available up there.
Speaking of Subarus. I get it now. My wife and I had to go to Burlington Vermont for three days. Between the airport on the east side of town and our hotel on the west side of town, I saw more Subarus in that single trip than I have ever seen in my entire life combined here in Texas. I mean, there would be 4 or 6 of them waiting for the light at any major intersection. If I lived up North, no doubt, I'd open a Subaru specialty repair shop.
Cousin_Eddie said:The talk of winter beaters for the rust belt had me thinking about something.
I contend that folks "up North" consume more cars than we do here in the South. You can buy a new car here and it won't ever deteoriate very much. Whereas in some salt states, 10 years of use leaves nothing of value beyond some mechanical bits to be harvested.
So, I can see where cool mechanical bits would be way more readily available up there.
Speaking of Subarus. I get it now. My wife and I had to go to Burlington Vermont for three days. Between the airport on the east side of town and our hotel on the west side of town, I saw more Subarus in that single trip than I have ever seen in my entire life combined here in Texas. I mean, there would be 4 or 6 of them waiting for the light at any major intersection. If I lived up North, no doubt, I'd open a Subaru specialty repair shop.
Please, not another Subaru shop. There are enough. Plus we have Vermont Sportscar and the Subaru rally team.
vwcorvette said:Cousin_Eddie said:The talk of winter beaters for the rust belt had me thinking about something.
I contend that folks "up North" consume more cars than we do here in the South. You can buy a new car here and it won't ever deteoriate very much. Whereas in some salt states, 10 years of use leaves nothing of value beyond some mechanical bits to be harvested.
So, I can see where cool mechanical bits would be way more readily available up there.
Speaking of Subarus. I get it now. My wife and I had to go to Burlington Vermont for three days. Between the airport on the east side of town and our hotel on the west side of town, I saw more Subarus in that single trip than I have ever seen in my entire life combined here in Texas. I mean, there would be 4 or 6 of them waiting for the light at any major intersection. If I lived up North, no doubt, I'd open a Subaru specialty repair shop.
Please, not another Subaru shop. There are enough. Plus we have Vermont Sportscar and the Subaru rally team.
I’m not planning on moving North and opening a shop. I was just saying that if I lived where there were so many Subaru’s that I would be involved in them somehow.
Fine looking truck you have there. Been following your progress. A few observations....I admire your attention to detail, and bringing out the essence of that era truck. I also admire your ability to dig in, and rip through a project. Finally, your ability to massage your wallet to get it done, without going broke.
Dirtydog said:Fine looking truck you have there. Been following your progress. A few observations....I admire your attention to detail, and bringing out the essence of that era truck. I also admire your ability to dig in, and rip through a project. Finally, your ability to massage your wallet to get it done, without going broke.
Thank you !
Your attention to detail has resulted in a great looking little truck.
Welcome back to another episode of "What inane thing has Cousin Eddie dreamed up to fuss over now"
The end brackets on the front bumper were wearing on me. When you walked by the truck you could see them right there in the front wheelewells and they needed some love.
So I did that. Degrease, media blast, paint.
Then I started the clean up some annoying things in the engine compartment.
Mainly, the wiper motor assembly looked like dookie. It was covered in grease and the mount plate was corroded.
So I took it all apart and cleaned the motor pretty thoroughly and media blasted and painted the backing plate.
Bare metal backing plate.
Backing plate painted silver and reassembly started.
Strip Caulk to replace the old deteoriated gasket.
Installed
Strip caulk seemed to work pretty well.
I also media blasted and painted the vacuum pipe that traverses the firewall over to the brake booster.
I need to address the brake booster and master cylinder yet. I am not looking forward to that as my back hurts when I bend over too long and there's no reasonable way to paint and beautify the booster/master cylinder without doing it in situ...That's a lot of masking and taking pains to keep overspray off everything around it.
The detail of the little things is just awesome. As in, being in awe. I just want to stand infront of it with the hood up and look upon the gloriousness of something I do not have the patience myself to achieve.
I want to eat off it, but I fear that my greasy food choices would get it dirty.
Good lord I just read through this thread and your attention to detail is inspiring.
Cleaning up the wiper motor makes me happy. I wish there was an easy way to replate parts like that.
You'll need to log in to post.
