Boogered Up Electrics

 The wiring in this truck is 46 years old.  46 years.  Wow.  I still can't get my head around it.  Well, to be clear, the thing I can't get my head around is that this truck runs at all.  Every time I look under the back end all I see is the loose end of another cut wire or the patented 'redneck splice' (the bare ends of two wires loosely twisted together and hanging on by a just a single strand). Another of my goals is to get the wiring replaced and updated and to do it right.  Wiring and electrical stuff is a challenge but I know that if I take my time and find good vendors I can make this truck work better than it did brand new.  Full wiring harness replacement from Chevy Duty is around $450.  In addition to this I found a really solid looking splicing technology that encases but joints in plastic for bomber, waterproof splices. I also found reference to a guy in SoCal that has developed a modification for many old vehicles that improves the performance of the ignition/charging system for not much money and after two months of calling (I even wrote a letter) I got Mark from MAD Electrical on the phone and ordered a 'New System' package.  Once I get all the pieces of the system I can start replacing it section by section.  

Trimmings and such.

MOST of the work I have done on the truck has been based on my entirely 'function first' perspective. My gal Erin operates from the other end of the spectrum and does things from an 'aesthetics first' perpective which makes for a nice looking house and some good arguments.  However,  I have added a few things to the truck that have some aesthetic value although in my mind they are there primarily for what they do.

Here you see what I call the 'eyelids' on the windows.  Goofy right? Well, as small as they are they actually do a good job keeping the sun out of your face and in New Mexico this is no small thing.  I don't want to tint the windows because there is something I just don't like about not being able to see who is in a vehicle.

The other aesthetic addition are the arm rests.  This truck came with only one sun visor and only one arm rest which was missing when I bought it.  Just the bunged up holes in the panel where it used to be mounted. In fact the holes aren't in the right place so I don't think the missing arm rest was stock either.  Base models were basic.  These arm rests are actually from the earlier Chevy truck series but they look OK so I put in 2 of them.  As it turns out there are special square holes in the interior panel to which these can attach putting the stress of pulling the door closed on the actual door and not just the access panel you can see here.  I took extra care to see that these stayed in place and didn't pull out or loosen or clang using foam dampeners and big washers and threadlocker.  We shall see if it holds but it feels pretty F-ing solid.

Cheap Pickup Bike Rack

I am a firm believer in spending the money on really good gear WHEN IT IS NECESSARY. That said I am always looking for ways to get that gear for less OR build that gear for WAY less.  I like to build stuff and have through the years built my own kayak and bike racks because Thule and Yakima while a good product have hoodwinked the public into thinking they have to spend LOTS of money on a rack.  This just isn't the case in spite of what they tell you at the store.

For instance: If you want to put 2 (just two) kayaks on the roof of your whatever the conventional way to do this is to purchase a base rack ($300) and then a individual saddle system for EACH boat ($100 EACH).  OK, now we are up to $500.  That is just frigging stupid.  All we need to do is carry the boats.  The whole point is to paddle the boats in wild, beautiful and exotic places, the rack is incidental for Pete's sake.  $500?  I bought a kayak stacker for $70 (this was at least 10 years ago) and built a rack using wood, aluminum angle, foam, rope, screws and what have you for a TOTAL of $100.  My rack would carry1- 6 boats and was DEAD solid.  I used some form of this type of rack with the SAME kayak stacker for over 10 years without a problem.  I carried boats thousands of miles from Vermont to Georgia and back, I carried a full rack for hundreds of miles.  White water boats, sea kayaks, lumber, whatever.  Don't believe the hype.  Build your own.

So the latest rack is for carrying bicycles in a pickup truck.  You can go the same route for bicycles and buy a Thule or Yakima base rack and individual attachments for each bike but much the same as kayak racks it is going to cost you.  So, years ago I worked at a wonderful little used bike shop in Burlington, Vermont called Planetary Cycles.  There they had boxes of used and old bike stuff collected through the ages and I built a bike from parts that I am still riding today.  I also found all sorts of giblets of future use (GOFU) one of which was a cheap aluminum high flange hub.  I always intended to build it into a wheel but look what I did instead.

The rest of the rack is pretty straightforward stuff: one board of reasonable strength (plywood is probably best) I used 1/2 inch plywood.  Some way to attach the fork to the board. Old hubs if you can find them or the standard fork mounting block which are readily available and NOT expensive ranging from $15 to $25 each.  Most bike racks on vehicles are fixed and this makes some sense for security etc.  However, this one I wanted to be able to use in any truck or SUV so I fixed some closed cell foam to the underside to prevent it from sliding around and it works great. I actually took it for a test drive with 1 bike (more bikes would be more stable) on the interstate at 55 mph, round corners quickly and city potholes: the board did not move and the rear wheel of the bike did not move.    There is no reason that the rack be bolted down assuming you are driving around in a normal manner.  I think I would NOT want the rack fixed if there were an accident or rollover. Total investment: $40  HA!!

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

The latest punch list for the truck went as follows: replace trailing arm bushings, de-rust and paint trailing arms, disassemble, inspect, clean and reassemble rear brake drums, replace rear wheel bearings.  I had five days two of which I hoped to do some monkey bike riding.  I have used the term 'snowballing' to refer to the phenomenon of a two day job exploding into a four day job.  This is typical of mechanical work but it is de rigueur for an old vehicle like this.  As it turns out I didn't finish the job having to leave the driver's side rear drum and trailing arm for later.  I did, however, get both wheel bearings replaced which took some doing.  I had to go to Harbor Freight and purchase a slide hammer which is a sort of reverse-hammer for pulling things out after they have been pounded in (like wheel bearings).  As tools go slide hammers fall into the 'blunt instrument' category which is to say that there is only a limited amount of finesse involved and what really gets the job done is pure brutish persistence.  In other words: there was a lot of grunting and swearing and general destruction of the bearings being removed.  I got new bearings in at last after two trips to the auto parts store but I had to reuse the old oil seals which were not in great condition.  So far no leaks so we shall see.

More detail than you need section:  To replace the wheel bearings in this old truck the two piece axle shafts must be removed.  To do this the center pin in the rear end must be removed which means that the rear end must be drained.  GOOD GRIEF.  When the center pin is out it is important to NOT spin either wheel as the pinion gears and brass shims will roll out of place.  I learned a lot about the rear end but what a pain in the butt.  I did eventually figure out how to put the pinion gears back in but it took me a while hunched over under the back end of the truck to get it right.  The next time I have to pull an axle I will be much faster.

Eventually I figured out that there was no way I was going to get the list done and get in some mountain bike riding.  I had to remind myself that all this work was intended to be something that I enjoy and working like an idiot toward a deadline would not accomplish this goal SO I just got the wheel bearings on both sides done and the rest would have to wait.  Oh for a garage!!  I dream.