Project Karma

[Scooter]

Rat bastards. That really sucks man. My Dad had some rodent actually living in the engine compartment in his pt cruiser while he was driving it. They didn't even know about it until they were finally doing maintenance and found a nest under the hood and a/c lines all chewed up, along with some wiring being destroyed.

If you haven't got around to re-doing the flared brake lines, let me know if you need help. I be glad to help you out. My flaring tool creates outstanding flares each and every time, in a 1/4 of the time of those chain store auto store bought ones.

[Tahoedonner]

Originally Posted by scooter

rat bastards. That really sucks man. My Dad had some rodent actually living in the engine compartment in his pt cruiser while he was driving it. They didn't even know about it until they were finally doing maintenance and found a nest under the hood and a/c lines all chewed up, along with some wiring being destroyed.

If you haven't got around to re-doing the flared brake lines, let me know if you need help. I be glad to help you out. My flaring tool creates outstanding flares each and every time, in a 1/4 of the time of those chain store auto store bought ones.

Thanks for the offer scooter but I just decided to replace the rear line with brand new lines. Didn't realize how inexpensive it was going to be. Should've just done that from the beginning.

On a brighter note I have killed the gigantic rat that started ripping my rig apart. The trap didn't kill him so I found him the next morning struggling to get his head free. I preceded to crush him with the legs of my ladder with a huge smile on my face. No other rats have showed up since. I have traps set just in case though.

Here's a picture of the pest.

[chico]

Wow! Thats a healty rat! Holy cow!

[Tahoedonner]

It's been at least 3 months now since I've been able to work on the truck. Finding a new house, moving, and finishing the honey do list have been daunting.

Was able to get about 2 hours in this week though on the interior. Cleaned and dyed the front arm rests, dash pad, and dyed the front panels black. I don't have the money right now to do a full refurb on this stuff and I am pleased with the outcome. I used duplicolor vinyl flat black for these pieces and am very pleased with how they turned out. I thought I was going to have to buy new armrests when I first started out on this build and they are now perfect. The dash has the usual cracks that I will recover at some point. The panels will also get redone at some point but I really like how the plaid came out with the dye. Will be able to get them installed this weekend and will be able to start on the trans cover.

When I had the truck towed up to the new place I noticed a new steering box leak and have realized that the pitman arm input shaft on the steering box needs a rebuild. I already rebuilt the seal on the steering shaft end and at that time I should have done this as well. It won't be difficult but I do have to take the box off again. Just another one of those live and learn things.

I'm still not sure how the door latch plastic underlays are going to be installed. Originally it had them hidden under the fabric. I'm thinking of peeling the fabric back and having them come through the holes in the door panel to be seen. Any thoughts?
You can see them laying on top of the panel in pic 3.

Here are some pics of the interior pieces freshly dyed:

door panels pre-change:



Door panels post-dye:





Armrests: they are literally flawless now.





Dash pad:

[Tahoedonner]

This truck is not dead

finally gotten back to working on the rig. Got a new garage door installed that will allow me to get the truck in the garage. Built a new workbench at the new house.

When I had the truck towed up to the new place I noticed that steering fluid was leaking badly. I had already replaced the seals for the input shaft but didn't replace the output shaft seals at the same time. Lesson learned. Pulled the box today and tore the output shaft out. Need to get a bearing puller tomorrow to pull the seals and washers without ruining the bore. Overall the unit looks great inside. Pin bearings look great so I am going to leave them be and only do seals.



Also while I was neglecting the truck turns out my borgeson joints corroded pretty heavily. I thought they were stainless but I was wrong. Cleaned them up today and will coat them with some sort of metal protect.



Built a workbench over the holidays with some spare 8x2 that I tore down from the garage to get the new garage door on. Added some IH specialty items to make it legit.



Here's the new ad that my wife had framed for me. It came with a certificate of authenticity. I really like them. Second one she's gotten for me.

[Scooter]

nice. She have a single sister, that's into scouts too? Haha, just kidding. Love seeing the progress.

[DocG]

Glad to see you are getting settled in your new digs. The bench looks great! I plan to redo my arm rest this week and will follow your advice on the dye. If my painter ever paints my doors, I have regulators and window felts to put in. I almost bought a 78 a few weeks ago because of your build. I was strong, but would love to have a rig like yours!

[Tahoedonner]

Originally Posted by scooter

nice. She have a single sister, that's into scouts too? Haha, just kidding. Love seeing the progress.

If she did I'd probably marry her also.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by tahoedonner

if she did I'd probably marry her also.

Thanks - I needed the laugh. I about fell out of my chair

[chico]

Nice! Now lets get to work!

[DocG]

I need to post a reply just so we can start a new page. The picture of that rat freaks me out everytime I scroll down to read a new post!

I can't wait to see new pictures. This is still my fav build!

[Tahoedonner]

Got the new seals tapped in and the box all sealed back up. It's back in the truck now with no leaks. We'll see what happens when some leverage gets put on the new seals. Hopefully they hold.





Also finally getting around to finishing up wiring the headlights, blinkers, and front side markers. I was missing a side marker so I bought new plastic chrome ones from IHPA. I was looking for a cheap fix and followed some threads where people used off the shelf side markers and I installed one to see if they look okay. In my opinion they don't. They would work just fine but I don't like how far they stick out and they are very square. Originals look much better.

Off the shelf side markers









Originals





Headlights

I switched over to h4 bulbs for convenience.

[Tahoedonner]

Originally Posted by docg

I need to post a reply just so we can start a new page. The picture of that rat freaks me out everytime I scroll down to read a new post!

I can't wait to see new pictures. This is still my fav build!

Just saw this post and I completely agree. That rat creeps me out.

[Tahoedonner]

Got some more stuff done. I had to replace the brand new proportioning valve because it was leaking at the metering valve. Turns out a large portion of the chinese pos valves have this issue. So far no leaks. That should just about finish the brakes. Fingers crossed that there aren't any leaks after I bleed them for what feels like the hundredth time.

Finished wiring all the lights and decided that I would put in a ground block on each side for the stuff up front. This should provide good ground for headlights, markers, turn signals, and fog lights(future). I mounted them behind the turn signals.







I also temporarily put on the front grille to see what the final product will look like. Pretty pleased. I still have the original grille and May go back to that. Time will tell.

[chico]

Looking real good! I like the original side markers myself. Seen a post with slim led markers and they looked good but not my taste. The grill is nice to but if I was you I would add some kind of wire like small hole chicken wire for those large gaiping holes exposing that nice aluminum radiator. One rock and toast. I like the ground connects too I might have to steal that.