Hello Rusty fans! I know it has been a while, but there has not been anything to report. Fortunately for me, the neglect to Rusty has been for good reasons... Sarah and I went on a long riding vacation to Big Bend National Park back in April and we have been taking care of some stuff around the house. Okay, back to business:
From the last entry you know that I sold the Billet Gauge Cluster on eBay and got my money back out of it. I ordered a new dash harness and installed it about the same time the cluster sold. I took apart my original gauge cluster and decided that most of it is in bad shape. I'm not sure on the gauges and won't know until I can test them. So, as of today, I have ordered a new bezel, speedometer faceplate, speedometer gauge, seals, and screws. Also I ordered the oil gauge pressure line.
A few weeks ago, I bit the bullet and purchased new inner fender skirts and stainless steel fender braces from Chevy Duty. Wow, the shipping was as much as one fender! Ouch! The braces are on back-order.
Also today, I ordered a stainless steel body mount hardware kit from American Classic. That is another ouchy to the old wallet, but it has to be done. I like the fact I don't have to figure out all the correct sizes and quantities. Plus, it is time to start bolting the beast back together.
I'm getting excited! Next on the list is to buy hood hinges, radiator, bed wood, and bed strips. I will be able to fully bolt her back together at that point. I've had some stuff sitting around the garage that I will be able to install at that point - like the 1 piece window kit I bought last year. Not to mention that amount of space I will free up in my garage!
Mechanically, I need to get the radiator, fuel line, alternator, and fuel pump installed. I should be able to start her at that point. I may be missing a couple of other small items. Of course she won't be street ready, but it will be nice to try and turn her over and see if anything has died in the last 2 years, like the starter or carburetor. After that I still need to finish the brakes and put on the exhaust. Off that top of my head, that is all I can think of.
After that, it's all exterior stuff like door handles and bumpers. I'm thinking Johnny Law will insist on me having some headlamps and the like, but I can definitely see the light (pun intended) at the end of the tunnel.
If all goes well, I will be doing some touring on the bike until second week of June. By then I should have all the parts in that are currently on order and can start the assembly process.
May 16, 2005
Over the last couple of weeks I have been receiving parts and working on putting the front fenders together. It has been so long since I took the fenders off, that of course I don't remember how they go back on. A quick peek at the Factory Assembly Guide refreshed my memory. I had ordered 22 inner-fender bolts at the same time I ordered the inner-fender skirts. My thinking was that they come with the Body Bolt Kit so I didn't want too many, but I also wanted to get started. Turns out that was the perfect amount for what I wanted to get done.
Bolting the fenders back together is pretty straight forward once you have all the pieces in their correct orientation. However, I do have a few tips for this step, primarily if you aren't sure your fenders are perfectly straight:
- Install the fender seals and grommets before you start, using
the glue of your choice for the seals. I have tons of a
spray-on adhesive left over from when I bought the carpet and this
worked perfect.
- Secure the inner-fenders to the cab firewall first (I'm adding a
old picture of the cab since it is the only one I have that clearly
shows the mounting points. Look where the arrows are
pointing.) Take a look at your Factory Assembly Guide
to see the proper way to install - you will note that the bolts
install in the same direction on both sides. Also, use a pair
of jack stands to prop up the front if you don't have anyone
assisting you.
- Position the outer fender so that you can install a bolt where
the top of the outer fender mates to the cab. If you don't
have the proper bolt, just stick a smaller one in to hold it in
place while you work on the rest. If you do have the right
bolt, make sure not to tighten more than half way.
- Your choice which to do next - either install a bolt to secure
the inner fender to the outer fender near the front or rear.
Then install another bolt in the opposite area. At this point
you should have a "shell". Install the rest of the bolts, but
only finger tight! Repeat on the other side.
- At this point, you should have the two side "shells" put mostly together. Luckily for me, the body mount hardware arrived and I was able to continue on with the grill support and radiator support. I loosely mounted the grill support and then the radiator support. Once I had all the bolts started, I went back and tightened everything down.
During the remount, I was a little nervous because I had some pretty distinct gaps between the cab and outer fenders. However, once I tightened everything down, the gaps disappeared. The real key here is to install all the bolts loose to make sure you can align everything. I had some problems and had to go back and disassemble the passenger side "shell" so I could get it to mount to the bracket on the cab firewall.
Oh, and it might be good to mention that I haven't installed the support braces yet. I canceled the order for the stainless steel ones and decided to use the ones I have. However, I don't know which ones are for the front fenders, bed, or steps so I am waiting until I have everything bolted together and then I will figure out what goes where.
May 23, 2005
The bed wood and bed strips arrived from Chevy Duty on Friday, so I was able to work on that a little this weekend.
First, me and Little T went to Lowes to get some paint for the bed wood. I decided on Olympia wood stain and used a dark gray finish. I think the color closely matches the gray in the interior. Remember, I plan on using the truck, so a furniture finish for me is a waste of time, and originally GM used to paint the wood black. Plus, everyone does the furniture finish so it isn't really that custom anymore is it?
Back home and handed LT off to Sarah for his nap. I went out to the garage and gave the pine a light sanding and cleaned to open up the pores in the wood. Next, I applied the stain to the underneath side of the wood.
Not much else I can do while that dries, so I spent the rest of Saturday cleaning the garage and getting stuff put up. It's amazing I can find anything in here at all...
Sunday was spent figuring out how the bed wood gets installed. Once again, none of the instructions show the exact alignment of the strips or the layout of the different sized wood planks. This really pisses me off because it makes me think that it should be so easy that they didn't feel instructions where needed. Anyways, I dug around in my books and catalogs until I came up with a picture that clearly showed the setup - thank you Brother's catalog. My basic problem was the orientation of the bed strips - The holes are not equally distributed, and I really didn't know where the cross-sills were supposed to go. I also determined that the holes in my bedside angle strips are not correct, with the exception of the two ends. So, on the bed strips, there is one side that has holes very close together and that side goes to the front towards the cab.
Next, I was pissed to discover that my bed wood didn't have the mounting holes precut. The groves are there, luckily. A new Chevy Duty catalog came with the order and the hardcopy catalog clearly states that for an additional $35, they will put the holes in for you. Well, there was no way I was going to ship them back!
So, my day basically was spent figuring out the orientation and then placing all the boards and strips in their place. I finger tightened the bolts at both ends to hold everything in place. I then went underneath the bed and marked the holes to be drilled for the "bed to frame" bolts. I am also going to have to drill holes in the front-gate and angle strips to mate up with the new bed strips. Confused?.... so am I!!! Anyways, I got as far as making the pilot holes on one plank for the "bed to frame" bolts.
Had a very productive week and weekend on Rusty. Taylor and I finished staining the bed wood and then I decided to go ahead and put a couple of coats of sealant on it to help protect against the elements and scuffing. So by Thursday I had all the holes drilled and the stain/sealer was finished. Thursday night, Sarah and I bolted the wood and strips down.
I got back to work on Rusty on Monday (Memorial Day) and finished securing the bedsides to the new rear cross-member. Next, I applied the fender welt to the driver's side outer fender and started bolting it to the bedside. This is definitely a two person job. The welt has to be precut and there is no easy way to hold it in place and try to tackle the bolts. Even if you don't use the welting, you will still need an extra pair of hands, unless you are completing the bed off the truck and have it upside-down.
Next I installed the driver's side step. Beware, the step brace mounts to the cross sill next to the front gate of the bed. There are holes in the cross sill that allow for the bolt to feed through. The step brace has those welded on nuts for easy threading. I was lucky enough to have the cross sill in the correct position. I'm not even sure if there is a right or wrong way to install the cross sills, but make sure you test this before bolting everything down.
Next, I put the tailgate back on. No tricks here. At this point, it was nearing dinner time so I cleaned up the garage. All that is left to do is put on the fender braces and the driver's side bed will be complete. There is some obvious mounting points for the braces, so I should get that wiped out when I tackle the passenger side fender and step.
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