Showing posts with label Chevy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chevy. Show all posts
October 20, 2016
September 28, 2016
I'm really bad at this whole blogging thing
I started this blog to document and keep track of the process from start to finish. Well first off, I'm not the greatest writer. English was my worse subject in school. But I wanted to share the experience of restoring my dad's truck. It sat in our backyard for as long as I can remember and I always dreamed of one day being able to drive it.
However, I am the worst at keeping this up to date. But other factors contribute to the long breaks between posts. For example, it's too cold to actually do any work in the winter months, and ridiculously hot to be sitting in the garage in the summer when you have weeks and weeks of 90 - 100 degree days. So spring and fall are the best, but then there's only so much work you can get done when you're still saving money for parts. But since my last post (just about a whole year ago) I was able to save up enough to get the front brake kit and front suspension! We also completely finished prepping and painting the front end of the frame with POR15.
More recently we attempted to start putting the suspension and brake kit together, but like any major project you're going to run into some bumps in the road. For us last weekend it was first the new lower A-Arm shaft was too small. Granted, these were free and we did not know at the time they were not compatible. Good news from this is the old shafts were still in great condition, they just needed a little cleaning. We'll be replacing the rubber seals though. Next issue came about when laying out all the parts for the brake kit and suspension assembly. We realized nuts and bolts did not come with the shocks. It was simple enough to fix by going up to Napa Auto Parts a couple times to get the correct size bolts. Out day in the garage was a bit successful though. We were able to attached the rubber bumpers and ball joints to both lower A-Arms. And with one more parts order on its way we will soon have everything needed to put the brake kit and suspension together (hopefully). Fingers crossed.
However, I am the worst at keeping this up to date. But other factors contribute to the long breaks between posts. For example, it's too cold to actually do any work in the winter months, and ridiculously hot to be sitting in the garage in the summer when you have weeks and weeks of 90 - 100 degree days. So spring and fall are the best, but then there's only so much work you can get done when you're still saving money for parts. But since my last post (just about a whole year ago) I was able to save up enough to get the front brake kit and front suspension! We also completely finished prepping and painting the front end of the frame with POR15.
More recently we attempted to start putting the suspension and brake kit together, but like any major project you're going to run into some bumps in the road. For us last weekend it was first the new lower A-Arm shaft was too small. Granted, these were free and we did not know at the time they were not compatible. Good news from this is the old shafts were still in great condition, they just needed a little cleaning. We'll be replacing the rubber seals though. Next issue came about when laying out all the parts for the brake kit and suspension assembly. We realized nuts and bolts did not come with the shocks. It was simple enough to fix by going up to Napa Auto Parts a couple times to get the correct size bolts. Out day in the garage was a bit successful though. We were able to attached the rubber bumpers and ball joints to both lower A-Arms. And with one more parts order on its way we will soon have everything needed to put the brake kit and suspension together (hopefully). Fingers crossed.
July 14, 2015
Gettin down to the nitty gritty
So it's been about 7 months since I've been able to get some time to work on the truck. This weekend was very successful though! Since we've got the whole front half of the truck down to the frame, it was time to start cleaning and polishing it up. And let me tell you...it looked a lot worse. With the right tools (thanks to my friend and neighbor) it took no time at all. Of course, it's hard to get into all of the nooks and crannies, but that's later. There's still some spots to finish but in two evenings we got a lot cleaned up.
I went back and forth and back and forth and back again between cleaning it by hand or taking the whole thing to a shop to media blast it. We settled on doing it by hand, which isn't awful! It's been fun actually. I'm learning how to use tools I've never used before. I may or may not invest in my own pressurized abrasive blaster to get into the tight places and crevices. We'll see.
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| Cleaned section on the left, still dirty on the right |
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| It looks ALMOST brand new again |
I went back and forth and back and forth and back again between cleaning it by hand or taking the whole thing to a shop to media blast it. We settled on doing it by hand, which isn't awful! It's been fun actually. I'm learning how to use tools I've never used before. I may or may not invest in my own pressurized abrasive blaster to get into the tight places and crevices. We'll see.
June 17, 2013
A New Home
After sitting in the backyard for 24 years, the truck has been moved! With the help of a couple friends and their diesel truck the Chevy was pulled from the backyard, out the side gate, down the street, around the house and backed down the driveway into the garage. Actually, I should say it was pushed down the driveway by three, and me behind the wheel steering it into the garage. That was fun.
The task went a lot smoother than I imagined. The Chevy wasn't running under it's own power. The brakes didn't even work! But the E-Brake did. Oh and remember that ONE tire that would NOT inflate? We tried it again and the tire held air this time. We could not figure out why it decided to hold air now. It made the job of moving the truck a lot easier though.
As we were backing the truck down the driveway we were all kind of skeptical of the truck fitting in the garage in the first place. The house was built sometime in the 40's or 50's, and the garage door is a lot smaller than standard garage doors today. Add to that, the amount of stuff stored in our garage takes up a lot of space. Did I mention we had to do a thorough deep cleaning of the garage before we could even THINK about moving the truck in there? The garage was piled with stuff from years and years and years of storage. But the truck fit! With inches to spare.
It was a great accomplishment, getting the truck out of the backyard. Now the garage will be it's home for however many years.
The task went a lot smoother than I imagined. The Chevy wasn't running under it's own power. The brakes didn't even work! But the E-Brake did. Oh and remember that ONE tire that would NOT inflate? We tried it again and the tire held air this time. We could not figure out why it decided to hold air now. It made the job of moving the truck a lot easier though.
As we were backing the truck down the driveway we were all kind of skeptical of the truck fitting in the garage in the first place. The house was built sometime in the 40's or 50's, and the garage door is a lot smaller than standard garage doors today. Add to that, the amount of stuff stored in our garage takes up a lot of space. Did I mention we had to do a thorough deep cleaning of the garage before we could even THINK about moving the truck in there? The garage was piled with stuff from years and years and years of storage. But the truck fit! With inches to spare.
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| New home! |
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| Before truck |
It was a great accomplishment, getting the truck out of the backyard. Now the garage will be it's home for however many years.
And now the real work begins.
Until next time...
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