Rat repair.

[swamp rat]

Door sill plates.... need screw type and size?? Hole size is .231, not dimpled for countersink.

[swamp rat]

Next problem, front passenger caliper seeped dry, had to do a gravity bleed on that side to get the Rat to the driveway

[swamp rat]

Gave up on bonding the lower brackets for the cab corner speaker enclosures and went ahead and drilled holes, got the enclosures in a coat of primer and drilled the 4 holes to screw the speakers in place.

Hate the lack of daylight this time of year! being on dayshift certainly puts a damper on progress when your truck is outside.

Would it be safe to assume the screw size for the sill plates are the same size as the screws for the transfer case shifter boot?

[rgunlock]

Good to see your truck moving under its own power again. Engine sounds like its running smooth. I didn't hear the fan whacking the shroud in your video. Can't help with your screw size - I just found some stainless screws that had some bite going in and used them.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Good to see your truck moving under its own power again. Engine sounds like its running smooth. I didn't hear the fan whacking the shroud in your video. Can't help with your screw size - I just found some stainless screws that had some bite going in and used them.

Yea I had to mess with the shroud and the radiator a bit to get it to stop but its still being temperamental, keeps hitting on the bottom but I cant adjust it down any further, and I cant tighten the radiator support mounts down any further. I went and bought some #10 stainless oval (curved) faced countersunk screws, tonight after work, hopefully they will work out, if they don't grab the hole enough I'll have to use button heads. I cant for the life of me remember what type sheetmetal screw was stock as my sil plates were removed long before I did the repair work.

Having the truck mobile again feels pretty nice! but its still a ways away from a driver.

[swamp rat]

Working on the 25 or so year old stereo system (amplifier and rear speakers) it didn't take long to realize that the 1985 vintage Alpine 6x9 speakers were toast, still not sure if the amp is worth using, so I booked on down to Car Toys to listen to and purchase a new pair of speakers, was thinking oh, $80-$100..... Nope, not once you listen to them, ended up upping the anti to a pair of Focal 690ac coaxial 6x9's and because I was not really pleased with the Custom Autosound replacement stereo speaker I also sprung for a pair of Focal Isc100 4" speakers, I saved a thread where someone made there own bracket and stuffed 2 small speakers where the stock speaker was, figured I'd give it a shot. I still have a couple extra amps and crossover put away in my closet if I need a them.

I know I got lots more to do yet but daylight is an issue.

[7dee2]

It's ALIVE! Good thing you had better gas in the Rat...

[swamp rat]

Well what can I say, now that I'm a day shifter there's just been next to no daylight after work the last few months and what little I had was shrouded by the usual monsoon season, so I just put things on hold for a bit again, in the mean time not much in the way of progress.

Other things: I was at this place and wanted to take a picture of a tire and wheel on a truck, I had to back up a step to get it and didn't realize I stepped right next to a parking curb with my right foot, took the pic and stood up and tried to take a step to the right... my foot moved about an inch and hit the curb which through me off balance and all my weight on my right foot as I fell over the curb, took all that weight and pressure on the outside of my foot, no broken bones but a severely strained some tendons just below the outside ankle, 3 days on crutches, 3 days with a cane, still hurts with every step, and hurts worse the longer I'm on my feet, last thing I needed with my legs and feet but I'm dealing with it.

What was I doing at this business? see pic below. I have been drooling allover this truck (LT Z71) for the last 3 years, knowing that the new 2019 was revamped and not really liking the fact that I think it looks too much like a ford I decided to buy my retirement truck a few years early. I had the clear bra put on it, I have an appointment scheduled to get the front side windows tinted to match the rear sides, and doing my research for some aftermarket solid black wheels. One more thing I want to do is see if I can replace that piece of chrome on the lower front bumper with ether a matching black or body color piece, I've never been a chrome guy for the newer trucks, now classic trucks are a different story. Hopefully this will be the last newer truck I'll need to buy so I can concentrate on my hobbys!

[rgunlock]

That's a sharp looking truck - congratulations! Hope your ankle heals soon Mike.

[7dee2]

Yes sir very sharp, and I'm guessing most luxurious as well! Sorry to hear about the ankle Mike.

[Vic1947]

Nice truck, Mike! Hope you're on the mend. I'd consider taking it to a graphics shop and having the chrome piece wrapped with black vinyl. Pretty sturdy stuff and they have compound curves down to a science these days.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Nice truck, Mike! Hope you're on the mend. I'd consider taking it to a graphics shop and having the chrome piece wrapped with black vinyl. Pretty sturdy stuff and they have compound curves down to a science these days.

Great idea Vic! Thanks! And Thanks for the compliment too!

[swamp rat]

Rgunlock and 7dee2 thanks!

[swamp rat]

Got a question for the body guys:

Before I took the front end off my truck I snapped these pic's as documentation, on the upper fender bolts at the cab I had 2 shims in both of the front bolts and none in the back. Also looking at the truck before teardown it looks like the door also had the same misalignment problem of the top front door being in further than the top of the fender

Need to know what body spacers if any the rest of you guys have on your top fender bolts? and I'll assume that it allowed for proper hood fender gap?

[NONHOG]

Hey Mike how you doing?
How's the truck doing?

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Hey Mike how you doing?
How's the truck doing?

I'm doing ok, fighting my feet a bit.

The truck has not made much progress though, Guess I have been side tracked a little, but now hat I have been able to get a fence up in my front yard I'll be able to let my newest dog run free out there and be able to resume work on the truck, he has proven to be a handful unlike our older Shepard who is just the opposite.

[swamp rat]

The poke in the ribs from Nonhog did me some good....

Cleaned and blasted the hood hinges, got them primed and painted, mounted to the fenders (No pic)

The speaker enclosures were just in primer so I yarded them out and painted them Satin black and prepped them to mount the new speakers, remounted and installed the new Focal speakers


To recap I wired up the old Sherwood amp and the old Alpine speakers and they sounded like crap realized the old system was from the mid 80's and bought new Focal speakers that I posted a while back, I mounted the new Focal 6 X 9's and they still didn't make much of an improvement so I yarded out the old Sherwood amp and got a mid 90's Precision Power amp that I had in my old 95 S10, wired it up and it was an improvement but still not enough to make me smile. I come to the conclusion that that Custom Auto Sound head unit I bought about 4 years ago must be the problem so eventually its going to have to come out and be replaced.

I installed the sill plates today and noted that the lip on the rocker is leaning in a bit so the door seal lays in a bit, I may have to eventually bend them out a little?

Naturally Murphy's law kicked in and my passenger door handle gave up the ghost, I was fortunate enough to have bought a good used set on the parts form so I installed it sans gaskets for the time being

So my goal for the weekend was to get the seat into the truck, didn't happen, I forgot that I need to rig up the seat adjuster and I'll have to clear room out in the garage to move the seat out there to do it

[Vic1947]

Speaker enclosures look nice, Mike. I understand your dissatisfaction... my system sounds pretty good under two scenarios, sitting in the truck with the engine off, or going down the road with the volume turned up on KILL. Playing the radio with normal volume while driving, however, results in less than stellar sound. Too much competition from the engine, wind, road and etc. I guess. Since I'm half deaf, I need the sound cranked up, while Kathy has excellent hearing and hates it when I have the volume too loud. So we end up turning the stereo off for the most part. Hope you get it sorted out to your liking!

[DD1]

It's looking nice, Mike! Where did you get the shoulder belt setup?

I kind of wish I was not using the gas tank in the cab, but I can't really budget for a frame mount tank right now. I would like to be able to put speakers in the back.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by DD1

It's looking nice, Mike! Where did you get the shoulder belt setup?

I kind of wish I was not using the gas tank in the cab, but I can't really budget for a frame mount tank right now. I would like to be able to put speakers in the back.

I honestly don't remember, they have been in the truck for many years, long before I started this project, but they are available through almost all the parts houses.

I decided I'd better go ahead and mount up my small sub woofers and a seconds amp into the back before I put my seat in the truck, don't wanna pull the seat out again later.

I got a space cleared out in the garage and got the seat moved out of my bedroom and into the garage, that sucker is heavy! then had to spend a couple days after work setting up air conditioners to cool this place down.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I honestly don't remember, they have been in the truck for many years, long before I started this project, but they are available through almost all the parts houses.

I decided I'd better go ahead and mount up my small sub woofers and a seconds amp into the back before I put my seat in the truck, don't wanna pull the seat out again later.

I googled it after I responded to you and found them at several places; not too expensive either.

I agree that putting the sound system in first was a good idea. Your truck is looking really good.

[swamp rat]

Question, Does the seat rod need to be curved and attached to the bottom of the seat? the rod I bought is about 2" too long, also the key I bought from the same guy doesn't fit in the base so not sure if he sold me the wrong parts?

My original rod was broken and removed from my original seat many years ago so I have nothing to serve as a visual. I will verify that the bases I bought are the same as what is on my seat later today.

Where do these adjuster springs attach?

[DD1]

Hey Mike,

I’ll be going out to run some errands in a while. I’ll check my seat and let you know.

Darien

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Question, Does the seat rod need to be curved and attached to the bottom of the seat? the rod I bought is about 2" too long, also the key I bought from the same guy doesn't fit in the base so not sure if he sold me the wrong parts?

My original rod was broken and removed from my original seat many years ago so I have nothing to serve as a visual. I will verify that the bases I bought are the same as what is on my seat later today.

Where do these adjuster springs attach?

Hey Mike, I am not sure what rod you are referring to. I looked at my seat and I see the cable that was attached between the seat mounts. Let me know if I should be looking somewhere else.

[swamp rat]

Darien

Hate to say it but it looks like you don't have a stock seat, the 67-72 seats all have the adjuster on the outside next to the door. the springs are different too.


The rod I was referring to can be seen in my previous post, its a rod that measures .157 in diameter and is bent on the ends to go into the adjuster keys. you can see on one pic its hooked up and the other its laying about 2" past the adjuster key.

I snapped another couple pic's of it.

I removed the stock seat brackets, they are the same as the ones I have on my new seat, but the passenger side does have a different key but ether of them will work in my stock bracket, just for some reason the slot in the new bracket is a bit small so its gonna get the file treatment soon.

Would still like to determine if the 67-72 seats had a wire or the .157 rod but if it will work with a bend in it and attached to the seat frame I'll use it.

The rest of the stereo goodies less the subs.


Working this weekend so don't know how much I'm gonna get done.....