Time to get rid of this money pit

[bill3rail]

Funny how Coach started this discussion and has not replied once.
I hope he changed his mind and keeps it.
Bill

[mike16]

maybe rather than antagonising him with words of discouragement some one ought o suggest he park it and come back to it at a later time. Another good point is to do the work your self, that way you know its done right.

Test the fuel system using AV gas. If its crapola fuel related this will show it up

[bill3rail]

My comment was not intended to discourage him. I hope he changes his mind. He has a real nice truck there.
Hell if I were on that side of the US I would offer to help him get it running right.

Bill

[Coach]

Thanks to all those that replied and offered advice, words of encouragement and assistance, it was much appreciated. Had to get past the anger/frustration part and just give it a break for a few days. I think the carb must have gotten something gummed up inside of it, possibly stuck float bowl from sitting for a few months, most likely from the ethenol gas. Put in a fresh tank of gas on Thursday, crossed my fingers and turned the key. She fired right up, cruised for about 15 miles and she drove like a champ. Sometimes it takes a step back to see things differently. Not to mention my son kept reminding me I promised him the truck in 2 years.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Coach

Thanks to all those that replied and offered advice, words of encouragement and assistance, it was much appreciated. Had to get past the anger/frustration part and just give it a break for a few days. I think the carb must have gotten something gummed up inside of it, possibly stuck float bowl from sitting for a few months, most likely from the ethenol gas. Put in a fresh tank of gas on Thursday, crossed my fingers and turned the key. She fired right up, cruised for about 15 miles and she drove like a champ. Sometimes it takes a step back to see things differently. Not to mention my son kept reminding me I promised him the truck in 2 years.

Just shows to go ya, these things need to be driven! If it had been a long bed, I might have done a little discouraging ploy. J/K, I don't steal stuff from people. Good to see it's working OK, now. Drive it more!

[Southpaw69]

Good deal. I'm glad you stepped back and cooled off. I've been chasing rust so I can relate.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Coach

Thanks to all those that replied and offered advice, words of encouragement and assistance, it was much appreciated. Had to get past the anger/frustration part and just give it a break for a few days. I think the carb must have gotten something gummed up inside of it, possibly stuck float bowl from sitting for a few months, most likely from the ethenol gas. Put in a fresh tank of gas on Thursday, crossed my fingers and turned the key. She fired right up, cruised for about 15 miles and she drove like a champ. Sometimes it takes a step back to see things differently. Not to mention my son kept reminding me I promised him the truck in 2 years.

Your son and I are both happy you are going to keep it. I just lost a push rod in my new engine (2600 miles) so I can relate to the anguish you were feeling.
Driving them often makes them run better. Plus it ups your chances of making the "Trucks in the Wild" thread!

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by HO455

Your son and I are both happy you are going to keep it. I just lost a push rod in my new engine (2600 miles) so I can relate to the anguish you were feeling.
Driving them often makes them run better. Plus it ups your chances of making the "Trucks in the Wild" thread!

That's a bummer. Along with my oil leak fiasco of creeping fixes...now I need a drive shaft to boot. I drove it with hump and padding removed. I could hear the shaft in a way I could not before. I had fantasized over the past couple years the shaft was fine. Splines on the slip shaft are so bad I have to junk it. When it rains it pours! I'll be ordering a new shaft next week. And I got my butt under there with some degree shims so everything will be dialed in for sound. A bit more work and a bit more money.

No, not selling. If I start selling stuff that is broken and annoying... my wife might catch on and get rid of me!

Also, OP, keep your chin up... some times it's hard!


j

[special-K]

I like to think of these trucks as money mounds, not money pits. Yes the sum does pile up but you have more of a truck each time.

[crewadmin]

I started twice to get rid of “old yeller” but I sure am glad I didn’t. I’ve had this thing for 32 years and I get more compliments out of this truck than my 65 Mustang that I’ve had for 42 years! They leak, squeak,break and rust but so do I and my wife keeps me around, thank the Lord!

[SC1969c10]

Coach, since most replies are a bunch of ish you wont want to read and wont help your frustration, let me grab an oar an hop in the boat with you.

Im a builder/carpenter/self performing contractor. (Hate the word contractor because most contractors dont do the work, they just sub it out and sit in the front seat of their over priced truck, i refer to them as pimps). My first car was a 71 chevy nova. I bought the car and it had a set of mags (american racing ansens) an ugly squiggle down each side, a running 350 with an m-22 4 speed. To sum up 6 years, I dropped every dollar I made into the car, had a gm crate motor last 48 hours and the dealer not honor the warranty, broke down countless times, and changed my profession. I started taking mechanic classes at the local college while still in high school. After having no luck working on cars, I went back into what I grew up in, construction.
I’ve owned 5 motorcycles, sold my last one to put the money into building our house.

Well after a few years of working countless hours 6/7 days a week, the itch we all have got me. I needed something to take out on the weekend. Being self employed I made the decision I cant hop onto another harley, God forbid something happen. So I have been sparatically searching craigslist and ebay for a c10 for years but never pulled the trigger.

So a few months back, my wife talks me into setting up a “facebook page” for my company so I can show what I do and spread the word. (By the way I hate all this social media crap). Well I bute the bullet and do it. It was either that night or the following I see this lttle thing called market place. I search C10 and BAM the first thing that shows up is this patina’d 1969 c10 30 minutes from the house. I reach out and they say theres a buyer coming the next day. I told them “story of my life, best of luck, let me know if sonething falls through”. Feeling like the man upstairs just personally slapped me in the face I tell myself it wasnt meant to be. The next day, a friday afternoon, I get a text that the sale fell through. I was finishing up a project and too focused on thst to get excited again only to be let down. So that evening the itch comes creeping in, and I tell my wife the sale fell through. She asks if really want the truck, we talk it over and she says ok!

We drive up that evening, pull up and Im in love. The thing is a total rust bucket, but the guy has done all sorts of little extras from led head/taillights, to new engine parts that im thinking his story of being a daily driver checks out. He takes me for a short drive. He tells me the little things wrong but swears he drives it everyday and has even made 3-4 hour trips with it. stupid me, I agree to buy the truck and tell him I’ll be back the next morning to trailer it home. I hand him 3 grand, he signs over the title.

Next morning Im up there, no ones home. go to start it, it doesnt start. I instantly think back to my nova and am thinking not this crap again. Second or third crank she starts. Get her home and in the driveway. Go to get it in the garage and it wont start. I let it sit for a few hours and cranks right up and into the garage where she sits for a few weeks. Im cleaning her up, changing a few minor parts. Got the tags and get up the crack of dawn one Saturday morning to take her out. Get a few miles from the house and she cuts out pulling into the gas station. I fill her up and she wont crank, luckily theres a slight slope so I roll trying to pop the clutch. Doesnt work, so here I am on thank God a tiny little side street. Call the wife to come get me, she walks out of the house and discovers her car has a flat. So i tell her i’ll start walking and then remembered my buddy in Texas used uber when we were out visiting. So i download it and sure enough theres one person working at 7 am on a saturday. Once again let the thing sit all day and go to get it that night, starts up and I get another mile close to home and it cuts off but I manage to get into a gas station parked for the night. I go and get it the next morning with my trailer and the wife yelling. I charge the battery, change the oil, check the radiator, wires, etc. Thats when I found you all.

Well a week or two later I take it out a back road on a Friday and make it a mile and I gonto turn around and head home and it dies. Leave it again for a few hours, but this time wont start when I came back. Go get starter fluid, bring fresh gas to fill up the tank and even a drop directly into the carb. So on my last attempt I just keep the pedal pushed to the floor and keep cranking, and it starts so I get foing home, but now she wont shift out of first so I pull off a side road let traffic pass and get home. Wife tells me it has to go to the mechanic.

I trailer it to the mechanic a week or 2 later and tell them first and foremost the column shifter, then once over the engine, lastly I brought them the intake manifold/carb combo I got from summit when I first started having trouble. Summit had a sale on them so I scooped one up. 2 weeks later they called me Friday to let me know its done. Leave the shop, get to a light, turns green I step on the gas and I get a pop and a studder of the engine. Luckily my in-laws are 150 yards away so I get in the driveway and look in the mirror and the streets filled with smoke. I leave it there and come back yesterday morning to take it for a spin to see if the smoke is just something that needs to burn off. Well my father in law and I sit in the driveway reving it up and shes just smoking and smoking. Im backing out of the driveway and it cuts off. He tells me keep my foot to the floor and crank. She finallt starts after 10/15 seconds of cranking. I start to take her around the corner and shes popping and sputtering and cuts off again. I repeat but she wont start. Now the battery is starting to drain vut she starts, so ai hit the gas and get it the heck back to the shop popping and smoking the entire way. Shes there now and I’ll have to go get the battery and charge it before they try to tell me I need a new battery.

Well clearly the job got rushed and never test driven. So im a little pissed as theres no way anyone paid any attention or gave a d@m$, which seems to be the growing way of the world.

Thats my little rant and I feel better for venting.

But coach, im right there with you. Everytime something happens I ask myself: spend more money or just get rid if it before i piss more money away.

[special-K]

I figure every time I put money in I'm making it a better truck. But fixing the carb or brakes doesn't help the exhaust or alternator. I usually do a little extra, am more thorough, when repairing my older trucks. Don't just fix enough to keep it going.

[Coley]

Its important to note that the 'nickel and dimed to death' stories are definitely not limited to just some old cars or trucks. (...buy a used german luxury car and try to run it for 5 years, lol)

I ran into a guy a couple of weeks ago outside a coffee shop who had a nice looking, lowered '72.
We struck up a great conversation and it seems the reason he had that vehicle as his now work truck/daily driver is that his late model Dodge truck was '$1000 billing' him to death....as he put it.
Everything that failed on that truck costs between $750-$1000...then the engine processor went...which was 2-3 times that and that bill/cost was the final straw.
He said 'forget it, I'm selling this crap' and went back to his weekend driver to use as a daily driver, the old '72.
They aren't good on fuel, thats for sure....but they don't depreciate in value and what you put in fuel you will easily be putting into payments, insurance or repairs on a new vehicle.
A lot of single repair issues or failures on a newer/modern vehicle will often pay for a crate motor one of these trucks....food for thought.

All good & of course, keep swinging and good things happen.

Coley

[Gregski]

without reading any of the replies just the original post, I would like to share my thoughts based on two things, first like the OP I live in California (land of regulations, sucks) second I own two old trucks, having said that...

1. not to offend but your issues sound minor - a bent frame would be major, a bad transmission would be a big/pricey job, etc.

2. (respectfully based on your mechanical skills) you are expected to get your hands dirty when you have an OLD truck, sounds like you were planning on having pros fix it, which this is not a repair but a repair/restore type of thing, not a typical remove and replace like modern cars

3. fighting this truck for 3 months shows impatience I have been working on one for 4 years, 3 months is nothing, you should consider yourself lucky that it starts and runs and is telling you what it needs

4. I believe your trucks problems are a collection of small issues which can be resolved patiently one by one, spend one weekend a month on it yourself, and learn, it will teach you patience and you will learn how to fix things with your own hands and save $$$

5. Start off like I did by being a Two Bolt Mechanic, that means take on the easy jobs first, replace the battery (two terminals) replace the starter (two bolts) replace the fuel pump (two bolts), replace the alternator (two bolts) etc...

my intent is not to be rude but to give you and others a reasonable set of expectations, these trucks as all old 40 plus year old cars are meant to be secondary rides, not primary modes of transportation for a STUDENT, or a man trying to get to WORK every day, though I have been driving my '74 as a daily for 18 months, it still takes tinkering every now and then and I like to get my hands dirty

finally you will not find another truck like this as they have gotten stupid popular and are currently hugely overpriced, they have reached Soccer Mom Pupularity, ha ha

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

i cringe every time i read where someone is dropping their truck off to have it fixed when these systems are about as easy as it gets ...

+1

[4carbcorvair]

Originally Posted by Coach

Thanks to all those that replied and offered advice, words of encouragement and assistance, it was much appreciated. Had to get past the anger/frustration part and just give it a break for a few days. I think the carb must have gotten something gummed up inside of it, possibly stuck float bowl from sitting for a few months, most likely from the ethenol gas. Put in a fresh tank of gas on Thursday, crossed my fingers and turned the key. She fired right up, cruised for about 15 miles and she drove like a champ. Sometimes it takes a step back to see things differently. Not to mention my son kept reminding me I promised him the truck in 2 years.

Like I'm sure others here do, I have many old vehicles on the road. And they have fits from time to time. I have two Corvairs, 1984 Jeep CJ7, the 68 K20 and my newest to me vehicle is my 97 GMC. My wife has two vehicles and my son has a 1988 Toyota pickup. Things are going to happen, and sometimes you need to do what you did, step back. Just yesterday I replaced the struts on my wifes car, cleaned the carb on the K20 and pulled out 1/3 of a large tote of mouse nest out of the heater box and cowl.

[Orange67]

Coach, I feel you man. You should see me when a computer (pc/laptop) starts giving me issues. The only thing I've learned about them is they don't get along with hammers.... Keep your chin up, glad its up and running for you again.

[bill3rail]

Originally Posted by Coach

I think the carb must have gotten something gummed up inside of it, possibly stuck float bowl from sitting for a few months, most likely from the ethenol gas.

Sometimes it takes a step back to see things differently.

Not to mention my son kept reminding me I promised him the truck in 2 years.

These trucks need to be run regularly. In the winter any, nice day without snow and salt all over the road I am driving mine just to get that fuel moving through the carburetor.

Stepping back has always changed my perspective and reduced my level of frustration.


Hang a picture of your son in the truck to remind yourself he is the reason you are working on it.

Bill

[CousinTone]

Coach, I’m local to you. I can give you a hand getting anything done. I’ve sent you a PM with contact info. I hope you take me up on my offer. All I’m asking for is a firm handshake and sincere thank you. I hope to hear from you soon. Tony

[Coach]

Damn, after reading some of these horror stories, I don't feel so bad!!! LOL. When I bought this truck 4 years ago, the engine took a **** within 7 days, had to be replaced with a crate 350, shortly thereafter the 700r4 had to be rebuilt, and the list goes on and on and on. But when she's running right, there's nothing like going for a cruise with my son, so thanks to everyone again for reminding me of the joy these old gals can bring.

[SC1969c10]

Originally Posted by CousinTone

Coach, I’m local to you. I can give you a hand getting anything done. I’ve sent you a PM with contact info. I hope you take me up on my offer. All I’m asking for is a firm handshake and sincere thank you. I hope to hear from you soon. Tony

Stand up guy right there. Thats awesome
Posted via Mobile Device

[AussieinNC]

Not really knowing "Coach", I can only recommend a simple little plan of action based on expectations.....

I am assuming Coach has a job, so the timing of the steps below reflect that...

1/ Monday....drain all fuel out of tank, lines, pump and carb....flush the tank with a gallon of acetone...then drain it out and leave tank open to dry out....leave open until Saturday...in the interim, check out the sock on the bottom of the fuel pickup...order and fit a new one if its gummed up.

Expectation...get rid of the old gas that has gone bad....

2/ Saturday....replace fuel sender unit, using new O ring seal....place 5 gallons of fresh...NON ETHANOL gas in tank.. Remove fuel pump and replace with new, replace rubber hose to metal line...check rubber hose under cab to make sure its not cracked!!! replace if it is...

Expectation...Have known good fuel supply and good fuel pump in system

3/ Sunday... Remove carb and remove top of carb...clean out fuel bowls with spray can carb cleaner...blow out needle and seat and all jets in body of carb...replace carb and install new metal can type fule filter between fuel pump and carb (do not use plastic filters)....

Expectation...ensure carb is clean and fuel system has known condition filter in place...

4/ Sunday afternoon...drain the oil and install new oil and filter...why? Fuel contamination of oil by draining past rings when non start condition.

Now, make sure water level is ok, then attempt to start the truck...watch the water temp and listen for mis-fires etc.

Expectation,,,,Get in that truck and drive it like you stole it....

Working on any vehicle takes a lot of patience and a deliberate plan of action...try the above and let us know the results...

3 months of grief is nothing in the grand scheme of things...

Coach...you can do this...we are all here for you...!

BTW...that 700R4 most likely died do to a poorly adjusted TV cable from the engine install....crap happens...

I see a Quote insert about the truck now running again...but Coach, keep this response in mind when it happens again...and it will....HINT...

If you are not going to run the truck for a few months,,,,get the fuel level down as low as possible then put ten gallons of NON ETHANOL gas in the tank and run engine for 30 minutes...then add some fuel stabilizer to the tank....

[vics stuff]

I have to agree with most. If you own one of these trucks , be expecting to give some loving. Need to be willing to get your hands dirty otherwise like anything else will eat you out of house and home. They are rather easy to work on with simple tools and willing to get on this forum and do not be afraid to ask
questions. It is rewarding to be able to fix these trucks on your own and as well get to know them intimately . They all have personalities just like us. So do not get frustrated , otherwise you are going to loose some cash on the sale of your truck. There has to be a reason you bought it in the first place,you need to revisit that reason and not give up.
Vic

[Red71gmc]

Originally Posted by Coach

Damn, after reading some of these horror stories, I don't feel so bad!!! LOL. When I bought this truck 4 years ago, the engine took a **** within 7 days, had to be replaced with a crate 350, shortly thereafter the 700r4 had to be rebuilt, and the list goes on and on and on. But when she's running right, there's nothing like going for a cruise with my son, so thanks to everyone again for reminding me of the joy these old gals can bring.

Probably won't make you feel any better but I ordered a new chevy truck in 1988. I literally picked every detail of that truck. Well it must have been built at 4:50 on a Friday because it was a true lemon. Heads twice then short block, 2 transmissions, power windows, radio, heater switch and more all before 50k. I had to get rid of it. It was a new money pit. I was so ticked it took me 15 years to buy chevy again. When I did I got a good one and the rest have all been good.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by Gregski

...give you and others a reasonable set of expectations, these trucks as all old 40 plus year old cars are meant to be secondary rides, not primary modes of transportation for a STUDENT, or a man trying to get to WORK every day, though I have been driving my '74 as a daily for 18 months, it still takes tinkering every now and then and I like to get my hands dirty...

I have noticed since getting rid of my other late model SUV and making my 69 pickup truck my primary mode of transportation to get to work, grocery store, etc. that it runs better. It seems to me that it is much better. I wonder if that is my imagination, or hopefulness on my part, or something like that. I perceive that it makes a big difference on how well it runs if I go places in it, and go often. So I'm wondering if a 40 plus year old car that is "meant to be a secondary ride," actually behaves like a secondary ride and is unreliable.