A couple questions for fixing up my truck - 61 Apache

[61Chevy454]

So I was recently going to sell my truck and buy a 2013 Ram 2500 so I would have something reliable for my job. Well, that hope ended when the insurance company told me my insurance would be $400 a month...that's what my car payment would be. So here I am fixing up my truck instead of buying a new one. It will be cheaper in the long run anyway!

1. What do the four hearer knobs mean? Obviously, the fan knob means the blower motor. The def one is defrost...but what does the second one from the left and the third from the left do? The second one from the left broke off so no idea about that one.

2. Will a factory reproduction choke cable work with my 454, or will it only work for small blocks and I6s?

3. How does the glove box insert stay on? My cardboard insert broke, so I ordered a new one but can't figure out how it stays in there.

4. When I use my heat, it smells like motor oil...like, if you opened up a new jug of oil and took a whiff, that's what it smells like...which makes no sense. Any ideas?

5. Best wiring harness for this truck? I don't care if it's one of the barebones ones for rock crawlers and stuff like that, as long as it will let me use the blower motor, my radio and my speakers, and hopefully work with a newer GM column out of like an 80's truck.

6. Anti rust treatments? Are there shops that will do them for you? My truck and I live in the rust belt now, and I refuse to let her rot away, so I have to do something to prevent that from happening.

7. Have any of y'all bought an aftermarket gas pedal that fit with relatively few modifications?

8. What windshield wiper blades do you guys use?! It absolutely drives me insane that 90% of the time, my blades will come off the arms. I just can't figure out which kind fits correctly.

9. Do any of you guys have cab lights on your trucks? Pictures? I'd really love to put some on.

Thanks for the info if y'all have some of em! And I wholly expect JonZ to see this and respond.

[spacedebris]

sorry cant help with most but I can with one...


5.. I've been a big fan of the painless wiring. You can get one specifically made for your year and make or you can go with one of there more than adequate generic ones. On the generic ones you simply have to figure out how many circuits you need and order it. I've help several family members put one in their projects and with a couple of very very minor exceptions the harness lives up to its name. We've used them on a couple of rock crawlers and a couple of resto's. Always the same. I even bought one for my panel. Havent installed it yet but when I contacted painless I ordered one for the 60-66 long bed harness but found that it would not be long enough for my 1 ton panel due to the extra length 10' bed. They made me one where they left the rear section without terminations and gave me an extra 8' of wire. I just have to terminate them myself when the time comes. I guess I'm sounding like an advertisement but it is not often when you run into a company that not only does it right, but will also work with you for custom needs. Its not the cheapest but in my opinion the wiring is not the place to cheapen out.

[jdl71]

Im not sure the difference between the "heat" and "air". If you have or can pick up a reprint of the owners manual I bet it would explain. They would have to control the blend of fresh/cold air in some fashion.

[rvrfoot]

For the wire harness i like the stock after market ones just plug a play.