New rig...road trip!

[84 400]

glad to here you got it home. what type of duty is it gonna see on your farm? did you build the wood sides?

[magnethead]

On the motor, pop the valve covers and bump it around, see if there isn't something in the valvetrain (bent pushrod, broken rocker, ect) causing the backfire. If that checks out, pull the head and see if the gasket is pushed or something.

[boxrodz]

Good to hear you made it back.
Again, a good looking rig.

Nothing like driving these things cross country or, at least, across a few states.

[EDOUBLE33]

That Is The Best Looking Flatbed I Have Ever Seen.

[bigblock73]

Welcome back Ken, glad you made it back safe. Sounds like it was a fun trip.

[KIILew]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Ken that is too cool. I would love to have the time and fortitude to buy a truck site unseen and drive it half way across the country. I think once you get the old boy cleaned up your gonna be driving it a lot more...

Ken, the concepts of "having the time" and "fortitude" are virtues that probably don't apply to me; in my case, an "inability to prioritize" and "foolish impulsiveness" are more likely relevant!

Thank you for the uplifting thought, though, my friend!

magnethead, thank you for the advice; will do!

84 400, the fellow who sold me the truck included the sides with the purchase. One of the things I like about this flatbed is that the design makes it good not only for hauling vehicles (as a rollback -- the bed manufacturer's original purpose), it also appears to be good for hauling cargo like fruit bins and other agricultural/industrial items. I say this because it does not have fixed rails on the side (which would prevent using a forklift to load from the sides) and most of the winch is actually under the bed (which makes it minimally invasive in terms of conflicting with cargo).

Of course, the farm usage was largely just an excuse to myself to justify the purchase! The truth is, it's a '78 Chevy and as a member of the '73-'87 fan base, I just wanted it, LOL! Occasionally I will ALLOW a chosen few of our most careful foremen to use it to transport a tractor or a few bins or something, but unlike our regular farm trucks, I am keeping the keys for myself (just as I do with my '79 Big 10). Otherwise, anyone who works for us would simply jump in anytime they want and beat it to death, which is standard practice for most of our trucks. In one week, those mirrors would literally be ripped off, in an additional year the doors would be tweaked and crudely rewelded back onto their mounting points to forevermore rattle with 1 inch of play, and the windows would be left open on a nightly basis to encourage rainfall in the cab and to invite rusted floors (I have truly described the plight of our other Chevy C30 flatbed...a 1979 Custom Deluxe with a dump bed hoist rather than a rollback).

This '78 will be my personal occasional use truck, used occasionally for moving around my other "truck projects", and maybe will, itself, someday be a show truck.

Incidentally, I just tallied up my trip fuel tickets...the stats are as follows: 2,282.67 miles travelled, with about 277.36 gallons of gas consumed. My exact fuel mileage for the entire trip was 8.23 mpg. Oh, and did I mention the 4 quarts of oil?!

Anyway, thanks again for all of your comments, guys!

Ken Lewis

[magnethead]

8.2 MPG and used 4 quarts? Well, put it this way: You were 7.2 MPG from having to fill up every 40 miles, and 3 quarts away from an oil change (it DOES have an oil cooler, right?)

[KIILew]

Originally Posted by magnethead

8.2 MPG and used 4 quarts? Well, put it this way: You were 7.2 MPG from having to fill up every 40 miles, and 3 quarts away from an oil change (it DOES have an oil cooler, right?)

Actually, I could probably be even more optimistic by saying I was 7.2 mpg from having to fill up every 20 miles (1 usable gas tank), LOL! BTW, it does have the cooler.

I like your way of thinking!

[Stano]

Heck while you were in Missouri you shoulda ventured east up 44 about 100 miles and I would have sold you a little brother to your rollback. We have a 78 3/4 pickup 2wd black with red interior pretty decent shape. 350 4spd. Seriously cool truck. Glad you made it home safe and sound.

[1Ton]

Nice truck. Glad to hear it was a very uneventfull trip. I do it the chicken way and take a trailer down and bring em back.

[Ron 586]

Congrats on safe trip home. If you do your own work then tare into it and find out what is wrong with it. If you have a mechanic that takes care of your repairs get him on it. That truck has to many good uses to sit around cripple.

[hiway]

Man that truck is awesome! I love the color combo and I haven't seen a bug sheild like that in at least 15 years. A compression test will tell the story on the motor. on a cool surviver!

[Blackstone]

Originally Posted by KIILew

I keep telling myself that my gas charges and hotel charges etc. are not part of the truck purchase; they are part of the adventure, LOL.

That's how I justified the road trip for my '73.... 600 miles from PA to ME with a 33-year-old drivetrain. The first 1/2 hour was a bit unsettling... lost a rotted tailpipe and the brakes pulled hard to the left. I spent two days and about $600 to get a $900 truck home but I'm having a blast with it. Enjoy your truck, it's certainly a unique find.