the stopgap GMT400: a drivabeater thread

Wow. This place can truly find ANYTHING. 

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to pass though.  Other expenses are higher priorities right now. 

I needed to see some tangible progress today. So i hooked up the sub and amp and put the dash back together.  Wiring in the cab will need routed and secured better, and the box is in the wrong place. 

But this thing will rearrange your kidneys if you let it. Its almost too much. 

But then the leftover jvc that i put in in florida parking lot gave me the finger. So fine tuning and such will wait until the new to me Kenwood hd radio gets here from California. 

Also, the brown santa, FedEx, and usps have been here daily this week. Theres a full (minus lower control arms from Patrick) front end rebuild, tune up, and thermostat/hoses, as well as new brake flex lines and 2500hd calipers/wheel cylinders here. Probably going to wait two weeks for when the bed is at the painters and do the whole chassis in one thrash. 

Which means i need to get some rustoleum for the frame, clean and paint the steering box and leaves, and....

Oh, found more elky parts.  Accel 8.8 wire set and looms. Sweet!

You are e36m3ing in high cotton now brother.

Budget first:

previously was 276.96

new money:

rockauto order: all brake flex lines. Pitman, idler, idler bracket. Upper and lower radiator hoses. Plugs, cap rotor. Trans filter. Power steering pressure and return hoses, inner tie rod ends: 170.36

pair of new upper control arms: ebay 53.98

used kenwood hd/bluetooth stereo, ebay: 44.77

gallon kit viper red paint: paintforcars.com 109

soft tonneau cover, ebay seller gtracers: 113

gallon of valspar rust tough paint: lowes, 32

plug wires: had

k&n filer setup: had

plug wire looms: had

195 thermostat and gasket: had

amp wiring: had

underdrive pullies: had

Now: 700.07

still to add: LCAs from Patrick, calipers and wheel cylinders, new 3 rd brake light (mines broke)

lots of parts came in, lots are in the mail. I got pretty much an entirely new suspension here, some speed parts, some cosmetic parts, etc. lots of stuff. Lots of work to do coming up, as I like this truck enough to give it a good hold on a second life. After all, who wouldn't like this?

20180228_182419 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

next, the pile of parts that is RAPIDLY drowing. Im running out of workbench space pretty quickly. Need to start getting parts on the truck.

20180228_210841 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180228_210853 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180228_210902 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180226_165549 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180228_210847 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

last night I got started with painting and doing the basic tune up. Truck had developed a slight miss at certain loads and operating conditions. Jeremy had put new NGK plugs in it, but couldn't remember if he had done wires, cap, or rotor. I found some Accell 8.8 cut to fit wires in a box, so I had those. Ordered some AC Delco R43TS plugs as that's what I have found to run best in the TBI engines. Good cap and rotor with brass contacts. Had some yellow wire looms in a box as well. So I threw a tune up at it. This was my first time with Accell cut to fit wires, and I must say that working with them was much more difficult than the MSD sets I usually use. However, I was willing to deal with them for the price. Modified the Mr. Gasket looms a bit to fit the bigger wires, and bolt to the factory wire loom spots. Put some never seize on the plug threads (all plugs looked exceptionally good for a 50k motor, let alone one with 200k!), and got it done.

20180302_220233 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

found carbon tracing and some broken plug wire insulation as I was inspecting the old parts. Haven't driven it yet to confirm the miss being gone, as today was my parents 50 wedding anniversary and we needed the minivan. But, idles much smoother in the shop. I also opened plug gap from .035 to .044. I have found power and fuel economy gains with a wider gap on other TBI engines, so well hope that streak holds here.

20180302_164430 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180302_164440 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

I picked up a gallon of valspar rust tough paint at lowes. This is a rustoleum equivalent, though I have found that it covers far better, resists fading better, applies smoother, and is more durable than rustoleum. Not quite POR15 quality, but good enough for what its for. And at 32 a gallon, far cheaper. I actually started painting frame rails as well, but no pictures, as I didnt get very far before my shoulder started killing me. Did get the steering box painted, and part of the 3 / 4 ton leaves.

20180302_075237 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180303_084955 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20180303_085001 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

lastly: im good at violating my own rules. My rule of “safe, reliable, and cool. In that order) is pretty well shot at this point. Ive hooked up the sub temporarily (and then the old JVC from the box of stereo stuff died, hence the new to me kenwood. Same one I have in the daily driven miata), started painting the frame that still has serious play in the steering, and not even tried to figure out which pulley on the accessories is noisy as hell. In my defense, its because I was presented with a golden opportunity.

My buddy art paints cheap cars and builds salvage title cars for local car lots. Hes a good, cheap bodyman. Not show car quality, but better than standard 10 footers. He is the guy that came and helped me shoot the plastidip off with razor blades and a pressure washer. Hes the guy that taught me to paint cars and do bodywork (which I still suck at). His local paint supplier had gone up in price dramatically after changing ownership. We got to talking about Patrick's recommendation of paintforcars.com, and art thought they were great prices for a similar grade of materials to what he typically uses. They have a very limited color palette though. He offered to shoot the truck if id order an experimental supply kit from them.

Freaking SOLD!!!!!

first I ordered the color chip chart. They only offer one non metallic red, and I was hoping it was close to the victory red on this thing. They called theirs viper red.

20180228_171330 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

close enough for me. So we orderd the acrylic urethane kit of viper red. Kind of interested to see how it turns out. Art has been spraying E36 M3ty materials with decent results for so many years that im not too worried about the end results of the paint is actually usable. And Patrick swears by it. But hes from Ohio, so I dunno how it will hold up and spray down here in the hot and humid and sun baked south.

anyway, after doing some side work next Friday and Saturday, my wife and I are going to do some disassembly. Sunday after church, we will be dropping the front and rear bumpers, hood, grille, and bed at arts place. He will paint them and do whatever it is he does while I rebuild the suspension, paint the frame, and clean up the rest of the truck thoroughly. Then, when the parts at home are reassembled, I will take the cab/front clip over for him to paint and reassemble the body. Wet sand and buff, and drive it some more. He also was able to work a trade for the chrome bumper to a painted bumper.

Im excited to see how this turns out. Hoping that it doesn't suck, as they have some neat colors on that chart and I like neat colors on beaters.

I do need some pictures and details on the door weatherstripping though. Mine is all out of place, and im pretty sure there's either more pieces or less than there is supposed to be. Since im pulling it all for paint anyway, id like to get it back together properly with correct stuff. NPD has the main door surround weatherstripping for 10 a side, but there's more pieces attached to the door and a-pillar on mine. Anyone have details? I also need to figure out if I can leave the door glass in while removing the window run channel weatherstripping and the belt molding on the outside.

Man, you don’t waste anytime! 

Very curious to see how your paint source turns out, as I will be using them as well if all is well. 

In reply to Shawnb :

Mr Nelson once said that if you have 5 minutes, do a 5 minute job.

An entire car is a series of five minute jobs. Some days i get more 5 minutes than others.

Also, my father had a saying: do it right or go  home. Stuck with me all these years. 

Check LMC for your weatherstripping....not cheap but thorough........and your dad's correct  Kinda curious on the 2500hd calipers, only cuz i've not heard of this before...but not too much cuz I've got a complete 13" SS brake conversion awaiting in the wings for ol' Gray.

Yeah, 2500HD calipers and cylinders, and a GMT800 master?  Interesting crosspollination going on there.

That "Viper Red" looks great from the picture you shared.  Should look nice when it's done.

In reply to 759NRNG :

Could you post some pictures of the a pillar weatherstripping setup on your truck for me to compare to?

Pres: the 2500 stuff has bigger bores for more clamping force. The master swap was for pedal travel and feel.

The tuneup feels like another 50 horse. Amazing difference. 

There is one strip that goes on the small lip about 1/2’ down from the roof that goes from back of door opening to base of windshield area above the normal door seal, then you have your normal door seal from there around the entire hole.  Of course my last one of these left yesterday.  Up here the junkyard is a plentiful source of seals because they don’t bake to death for 80% of the year.  

Hmm, i have a chunk in between the windshield molding and that lip of a very had material. Seems like a plastic. Its loose and i dont see a place for it to attach to. Generally d-ish shaped. Ideas?

And if you get to a junkyard, let me know. I'llhave you grab me some stuff....

Do you spray or brush that val spar stuff on? And does it come in a satin? Looking for something to spray my frame with. Leaning toward satin rustoleum but want to know if anything better is out there.

Brush, but it's able to be thinned and sprayed. 

Different gloss and colors available.  My lowes will turn it any color they have.

Dusterbd13 said:

lastly: im good at violating my own rules. My rule of “safe, reliable, and cool. In that order) is pretty well shot at this point.

Keeping my cool keeps other people safe. So I'd say you're still in the clear. 

whats a drivabeater thread without a gratuitous "too much weight making the axle bottom and tires rub" shot?

Gonna need some work here....

Thats only 800lbs

The true test is when you load the crane on those timbers.

AIR LIFT 59501 Ride Control Rear Air Spring Kit

Price$190.84$190.84        Sold ByAmazon.com

My plan exactly. 

Right, but changing the bore size in the calipers/cylinders is going to affect pedal travel & feel, as well.  So this might not turn out the way it usually does with just a master cylinder swap.

In reply to pres589 :

It may not. Can't find anyone else who has done it and posted about it. But I'm willing to try!

Only 800# but more than half is behind rear axle, so if you had scales under the tires you'd have seen the front get lighter and the rear get heavier by (800 + whatever the front went down by).

Needs more airbag helper springs...

We'r going to try the 2500 spring set first. If that turns out to be a bad idea, ive got a free set of 1500 springs as well, and we'll throw bags and onboard air at it. Already got some parker valves, tubing and a 5 gallon tank.....

Currently loaded with a dump run. Have about 4 runs to do before I tear it apart next weekend. 

Took some parts to the painter last night. This thing needs some serious bumper tucking when i reassemble it.

Lca and tonneau cover are out for delivery by FedEx. Ill temporarily install the tonneau cover so i can decide what to do about the bed rails