Nahh I'm good for now, but thanks for the offer. I just needed to be able to fit in the truck. The stock buckets were so beat I was sitting almost on the floor, and the buckets I threw in fit too far forward because of how thick they were. The bench I put in fits right and at the moment I'm not too worried about the color or the headrests. If I paint the thing someday I will find a stock bench and have it redone. Right now I just want to get all the mechanical stuff done and drive it a while.

A year on and I'm still fighting the engine. Gonna be a long pull.

 

Well.... got the bench seat in and went on to the next task, compression check.

First thing I noticed was that #1,3,4 plugs were all coated in oil and crusty. Lovely. No wonder it runs rough. Check out the pics. Keep in mind I haven't even put 2000 miles on the engine since I put it back together. I guess I was right about the valve guides leaking. I was also over a quart low on oil.

 

Then I got the old compression tester out and went to town. OK, it's not just the valve guides. My gauge for some reason starts at 60 now, i haven't used it in probably 8 years so it might be screwy, so I just subtract 60 from the readings.

1 - 105
2 - 125
3 - 130
4 - 125

So that's not too aweful but #1 still has an issue. I'm thinking it's time for a new motor, huh?

 

where did you find your bench sit?

 

traded my buckets for it. There's a guy up in Sumner that was gonna trade his split bench but it's too far. One of the other guys here (Curtis) wants to trade out his bench too, if you're looking he's got it.

 

PM sent

 

Picked up a 3:42 3rd member yesterday in good condition. Anyone want my 4:10's when I pull them out in a couple weeks? It's heavier than f**k so shipping will be $$$$$$$ so local would probably be better.

Also there's a machine shop a few blocks from my house that I'm going to check out about doing a rebuild on my head. Was going to go to a shop in Portland but I was recommended to this shop so I'm gonna check them out too.

 

So came up with a game plan today on the truck for the year.

- Get wiper motor issue resolved, either replace relay or motor.
- Replace blower motor.
- swap in 3:42s, and while I'm at it:
. redo drums, all new hardware, wheel cylinders, shoes, turn drums
. replace trans output shaft gasket that leaks
. pull center leaf from both sides
- Get my leaky windshield gasket replaced
- Have my 20R head redone
- build a solid fuel line from the pump to the carb (it's a long hose right now)
- Replace my worn steering box

At that point I'm just gonna drive it until something breaks. I'll probably swap in some replacement rear leafs in the back, found a place that will lower stock capacity leafs 3" for me. It'll be able to haul more than the stock ones I pulled the leafs from, but not as much as stock. Other than that I hope to just drive the heck out if it this year and enjoy it finally. Almost had it a YEAR, can't believe it.

Oh well, in a couple weeks it'll be back in the garage pulled apart, just like the first 6 months I had it!

 

Update.

I have decided on my engine situation. Gonna grab the 22RE block and head on Saturday. Gonna collect the rest of the parts from here and there, but getting the new timing set, oil pump, water pump, and timing cover from engnbldr.com here in Portland. Good prices for new parts. Of course it'll take me 3 months to collect all the parts as I can only afford about $200 a month to get parts.

I got a steering box to replace mine with, and a few other misc pieces for the truck. Gonna finish the suspension and nail that down, then when the engine is built it goes in, along with new clutch. And depending how my taxed turn out I might just get a REAL Weber. New engine, new carb. I really don't want to transfer problems from one engine to the other. I think the only thing I'll swap over will be the valve cover.

Onward!

 

Glad you got the situation figured out and you know what path your gonna take. At least if you get the head and block now you can work on it in the meantime.

 

yea I'll stick it on the stand and clean it up, paint it, etc. Sounds like the motor might last a bit, but we'll see. When I hear crazy noises it's off the road. OK, craziER noises

It's going in the garage this week to work on the rear end, brakes, etc. And get that steering box in. Lots to do. Can't belive I have had the truck a year already.

 

So I happened across a Weber (a REAL one this time) on Ebay today for $100 and snatched it up. Finally I'll have a real carb on the engine. If I slap it on there and it runs good from the beginning, I may cry.

Pulled my steering box on Sunday only to find I had the wrong replacement. Should get the right one tomorrow, and I'll slap it in there over the weekend.

Fingers crossed that the Weber bolts on and is plug and play. I'll probably have to jet it down a step (was on a 22R) but it should be close enough to tell whether my old carb is junk (which I expect).

 

Good luck dude!

 

that truck looks exactly like mine looked except mine was beige. it had all the same problems as yours too!!! i even paid only 500 dollars for mine haha. good luck on getting drivable. i love mine and wouldnt trade it for anything!

 

Soooooooo.... yea. My carb was crap. I slapped that one on and started it up... as soon as there was gas in the bowl it jumped to life. It never idled below 1100rpm when it was warm before, and not very happily either. Now it idles at 800rpm, smooth as can be. Drove it around and it had about the same power, just ran a lot smoother and quieter.

Also put the old steering box back in. the one I got I can't even get the pitman arm off, and the shops were closed yesterday for easter. Broke my pitman arm tool trying to get it off. BAH! Oh well, something for another day.

Wonder if I'll get better than 17-18mpg now?

 

Way to go man

 

Cool bro glad it worked out

 

Weber installed, put stock linkage back, works great. Except... at full throttle, the linkage sticks. So now I know why there is a spring attached to the arm at the top. See the pic, I thought it was funky, but it actually works fine. Might find a better place to put the spring, but for now it will be good. Before I had a regular return spring on the actual throttle arm, so the gas pedal was pretty heavy. Now it feels normal.

Next to do... put the "T" in for the PCV. No, I STILL haven't done that, I know

Pics!

 

Tuned the Weber today, finally. I just slapped the thing on there when I got it, to make sure it ran and to make sure my old one was crap, so I never got to do anything more than a basic idle tune. This is what it had before:

Mains: 150/170
Airs: 170/180
Idle: 60/50

Obviously for a 20R the mains were HUGE... that's why I was getting 15mpg... funny thing is I pulled all the plugs and cleaned them, and they were all brown! Weird. You'd think they were black. Well it wasn't that far out on the primaries, I guess. This is what I have now:

Mains: 140/150

I didn't change the airs, don't have any jets to swap out but the 170 seems big. The idle is fine, I have the screw at 2.5 turns and it idles fine. Might need to go up a step since it doesn't always start great, but I didn't have another jet. I drove it a bit with a 145 in the secondary main and it popped, so I slapped in the 150 and tried it again, and no problem. Plugs look nice. Think it's good enough for now, lucky it runs as good as it does! Gotta set up the choke now, will do that tomorrow.

And no, I still haven't set up the PCV, I couldn't find ANY of my utility knives anywhere so couldn't cut the hose. Had to go buy one. WTF??

 

Good deal man! It's starting to turn around for you, glad you didn't sell it!