BettyBlue

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mybigwarwagon

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I forgot to post this on here so here is a copy and paste from another forum.

Since Spooky is on indefinite hold till I have some stuff caught up around here....

When the transmission in the Blazer went out I had to have a truck. I was having lots of problems getting in and out of the tiny S10 anyhow.

So I searched around on CL and found a 1990 Chevy C1500 305 5 speed. They price was right so I brought it home.

Since I was still recovering from back surgery I sent my wife out to take some pics with my potato.
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It isn't perfect, but it is a descent truck to ride around in while I get Spooky together.
I went out the next day and got a better look at it.

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Note the teeny tiny Grant steering wheel. That POS came off and got tossed the back of the parts Suburban. The Cavalier wheel off my broken Suburban got put on instead.

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Now I can put my elbow on the window and reach the wheel. And I don't feel like I am driving a gokart.

The clutch is a bit wonky. You have to out think it to drive it.

First Gear - If you don't let off just exactly right it will stall. If you are on an uphill slope there is an 85% chance of stalling.

Second gear - is just like a normal gear.

Third gear - push clutch, move gear shift to third, release clutch, wait one second, then step on gas. Other wise it will slip the clutch.

Fourth gear - almost like third, wait time varies.

Fifth gear - push clutch in, move gearshift to the neutral position below 5th gear, gently push up until you feel the syncronizers tickle the shifter, then pull back slightly on the shifter, push forward - DO NOT STOP till gear shift is fully in the 5th position, release clutch, count to three, finally step on gas. Once you get the hang of it it is about a 4 second shift.

Reverse - with vehicle fully stopped, put gearshift into 5th gear, pull stick to reverse position, let of clutch and go.

Yesterday I had my pressure washer out getting the Blazer ready to sell. (Which required taking the carb apart and cleaning the ethanol out of it. After a good de-buggering it fired right up.)I decided to blast the fungus off the hood. It was black with sap. The roof is just as bad, but the pressure washer ran out of gas - which was my intention when I started washing BB.


Today I went out and messed with the AC. It had 30 pounds of air in it?!?! Unfortunately I loaned my big air compressor out to a friend to paint a car, and my little compressor would not run my vacuum unit ( HF cheapie I recommend it if you need one). It did pull it down to about -8psi and it held.

So I charged it with the three cans of r-134a I had in the shop. It cools a bit. I have it down to 49 degrees. If I could have pulled a vacuum and had more freon I could have got it colder.

Then I put a rearview mirror on it. Thing has been driving me nuts not having one.
 

mybigwarwagon

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MAAAAAJOR upgrade todayZ(sept 17).

I fixed the lighter plug. PO cut the wires and stuffed them into the dash still live. Why? I don't know. \

Woooooohooooooo I can charge my phone.
 

mybigwarwagon

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Found the problem with the clutch today.


I had to run to Wal-Mart and lost the clutch on the way there. Managed to get it back home.

We started trying to bleed the clutch. Just as Steph said it was building pressure there was a pop and fluid came spraying out.

PO had "fixed" a leak with electrical tape!
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Found one at O'rielly's.

Now it is better, but not right. I think the slave cyl ingested some tape or something. Pedal releases about 2 inches from the floor.
 

mybigwarwagon

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Last night(Oct 12) I had to drive up to Statesville to look at a car with a friend. Old Betty started howling on the way back. With the dual glasspacks i couldn't really tell where it was coming from. I pulled the fill plug on the diff today. It took full 2 quarts. Hopefully it will be a bit quieter.
 

mybigwarwagon

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I stopped for gas Friday (Oct 18)and I noticed the back bumper on BettyBlue had been hit and the rusted part had broken through.
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The bumper swap (and receiver hitch install) went flawless.We had to make 3 small changes to the bumper to make it fit the stepside. However, we made the tail lights mad. It took us 4 hours to figure it out. There was no power to them at all. No power off the fuse block. I unhooked the fuse block. Nothing amiss. Hooked them back up. Suddenly we had power. Odd. Then I tried to get the lights to work. Nothing. Finally I pulled the tail light harness off of Spooky's bed and put it on BB. Problem solved. Still don't understand why since everything tested good.



5 hours and all 7 rechargeable batteries for the flashlight and it was all done. 8pm. We were all worn out. Heath fell asleep on the couch with a piece of pizza.



Only thing I have done today is take a picture of BB's rear end.
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mybigwarwagon

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After having to hunt for air for a trailer tire that went low I decided to fix the problem.


I snagged some scrap lumber. Some amp wire from a junk car, some screws, and turned them into a compartment for onboard air. I already had a compressor and tank so all I have invested in it is time.

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This Saturday my Nephew came up to goof off. I had him help me finish up the wiring and get it all working correctly. Nice to have onboard air.
 
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BowtieBrody

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I love seeing your threads about all your trucks, looks like a nice little rig!

Do you still have the 454 Suburban? I loved that truck,
If you're ever in need of another Burb, I'll be selling mine soon :Big Laugh:
 

mybigwarwagon

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I still have the BlueOx. However, she developed a loss of power at 2500 rpm It has been on to computers and noone caa fgure it out. It got parked till I find a 5.3 for it. Then a friend wrecked his work truck and she was ***** so he could make money again. Front end was already damaged and needed work. It makes me sad to see it though.

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His trurck looks funny, but it gets him to work again.

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We found lots of rust under the fender flare. The only other fender I had was a perfect one that is going on Spooky. So the flare stayed.
 

BowtieBrody

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I still have the BlueOx. However, she developed a loss of power at 2500 rpm It has been on to computers and noone caa fgure it out. It got parked till I find a 5.3 for it. Then a friend wrecked his work truck and she was ***** so he could make money again. Front end was already damaged and needed work. It makes me sad to see it though.

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His trurck looks funny, but it gets him to work again.

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We found lots of rust under the fender flare. The only other fender I had was a perfect one that is going on Spooky. So the flare stayed.

That hurts to see, but at least it's keeping a couple other OBSs on the road;
 
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