My '95 RCLB C1500

The next step was installing the new door bushings and rollers from Cunningham machine. It went pretty smoothly, no grief. And then I tried to install the doors. The passenger side was flawless.

The body lines all match up, even though the colours don't.

Then I tried to fit the driver's door, and it was too tight to the strike side of the opening. Since the original hinges were undisturbed, I knew the issue was with the strike.
Since I replaced so much of the floor pan, including the rear body-side cab mount, the b pillar had twisted and was putting the clearance out of spec.
So, I had to move the pillar, and I wanted to keep as much of the work I'd already done undisturbed.

I welded some 3/16" angle I had lying around into a sandwich for the pillar, packed the sandwich with plywood so it fit snugly, and bolted it through the strike hole so it wouldn't jump off.



Then I clamped a 6" I-beam to the frame at the rear, roughly in line with the x-brace. Hooked up the cable come-along to the I-beam and sandwich, and started pulling. A few whacks with the sledge, while the come-along put tension on the pillar, and the twist came out.

The door closes smoother now than it did from the factory. Great success!

The goal of this whole exercise was to get the cab watertight do I could park the truck outside without having to worry about every rainy day., To that end I also added a custom hood while I wait on my new fenders for the final front end assembly.

As my dad would say,
It's good enough for government work!

I was diverted to my grandfather's car after his passing last October; and after a carburetor overhaul, valve cover replacement, and accessory vacuum pump install, my Tbird runs, drives and stops.


So, back to the '95, finally.
It sat outside and after a series of cold snaps and days of -20°C, the truck wouldn't start. Even with a boost, it really struggled, chugged along for a while and then died. So I got out and found a bunch of blue snow by the gas tank. After investigating, I found rodent tooth marks on my nylon fuel line and when the fuel pump tried to run, a jet of gasoline shot out sideways. Blast!

So I pulled it into the garage to begin fixing the lines, and pick up with the other work I had abandoned.

I've been sitting on a big 3 kit and 4-hi setup from @5vortec7 for a while, so I got around to roughing those in for length and fitment. Once I get the fan shroud repaired I'll secure them properly.


With a sense of accomplishment and one less box of parts on the shelf, I got on with my fender repairs. I initially thought I'd get whole new fenders, but the prohibitively expensive shipping and what I thought was fairly minor rust changed my mind, and I went with patch panels from Raybucks.
This is what they looked like once I started cutting into them:




Full of holes, and about a pound of sand. Guess I'll patch what I can to shore it up and support the replacement piece. C'est la vie.

I got the fenders patched well enough to reinstall and check fitment

I'm pleased with how they came out for the most part, some grinding and bondo will tidy it up nicely. I know the door spacing looks wonky but I swear it's just the angle of the photo!

I crawled around under the truck and installed my new nicop fuel lines that are plug-and-play with all stock fuel delivery parts.
It was definitely worth buying the hydraulic flaring tool to make the lines, and my only regret is that I didn't get it sooner.

It's the mastercool 72475, for reference.

Routing wires, tidying up the engine bay has taken a couple of days, but it's been worth it.

This is the waterproof relay box for the 4hi mod, securely fastened to the abs bracket.



My fusebox and cruise control are reinstalled.



The big 3 kit is routed and secured on my nicely refurbished fan shroud.

Not pictured are the yards of wire loom I replaced because of age and wear. The loom is so cheap and really makes a difference, I think, in making the engine bay look less beat up.

Waiting on a new grille + bumper filler to be shipped from Alberta, since my dad dropped mine and snapped it to the point I don't want to repair it anymore.

That's all for now. I'll continue to plug away at the engine bay and interior until the two feet of snow melt and I can get the box into the shop for rust repair.

Next up:
Washer fluid pump/grommet/lines/nozzles
MC vacuum line
PCV grommet
Replace Air cleaner nuts
Wiper motor/linkage install
E-brake cable routing
Hood install
New radio/speakers

Thanks for following along and all the support I've got from the forum. Couldn't do it without you!

That tool looks pretty trick, and I like that you can use it in-place. I might have to get that one instead of the Eastwood version.

Also, I have that same bolt storage setup. I wonder if Folgers has "hardware storage" on their radar for reasons people buy their coffee?

It's either Folgers or Kraft peanut butter jars, depending on bolt size.

I am working my way towards the rear of the truck, just trying to get parts off the shelf and onto the truck.
Slapped the new wiper motor, washer pump and hoses in and all works as it should. The master cylinder vacuum line just needed a little love and black tremclad, removed and replaced same day.
I swapped the PCV breather tube that goes to the throttle body for a vented cap.


Really the only reason for this change from stock is because the aftermarket valve covers have the wrong size hole for the stock grommet, and I couldn't easily find an adapter.

Next on my completely nonsensically ordered list, the audio components!
First I tested the new speaker wires I'd run (thanks Mr mouse) and labeled all my runs inc. for the new sub I'll be adding.
Then the solder, shrinkwrap and wire loom came out, and I got my new head unit and stock replacement speakers installed.






The door speakers are only temporarily mounted, because of the obvious rust issue. The body work for the doors will come later once the rest of my interior comes together.

I'm working on building the sub box for behind the seats, based on a 30 year old template of my dad's. The template came out of the '88 reg cab I scrapped, so it should fit with little to no modifications. Emphasis on "should".


She's so close to being done, I can almost taste it!

To-Do:
New seatbelts
Finish parking brake install
Rustproof and install bumper
DRL install
Soundproof cab roof
Flooring touch-ups
Install whichever parts I find in the basement

Canadian Rust Bucket said:

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It's either Folgers or Kraft peanut butter jars, depending on bolt size.

Click to expand...

Looks great! My dream is to have my shop this well lit and organized.
My dad made some sorters for smaller fasteners with glass baby food jars, by attaching the metal lids to a 1x4 and then attaching the board to the ceiling under the mezzanine he built. Low enough to reach but high enough to be out of the way.... And he also has several of the little cabinets with plastic drawers that you label....

HotWheelsBurban said:

Looks great! My dream is to have my shop this well lit and organized.
My dad made some sorters for smaller fasteners with glass baby food jars, by attaching the metal lids to a 1x4 and then attaching the board to the ceiling under the mezzanine he built. Low enough to reach but high enough to be out of the way.... And he also has several of the little cabinets with plastic drawers that you label....

Click to expand...

In his old age my dad has spent a lot more time puttering around organizing too. All the toolboxes are labelled now, and he has a guy in Quebec who makes him custom Milwaukee packout inserts to sort his screws etc.

My pullout dash cupholder cracked in a bunch of spots, and I haven't seen a new one for the 95+ trucks that is worth buying, so I played around in the garage last night and fixed it up stronger than OEM.


You can see the cracks were quite extensive. I wouldn't trust it to hold up a thimble, let alone my coffee mug.

My plan for this, since the slide rails were the only thing holding it together, was beef up the internals with aluminum and remove the passenger side pop-out.

I cut the cupholder portion off the passenger pop-out and JB-welded it into place in the tray to hold smaller mugs, since without the rubber pads the full-size holder is too big to be useful.


For $1.50 in rivets and some scrap aluminum, I now have a functional cupholder.

Both my trucks are regular cab, so I haven't wanted a sub box, but I like that design. It still has storage space. I might have to duplicate that for Roscoe.