1997 Chevy C2500 Cheyenne

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wiscomick

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Yeah,
That seat is super nice, wish I could find a grey one for my 93' in that condition. A seat like that goes for $500 on ebay all day, you got a steal for $75.
Yeah, I'm not complaining at all. :)
 

wiscomick

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So, while the paint was drying on the seat bases, I decided to take a look into why my 12V switched circuit in the truck seemed to be always 'on'. Even with the truck off and the key out, the wipers stayed active, the radio didn't turn off, etc. I read a thread the other day on here that said that the headlight switches in these trucks are known for burning up, so I figured I'd start there. Here's what I found.

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Looks like the orange wire from the fusebox to the headlight switch got real nice and toasty, and the brown wire did as well but not to the same degree. Strange, and I started looking for reasons why. Why didn't a fuse blow? What caused it? Well, I answered half of that immediately.

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See that nice bright 20A fuse in slot 9? That's been replaced before, as it's not the same style as the OEM fuses in other slots. So, now I'm out to try to figure out why this thing did what it did. Going to have to replace the orange wire, that should be fun. If anyone has any ideas on why that circuit acted up, let me know.
 

wiscomick

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OK, so, some updates. On the wiring issue, I wasn't able to track down any reason why the headlight harness melted. Going to replace the switch and see where that takes me.

As far as the interior, well, the father-in-law was a big smoker. The interior stunk like hell and was incredibly dirty. Took a few days to disassemble everything and scrub. It all came out nice and clean. The stink is predominately gone.

Also, had time to install the carpet kit over this weekend. Fit was decent, but it helps to have a professional flooring installer at your disposal to get a better-than OEM install, so thanks to my brother for the excellent work. New lowered seat is installed as well. Interior is essentially done, save for connecting the compass mirror and getting a few replacement parts for a couple broken pieces from a member.

Some pics:

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Next up is to get lowering shackles installed in the rear, and to start fixing some of the sins on the body. Stay tuned!
 
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wiscomick

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Not sure what's happening with the pics in here, and it doesn't look like i can go back and edit the posts. WTF. There's a bunch of work gone... Ugh.

Well, here's where we are.

Decided to install a set of drop shackles in the back for this year to level it out while I take some time to decide on a direction to go with it. The shackle bolts needed to be persuaded out with some heavier tools, which required pulling the bed for extra room to work. When I pulled the bed I found two cross braces completely shot, and one in need of patching. Finished that job last night and now I'm waiting on a couple friends to help put the bed back on the frame.

The frame was also HEAVILY scaled with rust. I modified a bit for my air hammer and went to town banging off as much loose scale as I could. I ended up with about 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket full of rust. Unbelievable. At this point, my plan is to run the truck this year until winter, and then when the snow starts to fly, disassemble the whole mess and have the frame blasted and re-coated. At this point though, it's a job I just don't have the time for, so back together it goes for the summer.

Some pics that I hope don't disappear:

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Did the best I could with the cross rails and the bed itself. I'm not much of a welder but I think I did OK enough. Coated with self-etching primer, then a gray, and then dust coated it with a blue. It's not a perfect job, but no one is going to see it but me. Rebuild in a can on this one.


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Drop shackles went in without a hitch once the box was off and I could utilize a small torch and a 3lb hammer. So much rust.

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Any suggestions on replacing this muffler with something a little more aggressive before I put the bed back on?
 

454cid

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The frame was also HEAVILY scaled with rust. I modified a bit for my air hammer and went to town banging off as much loose scale as I could. I ended up with about 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket full of rust. Unbelievable. At this point, my plan is to run the truck this year until winter, and then when the snow starts to fly, disassemble the whole mess and have the frame blasted and re-coated. At this point though, it's a job I just don't have the time for, so back together it goes for the summer.

Last summer, I had my box off for a fuel pump, and worked on the frame a bit. I stripped it with a pressure washer. It's amazing how much rust I removed with water. Then I sprayed phosphoric acid* on it, and then a mixture of oil, turpentine and beeswax that I had sitting from an experiment years ago. I think the mixture came off over the winter. I haven't been under the truck to inspect it this year... still too cold rainy. My idea was to spray it with something every year... but without taking the bed off.

*if you spray Phosphoric acid, use a respirator! I did not, and even outside I was gassing myself. I could only stay out of the vapors for so long before I was breathing it.
 

wiscomick

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I may end up trying the pressure wash trick before I put the box back on just to see if I can knock some more off.
 

wiscomick

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Great success over the weekend. Got the frame pressure washed and the box remounted. Kinda disappointed that the truck didn't settle level with the 2" drop shackles. Admittedly I didn't get a measurement before installing them, but the rear of the truck is still 2" higher than the front. Anyone think that might be because it's a 2500LD, and the springs might be heavier than half-ton stuff? Idk. Was expecting a level ride after the shackle install and it's still raked.

Trying to find someone locally that will trade me chrome bumpers with the molding for my smoothie front and black rear, and then install the molding kit, and I think that might be enough for the time being until I stash away some cash for some real mods. I also need to do the intake gaskets soon as there's a small external weep coming from the front of the intake.

She's looking pretty good for a rusty old bag though, so far anyway.

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wiscomick

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Aaaaaand now I have no brake lights. For f***s sake.
 
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