'76 Highboy Restomod/Overland Light Build

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454cid

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I wonder if rubbing in some Fluidfilm would help keep that rust from getting worse.
 

Maroon96

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I hadn't thought of that and have never used it myself, but it may be worth a try. I kind of figured the polish would help with that some. Even if I have to keep up with it now and then.
 

Maroon96

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Well the other day I went to fix what I thought was just a poor, previous connection that had gotten corroded. Ended up following the choke wire all the way back behind the dash and the whole thing was shorted out and melted. Luckily all the wires around it still look good. So far, no luck in figuring out where I can find a replacement fusable link (or at least that's what I'm told these black things are, though I've never seen ones like this before) or at least what size fuse I could replace it with. If it is a fusable link, I really don't see how it would have done any good. All the wires go in one side, except a couple inches of fried wire that has no connections.
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Then yesterday I got my brake booster back from being rebuilt by cardone. I got off work early and was able to get it primed and started on the paint.
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One thing I had neglected previously was the front brake lines. The ends of the new hoses were slightly different than the old ones. Where the end goes into the bracket on the frame, the hole was just barely to small. I didn't have space to get in there with a reamer and would have to pull the truck out to take the tires off. It just felt like a hassle at the time. I thought about getting a dremel, and then today I found some little grinding wheels that go in a drill or impact. With their short length, I was able to fit an impact behind the tire and make the holes fit pretty easily. Of course, it wasn't till I had one side done that realized I could have just pulled the brackets off completely to ream out the holes. Probably would have cleaned and painted them too at that point. Oh well. It's done now, and I won't have to worry about my lines moving around.
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After that, I still had time to replace a brake line holder clip along the frame, taped up the ends of some old wires that went to a shell, and changed the oil.
 

Maroon96

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Yesterday, I traced the rest of the wires behind the dash. The big red/yellow one comes from the fuse block under the dash. The greenish wire goes to the voltage regulator, the little red/yellow wire goes to the gauge cluster connector, and the blue wire, as I already know, goes to the electric choke. Thinking I'll just add in a fuse when I replace the choke wire.

Then I cleaned out the air filter. Ended up letting it dry over night and oiled it today. I had picked up some K&N brand red oil. The filter didn't really turn all that red like I thought it would and ended up using more oil than I needed trying to get it to turn more red. But I'm sure it's been years since it was touched and probably could use a good soak anyways. I let it sit in the sun awhile and then wiped off the excess oil before putting it back on.

Friday night I had picked up some stuff from oreillys, including a new antenna, as I was only getting static on the radio. I had previously thought the antenna was cut off of or broke. But it looks like it's just super short.
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Then I couldn't get it unscrewed. So I exchanged the new antenna mast for a whole setup. Plugged the new one in and still just got static. Today I had the thought to switch the radio to am and try again. This worked just fine. Tried the old antenna and it worked to. Since my new antenna didn't mount quite as nice as the old one and it left some holes uncovered, I just put the old one back on. The radio is old, but it does say it fm/am on it and even goes through fm1, 2, and 3 when clicking the band button. So I'm not really sure what that's about.
 

Maroon96

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Well, since the last update, I put in a fuse and replaced the wire running to the choke. Brake booster and master cylinder have been painted and installed. Adjusted the booster rod enough to bleed the brakes, but am still waiting on a tool to get the adjustment closer. One of my rear brake lines was leaking, so I had to redo that. Afterwards, everything else was good to go, so I was able to get the lines bled and take the truck for its first drive in how ever many years.
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Also replaced the valve cover breather and took a pressure washer to the underside of the truck. With multiple rinses and degreaser, it's still a mess, but much better.
 

Maroon96

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Took the truck for a little drive on Sunday.
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Then Tuesday my brake booster tool came in and I tried adjusting things. I had assumed they were a one size fits all type of thing. Ended up not working for me and just made things worse. So, I readjusted it again and now it's a little better. I've also only had one of two speakers working at a time. Usually it's the drivers side that works, but one time it was the passengers side. Luckily they don't switch back and forth though. I had some new speakers that I was gonna put into a car awhile back and never did. I put those in and then followed the wiring. Everything looked fine at a quick glance, but there's something weird going on.
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Today, we went on another little drive. I was trying to pull up onto some rocks and found some issues. Long story short, the transfer case linkage wasn't adjusted, so I couldn't shift it. When I pulled it off to adjust it, I found another piece had bent and cracked.
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Also, I pulled the dash apart to check some things, and ever since, my headlight knob isn't working right. It just pulls right out and won't turn the headlights on. I'm thinking it's probably just worn out, so I'll see about ordering a new switch.
 

Maroon96

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Been having a bunch of computer issues, so I haven't been able to update the thread. First off, I ended up making a new shift stick bracket at work. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it was better than the old one. I only needed it for a little while anyways. I found a used one in a Facebook group and now it shifts much better. I thought I got some pictures but can't seem to find them, so I guess not. Also ended up getting the headlight knob to work correctly again, so I'm holding off on replacing it for now.

Found a beat up tool box for $40. Ended up fitting just right with room to store a gas can on the side just as I hoped. I put a couple eye bolts on the toolbox and bedside so I could keep the gas can from sliding around. Thought I was gonna have to go find a super short bungy, but then I realized it was just about the right length if I hooked one end on a pre-existing hole.
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My taillights quit working and I wasn't sure why since they were before. They had been hacked into over the years and were kind of a mess, so I decided to start there. The side marker light socket doesn't fit through the hole they were originally run through, so I had to cut those wires.
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I then found a mess right at the connector going to the rest of the harness on the frame.
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After doing all this, I realized that I had unplugged the harnesses at the firewall when replacing the choke wire. Turns out all my lights were just fine all along. I definitely needed to replace the taillight harness, just wasn't planning on it quite yet. Anyways, after a bunch of searching, I found a new harness at a mrtaillight website. It wasn't much of a website, but the harness ended up being pretty decent quality. It has some sturdy, metal sockets, heavier wire than stock, and is fully wire loomed. I do wish the sockets were sealed up some way though.

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I also ended up adding ground wires and metri-pack connectors for the license plate lights. I couldn't find an oem connector for the main harness, so I ended up replacing them with some square, four pin weather pack connectors. While I was at it, I replaced the sole license plate light with two led ones. You can't tell in the photo, but the license plate has a bit of a bend in it. The lights are plenty bright, but with this bend, you can't actually read it in the dark. It does have a nice backlight though.
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Finally, my horns haven't been working, so I just put in a cheapo air horn from the parts store for now. Was gonna paint the horns black, but ran out of time.
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Maroon96

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Forgot to mention that we went up the road to take the dog for a walk and drove around just a little on the rocks. Nothing crazy, just pulled up on one to make it easier for the dog to get in and out.
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Maroon96

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Oh, and I made a quick road trip this past Saturday to take the truck to the other side of the state. It's not going anywhere, I just needed to store it somewhere for a bit while I go to welding school.
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