Ha!

So I got some crap done on Big Ugly today! Woot! It was actually a nice, pleasant day of easy-goin' wrenching on the beast.

First, I started out by setting the timing. I'd swapped out the distributor like, oh I dunno, 8 weeks ago? And I never set the timing. I was dreading it, because I had to locate a brown/black wire under the passenger side dash and unplug it to put it in "set timing mode." I figured that knowing GM, that it'd be buried and it'd take me hours to find. Boy, was I wrong. I opened the passenger door, bent down to look at the wire harness that was RIGHT THERE and saw a bump in it. Low and behold, the tape STARTED right on the hump! So I unrolled the tape 2 rolls and out plopped the connector and the brown/black wire. WITH SLACK!!!! Holy sheet! So I unplugged it, like, right on the spot! All told, the whole process took me 10 minutes, no kidding. Including the time it took to run (ok, walk) back into the house to find some White Out, and then crawl under the truck and mark the balancer. I'd left the distributor loose back when I replaced it so I could time it easily when I got around to it. Man, I hadn't used my timing light since, like, HIGH SCHOOL! LOL! Anyways, it runs the balls now! I took it for a test drive and it had all kinds of power (that it didn't have before). Well, "all kinds of power... for a 305." Then I hit the brakes. Ummm. Yah. That brings us to...

Part Deux... I replaced a brake line! I knew it was soft last year. Self-bleeding and all that. Well, I hit the brakes on the test drive and it went right to the floor, followed by, what's best described as... leisurely deceleration. Oops. I pulled into a school parking lot and there was like a 15' line of fresh brake fluid on the ground that led right to the puddle of it right under my driver's door. Hah! Oh well. So I drove it back home the mile and a half and downshifted to a stop in my driveway. Glad it's a standard! Since I already have one piece of chit dead-ended in the garage, I decided to do the brake line in the driveway beside the garage. It was the line that led from the ABS module to the rear end. It had already been "half-replaced" within the past few years, so there was already a junction! Woo! So a quick trip to Autozone later, where I actually had the forethought to buy extra bleeders, and I had the lines and adapters needed. Install went well. I did end up using those bleeders, too! The rear ones were mangled during removal. I went and borrowed my neighbor's leg, and after dousing the engine bay with brake fluid - Mental Note *Be sure to replace master cylinder cap before pumping!* - we got it all bled and stuff. So then I got the engine degreaser and sprayed it all over the mess. Yes, just that side of the bay, don't want it too pretty! lol. I sprayed it off and took it for another test drive...

WE HAVE BRAKES!!!! WOOOOT!!!! And... you ready for this??? It gets second gear RUBBER!!! AH hah hahahahahahaha!!!! Nice.

So then I got it home and we had dinner. Fed the baby. Blah blah blah.

THEN I put Morticia's old shoes to good use. That was the plan all along anyways, why i got a 2wd. It just took me a year to get them on there. So that brings me to the murdered out topic. Here's a few pics as she sits now.







The plan is... wait for it.... Yeah, SATIN black paint. Hopefully in the next few weeks. I plan on doing some old school, shop truck sign work on the doors, too. I'm thinking "Big Ugly's Chop Shop" "Est. 1976" with a wrench in the middle. Or a hack saw. We'll see. I plan to paint it myself. Also, I ordered a 3/4 drop kit for it. 3" springs in the front and a set of drop shackles and spring hangers for the back. Yes it will get tint. Probably an ebay precut kit. Yes it will get a new side window. And maybe it'll get some body work before paint, but maybe not. I kinda like the dents. Gives it character. And no, it WON'T be getting new bumpers. That was as straight as it was gonna get. And I love it.

I may do a P-shop of what I'm planning later tonight, if I'm bored...

So there's the answer to your unanswered questions. Your welcome.

Let me be the first to reply to my message...

Here's a quick "rendering" of what I want to do...

I think the truck looks great. The wheels really set it off.

You should fire the knuckle head that did your bodywork. Or hire him to do more.

I am feeling it, but the body side moulding has got to go.

murder the hell out of it

Looks good man. For real.

I love stepsides but I'm not sure about a stepside on an extended cab

I know what you need to do with that truck......




custom roadster

That's actually pretty cool with those wheels and tires. 88-95 TBI trucks are basically all I want to drive.

Do you think you could pop the dent out on the pass. door? Might look better with some of the sin taken out of it...

Flat black would look sick on that.

Here are some ideas to think about. Maybe you'll find 1 of the 10 worth trying out.
10 truck body mods

That grape -thing-... I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

I kinda like the dent in the door! I may take the interior panel off and pop it out a bit though.

I think the dents give it character. You should keep them.

I love stepsides, and love the rarity of an ex-cab one, if this ever needs a new home let me know...

-Lowered, no moldings, satin black, Wal-Mart tint the 3 rear windows, and a new pass door. You would have yourself a pretty cheap, sharp looking truck!

Doug

Crackle paint!

[left]

Flat black over white. I think you use latex house paint.

Edit:

I'm sure SATIN black would work also.

lookin good. not sure how far you plan to go but this front end gives it a more classic look

i think you should have it airbrushed like this.

Close...

I can make it look like that without using any paint if you lend it to me for a while My hood is already starting to look like that

Ok. You guys beat me up enough about the bumper that I decided to do something about it. They were junking a couple old trucks at work, so with youz guys in mind, I decided to "reallocate" some of the company property... I spent 10 minutes and yanked a straight bumper off one of the old junkers. Bonus is it doesn't have the rub strips AND it's sun-baked and worn, so I won't have a shiny new bumper on the ugly truck, so it fits the look.

So without further babblin'... Here's a half hour from my life tonight:

STOLEN!


You all up in mah grill???


Bent ugly... (Surprisingly, the whole grille is only held on with 5 7mm screws. eek!)


Off with the old. I love my impact gun! 8 b-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-lts later.


Comparo!


Presto-change-o!


And... uh... DOH!


Guess I shoulda grabbed the bumper bracket too. Will do that tomorrow. Funny thing is that the stock banana bumper I took off was perfectly straight(ish) when I took it off. LOL!

Anyways... Stay tuned! Body work and MAYBE paint this weekend! I'm dropping it off at my buddy's shop tomorrow to have the the 3/4 drop installed, alignment done, and inspection sticker forged. Woot!

Exxxxxcellent.
/Mr. Burns

Here is some rat rod stuff.
http://www.mooneyesusa.com/

Replacement mirrors
http://www.mooneyesusa.com/straight-arm-peep-p-1326.html

I'd leave the rub strips on there personally. Seems like the 88-98s have moldings that just fit the truck nicely, I think they go with the whitewalls, that, and dents are one thing, but door dings/rippled body panels look like shyte!

People on FSC are always taking them off. My 93 is silver on the bottom and I'd take them off my truck if I had a bunch of other tasteful mods and silver fender flares or something, but if you have a totally stock truck that's not lowered, has stock wheels, and everything else, then remove them, you just turned your truck into a W/T 1500!

It really depends on the truck too though. About half the time it's an improvement.

I'd use a suction cup puller on that dent just to see what happens. I had a dent as deep as that on a 73-87 door, and it COMPLETELY pulled out! All that was left was cracked paint where the center of the dent was!

It doesn't have stock wheels! Not even close.

And it IS lowered. Now.

Did you go back after the bumper brackets?
After all there is a mod day looming

Well, here he is in all his lowered, crappy cell phone pic'd glory!



That pic only had about 5 miles on it. So the front springs may still settle a bit. It seems to be right about where I wanted it though! Woot! More pics to come tomorrow.

And yes, I did grab the bumper bracket I needed. If I don't get to it tomorrow, I will on the mod day.

And surprisingly, it drives a lot nicer and even seems to handle better with noticeably less body lean. Weird, cuz I only changed the front springs and sway bar end links... Rear springs are the same.

EDIT: Does anyone happen to have a Bowtie that will fit the Silvy grille? It was missing when I bought the truck and it would save me a trip to the boneyard... If you do, could ya bring it to the mod day on Sunday?

What happend with this today? Did it ever get painted?

Ask and ye shall receive!













It was like a masking party! Everyone got into it!


Turning the garage into a makeshift paint booth...




What do you mean the table is a little uneven?


This can sounds different?




Wow... Looks nice! Too nice! I hope it dries less shiny!








Yeah, THAT's getting better!


As it's drying, it sure is looking BAD ASS!!!!! WOOT! I am so psyched! Thanks so much for all that helped out and to Billy for spraying it! That Rustoleum sure does lay down better through a gun! Yeah, it's still Rustoleum! Like there was a doubt. They didn't have "satin" black in the quart containers, so I went with semi-gloss black. Different name for the same deal.

It was still a bit tacky when I shut off the lights in the garage, but I'll pull the tape off it tomorrow and back it out into the sun and let it bake a bit.

Now it's time to get ready for the sign work!

I still see dents in the door are you going to get another door?

Ok. here's a couple more pics from today. I got to pull it outside while Bella was napping, but didn't have much time to do anything else. I painted the bowtie that was missing on the grill and de-masked. Might try bringing her out there with me for re-assembly in her play pen or something. We'll see.

But here are the pics for now...

PHANTOM FRONT CONVERSION LOL

Looking good Billy Boy!

The signs will look awsome. I bet some old skool pin stripe will set it off.

The only thing that does not look correct now is those big dumbo mirrors. Some smaller chrome round pedestal mirrors would again set it off.

Or these
http://www.mooneyesusa.com/straight-arm-peep-p-1326.html