Through the years, I have had many projects. And as you can see from my car list, I don't have any of them any more. Except my truck. This one I have managed to hold on to and not sell or part out. This is one that I would to keep a very long time unless God has other ideas. Whether it's finished or not, I would love to hang on to it and pass it down to one of my kids when they get old enough to appreciate it. And according to the Ohio BMV, it is now considered a "classic" because it's over 25 years old, which also means I can get historical plates that stay on the truck for 45 years, and they only cost me $27.00.
I call this project "Locomotion" because for one, I am a rail fan and one of my other hobbies is model railroading. (See my Modular Model Railroading Blog.) Second, I chose this name because the truck is a diesel with tons of pulling power. I drove this thing around with a bed full of tools and it would run like it was empty. And the mileage blew me away for it's age and miles. Before it quit running, I was getting between 28 and 35 MPG. These days, that would be great to have in an old truck. But like I said, she quit running, pretty much as soon as we moved into our new-to-us house in August of 2007,
Why the truck quit is a mystery to me, and what I've narrowed it down to will be expensive to fix. It started out just stalling when it was cold and I was stopped. Then when I parked it in our barn, it wouldn't start. Now I've drain all of the water out of the system and tank, checked all of the fuel lines and lift pump, and the filter is still decent, but the fuel stops moving after the injector pump. So, if that is the issue, a new one will run at least $1000.00, not including the time to install it. Now, I might be able to get one from a company we build fixtures for, but I don't think they owe us anymore favors! Just kidding! This place rebuilds Duramax and Cummins engines for military and other specialty vehicles and it is where the truck came from originally, before my employer, then me. They also used to rebuild 6.2 and 6.5 GM/Detroit diesels. So, the guys we deal with there know this engine, in and out.
A little more info on the truck. It's a 1982 Chevrolet C10 Silverado with a 6.2 diesel and a 4 speed manual transmission. It is 2 wheel drive (C series are 2WD, K series are 4WD) with disc brakes on the front and drum on the rear, which of course it typical since at least 1973, but some folks might not know that. The color is kind of a metallic brown, kind of reminds me of root beer. The interior is maroon cloth and vinyl. Options include power windows, power locks, power steering, hydroboost power brakes, sliding rear window and "stereo" speakers on the radio. But it didn't come with A/C, which seemed a little odd since it had all the other options. One item though that had me puzzled about the year was the fuel filter. Every parts catalog shows a spin on canister type for an '82, but my truck has a block style that was on '84 and up trucks, and it was like this from the factory. The transmission was questionable as well, but it could have been with the engine when they put the "new" one in back before my father-in-law got it for the shop. So, that's a mystery I'll have to solve as I rebuild the truck.
A picture of her now:
So you get a general idea about my project before Part 2, I'll tell you it will have a few styles in one truck. It'll be part sport truck withe the suspension set-up and wheels, but the paint will be that of a '50s hot rod. The interior will be smoothly crossed between a minitruck and a luxury car with sheetmetal, fiberglass and leather. And the drivetrain of a workhorse with the diesel engine and upgraded transmission.
So, until the next post, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'!
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