70 Jimmy--Rusty Rebuild

[toomany]

Motor update, called and said they found some lifter wheels that were seized and not moving. Should have it back in 5 weeks or so.

Haven't done much of anything with the truck lately. With the cold temperatures (been hovering around zero) I don't like to get out in the barn much. It gets up to temp but I'm just shoveling wood into the stove to get it reasonable and keep it there. Once it gets back in the mid teens/twenties I'll start getting some time back on it.

 

[toomany]

Dropped the transmission and transfer case out. Used the chain fall through the top to lower it down.




I had thought that my throwout bearing was leaking. It never really lost fluid but was always wet in that area no matter how much I cleaned it. Nothing came out of the hose when I unhooked it and when it tipped forward on the way down a bunch of fluid came out of the bellhousing.

3rd gear is there but the synchronizers aren't. I've got a leak between the trans and case as well that I couldn't get to stop either.

I won't open it up until I get the body work done. Between now and then I'm going to look for another Nv3500. The one I have is an early one and is missing a couple springs for the shifter. If I can find a later one with an internal throwout bearing I think I'll give that a try. Driving the 4500 wasn't bad, much like a Sm465 you were either a gear high or low in town. Not being able to downshift easily into 3rd didn't help things either. I believe both the 3500 and 4500 are the same length with only the shift tower in a different spot. I'd really only need to get a 26spline clutch disc.




Pulled the doors off....which I should have done first thing before dropping the transmission.




Some interior wiring needs to be finished up. Seat heaters, speaker wire, some kind of rear dome light.

Rear seat needs mounted. Figure out what I want to do for dash ac vents and see if the defrost ducts will still fit.

A good vacuuming is going to be the first thing I do (the sand is everywhere). Then I'll do what I need inside before moving on to the body work.

 

[toomany]

Pulled the steering wheel, seats and center counsel.




Decided to mount the switches for the seat heaters in the counsel. Knowing my main passenger, she would leave hers on at all times even if she wasn't riding. I wanted both of them in a spot that can be reached when belted in...which limits where they can go.

Normally I make a paper template and transfer to metal once I'm happy with it. This time I figured it's only a simple rectangle so I went straight to metal. Once I mounted it I realized I should have stuck with paper. Didn't like the space/gap at the top.




Looked around and found the piece I cut out of the floor for the transmission hump years ago and used that for the 2nd attempt.




Debating on how I want to run power in there. Thinking I'll run it out the firewall, follow the rear harness and come up through the floor in one of the holes that's already there. The one in the center is just behind the counsel. Other option is to follow the side of the transmission hump. Speaker and dome light wiring I had planned to run along the passenger side of the roll bar so I don't want to pair it with that.

 

[toomany]

Going out the firewall and through the floor won out over going along the inside on the transmission tunnel. I'm not sure when/if this will get carpet and that ended up being quite a large bundle. Would definitely bulge through and be real noticeable.

Had originally planned on using the power window circuit to feed the seats, however that one isn't switched with the key. It's always hot (the aftermarket harness in my 86 is that way too). Not wanting to pull the fuse block off to move that circuit, I went with the "Alternator Exciter" wire instead. I wasn't using it and it's fused and key power.

Ran one more hot wire (12g) and three other empty wires. Not knowing if I'd need any down the line. The ground wire is a home run back to the ground stud on the firewall. Wires are sleeved back to where they branch off the main run on the frame.




Shortened the harnesses coming off the switches.




Both sides come out the back of the counsel. The way PRP builds the harnesses, there is a lot of back and forth with the power wires. Did my best to clean it up as much as I could.




I guess I should have know, but I was glad to see that the switches are lighted when on. Each power wire has its own fuse as well. The panel will unplug and come out. The main harness needs to be de-pinned before it'll pass though the grommet and the counsel will come out.




I'm thinking I'll mount the rear seat next. Still searching for what I want to use for dome lights, so that wiring will wait a bit.

 

[toomany]

Made some simple plates to raise the rear seat and tilt it back a bit.




Painted the front bases while I had them out.




Was able to space everything so the rails fell into the bottom of the ribs in the floor.






I may switch to 5pt harnesses in the front and move the 4pts to the back. In all reality, I don't see anyone riding back there. I'll get some kind of belts back there but it's not a real high priority at this time.

 

[toomany]

Decided to move on to some body work. The other small stuff can be done down the line. I'd like to have the body back together by the time spring rolls around.

I believe there are only 8 things left for paint. Front fenders, doors, cowl panel, hood, tailgate and glove box door. The only thing that really needs rust repair is the tailgate. The other pieces have a few minor spots here and there.

First up was the glove box door. Abandoned my first attempt. I was trying to keep the right side edge/corner. I didn't like how it was falling off and lost the bead around the edge. Plus at the time I had fit the soft top and didn't know I'd be re-doing the roll bar.




Take two went much better. Actually knowing what I had to clear now, I was able to flap disc away the edge. Picture looks a little odd because it's not a head on shot.




Just the very edge needed it. When I pull it back off I'll clean it up and make a smoother transition.




Stripped down the doors. Going to fill all the miscellaneous holes and maybe the lock cylinder as well. Have to decide on what I want for mirrors and get those holes drilled.




Don't really want the truck covered in dust and I don't want to push it outside each time so I'll pick up some plastic to cover it with. Not expecting the motor back for another 3 weeks at the earliest. And even with that installed I don't want to put the transmission back until I go through it or find another.

 

[ashman]

Stripped down the doors. Going to fill all the miscellaneous holes and maybe the lock cylinder as well. Have to decide on what I want for mirrors and get those holes drilled.

https://www.carparts.com/details/Ford/F-150/Kool_Vue/Mirror/1995/Special/SET-FD25ER.html

I used these Ford mirrors on mine and I love them. They fit nicely in the top section of the door so they don't sit too low, like a lot of others.
The ones I linked have chrome on the back, but they also come in just the black plastic, which I like better.

You do have to modify the part that goes through the door and attaches to the inside panel, but it wasn't hard to do.

 

[ashman]

For reference:

 

[toomany]

Those don't look too bad. How useful is the passenger side?

Was tossing the idea of the tiny sport mirrors, but the passenger side is all but useless.

Random internet pictures.




Other option was this style. The mirror head is sold separately from the base so you get a choice of round or square.






I don't like how far those stick out, but are probably more useful than the tiny ones.

I actually really liked the one that was on the door as far as functionality goes. Just wasn't a huge fan of the look...more of a long bed item.

 

[ashman]

Look at where all of those are mounted as compared to mine. They are all too low, which is why they are useless. They don't fit on that small area just below the window like the ford one does.

The key to why the mount is so narrow is that it also bolts to the inner door skin. That keeps it super stable even with the narrow mount. Also, these are break away mirrors, another nice bonus.

Trust me, it took me a long time to find something that I liked and that was usable. I haven't found anything in 20 years that works better.

 

[toomany]

Got a start on some of the door body work. Knocked the paint/primer down with some 80 grit. Filled in all the extra holes. I thought my driver's door was the better of the two. Turns out it's not. Loaded with body filler where the mirror mounted. Looks like the mirror caught something and got bent. I have another door that I may fit to the truck and see how well it works if I can't get the current one to where I'm happy with it.

Decided on the mirrors that @ashman recommended. Will try fitting those tomorrow.




Weighed my options for fixing my transmission. Debated on pulling it apart and going through the current Nv4500. Looked into an Ar5 swap (no good way to adapt my transfer case). RSG has a T56/Tr6060 that they convert to 4x4 but it is stupid expensive. Not to mention the gear ratios are all wrong and would lead me to definitely switch axle ratios.

Placed an order on Friday and this arrived the next Thursday.




What's in the box? A reman Nv3500. According to them it has upgraded synchronizers and shift forks. I know it's a gamble going with the weaker unit, but it's a direct swap for the 4500. I think I can make it last with a concise driving style and for what I'm doing with the truck. If it breaks, we'll I guess I was wrong and will go back with the 4500.

 

[ashman]

nice! afaik you'll only be the 2nd person ever to do it.

Obviously, now that you have them, you can see that you'll have to cut the piece that braces it to the inside door skin to match our much skinnier doors, but it was pretty easy to do.

If I wouldn't have done it in the 90's, I'd have probably made a video detailing the process. :P

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

I really liked the nv3500 I swapped into my last k5. The gears are in a nice spread.

 

[toomany]

Blueprint called today. They are waiting on a shipment of blocks from GM. Have no idea when they will be in. They gave me the option of taking one of the reman engines they had in stock instead of waiting. Took that option and it shipped out today. Should have it by the weekend.

It's the exact same part number and built to the same specs as the last one. From the sound of it, I wouldn't have been getting my old one back anyway if they were waiting for a block. Will just have to remember to clearance the side of it where the OE ac compressor would have mounted before I drop it in.

nice! afaik you'll only be the 2nd person ever to do it.

Obviously, now that you have them, you can see that you'll have to cut the piece that braces it to the inside door skin to match our much skinnier doors, but it was pretty easy to do.

If I wouldn't have done it in the 90's, I'd have probably made a video detailing the process. :P

Did you take the entire long piece off or just shorten it to bolt it to the door too? I didn't look that hard at them when I pulled them out of the box.

I really liked the nv3500 I swapped into my last k5. The gears are in a nice spread.

Hopefully it will drive a little better with these splits. Having the low 1st gear was nice for moving around the yard and loading on the trailer but pretty much useless for anything else.

 

[ashman]

Did you take the entire long piece off or just shorten it to bolt it to the door too? I didn't look that hard at them when I pulled them out of the box.

Just shortened it. The mirrors are kinda heavy and need the support to the inside door skin. As I recall, I pulled a little out of the middle and bolted the 2 pieces together at the right length. That was before I could weld, but I can't remember if it was good metal or not either.

 

[toomany]

Motor showed up this morning.




Only thing different between this one and the old one is the valve covers. This one has stock ones on it.




Going up. At this point I had filled it with 10/30 VR1, filled the oil pump and spun it over with the starter.




Set in and motor mount bolts in. From here I installed the transmission, transfer case and crossmember before bolting the headers on and moving forward.




Everything else hooked back up. At first I was a little disappointed with getting the stock valve covers but I actually like these better. They disappear and don't stand out like the "BPE" ones.




Fired it up after topping off all the fluids. It started right away and had 65psi of oil pressure. Don't know if I should be concerned or not, but it has the same top end sound the last one did. Not the bad lifter noise, but a weird random tick/knock. Going to get some run time on it and drop the oil and cut the filter apart and see what's inside. It sounds front/center of the engine and isn't consistent.


Edit: Need to order a female-female -3 fitting. The slave cylinder for the Nv3500 has the hose attached to it and will reach up to the master cylinder. Just need the union to connect the two.

 

[toomany]

Waited all day for the 90 -3/-3 to show up. UPS finally dropped it off a little after 6.

Only took a minute to install it. Slave cylinder was pre-filled so bleeding went quick. Earlier in the day in bolted the seats in along with the belts.

Took it for a quick spin around the block before it got too dark. Motor seem like it pulls harder than the last one. I'm sure some of that could be the gearing differences, but even 4th seemed stronger. Might also be the lack of front sheet metal and doors too as that's a fair bit of weight.

Got it up to temp and parked it back in the barn. Will check fluid levels and for leaks tomorrow. On a side note, the seat heater works almost too well. I had to shut it off a few minutes after I pulled out of the driveway. I thought with it being in the 40's and no doors it would have been on the entire time.

 

[toomany]

Radiator was down a little bit, topped that off. No leaks anywhere. The previous leak from the transmission/transfer case was from one of the bolts holding the clocking ring on. Apparently I didn't put any sealer on them originally.

Got the outside of the doors to where I am happy with them enough to shoot some primer. The inside on each one need a patch. Both in about the same spot, below the lower hinge at the curve.





While waiting for some filler to dry I put the new headlights in. Was going to wait but I got tired of walking around the box.

Stock ones. Only 3 of them worked and I had put one of the high beams in a low beam spot because that low was burnt out.




RetroBrites in. The highbeams are "upside down"....the Holley logo is upside down. I'll have to see if the beam cutoff is affected by this or not. It's the only way they fit in the buckets with their index bumps. If I have to, I can file some new slots into the buckets to get them right side up.




I didn't get any pictures of the stock ones lit up, just imagine some candles in there or something.




With the doors shut and only the headlights on. It's amazing the amount of light these things put out. Once the front end is back together I'll get them aimed correctly.

 

[toomany]

When I made the decision to switch transmissions I started looking for a better shifter. The factory one is pretty bad, no spring tension or centering in the 3/4 gate. Just kind of flops around vaguely picking a gear.

Core is the only place currently making a replacement, and even then it's hit or miss if you can find one in stock. I'd check in once a week or so and would never catch one. Last week I got lucky and was able to buy the one that they had.

Stock




Core. I went with the 2" taller one, which I'm assuming is just a taller stick.



Without having driving it yet, I can already say that the feel is better. Shorter and feels like it clicks into gear firmly. This one centers in the 3/4 gate and has fairly firm springs to move to either side.

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

Im in the same boat on waiting for in stock to add one to my f150 trans.