Looking for a truck part...

Joe Texan and I have begun looking for parts for his 1970 Chevy pickup.

While I was thinking about various parts for his project, I remembered that I am in need of a part myself, several actually, but one that is a must have soon.

I'm in need of an offset air cleaner. It is the one that was used on the 6 cylinder trucks with a brake booster. Here is a picture...

I added a brake booster to my 1969 Blazer and need to get my hands on one of these pieces. If you have one you are willing to part with, shoot me an email with a price, hellsbillybob@gmail.com .

Here is a shot of my Blazer...

Some Chevy Trucks - As inspiration to myself and Joe Texan...

I have three projects I need to be working on and Joe Texan has his "new" truck to get going. Every year, about this time, I get the urge to make some progress on my trucks. I look forward to the car shows and cruise nights. This year there are several things I want to get accomplished on my Blazer. And my 1968 Chevy Truck is going to get some needed attention too.

Joe Texan and I have developed a long list of things to do to his 1970 Chevy Truck. His could be roadworthy in short order, it's just a question of money.

Neither of us are rolling in the dough though, so some things have to be put off until the budget allows. Maybe these pictures will inspire us to do those things that are inexpensive or even free...

*** I posted this earlier, but I have come back a few times to look at these pictures again. I have been a fan of the '67 to '72 Chevy Trucks since I was about 5 years old, so I guess then I would have just been a fan of the '67 to '68 Trucks. These things truly are a work of art. I'm highly motivated now. I'll post some updates on the progress my motivation generates.

Obamapocalypse Bug-Out Vehicle

I acquired a new (to me) pickup the other day. The truck is a 1970 Chevy long bed. It's direly in need of a paint job, but it's not rusted out anywhere that can't be easily replaced. Some new hoses, fluids, wires, belts, filters, gaskets, brakes, tires, brake booster, bulbs, shocks, lowered coil springs, and battery, along with either a new carburetor or carb rebuild should make it reliable enough to get me anywhere I need to go. A lot of elbow grease, some paint, new fenders, trim, bumpers, mirrors, windshield, seat, and weather stripping will make it presentable. In other words, I'm going to be replacing a lot of stuff. It has some butt-ugly 15" rims on it, but I've already picked up a set of really nice 17" alloy Chevy wheels that came off a 2002 Tahoe, dirt cheap on Craigslist. Maybe I'll keep the old rims to use in the winter and put some snow tires on them. I don't think this beast is going to be the best thing in the snow without all the help it can get. If I put a tonneau cover on it, I can store a half-ton of wood pellets in it for my stove and keep the rear end weighted down in the winter, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Okay, it doesn't have four-wheel-drive, but it's got a big bed, a trailer hitch, a 350 V-8, and a TH350 tranny. With those, I ought to be able to get me and my family to BillyBob's compound, or to my in-laws, or to some of my other country kinfolks when the Obamapocalypse comes. What it really needs is a pedestal-mounted Ma Deuce to make it persuasive when people get in my way, though.

 

BillyBob has been so gracious to allow me to domicile it at his place while we work on it and get it up to snuff. He has a nice collection of '67-'72 body style Chevies and has forgotten more about them than I'll ever know.

Spring time stuff going on...

Over the past week we have started getting ready for spring. We have the garden all tilled up and some 'taters planted. The berry bushes (blackberry and raspberry) are all pruned and cleaned out. The rose bushes have been pruned and cleaned up. All of the small fruit trees (peach and cherry) are pruned and shaped. I had a peach and 3 cherry that didn't make it through the winter,  actually, they didn't make it through the summer last year. They were crappy quality trees to begin with. We have started feeding the catfish in the pond. I even got to start mowing yesterday. Most people I know dread mowing, I look forward to it.

I usually split the mowing up into a couple of days or it would take me a whole day to get it done.

Today I have to hang some new lights in the shed and then start trimming up some of the bigger fruit trees. There are lots of suckers in a few of them and some broken branches in a couple. It's time to break out the big ladder.

In the next couple of weeks I'm planning to take out a couple of trees. We have a tree line between us and the neighbor, but all of the trees are on my property. Most of the trees are Hedge and Thorny Locust. We are replacing them with trees that are less of a pain in the ass. The Thorny Locust are just awful. If you have never seen them, I'll try to get some pictures. The thorns are hard on any kind of tire. All of the yard equipment has green slime in the tires to seal up any punctures.

The Hedge trees are beautiful. They are a dang nice shade tree until the start dropping all those damn hedge apples. If hedge apples weren't absolutely useless I wouldn't mind them so much. And for those that think they keep spiders out of the house, it's not true. I see big ass nasty spider underneath Hedge Trees all the time.

Later this spring, I'm planning to put in a bunch more fruit trees. Another couple of cherry, a couple of peach and four or five apples. On the apples, I'm thinking a few Honeycrisp and a couple of either Gala or a type of green apple. I saw some Honeycrisp yesterday at Home Depot, but they were all dwarf trees. I want the full sized trees.

I also have to work on one of the mowers today. Something is out of whack with the steering, not sure exactly what's going on. I'm anxious to get the new lights hung in the shed. It's time to start working on the hot rod trucks. Joe Texan is picking up his "new" truck next week and we will be doing all the work on it here at my place. I haven't seen it yet, but it is a 1970 Chevy. I sent him a list of what I would do, life/safety stuff first, tires, brakes, fluids, etc. Then the fancier stuff a little later.

On my own stuff, I have to adjust the brakes on the Blazer and get it inspected. There are lots of other things that I want to do, but that will get it on the road and headed to a cruise night or two. The 1968 truck is another story. I'm thinking a new front wiring harness and some other electrical issues are in order. Some of the lights and blinkers don't work. The guy I bought it from had replaced the steering column with a newer one and now the blinkers and backup lights don't work. It shouldn't be too bad, I just have to get into it. It also needs all the fluids changed, valve cover gaskets, plugs, wires, etc.

I guess I better get to work. Later.