The Dentside

[ATC King]

Line or hose?

Hoses are one of things that aren't expensive but even hard line kits are available for these trucks at reasonable prices. One of the benefits of owning a popular model of domestic vehicle.

Is yours hydroboost?

[kiser]

The hard part of line on the passenger side, at the front wheel cylinder is where it popped. I'm going to the parts store after work tomorrow, it's getting all new lines, wheel cylinders and master cylinder. Yes its hydro boost.

[ATC King]

Does it have four wheel drum brakes and hydro boost?

That would be terrifying to drive on wet roads. People who've never driven older vehicles with four wheel drums have no idea what that means and how good they have it now with modern brakes.

[kiser]

That's correct, it has 4 wheel drums and hydro boost.

[ATC King]

I drove out of Larime today, pulling a trailer with the '79.

That hill sucks. Good thing a couple big trucks were going up it as slow as I was.

[kiser]

I've covered some ground on my Ford. I bought everything new from the master cylinder down for the brakes besides the drums, the front are in great shape. The lockouts were stolen from the previous owner a long time ago so the hub grease looked like crap, I took them off and cleaned everything up and bought news hub seals. I had a set of Spicer lockouts to fit it so I cleaned them up, installed brand new knobs and they are ready to go on. The front is ready to go back together but I haven't taken the rear apart yet. Hopefully I can get it finished this weekend but we will see lol.

[ironchop]

https://youtu.be/Onxdr-8ppOQ

New source for dentside shortbed sheet metal repair panels and other repair panels, hoods, fenders,etc

Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk

[kiser]

That sounds like a good source for parts! I watched the video of them destroying the bedside of that truck, I would have threw up if that was mine! I'm gaining on my Ford slowly. The front hubs and lockouts are back on with new grease and seals and the brakes are installed. I put the front diff cover back on tonight so I'll put the oil in tomorrow night. I put oil in the rear end tonight and new seals in the rear hubs, still have to put the new brakes on the rear and all new lines. I'm going to change the oil in the trans and transfer case while it's on the lift also. It's been a slow project but it's coming along.

[kiser]

Rear brakes are installed and diffs are full. Still have to change the oil in the trans and transfer, change the master cylinder and run new brake lines.

[ATC King]

Rear brakes are installed and diffs are full. Still have to change the oil in the trans and transfer, change the master cylinder and run new brake lines.

Brake line replacement without a lift is(nt) fun. I hope you have or have access to one. My body hurts just thinking about all of that crawling around on the ground.

It's not the weight, it's just the dirt in the eyes, mouth, ear holes, and all the rolling around to get them in.

[ATC King]

I'm installing the Intellitronix digital gauges in my truck, taking pictures, and wanting to post some progress but have been too busy to.

It's certainly not a plug-n-play kind of deal and I'm a bit beaten down with the whole ordeal as far as time, but will get around to it.

Doing this on an old and hard driven old truck means a good bit of cleanup to do it right. There was even a mouse nest behind my stock gauges that I never knew was there. I'm pretty certain it was some deer mice in Wyoming that built it because I killed/relocated about twenty of those dudes during the past summer via live traps under the truck. I didn't mean to kill the ones I did, they just froze to death before I got to them. Yes, they froze to death in late summer/early fall...that's Wyoming high country.

I did buy a new gauge lens after getting the old one out and seeing it was worse for wear than I thought, even after staring at it for eleven years.

Intellitronix had a sale in July and I've been looking at these for years, so I finally bought them, and am just now getting around to the install.

I've been all over the US in this truck and am sick of the speedo being off and bouncing around, the poor instrument lighting (could fix that with LED bulbs), the odometer not working, no trip meter, the temp gauge being a best guess based on 'normal', and not having anything but idiot lights for charging and oil pressure. In truth, I do have a digital volt gauge in the aftermarket headliner (Highliner), but that gauge was installed years after I bought the truck.

It'll be nice to have actual gauges and in the stock bezel. The digital part just adds pizazz from the 1980's when that was all the rage. I'm a bit late to the party. That, and I'm not ready to spend $1,500 on that awesome analog Dakota Digital set. I'd need to install a Coyote engine to begin to justify that and since I'm and inline six fan, it's never going to happen in my truck.

Blah, blah, blah. I'll get around to posting some pictures on my progress, I promise.

[kiser]

It's been on dads lift in his garage through the whole process. I can't lift it all the way up because the boom gets to close to the ceiling but I can sit on a rolling chair under it. I wish I could lift it higher but I'm not complaining lol. The downside is, once I get the suspension lift done, it won't fit in that garage anymore. Oh well, hopefully I won't need to put it on the lift once everything is squared away under the truck.

[ATC King]

With the Intellitronix digital gauge cluster, if you don't already have the OEM gauge bezel with full gauges but only the one with a light for the oil pressure and charging, you'll have to cut out the top two holes.

A new lens and gauge pod housing are available but I never found a new bezel, so I modified mine. There are used ones available, but unless it comes from a 40yo garage queen they'll probably all have warps, cracks, and general wear that just cant be hidden without plastic welding and repainting.

I used a diamond cutoff wheel for the bulk removal, then a router bit. The router bit has a square end and makes the finer cutting much easier. I didn't cut all the way to the edge. I cut just enough to leave a thin piece to break off and leave a clean line. Then I took a small metal file (a fingernail fill would work good but I didn't have one) to clean up the finished edge.

Being the first one I've done, it took quit a while. A lot of that was figuring out which tool to use to not screw up the front side by taking chunks out. This is old plastic and unforgiving. I tried several tools and methods while removing the bulk material. It does make a mess with plastic dust/shavings everywhere, but by taking your time, it comes out clean and looks stock (from the front).

The smoke plexiglass lens needs to sit flush against the bezel. Here it is with the white protective layer still on.

[ATC King]

Here's some dentside travel pics.

New Belgium brewery tour. This one was awesome. I would highly recommend if near Ft. Collins. It was $12-$15 and they serve more beer than that price during the tour. Not too much to drive but enough to really appreciate what they do, and they give you a tall can for the road. I've been drinking their beer for years and after tasting fresh, day old beer there, the difference is absolute obvious compared to a product that's been on the shelf for months. They've only got two breweries in and the original is in Ft. Collins.




This one is from Kicker headquarters in Stillwater Oklahoma. I've been there several times and it never gets old. There's a large parking lot in the back, through a gate, that a multitude of employees park in. It's a functioning place but up front it's a architecturally pleasing building and very quiet, except for the Wall of Boom.

The person at the desk will give you a tour of the vehicle showroom, play the Wall of Boom for you, then persuade you to visit the tiny product store they have. Don't skip the store. They often have steep discounts on a couple outdated new items (no automotive stereo stuff though) and you'll get a receipt from Husband Street, which shows you bought it at their headquarters.

Even if you don't buy anything you'll get a free swag bag with a pen, key lanyard, and sticker. There may be some other things in there, depending. It's got a nice large pond and walking trail just across, so if you need to stretch your legs and relax, that's a good place to do it.

The person at the front desk has always been exceptionally nice and informative and there's never been anyone there but me when I've visited. The office people can get a bit annoyed with the Wall of Boom and if you see one as they come down to use the restroom (which is very nice), you can see it in their face .

I've yet to meet Steve Irby while there but that would be cool. Maybe he's been one of those that gave me the stink eye after being disturbed by the Wall of Boom, but I don't know. Couldn't blame him because I bet it gets a bit annoying as it's random and sudden.

[kiser]

Looks like a nice project and trip! I'm excited to see how your dash looks when done!