Once I got the new carb on and adjusted, I finished the rest of the tune-up. Part of that included replacing the points/condensor with a Pertronix Ignitor. Many, many years ago, I worked at a shop specializing in vintage mustangs and I used to sell a ton of Pertronix setups, but until now, had never used one myself. Install was a breeze and it has been working perfect ever since.
Since the gas in the tank was starting to dwindle, I figured I'd take a run up the street and fill it up. About 2 miles down the road, it died. When it did, it felt like it ran out of gas. Called the wife, she showed up with a gas can and I threw 5 gallons in it. Much to my surprise, it would not start back up. I did a bunch of checking around and found that the gas was not making its way out of the tank. With help from my dad the next day, we limped it home with it dying many times along the way.
I pulled the gas tank to try and figure out what was going on. When I looked inside it after draining it, I found it had been coated with a gas tank sealer called Red Coat. Doing a little more digging, I found that Red Coat and methanol/ethanol are not friends, and the lovely CA gasoline has lots of that stuff in it. The Red Coat was peeling off the inside of the tank and clogging the fuel line. Time for a new gas tank...
Once the new gas tank arrived, the truck was really running good. After many local outtings, I took a chance and drove it to work (35 miles one way). It ran great but had a horrible vibration. Wonder if it could be the 20 year old Winston tires that sat getting flat spots for 17 years in storage?
Despite having nearly 100% of their tread left, the sidewalls were pretty badly cracked and they were badly flat spotted. Time for some new tires, and was I surprised when I started trying to locate new, street tread 16.5" tires. I spent quite a while trying to source some on the internet, but unfortunately most of the online tire shops don't list (at least not easily) my truck or the old tire sizes. Luckily, the guy at the local Big-O Tires knew that Firestone was still offering a street tread tire that would fit, so I ordered a set. Vibration is now gone and I am not cringing every time I hit a corner waiting for a cracked sidewall to give out. If and when I ever wear these out, it will be time for some new wheels to go with the tires.
Of course, in the mean time, the heater core started puking, the heater hot water valve is frozen, and the heater fan control switch was dead so I had to replace all of them. And there are tons of little detail cleanup things that I have been working on when I have time.
Also, in the periods that I spent waiting for parts to arrive, I spent some time showing the truck a little love with a buffer. The paint is cleaning up pretty good in most places, but the white paint on the lower half is very thin. Most of the rust stains are coming off and the thing actually shines now, at least on the driver side which is all I have done so far. I also replaced all the rusted mirror hardware with stainless and polished the rust stains off the rest of the mirrors. I am very happy with how they came out.
Now that the tires are handled, it was time for the brakes. The front driver side appears to have been metal to metal for some time, as the grooves from the rivets in the pads are about 1/8" deep or more. Two new rotors, front pads, all three hoses and a few new metal lines later and the brakes are in good shape.
Next on my list is the get the cab sealed up good as most of the weather stripping is toast and several of the firewall plugs are missing. I have most of that sitting in the garage waiting for me to install it. I hope to get some time this weekend.
Oh yeah, don't tell my wife that the truck I bought just to use for projects around the house is now turning into my new project all its own
Here is a quick shot I took of how it sits now.
