> What's going on with your truck no new updates?
Well, quite a few things (sorta truck related) ... this last weekend, we
tackled my 78 Malibu.
http://vanhalen-irc.com/bill/silverado/malibu2-4-01highres.jpg
The steering column was worn out, we had hoped to swap out another
column I had but the splines on the end were different. So we ended up
swapping the guts and the column is nice and tight now. I think I'll
still end up putting in another column without a column shifter later,
and add a floor shifter.
With that done, we set off to get the beast running, it's been set up a
while since the steering wheel would fall off going down the road! We
ended up putting on a new starter (it's needed one for a while), the
carb was shot so I put the Holley off my truck engine on it (more on
this later). Then my brother put his Mallory distributor on in place of
the HEI. Topped it off with some new plugs and wires and it's back
running.
The engine is a 350 that's still standard, we freshened it up about 7
years ago with new rings, but the engine must have over 150,000 miles on
it. With that in mind, I am seriously considering putting the 327 I
built for my truck into the Malibu.
http://vanhalen-irc.com/bill/55truck/pics/engine6.jpg
I built it when I was in college and didn't have a lot of money, it's
sat up for years cause the truck project had to be put on hold due to
lack of funds. Now that I have the funds to do the truck the way I want.
I think the engine isn't what I want anymore for my truck.
The engine I've always wanted under the hood of my truck is similar to
this http://vanhalen-irc.com/bill/55truck/pics/blowermotor.jpg
My brother has a 4 bolt main block as a building point, and I'm trying
to find someone who handles the supercharger (it's a Holley 250
powercharger, smaller than a 671 or Megablower). The 327's bottom end
isn't strong enough, and the compression is probably too high. If we put
the 327 in the car, we'll repaint it and clean up the engine bay in the
process.
So right now, lots of thinking, not much doing .. also, looking at
building a shop on my brothers land. Been working out of a shop
belonging to some family friends, but it does have it's limitations. I
figure if I had my own shop where if I got tired I could leave the tools
lying as they were and go home and come back the next day and pick right
up where I was, I'd get more work done. And the more work I do the
cheaper it is for me ;) ... Also, would be able to get some tools I need
.. welder, bead blast cabinet, and do more stuff on my own, easier. I'm
sure I'll have some updates soon!
Bill
http://www.vanhalen-irc.com/bill/55truck/
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