Thread: Shop Truck (True Spirit) Project

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Nice find, looking sharp, won't be long before you have to find another shop truck, this one will be to nice to throw stuff in the back.
Brad

It will only be too nice until I put the first scratch in it.

Battle scars Mike....

Things have been moving along with the truck. Over the long Thanksgiving weekend I got the frame sandblasted and painted. (note to self.......I'm getting way to old to flip these frames over by myself )

The rear end was also cleaned/painted and the 3.55 and open carrier was changed out for what will hopefully be a bit more highway friendly 3.21 Posi.

I got the frame in the shop before it started to rain here on Friday.

I rebuilt the control arms, put in new ball joints and tie rod ends, re-sealed the steering gear, re-bushed the rear springs and pretty much got everything together yesterday and today.

I'm still waiting on calipers and rear brake hose so I can get the brakes done....they should be in on tuesday. With any luck the frame will be done next weekend and I can get it moved to the back shed while I get the engine and tranny work done.

Great to have the site back to normal!!!!

Been kind of waiting to post the updates on the truck.

I got the parts in to finish up the brakes. One the calipers and hoses were run I hand bent all new steet lines.

I was going to go ahead and roll it out into the shed after that but then decided to do something with the trailer hitch that was on the truck when I bought it. It would probably pull the world but was a little on the ugly side.

I started out by cutting the receiver out and moving it up. I also added a couple of additional braces going to the frame. I had decided long ago the spare tire would not be mounted under the bed so this won't create any interference problems.

Next I set the new bumper in place and figured out where the hole for the receiver needed to be. That was cut out along with a hole for the wiring plug.

Finally a spring loaded license plate holder was added. When it's down you can't even tell it has a hitch there (sometimes a nice feature when someone wants to borrow it to tow something)

I like it!

All that's needed to tow something is to slide the hitch into the receiver and plug the lights in.

As I mentioned on the temp forum, the cab is coming along at the body shop and I'm waiting on pistons for the 440 so the machine work can be done. Basically I've been down to cleaning up a few odds and ends and getting ready to do the drive train.

I bit the bullet on the tranny and ordered a TCI RV tranny and converter. The 440 that I'm building is a late cast crank motor that takes a balance weight on the torque converter. I wanted to put a new flex plate in it anyway, and found out that there are a few companies that are making a plate that has the imbalance built into it. As the converter can now be a neutral balance unit it opens up a lot bigger selection of converters which are also generally cheaper (just in case I decide that I want something different down the road ). I ended up buying the B&M SFI approved one.

Some of the other non-stock mods I'll be making are a 350 HP square flange intake (1969 era) and 750 Edelbrock AFB. I'm also changing the water pump housing over to the earlier driver side one to match in the outlet on the aluminum radiator.

So for now, it's waiting on parts.

Thanks Bob. I'll probably find the cop who doesn't like it when I'm towing something though

Originally Posted by Mike P

Thanks Bob. I'll probably find the cop who doesn't like it when I'm towing something though

When he makes you unhook the trailer and pull out the receiver to show him the rear plate, make sure you drop the receiver and ball on his foot!!!!!! That'll learn 'em!!!!!

The truck is looking great, Mike!!!!!

It’s been pretty much down time on the truck the last few of weeks. The TCI transmission I ordered the last week of December and was supposed to be to me in 2 weeks has actually been shipped and should be here Monday or Tuesday.

I stopped by the body shop and the cab should be ready to pickup next week also (seems I heard that a couple of weeks ago though ). All that leaves is fenders, doors, hood, and bed

On the bright side, I got the engine back from the machine shop yesterday. I spent Friday running a tap thru bolt holes, fitting the rings doing the final cleaning and painting.

I had planned on having the engine completely assembled by Saturday but it didn’t quite work out that way.

Just as I was getting started an old customer who I hadn’t seen in a few years stopped by. We BS for a while and I showed him a few of the projects. When we got to the truck he asked if I was going to be doing a Lil Red clone (he had looked buying this truck at one time while it was still in the Junk Yard with that intention but took a pass on it). I kind of laughed and told him how many 76 True Spirits were built and them mentioned that only in 1976 only 70 2WD Short Bed Step Sides were factory 440s and this one still had the original engine. He pretty much left here kicking himself for not buying it when he had the chance.

So I get ready to lay the crank in and when I open plasti-guage I find out that there is only 1 piece about an inch long in it. So a trip to town and finally find some at the 3rd parts store.

Anyway I got the crank and pistons in it by the time I quit on Sat.

It’s a pretty bread and butter build. It’s been bored .060, the crank turned, new cam bearings, rods resized and new ARP rod and man bolts. The Pistons are forged TRWs and with the little bit of head milling it should be right at 9:1 compression.

Frankly I could have lived with cast pistons had I been able to find some that would have given the 9:1 compression ratio. I also would normally have reused the original internal fasteners (rod/main/head bolts) if I hadn’t come across a few that I think were over-torqued in the previous rebuilt.

Very inspiering , I'm working on a 1979 D100 and I think I'll go a little farther on cleaning up the frame and painting it .Yours is lookin' real Good !

really cool ive got a 90 d100 i was going to do the same and know i just might thanks for the inspiration

Looking good Mike! Which trans did you order from TCI??? Been looking at them, need to get something for the 'maro....