Talk me into, or out of, it...

[DerekTheGreat]

Tore into the clutch hydraulics today...
...Just one question - when I removed the cap from the new master cylinder before installing it, the rubber inside was an extreme "outie" which seems like it would displace most of/all the fluid if I put it on like that, so I pressed it in with my finger, making it an "innie" which *seems* correct, but what do y'all say?

Richard

I always push the rubber thing back in.

 

[someotherguy]

I always push the rubber thing back in.

Yep, it seemed natural. Not sure why it was in the "outie" position brand new but who knows. No way it could have held any significant amount of fluid with that rubber poking out the way it was.

After I came inside and cooled off, showered, got dressed in clean clothes so I could move the 300 and SS out of the way in order to take it for a quick test drive up and down the street, seemed to do just fine.

Richard

 

[fancyTBI]

Awesome news except for the hydroboost unit. That is lame!!

I torqued my U bolts to 130.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Awesome news except for the hydroboost unit. That is lame!!

I torqued my U bolts to 130.

HB units on these old trucks can have bad seals. Basically what happened to Rawhide's, two days after purchase.

 

[smdk2500]

HB units on these old trucks can have bad seals. Basically what happened to Rawhide's, two days after purchase.

My 95's is starting to have issues. It started leaking last October and "fixed" itself once the weather got cold. It's starting to leak again off and on. Once it stops "fixing" itself I'll repair it. Or once I get my 99 back on the road which ever comes first.

 

[skylark]

Made some time to work on the critter today but had to make room to work on it, too. No pictures of this mess - I'm no carpenter - but I rough cut some 4x4 blocks and bored a shallow hole in them to raise my work table up about 3" so the generator could get stashed under it, along with the gas cans. Pressure washer already fit under it, and the weed whacker behind it. Had to shove a few misc. parts still in boxes around but finally had some room to work.

Since the u-bolts were a little bit too long for the socket, I death-wheeled about 3/4" off each one.

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Man, I'm glad I went ahead and splurged for the new angle grinder when I did the drop job. Blade guard sure is nice, plus being able to change the wheel out without a fight. My old grinder sucks.

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Got 'em all torqued down to 110, and took this pic as a reminder to re-torque then in another 500 miles, at 161093. A couple of them were scary loose, which easily explains how squirrelly the truck was. Drove it around the neighborhood, up to 50mph or so on the big road, feels pretty solid. Also kicked all the tires up to 60psi; haven't decided what pressure I'm gonna settle on though.

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Small details, that rusty sludge had really stained the coolant reservoir from when the PO was running straight water. Made it hard to tell where the level was. I took the reservoir off and filled it about 1" with white vinegar, and used an old piece of sponge ziptied to a socket extension to scrub the stains out; worked great. As far as the leak at the radiator neck, no big surprise. Popped the hose off and noticed the hose nipple had been smushed kind of square-shaped, so the hose couldn't seal. Gently used a punch to tap it back round and cut a little off the end of the hose, stuck it back on.

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Then dumbass me went and did the yardwork. It's hot and ridiculous humid today. It even rained on me for a couple brief moments then full sunlight came right back out to make things super steamy.

Richard

Are those Grade 8 u-bolts? My 5/8 Grade 8’s had to be torqued to 177 lbs.

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Yours look like 3/4”.

Not sure. Belltech instructions say 95-110lb-ft. They're 5/8" and appear to be cad plated but no indication of grade, not even in the parts list.

I am a little amused by the opening page of the instructions that suggest you'll need a torque wrench of 0-75lb-ft range. That just goes to show us the Belltech guys are human, just like us, and imperfect.

Richard

Factory service manual calls for 110 ft lb on them as well.

Awesome news except for the hydroboost unit. That is lame!!

I torqued my U bolts to 130.

Torqued U bolts??? Come on, everyone knows that you crank your impacts to 11 and give her all of the ugga duggas until the threads become mechanical locktite. Rookies!

 

[Caman96]

Torqued U bolts??? Come on, everyone knows that you crank your impacts to 11 and give her all of the ugga duggas until the threads become mechanical locktite. Rookies!

Nooooo…that’s only for transmission pan bolts!

 

[skylark]

Nooooo…that’s only for transmission pan bolts!

Those keep the chassis from rusting. @someotherguy is going to have to use his oil pan bolts instead because he has pto covers. You don't want rusting in Texas!

 

[fancyTBI]

Torqued U bolts??? Come on, everyone knows that you crank your impacts to 11 and give her all of the ugga duggas until the threads become mechanical locktite. Rookies!

My old man said the same thing “who torques those?”

 

[someotherguy]

HB units on these old trucks can have bad seals. Basically what happened to Rawhide's, two days after purchase.

Yeah, this one is just beginning to seep a bit, hopefully it'll be a while before I have to dig into it. It's also annoying that the thermostat housing I replaced is leaking. Haven't pressured it up to see from where yet, the gasket or the hose, but I suspect gasket for some reason.

Those keep the chassis from rusting. @someotherguy is going to have to use his oil pan bolts instead because he has pto covers. You don't want rusting in Texas!

No rust worries on the transmission. They painted the case while they had it out for rebuild. And for extra protection, they left the fill plug loose enough to seep past the threads. Noticed when I was underneath messing with the clutch cylinder.

My old man said the same thing “who torques those?”

Those of us who care.

So tonight I got a wild hair after soldering up another couple tow light batteries for my co-workers.. and figured I'd strip the rotten material off the headliner board I picked up. The foam hadn't really failed too badly, but the fabric was rotting from weather exposure. The donor truck sat for years with the rear window knocked out.

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Wasn't too bad though I should've done it with the garage door open. Fan just kept circulating fiberglass dust in there and that sucks. Anyway, the board is in decent shape. The expected couple of slightly peeled spots and a broken corner, but overall it should work fine.

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Now I just gotta choose the material and glue, then find the motivation to spend time doing it. I'm sure this alone will really enhance the comfort in the cab - no longer bare steel roof in the summer beaming the heat down on me, and should silence a good amount of the rattling trim plastics that normally have the headliner sandwiched in.

Richard