Yanked the flat bed off today. It weighed a whole 870lbs. Less than what I had expected. Unfortunately, the scrap yard only gave me $77 for it. Kinda kicking myself for not trying to sell it but I wanted to get this project done ASAP.

The truck really moves well now!

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you gave it away Man well atleast now you can get the other bed on it .

 

I absolutely thought of you when they handed me the money, Val! . I pulled and saved the gooseneck hitch for you though.

 

Kool 1 way or another we will meet up and I will get it from you I guess today was 1 of thoses DOH moment's ??? lol

 

Certainly was . The market has certainly dropped. Last time I dropped scrap there, they were paying $250-$300. It definitely dropped!

 

Yeah you can always tell the Hood Rat's aren't out scrapin stuff or stealing copper wire now that the price has dropped

 

I have been wondering this would a set of mega dually fenders fit our old trucks since they look similar or borrow a set of 1st gen fenders and make a mold?

 

I took about 4 hours today and cleaned up the frame rails. I wired brushed any rust spots and slathered on 2 coats of a rust converter called "Black Star" on the frame and springs.

Sorry if some of the pics are a little blurry. I just took them and only had the light of my porch lights on. You can still see that some of the rust converter is still curing on the left frame rail. It started taking longer to cure as the sun was setting.

 

Wow Jim,
What a perfect time to install a nice custom 4 link suspension and a pair of rolling lobe airbags.

What is the million feet of wire for, are they for your tow lights?
Also are your air horns on a solenoid valve or a lanyard valve?

Jim

 

I'd love to install air bags and a 4-link. It's not in my budget right now but would absolutely be easier with the bed out of the way!

Yes, the rope of wire is for the tow lights which are temporary, of course. My air horns are on an electric solenoid that I wired to my factory horns

 

Absolutely amazing what condition that frame is in. It looks brand new



I guess that truck was born in CA..... or at least moved there as a toddler.

 

It looks even newer since I slathered on the Black Star converter. It has a nice sheen to it now.

I'm not sure which factory it was built in but the truck was purchased brand new from a dealer in Simi Valley, CA.

 

Got a little more work done. Among Thanksgiving week/weekend, it wasn't much. I wanted to swap sending units in the fuel tank. Mostly because the seal around the unit in the '90 leaks A LOT if I fill the tank up to the cap. I ended up swapping tanks with the '91.5. In case anyone is curious, the flanges on the tanks of non i/c and i/c trucks are different. The non i/c sending unit is held in place by a v-band clamp and the i/c sending unit is held by a threaded ring. I could see that it might not be as easy as just swapping sending units as I had initially thought. I first cut both 4-way plugs out of both trucks. Then soldered and heat shrunk the 4-way plug from the '91.5 into the factory harness of the '90 and vice versa.

Once the '91.5 tank was in, I replaced the float/sending unit, on the assembly itself, with a new one I bought from the dealer. Along with a new filler neck seal and seal around the sending unit then tightened up the threaded ring. While things were easily accessible, I replaced the return and supply fuel lines from the sending unit to the steel lines at frame. In order to run the hoses with a smooth bend and no kinks, it seemed the best possible way was to run a loop of hose around the sending unit as well as use a tubing bender to orient the steel lines where I wanted them. I also want to replace the hoses and clamps on the tank vent and filler neck. I then set the '90 tank up on the frame above the axle and siphoned the 15 gallons into the "new" tank. Since the fuel in the '91.5 tank had been in there for almost 5 years, I added 16oz of Diesel Kleen. Even though, the '91.5 ran flawlessly on that same fuel, it can't hurt.

Non I/C (click to enlarge)


I/C (click to enlarge)


BTW, it's much easier to remove/install a tank if there's only a couple of gallons in it or completely empty . I did things the hard way with 15 gallons in my '90 and about 8 in the '91.5. I was certainly fighting them a bit but I eventually made it happen.

All that's left before the bed goes on is to solder the 4-way plugs for the taillights into the factory harness. Wire colors are identical so wiring will be a quick job. The bed will be sitting on the frame before the end of this weekend. Stay tuned for more transformation pictures!

 

Hey Jimbo,
Is that fuel tank on your 90 factory, mine has the big threaded nut on it, maybe the chassis model has a diffrent tank.

Is there a rollover valve on it?

Jim

 

Yep, that is the factory tank and the sending unit for the '90 and it also has an rollover valve in it which is identical to the '91.5 sending unit. The tank is also shaped slightly different than the one out of the '91.5. I'll see if I can get some pictures of these differences.

Maybe early '91 (non i/c) started the threaded ring?