My GMC, a little update

[Section8]

Oh! I can't forget to sound off on something else.

Pictures! Please!

 

[Oldfart]

STILL LEFT TO DO
-Fire up engine
-Repair radiator
-Wheel cylinders
-Brake lines. SCREW making my own again. I will buy pre flared lines. CHEAP, EASIER, SAFER
-AIR PAK kit
-Adjust shoes
-Exhaust

This is all the major stuff. I am dirt tired but am on such a high from getting a bunch done today I am getting back to the workbench. Need more parts. Need more money. Must sleep later......Zzzzz Gotta slide in sideway's!

Gunfreak,
I checked eBay to see if the vendor where we picked up our air pack rebuild kit was still selling. He is not there and the only 5 ton (M54/800 series) kit was buy it now at $179. That is a far cry from the less than $55 we spent a little over a year ago. I took a look for our old GMC power piston and did not find anything in my pile of parts includind the residue of our M54 doner power pack. Hopefully we have stashed all that stuff in a safe place and forgotten where that is, but I fear it may have gotten pitched by someone who did not know what it was. I did pick up a couple of rear bumpers off a truck that was getting parted out up north of us and it did have an air pack left on the frame. As I recall (I asked about all sorts of the parts left on the frame) I got quoted $125 for the used air pack and I take it off. I think that is pretty steep pricing, but it seems things are jumping up rapidly.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Thanks OF. I just assume get the Ebay rebuild kit regardless of how much it costs now. If ya need it ya need it ya know. I have to call Memphis back again to check if they found the right fitting for me instead of the too small one they initially sent me. Worst case scenario I have the old one sleeved for $40.

Section 8. What do you mean us younger generation? I'm younger than all of ya'll.

A new camera is on my to buy list. I switched to a laptop which refuses to work with my old Kodak. No problem, I was getting tired of that old thing anyway.

I really think as soon as the GMC is done I will have the chance to start putting my cash into the bank instead of into the truck. I think when I get enough in there I am going to make the move to Canada to find a career up there. Would certainly be a change of scenery, there are just so many more opportunities up there. Definitely not something I will be doing until I'm 100% sure though.

 

[hendersond]

GF, ya better think that one thru a little more. Take your hottest arizona day, then subtract 200 degrees from it and you get a canadian winter temp without windchill. I'm not stretching the truth either.

At zero people are naked outside at packer games for 3 hours. We get -40s in wisconsin. You won't make it.

You probably will need to google what the definition of windchill is.

And whatever you do, DO NOT LICK THE DOOR KNOB!

 

[nattieleather]

or the Flag Pole or anything metal! I'd take AZ over the great white north any day.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Driving to Canada...eh (affirmative?)

We do not choose where we are born......... but you'd think our ancestors would have hauled our frozen butts out of here a long time ago.

EDMONTON


It has warm summers and cold winters, with the average daily temperatures ranging from −11.7 °C (10.9 °F) in January to 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in July.[53] Annually, temperatures exceed 30 °C (86 °F) on an average of four to five days (but can occur often, anytime from late April to mid September) and fall below −20 °C (−4 °F) on an average of 28 days. The highest temperature recorded within the City of Edmonton was 38.3 °C (100.9 °F), on August 5, 1998.[54] Some areas, however, such as the City of St. Albert and Sherwood Park, recorded temperatures of 37.7 °C (99.9 °F) on July 22, 2006. The coldest temperature ever recorded at City Centre Airport was −40.6 °C (−41.1 °F) on January 26, 1972[55] - this was the only time since recordings began at the airport in 1953 that a temperature below −40 °C (−40 °F) has been recorded there. The coldest overall temperature ever recorded in Edmonton was −49.4 °C (−56.9 °F), on January 19 and 21, 1886.[56]

Edmonton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


So you want to come to Canada eh.....(affirmative?)

You'll adapt.......and you'll learn to love it........ unless you choose otherwise.

 

[islandguydon]

Gunfreak, I just read this entire thread. I got to say you do a 1st class job. I like the face your using a 6.2 Please post the first run in viedo...k

IGD

 

[Gunfreak25]

Great advice all! I love the heat but a guy can only strip down so far to keep cool before he's just indecent. Coping and adapting are 2 very important skills for every human to master. I could learn to love the cold if I really wanted to. Mindset, mindset, mindset.

As for the M211. Gunfreak is thinking HydroMax brakes tonight. Mmmmm. Dual circuit.

Shipping 4 stocks Monday then it's back to gun work. I want brakes. I need brakes. And more beer money. Sure goes fast when it's warm outside.

 

[Section8]

If your gonna move to Canada ya need to pick the right place to go to. I used to live in Edmonton as a youngin, salright.
Lived in Saskatchewan, both territories, and now British Columbia.
All have their perks but as far as weather I would say here in British Columbia. Nice and hot in the summer and so far the coldest I have experianced in winter is two weeks of -25 degrees celcius or -10 degrees F.
Lots to do for work in my neck of the woods to.
Forestry, mining, oil, just to name a few.

If you get started on a Hydro-max brake system I will be reading with great anticipation!!!
I don't know if you have a lot of room beside your tranny like it seems I am going to have but could make for easy assembly.
As always keep us posted and post lots of pictures!!!
By the way I aint that old either at 34.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Updates coming soon. With pics!

 

[USMC 00-08]

Quit teasing us!! opcorn:

 

[targhee trucks]

I could learn to love the cold if I really wanted to.

According to a show I watched a few years back, the Vikings had an expression: "No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing."

There is a lot of truth in that expression. I've lived in North Dakota and Idaho, so I have some experience with the cold. Spend the $$$ to buy good clothing and you can usually be comfortable. Also lived in Phoenix for 5 years, so I know about that heat you're talking about. I'll take Idaho, thank you very much!

 

[Gunfreak25]

Thank you HendersonD for the heads up on ebay wheel cylinders. I scored the last 12 NOS ones and from what HendersonD told me they are in great shape inside and out. Which means that I am down to 1 final large purchase which is 4 new tires.

After that it's just a matter of all the small stuff like wiring and finishing cosmetics. Diesel dropped to $3.43 here.

Digger Dave are you going to want to be here for her maiden voyage or ?? Any possible chance of you trailering the M135 down for Jimmy races?

Sorry for the lack of updates I have been VERY VERY busy with gun work and just got more in. Speaking of which, see you guys later.....

 

[m1010plowboy]

I'll fly down, you can give me a ride home.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Hey if diesel keeps dropping I'd love to visit moose land. I'll pick you up at the Airport in the M211 you can visit the folks then it's off roading out of town.

Bought new hub seal flange sleeves today from Ebay. Time to get my wheels on! Fuel system is rigged up and ready for fuel. I want to finish painting but it is too hot now!!

 

[54hms]

I can picture it now, duece loaded with your belongings, getting some crazy looks at the border on your way north....sweet! Canada's not bad at all.... some crappy gun laws compared to yours though...but still doesn't mean we don't have fun. keep up the good work!

 

[Gunfreak25]

Finally got my wheel cylinders today. They are all NOS and still have the black paint on them. Just a little surface rust on the machined mounting surface but the internals look absolutely brand new as do the boots and pins. I thought they were filled with oil on the inside but it appears to be a sort of rubber grease that is water soluble.

Anyway I am washing each with soapy water then greasing the pistons and cups with a silicone based wheel cylinder grease upon reassembly. I am going with silicone brake fluid.

 

[Gunfreak25]

Thank again Jim aka Seatyger for the driveshaft parts! Already had it torn apart yesterday and finished bolting it back together today. Pics of the finished driveshaft when completed. This shaft will be for the transfer to transfer case. I am upgrading from my old 3R series yoke to a 1350 Spicer yoke for more strength while I am at it!

4 wheel cylinders cleaned, dried, lubed with silicone grease and bolted on the truck. Now I can get my wheels back on finally!

Will not be anymore updates for a few weeks. HOT HOT outside and busy. Supposed to hit 117 this week. Record is 124!!

 

[m1010plowboy]

G749 Brake assembly pictures

Great progress Anchaile. How do you do it? We're working in 85 degree temps and it's brutal.

You're missing a bolt on the front brake pad. That's funny because we had to make the same one up. It has a collar that fits over the bolt to allow the pad to move and a big ol' washer to keep it from falling off.

Levi part #7412103, W - page 86

...and as my English Grandma would say

Complete your task quickly

 

[Gunfreak25]

Anchiale was a woman. Do I have breasts?

Just amazing your eyesight there buddy! I was actually really tired and hot that night from assembling my shoes that I figured i'd put the last bolt/brake fitting stuff on the next day. As I did this morning when it was only 105 at 9am.

It's doable but to be outside all day non stop in 115+ you need 1 gallon per hour minimum and sometimes you still pee dark yellow. Lots of breaks, the garden hose and patience are key to not blowing your brains out on the dirt.

I have been in both and PREFER the humidity. It is more "habitable" than ultra high dry heat. There's a reason for Death Valley California getting it's name. It was 126 there yesterday.

We are praying for rain today have not had a drop in almost a year and it is really overcast.