Squid's Home On The Net

I had kept myself from starting the 63 until I had the majority of the painting done, so that it would actually get done.  Of course when I go to start it up I got no fuel.  turned out to be the diaphragm on the fuel pump.  I guess that it didn’t like the ethanol blended fuels we are using now a days.

I changed out the pump and got it going, but of course the carb is acting like it is gummed up again, but that’s ok I have another carb that I can rebuild while I get some gas run through the truck.

I still have to get some jets for the new carb and a rebuild kit, but that shouldn’t take too much time.  I got it running good enough that I think I can put some miles on it as it is now, but I’m not going that far from home until I get it sorted out a bit.

I do have nice warm air coming out to help defrost the windows thanks to my new heater core  I also have nice bright headlights thanks to the relays that I installed in the fall.  As always though I can still think of more things I need to do than what I managed to get done so far

I made a bit more progress on the truck today despite the rain. I took some pictures afterwards.

I got the passenger side and the tailgate painted yesterday on my truck.  I still have the rear of the cab, front behind grill, mirror, and top of the cab to call it done.  Here is how it is sitting this morning:

I’m really liking this color and want to get it completely done so that I can admire it some more, but it looks like the weather this weekend is going to make it pretty chancy to do any more painting.

I’m not going to let it slow me down too much with the truck as I will be working on the inside patching the hole around the shifter to get the boot on it so that I don’t have road splashes getting into the truck.  I also will try to get the rest of my fuel line replaced so that I have 2 filters(one before the pump, one before the carb) to try and keep the insides of my carb nice and clean.

I also have to do some work to my stereo to help take some of the drone out of the drive.  I have 2 4 inch speakers to install for the front and I have to check on my 6 x 9s for under the seat to add a little more volume to the radio.  I also need to straighten out the carpet and get some of the crud that has accumulated out of it while I’m at it.

I’m just days away from being able to drive the 63 again with it looking good, with heat, and driving good

Here is what it looks like after 6 cans of kelly green paint have been applied over the neutral background of the primer.  It’s not very good looking up close, but will work for a 20 ft moving look

I still need to sand, primer and paint the passenger side and touch up the grill and the roof to get the full effect of the green paint job, but I think that this will end up being the color that the truck goes to after I actually do the bodywork that it needs before it’s worth using high dollar paints.  I think I might add a little metal flake to the basic kelly green that this is, but I really really like this color on my truck.

Yesterday after work I went by walmart and got some more paint followed by a trip to Harbor Freight to get another sander after I didn’t get my old one returned after letting a friend borrow it.  I was going to leave it at that because I worked all night and had been up since friday night, but as most things go I started puttin around in the yard and next thing I know I had the sander out and was going to just test it out, but then I kept at it for about 2 hours and had the hood and the drivers side of the truck sanded out ready for a layer of primer.  Now I didn’t want it to sit there and rust back up so I got out the cans of primer and about 2 1/2 hours later I had this.

It’s not a base to put a professional paint job on, but I’m just looking for a cheap paint job in a color that I’m thinking of going with when i actually get the bodywork done to it so that I don’t spend a boat load of money on paint only to not like the results.

What color is a color blind guy going to go with….nope already tried black and didn’t like the way that it hid the body lines on the truck and it got really hot in the sun.  I went back to a green paint somewhere between the color it was when I got it and the color that it came with from the factory…..yup Kelly Green.  It’s dark enough to keep the hood from shining in the sunlight, but not so dark that you can’t seem to make out the body lines of the truck.  Kind of fitting that I was getting my truck ready to go green on St Patricks day

Hopefully after the sun warms things up I’ll get a chance to get some green on there and will post up a picture afterwards to see what a redneck with a bunch of cans of paint can do to a classic vehicle

I managed to get some small things done with the 63 over the last few days.  I installed my 1 inch carb spacer that I got for a little bit more favorable angle on the throttle linkage.  I finished putting in my gas pedal, though I still have to work the carpet and insulation around it.  I got my heater core installed and plumbed up to have enough heat to clear the fog off the window.  I also did a little bit of sanding so that I could do a quick test section on my truck for a new color I’ve been thinking of going with.  A few years ago I put on a good bit of black paint to see if I liked the way that it looks, but I’ve been up and down on that scheme because it hides the body lines on the truck a little too much.

Amazingly the color that I’m thinking of going with is Kelly Green, just a few shades darker than it was when I got it.  I will still have the white top and grill.  I amazingly enough like the green a lot because it is dark enough to cut the glare of the hood, but light enough that the body lines are still pretty clear.  I just did a throw away sand and paint with plenty of irregularities under it to see the color on the truck, but I will be buying another orbital sander to do the sanding quicker and better than I have the patience to do by hand  It won’t be a showstopping paintjob, but it will let me live with the color for a while to make sure it is what I want after I finish the bodywork that needs to be done.

I also have the fuel line and a second filter to change out the inlet side of the pump back to the tank.  After that I have some sheetmetal to close in the area around the shifter to keep the weather out.  I also will be looking for the bits I need to get the parking brake working so I don’t have to put a block behind the wheels for safety in case it gets knocked out of gear on the hill of my driveway.

I should have some pictures uploaded in the next few days of my interior once I finish up the carpet and patch a couple of holes, so stay tuned.