I look forward  to getting back to work on my truck. I have been preparing for a very long time. There always seem to be one more thing I need to do to get back to her. Time is not the problem, money has been tight yup. Over three years I have gathered tools gathered supplies. Little by little it’s coming together. Got the Cab and box off. The cab is almost ready for sandblasting and repair.

To get there I had to mostly empty out and paint a room. To become the blasting room. Lift the cab off. Move the frame out. Flip the cab on to the firewall.  Dragged pushed and pulled the cab into the blasting room.

Saved enough for a gas powered compressor. Saved enough for a pressure pot sandblaster, buy sand Ordered tarp zippers from Amazon. Left to do in there. Get plastic up to keep the sand and dust contained mostly to recover the sand for more runs through. Secondly to keep the sand out of the rest of the shop.

Oh and Lighting I ordered some 12v led tube lights for lighting, I am on solar. They are here but the wire is not.

I plan on concentrating on the drive train now. The frame and the donor truck are inside just in time foot of snow fell the other day.

That is after I finish the wall removals. One wall is done. The other I worked on today soon to be finished, I hope. Then I need to find places to put all the stuff I displaced from the wall removal. And then clean all the mess from the Reno. This wall was removed to let more daylight into the room where my frame is sitting. Also, more heat. I have wood stove in there. I will need it. It can get -52 here in a bad winter. Also, bad is I have not re insulated the top of the walls I just changed. And the ceiling above the frame needs doing as well Good news is I have lots of insulation from the walls leftover. Bad news its fiberglass and there is mold in some of that. I have switched over to rock wool since I built this shop. It used to be a bike shop for the Harley. Exercise room, and a woodwork shop. Now all been repurposed.

All for Lucille.

Soon I hope I can get back to her. Next after the cleanup pull the engines trannys, transfer cases out of both the donor 1990 Chevy 4×4 and the Yukon Frame. I have both vehicles sitting at 90 degree angles to each other nose to nose so the engine hoist can be used on both. Well its dark now, so I am going to spend my evening being a cowboy RD 2.

Lately on Facebook I have been criticized for downgrading an 18 year old drivetrain to an older 1990  version to fit under my 1955 body.    All this on a group for people restoring older Chevy pickups. WTF.

This is what the plan is so far:

I own a 1955 1st series Chevy pickup. I trade some old Harley parts, a broken welder and some other stuff.  I picked up my pickup days after spinal surgery and a 45 day stay in three hospitals. I was tboned by a truck two days after my birthday.

I was in pain barely able to shuffle when I saw her for the first time, a friend was kind enough to drive me there with a car hauler to her pick her up. I fell in love the second I saw her.

I got her home and spent a ton of time on the Internet researching the options. The body was sitting on a 1999  4×4 Yukon Frame.

The drive train: vortec engine, 4l60 e transmission, NP246 transfer case. At least three computers, one to run the engine, one to shift the transmission one to control the transfer case. Yuck.  As I did more research the more horrified I became. I read about the failures of the transmission then even more failures of the transfer case and failures of the main computer. I decided that they all had to go.

I kept doing research and found out that an older 4×4 Chevy could supply the drive train I was looking for. 700r4 transmission, NP241 manual transfer case.  Along the way I acquired a safari van with a 200 hp 4.3 liter engine. But what I really wanted was the  braking system. I was told I could take it out of the van if I took the van home.

The original plan was to use the engine and tranny out of the van. But I had nothing else to drive then, so I repaired the van, and I am still driving it.

So I mention to people I am looking for an older Chevy 4×4. I  run into someone who has one sitting in his yard. It belonged to him, and he gave it to his son, who ran the shit out of it and destroyed the engine and fresh tranny rebuild. We made a trade,  he was kind enough to deliver the truck to my acreage.  It had what I needed. I didn’t take a good look under the hood but did some research on the internet. It mentioned that the truck came standard with a 4.3 v6 same as in the van.

So the plan evolved engine out of the van, transmission out of the van but the tail shaft from the truck. it was all going to work out.

I had a visit from the previous owner, and we talked more about the 1990 k1500 truck.  I mentioned the six cylinder in the truck,  he said nope it was a 350  V8. The Yukon frame had a  v8. Back to do more research. I learned that  v6 motor mounts didn’t match up with a 4.3l 6. So I came up with a new plan.

Use the v8 in the frame get rid of the computers put a carb and manifold an older distributor. Mate the newer engine with the 700r4 and fit the np241 . Was it possible?  back to the internet. I spend time going through dozens of forums and learn that many others have done all the above.  with some special parts everything would work. I would need an adapter and new flexplate because the output shaft on the engine is .400 longer. I would need a special intake to fit the vortec heads or use the heads off the 1990.

Vortec heads flow much more air but are prone to cracking. The rest is basically a standard small block Chevy.

I find out the transfer case swap is straight forward I needed to use the front drive shaft from the 1990.

The carb Rochester. I remembered that a friend had one sitting out in the weather. I make another trade, now I own a carb. More research I found out where the serial number is and I find out what I traded for. 170 series quadrajet. I  read more and find out that the racers out there you race with Quadrajet look for the 704 series QJ. I go out to my old rv and check and sure enough I find a 704 series.

So the plan is coming together. it took me three years to get here. Including the renovations I had to do to fit everything into my small shop. The time it took to buy the tools I needed to do the job while surviving on a small disability pension. I f i finish the renos, so I can have heat .I may get some work done this winter. Just about finished the renos just one more beam to put in , but a little concerned about the snow that’s on top, yup another supporting wall, so I am taking my time. In the meantime I started to work on the vortec. I  started to pull it apart it would have to go to a machine shop in the spring. for honing and the heads needed to be checked for cracks.

So that where I am today its November 9