Steering column and power steering

This weekend we bought a tilt steering column from a 90s chevy s10. Also got a power steering gearbox and brake booster from a 79 dodge. That was free from a rolling chassis we had. We adjusted the steering arm by applying heat and the patented slug-o-matic to straighten it. Then we cut the end off the original arm and unused part from the dodge steering arm. Pinned and welded the two pieces together. see attached. Also had to custom mount the box.

Painting body and fenders

Today TC Painted the fenders and the cab. Only the hood is left for body work and painting.

first coat of paint on the bed

TC shot the bed with the first coat of paint. 

Hood work and Veg filtering.

I have columbus day off. So back to work on the truck again. Also filtered more veg oil. Have ~60gallons filtered to 5microns.

Yet more Body work.

Primed and sanded the doors, fenders and cab. Discovered yet another dent in the back of the cab. More bondo and sanding. We got the hon on only to discover yet more dents. It will need a lot of bond and sanding. TC had

Veggie update

August.

Scored some Oil from a guy in scottsdale for 2.25 a gallon. He uses a centrifuge and heats the oil before the centrifuge. I think that when you he the oiil you just melt the fat. You don't want that in the engine. 

Sept.

Got 40 gallon of peanut oil @ 50 cents a gallon. Had to filter it myself. Just used the 5 micron bag filters I have. With diesel hovering around 3.65 a gallon, I saved $126.

Oct.

I went to Gilbert after work and picked up ~65 gallons of veggie oil for $1.00. That saved me 172.25. 

I did some rough guessing on the veg oil I've purchased since I bought he car. I've save ~$3000 in the 35000 miles I put on the car. With the maintenance I've saved less. However I'm putting the miles on my Toyota truck. Plus the 30yr old mercedes ride is much more comfortable than the 02 tacoma TRD. 

More sanding and Bondo

A couple weekends ago I bought a couple fenders. It was easier than trying to weld them. I took a wire wheel for the grinder and removed the old paint. I also added some bondo to the Cab corners that were either rusted out and welded back together or dented. I added a some bondo to the dents in the doors and fenders. After sanding the bed I think its almost ready for paint.

Damn Veggie!

The veggie started to make harsh knocking noises. We swapped out the Injectors. Now it starts and runs like it never has for me before. TC tore apart one of the old injectors. It was pretty nasty with veggie goop. may have to re-think the running on straight veggie. Nay. It ran for a good 3 years for me on WVO. But will definitely consider getting new injector nozzles for the injectors we replaced. Some of the blog world swear by monarch nozzles for running WVO. Also Unable to contact my veggie oil supplier so may have to run diesel until I can get more WVO. It sucks paying ~$4 a gallon for diesel. 

Priming and Sanding

Today we primed and sanded  the bed. First coat was thick. Then we sanded with 220 grit paper. Next coat thick as well. Lots of scratches and dings in a 50yr old modified bed. Also filtered ~15gallons of veg oil. I have a full tank and 15gallons in reserve time to call the supplier and get more.

More body work!

Did some body work last weekend and this weekend. So far I've used over a gallon of bondo. Air powered sander makes a huge difference. Its coming along. SC wielded in a piece of metal from the fender that was cut out to close the hole for the gas tank. Added some bond to make the body look right. Sorry no pics this time.

New Shoes and Body work

Since the truck is 2 wheel drive and going to be a commuter car we decided we needed smaller tires and wheels. I found a set of 15" chrome "baby moon" rims for it. Then spent the next month surfing craigslist looking for tires. Finally found a set of tires and rims off a Jeep Cherokee. Had a local tire shop mount and balance them on the chrome rims. I think they look pretty good.

SC and I spent the day fighting with bondo and tweaking the body. Man sanding sucks! Had to break out the palm sander. But its coming along.

Got a bad batch of veggie oil last Sunday. Ended up clogging all my filters I use to process it before it goes in the tank. I cleaned them today with  dawn dish washing soap and water worked out pretty well. 

Door latch stuff.

I got the parts for the door latches and installed them sunday. They worked out pretty good. doors close and are tight. Got the parts at http://www.classicparts.com. They were the only place with the door latch clip and were cheapest on the striker plates. $2.99 a piece for the clips and 14.95 for the pair of striker plates.

Bad Veggie Bad!

So the plan was to drive the veggie out to Dad's put some veg oil in it. As I'm backing out the GF says you have something hanging below the car. I stop check it out. I lost a belt. The 300sd has 2 belts for the fan and alternator. One came off got chewed up and in the compressor belt. Causing the compressor belt to turn on the pulley. So being brilliant I waste half the day trying to get the chewed up belt right ways. Then decide I shouldn't be driving with only one alternator belt. So of to checker. I decide to get belts that are a little shorter sint the pulley is smaller for the 3rd alternator. I had to adjust it all the way out to get the belts tight. I get two belts slightly shorter. Try installing them No way way to short. Back to checker. Belts were to wide they say. two more belts. Still to short. Ok third trip. Got the OEM belts. put them on. drove it around the block seems ok. $ belts 8 hours. If this programming gig doesn't work out. I won't make it as a mechanic. LOL

Custom window tint circa 1961

Check this out. Custom window tint. Metal screen held in by a wood frame.

In bed fuel tank

We removed the tank from in the cab and relocated the mounts to the bed. The plan is to put a truck box over the tank in the bed. Cutting out the bottom of the truck box of course. I'll need to take the grinder to back of the cab and get rid of the excess left over from the mounts. You can also see we had to move the back cab mounts after the frame was shortened.

Cutting the bed part 2

Got a call from SC he sent a email with pics of after then cut the back of the bed. The took 10" out of the back of the bed. Now have a bed inside length of 5'6". actually wider (69") than it is long (66"). All hail to TC and SC for the cutting and welding.

Shortening the frame & Bed part 1

We ( TC and SC) Cut 20" out of the frame in front of the swing arms. I don't have pics of that but will post them when I get them. Next we cut 20" out of the bed in front of the wheel well. THis took the whel base from 127" (longbed 8ft wheelbase) to 107". The standard bed is wheel base is 115". The box length is 6 1/2 ft. After the Cut the bed is 6 ft 4 inches.

Before the Cutting

Unfortunately I didn't take before pictures. Here is what  other truck from that era looked like.  Mine has the Ugly eyebrows or pig nose front end. below shows the length of a long bed. Its huge!

The Plan

Since the veggie was being a PITA with the maintenance and trying my brothers(SC) patience. I have two bachelor degrees but little mechanical know how. It was once said "most educated but least mechanically inclined". I'm working on it.  He suggested putting the engine and trans in a old pickup. We didn't know what the emissions laws were like for a diesel in a gas vehicle so decided on a pre-1967 truck. SC said that there were a lot of places with old Chevy parts. So I surfed craigslist for cheap old Chevy trucks. SC told me his brother in law would give me the one in his yard to get rid of it. So I got an abandoned title for it. Its a 1961 apache c10 long bed. I know what you're thinking. The truck is going to be even slower because a 61 truck have to weigh more than a 82 Mercedes 300sd. Actually no. According to oldride the 1/2 ton long bed shipping weight is 3235lbs. Add another say 100lbs for oil, fuel etc. You get somewhere around 3335lbs. The Curb weight on the Mercedes is up to 3785lbs on one of the sites I found. SC suggested shortening the frame.

• A truck with an 8 ft bed would never fit in my garage.
• It would also reduce weight significantly. 
• The Short bed would add to the coolness factor.
• The Chevy gearing is lower allowing for faster acceleration. 
•  Coolness factor is very important. 

Why Veggie Why!?!?!

Although the veggie runs and gets ~23mpg on straight wvo at $1 a gallon. It a maintenance nightmare. The tires were old. 3 have been replaced. The a/c needs recharged for summer. Last year the heater quit working. Gets kinda cold driving in these brutal Arizona winters. The alternator goes out once a year and has to be replaced. It was abused before it came to me. The fenders are rusting. You have to be careful where you jack the car at. The factory jack points supply a steady stream of rust dust but don't really lift the car much. One morning leaving for work I let the smoke out of  some electronic wiring going to the transmission. According to the guy I got it from the engine and trans are out of a 79 Mercedes 300SD. The chassis is an 82. When I got it leaked massive amounts of power steering fluid. Some assclown had "fixed" the power steering box with JB weld.  The passengers headlight had a broken wire so it was intermittent. The rear springs were worn out and sat way too low. The seat springs are worn out. I put this "rebuild" kit in the seats. Now you don't sink to the floor. Its just started shocking me when I get out. maybe weather or another short in the wiring. It leaks oil and trans fluid even after replacing the gaskets on the pans.The  HOA has sent me nasty grams about the spots in the driveway. I'm sure I'm leaving out other issues.

In The beginning

In the begining there was the Veggie. It all started with the GF ranting about saving the planet.  Gas was over $3 a gallon and rising. I didn't want a car payment. She bought a book (From the fryer to the fuel tank)  about running diesels on vegtable oil. So I scoured craigslist for a older diesels. There were a few there but most of them didn't have functioning a/c. This being AZ, a/c is a must. Finally found a 82 Mercedes 300SD with a/c. I test drove it. The take off power was non-existent but it ran and the a/c kind of worked. A couple cans of freeze 12 and it had a/c. It was already converted to run on waste vegetable oil (wvo). I found you can usually find someone selling wvo on craigslist. I can say that the veggie was a reliable car in that it never died. But it has electrical problems. after replacing the fuel filters it does move when you hit the gas. No fast or enough to get out of its way but it moves. The pluses with the veggie: It runs every time, It costs a $1 a gallon for wvo, much more comfortable ride than the tacoma with the off road package. The minuses a 30 yr 300sd requires maintenance, its a rust bucket (started out in NJ), stuff in the electrical system is still messed up ( no interior light, cig lighter power source for Sirius blows fuses if you touch it, You can see the ground if you pull up the drivers carpet.