I’ve been on the road all summer, and will continue to be. The truck is very patiently waiting.
Look for an update possibly in the fall.
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Will definitely wait for that. 
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Hey, the big truck gets some love, finally!! I have stuff to move around, so I need to put 'er on the road again.
First order of business, get the transmission rebuilt. This was the main reason the truck came off the road. @MarvinW has a guy local to him, that does transmissions pretty cheap. So I’m making a day of it tomorrow, I’ll take the trans to Nashville, Marvin will hand it off for me, and I’ll come back to get it in a week or so.
Driveshafts out:
Transfer case:
Last couple of bolts:
Loaded and ready to go:
Note the 2x4 sections screwed to the plywood floor. Excellent bracing!
Yes I’m using a trailer behind a minivan… It’s a bit disconcerting, but I have no other way to haul things right now! I want my truck back.
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ChrisKY it is really, really important to fluid power flush forwards and backwards the lines and tramsmission cooler.
Dealer level this was done with a fluid pumping system/filter with a pressure gauge.
The flush fluid is a very lightweight petroleum base cleaner. If no commercial available, ATF thinned w/kerosene would do it. You want to float out the crap.
Regards
tree-farmer Steve unruh
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Had an old Dodge mini van that towed like a mini semi ! ! I moved tons and tons and tons of stuff with that rig.
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Will do Steve, thanks for the tip.
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Brush off the cobwebs…
This project has been stalled out for a LONG time. Long story short, I had the trans rebuilt but had a problem reinstalling it. The torque converter must not have been clicked in all the way. Like a real dummy, I cranked down the bolts to draw it down. Broke one corner of the bell housing. Ouch.
Eventually I bought a TIG welder, leaned to use it, and some time after that I managed to weld the piece back on. It came out well enough. But as life continued to shift into high gear, I simply ran out of time and energy on this project. The transmission spent about 6 months sitting on the jack, under the truck, until I finally had to admit that I wasn’t going to find the time to re-install it.
Part of the problem of working on this has been getting the truck high up in the air, in my driveway. This is a very heavy 454 in a full size Chevy. Without a lift, your options are pretty limited. So, it sat.
A couple weeks ago, we got a letter from the city of Frankfort that we were violating certain “nuisance codes” including my wood pile, trailers, and the broken truck. Yes, they really can come after you for your vehicle not running. So, I called a local shop to tow it out, put the transmission in, and get this thing moving again, literally. Two days later, it’s ready for pickup.
So, I’ll have a running truck in the driveway (at the farm!) by tonight. There are still a lot of things it needs, but at least I can drive it, and therefore register it.
This project just rumbled back to life.
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Funny here they don’t care what a junk the car is so long as you pay the town registration fee and put the sticker on it you can have a rusted out pile of scrap metal in your driveway with no motor.
I was going to say don’t you have a loader tractor there at the farm? Between that and a good floor Jack you should be able to lift and block almost anything. If one of your tractors doesn’t have a loader I would seriously look for a used one to put on it nothing is more useful on a farm than a loader seems like I am always using mine. Well ok not at the moment my D15 is in the middle of a motor job and I really miss it…
Glad to hear you got the truck back together it is frustrating looking at projects you can’t seem to finish.
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Amen, a loader of some sort. Skid steers are my favorite.
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I like a skidsteer when I have enough loader work to justify them but I honestly can’t justify a purpose built machine now so I get by with a tractor with a loader there is just so much more I can do with the tractor.
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Hi chris good too see you getting a wood gasser going again. I wont be moveing too that county antime soon, it truly is crazy the way they mess with people over things around the farm or house. in my area if i have a few extra things around the yard i keep it behind stock aid fence too keep all eyes off. My dad bought 10 accers 40 years ago and had the same problem with neybers complaining, so i put up the wood fence stuff too keep invisable from the road as was told would pass the rules. way out in the diirt road solid woods who would have thought of there being a problem.its too many city folks moveing too country acting like city folks. Maybe you need some cows out by the road too remind them its the country they live in.
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This truck was still in Frankfort at my folks place, it didn’t make the move out to the farm yet - since it wasn’t running.
Out in the country there are no rules about this stuff, thank goodness.
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