Helpful Tips

Due to the nature of the body panels and the manufacturing process involved and transportation of the sheet metal products you receive they may have minor scratches, dings, small dents and other minor imperfections which are considered normal. These imperfections are easily corrected during the initial filling, priming, blocking and sanding on your restoration. We do not consider dings, minor dents, scratches or any other minor imperfection to be defective or damaged for the above mentioned reason, nor does scratched primer or over spray on a item constitute a defective part. All sheet metal, body panels, etc.... will require some preparation and manipulation during installation for a quality fit and finish.

Please be aware the tolerances on classic trucks were nowhere near today’s standards. The assembly line process was done by hand during the construction of these trucks not by robots as found on current assembly lines. This process resulted in deviations in one vehicle to another which end up quite often making mounting points and bolt holes unique to each vehicle. Due to this there is no way that every part can be considered a direct bolt in replacement and you should anticipate having to use shims, elongate holes, etc….. to achieve the fit and finish desired. This also means you may need to adjust adjacent body panels to the new part or parts in order to achieve the best fit possible due to the manufacturing variances and differences from 1 truck to another that occurred during manufacturing.

Years of hard heavy use, neglect, previous body work or damage, weathering and rusting can further exacerbate the issues with the body you will be attaching the parts on. We recommend you hire professionals with the knowledge, tools, skills and experience needed to install your new body panels.

Clutter can slow you down by distracting you from what you want to do. Take control, begin in one corner of the garage and straighten it up. Afterward, give yourself a reward for your good work

Do you keep "to do" lists that run on for pages and pages The most effective managers identify only three top priorities each day.

Before you begin a new hobby or pastime, consider eliminating an old one you've outgrown. Better yet, get rid of two.

1967 GMC & Chevy fenders are the same, 1968 Chevy &1969-72GMC Fenders are all the same,and1969-72 Chevy Fenders are all the same. All of the above fenders can be made to bolt to the other years and models that are not the correct interchange but this does mean body lines will not be correct for hoods and grilles.

Centering Steering Column Indicator Pointer To Indicator Lens Markings

Several things to do regarding centering the steering column automatic transmission pointer.

One is to check the shifter pointer and make sure it is in the correct position. There is a screw in the back and two little plastic hooks/locators/tabs in the front. Make sure that the hooks/locators/tabs are not broken off, or maybe they are not down in the slot which would allow the front of the pointer to move back and forth.

The second thing is to spray some PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, or something similar
( not WD-40 ,WD-40 is not a good penetrating oil it is a Water Displacement product )
into the steering column, where the shift lever goes in to clean and lubricate the internal linkages. Don't be afraid to give it a good dousing. After you spray it pull the shift lever up toward you and push it back down toward the dash repeatedly to free everything I normally try to do this while spraying also. It should move up and down a couple of inches. Do this 4 or 5 times. This will help free up any sticking in the shift lever tube. The reason the shift lever moves up and down is because it should be pulled back towards you to shift it into and out of the park position and it's common for the insides to gum up from dust and old lubricates causing them to stick in the pulled back position fully or part way.

For the next step be sure and block your wheels before you start this to prevent truck from rolling and preferably have a 2nd person available.
After you have checked and done the above items then open the hood and loosen the adjustment bolt at the top of the rod that connects the transmission and the shifter arm on the steering column, crawl under the truck and manually shift the transmission into Park. Hold it in Park while someone puts the shift lever in the park position up above, then tighten the adjuster bolt back up. This should correct your problem.

You should now have a column shifter that's shifting smooth as butter & aligning on the column indicator. If there is any miss-alignment after this look at the dent tabs under hood to see if they are worn as we've seen some so badly worn they caused mis-alignment. If so it can be removed and hit with a weld on worn area ground smooth and replaced

Fill opening of pilot bearing and behind with grease take a bolt slightly smaller than opening and wrap with a single layer electrical tape place bolt at opening filled with grease and tap hex end of bolt with hammer. You may have to remove bolt occasionally to place more grease in but the hydraulic action of the bolt trying to fill the area behind bearing the grease occupies will slowly force bearing from end of the crank with minimal effort.:)

The following is for a gauge dash this gives the numbered position of the wires in gauge dash and followed by what it supplies, then number from idiot light dash you move wire from.

1-Black with white stripe 18g(alternator) This runs from the 12g R wire from voltage regulator and should have 1-4amp inline fuse.
2-Tan (Brake warning light) Original position 2
3-Pink (Fuel Gauge) Original Position 7
4-Tan(Fuel Gauge) Original Position 4
5-Empty(not Used)
6-Dark Green (Temp. Gauge) Original position 5
7-Black(ground)Original Position 6
8-Gray(cluster light feed) Original Position 12
9-Medium Blue (Right turn) Original Position 11
10-Lt. Blue (left turn) Original Position 10
11-Lt. Green (high Beam indicator) Original Position 9
12-Black/w brown stripe 18g use wire ran from the junction block near battery mounted to passenger side fender with 1-4amp inline fuse located at junction block end.
Remove the wires from your loom plug and place the colors in the # on plug that corresponds with the color from list above. You will need to replace your idiot light temp. gauge for a temp. sending unit with gauges. The black and white wire feeds from the 12gRed wire off back of alternator and requires the use of 1-4amp inline fuses, this wire you need to make and run. The DARK BLUE wire that was originally in #1 position should be deleted because this was the idiot light for the oil pressure. If you need more info. ask.

Lube the sun visor bracket rod with a light coating of lithium grease then using a clockwise rotation press the rod firmly into the open end of visor and continue rotating clockwise with pressure applied until rod is fully installed. Do not rotate counterclockwise or use a twisting back and forth motion while installing as the sun visor has a C shaped tube the rod inserts into that will begin to spread open if rod is rotated counterclockwise which will result in visor being loose on rod as the C shaped tube uses the steels tension on rod to hold it firmly in place.

Place key in off position, disconnect battery cable. Insert a small stiff wire into small hole in lock cylinder face and push. You will feel slight pressure as you depress the pin inside. While holding in on wire rotate key and lock cylinder Left( counter-clockwise) and remove cylinder by pulling outward. You are now able to remove ignition bezel and ignition switch from dash by rotating bezel Left (counter-clockwise) and then remove wire loom plug from rear of ignition after lowering.

First disconnect your negative battery cable to ensure headlights do not drain battery during switch removal. Reach behind dash and on upper side of headlight switch near dash face you will feel a spring loaded button depress this firmly while you pull out the switch knob. Once switch shaft and knob are removed you can remove switch bezel by rotating to left (counter-clockwise), and then removing nut behind bezel. Lower switch from dash and unplug wiring harness.

Connect vacuum gauge to base of carburetor to full vacuum source at idle. Then monitor your readings and compare readings to chart below.

1-Steady gauge reading from 17-22 indicates normal engine in good condition.

2-A intermittent fluctuation at idle indicates a ignition miss or sticking valves.

3-Needle fluctuates as you increase engine speed indicates ignition miss, blown head gasket, leaking valve or weak valve springs.

4- Steady needle that drops at regular intervals indicates burnt valves or improper valve clearance, (the needle falls when bad valve is in operation).

5-A drifting needle goes high then drops goes high then drops in a steady movement indicates minor intake leak or improper carb adjustment.

6- A low reading but steady from 10-16 indicates late ignition or valve timing, low compression, stuck throttle valves, leaking carburetor or intake gaskets or a big cam.

7- Needle vibrates heavy at idle but becomes steadier as engine speed increases indicates worn valve guides.

8-A gradual drop in reading at idle indicates blocked exhaust system or excessive back pressure in exhaust system.

That's troubleshooting with one. Now for fuel mixture adjustment with one.
Disconnect vacuum advance at distributor and plug vacuum line, start motor with timing light and a RPM gauge attached and set idle and timing to correct settings. Connect vacuum gauge to full unported vacuum at base of carburetor, now shut motor off and turn both idle mixture screws all the way in but be sure that you only use light pressure as you can turn the idle mixture screw past being lightly seated by twisting hard and then you are damaging the idle mixture opening with the needle causing it to flare the opening trashing a good carburetor body so please only lightly seat the needles. now back each out 1 1/2 turns, restart motor and check idle and timing and adjust as necessary to correct settings, now back each needle out slowly a 1/4 turn each alternating between the 2 until you reach the highest vacuum reading, check and adjust idle speed and timing, now repeat step one of backing idle mixture screws out alternating between the 2 a 1/4 turn at a time until you have reached highest vacuum reading again. Continue the process adjusting timing/RPM/idle mixture screws until you have no changes occurring and have reached highest vacuum reading possible. You have now optimized your timing idle mixture adjustments. Reconnect your vacuum advance while disconnecting the RPM gauge, timing light, and vacuum gauge.
Ok now for monitoring fuel consumption with a vacuum gauge.
Connect the vacuum gauge to full unported vacuum and run vacuum line long enough for gauge to be in cab. Go for a drive monitoring the vacuum gauge. When you have high readings you are getting the most fuel economy possible, when you have low readings fuel consumption to efficient combustion ratio is lowered. By easing into your gas pedal rather than moving it rapidly you will notice vacuum readings stay higher which increases MPG