Got a new rustbucket - truck people might find this interesting.

[White Horseradish]

I just can't resist an old car sometimes. In this case, I was actually looking for something like this, but what I found was rather unexpected.

Last year I got my first pickup, a 1992 Silverado cab-and-a-half longbed. I used it very successfully to haul piles of stuff while working on my parents' house. The truck is great,  but it had a couple of downsides for me. It's a complete female dog to park in  the city and it gets stuck in the snow real easy, being 2WD. Also, that means it's not that great at pulling my wife's van out of the snow.

So I decided I want a similar truck, but a 4x4 shortbed. What I actually wound up getting the other day is that, but the shortbed is a stepside. Kinda cool. 92-94 stepsides seem to be rare. It's also some sort of a special edition, says "Sterling Coach" on the side and has a loud paintjob.  Front fenders are rusty and so is the front panel of the bed, but the rest of the truck seems solid. Well, except cab corners, but that's reason for me to practice welding. Some upholstery problems, but I can work with that. I just need to figure out how the heck you fix a seat cushion.

I also should probably at least put a muffler on it. The kid I got it from stuck a straight pipe in. I think I could attract less attention

Now, I probably could have found something that doesn't need all these things fixed, but what fun would that be?

Interesting facts:
The front of the bed is actually a separate piece that bolts on. Which means I can replace the rusty one soon as I find who sells them. Surprised me, I thought I was going to have to weld.

The AC is R12 with the refrigerant long leaked out.  However, GM switched to R134 in 94 and a 94 AC hose is the same hose,  but with R134 fittings. I already have a new hose and drier, so I should be able to put them in with new o-rings and presumably have a functioning AC system I can fill with the cans they sell at Wal-mart with the bonus of brand new rubber parts of the hose. Maybe new hose will leak less.

[Tallpine]

Oh.... when I saw the thread title I thought maybe you bought an old pickup 

Dang - I'm still kicking myself that I sold off my little 1965 chevy short bed stepside six cylinder four speed     It even had the cutout in the left rear fender so you could mount the spare up on the side 

[Jim147]

You want to add some POE oil and pull a good vacuum on that system before refilling.

And go with about 80%-85% of 134 for what the plate says for 12.

jim

[RoadKingLarry]

Oh.... when I saw the thread title I thought maybe you bought an old pickup 

Dang - I'm still kicking myself that I sold off my little 1965 chevy short bed stepside six cylinder four speed     It even had the cutout in the left rear fender so you could mount the spare up on the side 

I thought you were gonna talk about OLD pickups. I miss my '54 Chevy 5 window.

[Nick1911]

You want to add some POE oil and pull a good vacuum on that system before refilling.

And go with about 80%-85% of 134 for what the plate says for 12.

jim

What he said!

[zxcvbob]

My first truck was a nasty-looking '74 Chevy C20 (3/4 ton).  I had it for about 20 years before my wife complained enough that I got rid of it and bought a new 1/2 ton.  She didn't like being able to see the road thru the rusted out floorboards   (what's the big deal, she never rode in it anyway)  I still miss that truck :sniff:

The weird thing is that old 3/4 ton with the 350 4-bbl engine with Turbo 350 3-speed transmission and breaker-points ignition got 16 MPG.  My 2001 Chevy 1/2 ton with a 4.8l engine (292 cubic inch) with computerized fuel injection and 4-speed transmission with lockup torque converter struggles to get 16 MPG.  And the new truck is probably 1000 pounds lighter.

OTOH, I'd hate to try buying tires for 16.5" wheels today.  

[White Horseradish]

I passed on quite a few OLD pickups. What stopped me is that I live in the city and don't have the space to pull apart a truck completely, which I'd probably need to do for a really old truck around here. Also, I happen to like the Rochester TBI. They are reliable and dead simple. And I might be loath to haul crap in a really old truck.

This isn't so much an old pickup as an odd pickup. I really haven't seen that many stepsides in this year range.

As far as the AC, I planned on first flushing the stuff I'm keeping with alcohol, then blowing it out with air, then assembling and pulling vacuum. Speaking of which, given that I am not planning to go into the AC business but do go through old cars a few times a year, would something like this be OK for occasional use?

[280plus]

Ohhh, I was hoping you bought MINE! 

[Tallpine]

I thought you were gonna talk about OLD pickups. I miss my '54 Chevy 5 window.

I still have vague memories of riding in my mom's 1951 Chevy half-ton :)   She bought it new, and traded in an old Packard that her dad gave her for that purpose.  Of course, the Packard would be worth a fortune now...

[Tallpine]

My first truck was a nasty-looking '74 Chevy C20 (3/4 ton).  I had it for about 20 years before my wife complained enough that I got rid of it and bought a new 1/2 ton.  She didn't like being able to see the road thru the rusted out floorboards  (what's the big deal, she never road in it anyway)  I still miss that truck :sniff:

The weird thing is that old 3/4 ton with the 350 4-bbl engine with Turbo 350 3-speed transmission and breaker-points ignition got 16 MPG.  My 2001 Chevy 1/2 ton with a 4.8l engine (292 cubic inch) with computerized fuel injection and 4-speed transmission with lockup torque converter struggles to get 16 MPG.  And the new truck is probably 1000 pounds lighter.

OTOH, I'd hate to try buying tires for 16.5" wheels today. 

My "wood truck" is a 1976 C-20 GMC, 350 & 4sp.  I bought it in 1996 and the first thing I did was go down to the salvage yard and swap out the 16.5" wheels/tires for 16" wheels/radials.

I've gotten up to 18mpg with it by holding the speed down.  And that was in the mountains.  It gets better mileage in the hills at 50mph than on the interstate at 70mph.

[Brad Johnson]

The AC is R12 with the refrigerant long leaked out.  However, GM switched to R134 in 94 and a 94 AC hose is the same hose,  but with R134 fittings. I already have a new hose and drier, so I should be able to put them in with new o-rings and presumably have a functioning AC system I can fill with the cans they sell at Wal-mart with the bonus of brand new rubber parts of the hose. Maybe new hose will leak less.

Three things...

1. You need a new pressure switch.

2. Your system will function like crap, if at all, unless you take it to a shop and have them evacuate it before you fill it with refrigerant.

3. Don't be surprised if your compressor fails soon.  134 uses higher pressures and many R12 spec compressors won't take it for long.

Brad

[White Horseradish]

Three things...

1. You need a new pressure switch.

This I didn't know.

2. Your system will function like crap, if at all, unless you take it to a shop and have them evacuate it before you fill it with refrigerant.

This I did know. That's why I was asking about a vacuum pump.

3. Don't be surprised if your compressor fails soon.  134 uses higher pressures and many R12 spec compressors won't take it for long.

Brad

I'm not worried about that. If it fails, it fails, GM compressors are pretty easy to come by.

[Perd Hapley]

She didn't like being able to see the road thru the rusted out floorboards  

That was the coolest part of riding in Dad's 55 Chevy truck. He's moving the flat-bed to an '88 3500 now.

[RoadKingLarry]

Here is my current "farm truck". '83  Chevy long bed, 250 CI 6 cyl, auto trans and it had an honest 62K on the clock when I pulled it out of my uncles barn in Nov. '08 after a 10 rest.

This was taken right after I had put the new tires on it and pushed it out in to the open. I don't have any recent pics but other than cleaner it looks about the same and has 66K on the odometer now.

[Jim147]

That vacuum pump should work just fine for what you want to do. Keep the oil changed in it and it should last for years.

You can go to www.epatest.com and take a 609 test if you want. I would at least go read through some of the info there and on the epa website.

The pressure/temp is pretty close from 12 to 134. The weight is different.The big problems come from 134 not being able to carry the mineral oil used in R12 systems and the fact that 134 is a solvent that will clean out all the gunk in the system, that might plug the drier or office and lead to an overcharge by someone that doesn't know what they are doing.

jim

[White Horseradish]

Here is my current "farm truck". '83  Chevy long bed, 250 CI 6 cyl, auto trans and it had an honest 62K on the clock when I pulled it out of my uncles barn in Nov. '08 after a 10 rest.

Nice. If I had an uncle with a farm...

The pressure/temp is pretty close from 12 to 134. The weight is different.The big problems come from 134 not being able to carry the mineral oil used in R12 systems and the fact that 134 is a solvent that will clean out all the gunk in the system, that might plug the drier or office and lead to an overcharge by someone that doesn't know what they are doing.

jim

I figure between new drier and hose and a flush of the rest I should have very little, if any, old oil left. Hopefully that should de-gunk it, too.


The AC expertise around here is awesome. I am thinking this just might work out...

[White Horseradish]

You know, I'm still not totally used to having a camera in my phone and I keep forgetting it's there. Anyway, here is a pic.

[280plus]

Wait a minute, that's a CHEVY pick up, meh, them are no good...