The "Hulk": Ugly green truck to Juneau??

[oldndcctrucks]

My wiffy and I took the W200 and the camper to Calico Ghost Town this last weekend for a one-night camp-out, four-wheeling, and event (which used to be called "Civil War Days" and is now billed as "California Days" for SOME REASON; please read the last with sarcasm). The route took us up Cajon Pass on Interstate 15; this has fairly steep grades for several miles; Flattest Route.com calculated the worst grade at 15.7%.

The truck pulled the 5600-pound trailer up the hill with relative ease for a stock, 49-year-old truck. We were able to maintain 40 mph on the worst of it. The downgrade was no test as there was ridiculous traffic and top speed for the worst part of the downgrade was 10 mph.

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Camp was in the state campground. No services, dry camping. We met up with a few Army truck club buddies and our best friends.

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Earlier in the afternoon some of the guys and I went burning powder and damaging targets.

Note this guy's earplug- we were short:

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Next morning, a few of us went 4-wheeling. I took my wife, and afterwards she was much more satisfied about the reliability of the W200. That was a win for me!

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OK: Now back to business!

I have found an upholstery shop, and this weekend the plan is to have the seats and carpet removed. Here is the initial condition:

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Hopefully this will look very much improved in 3-4 weeks!

[712edf]

Bucky: PM sent

I just noticed & responded Ken

[oldndcctrucks]

Bucky: PM sent

[712edf]

I may take you up on that. I did rebuild it a couple of years ago but it's I think original & probably will never run perfect. Same for the tired ol 318 engine. I'm sure the compression is down & timing chain likely has slop in it. I would need a big tall shop with a big overhead crane hoist to get her out. I'm too old to be wrenching outside in the driveway.

Bucky

[oldndcctrucks]

Thanks Bucky; I appreciate the encouragement!

Feel bad for your situation; if you want, send me the carb and I’ll rebuild it for you.

[712edf]

You are making way more progress than I am, that's for sure. My W600 still needs the carb replaced, a fresh battery & really a tune-up too. But even with a blizzard approaching in the next 48 hours, I just don't have the $$$ nor the gumption to mess with it. I am at the point in life where I will just sit at home until the snow melts.....or drive the wife's Caravan.

I spent 6 months out of every year waiting for the weather to cool off so I can get something done, then I spent the other 6 months waiting for warmer temps.

Keep up the good work, no matter how long it takes.

Bucky

[oldndcctrucks]

Thanks Todd and Bucky!

This project has been going on so long, I figured everyone has gotten bored and moved on, ha ha!

[712edf]

Looking good!!

Bucky

[Todd M]

Looking good. I appreciate the photos and updates. Certainly it has been a lot of hard/great work on you part. I hope the test run goes better than you expect.

[oldndcctrucks]

Three days ago Wednesday:

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Bed suspended from 4" x 4" (which is supported by two uprights 4" x 4" posts);
raised and lowered by 120 volt hoist.

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After wiring the lights which did not exist when I bought the truck.

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Tightening up the four 3/8" bolts holding the bed to the frame was one of the highest
levels of feeling of accomplishment I've had in a LOOOONG time.

After dinner I set the primered tailgate in place, and set the bumper temporarily in place.

Can't wait for the Airstream test-tow!!!

I can barely accept that the first post was so long ago....three years and three months!

"The "Hulk": Ugly green truck to Juneau??

10-23-2018, 08:55 PM
W200 FAMILY ROAD TRIP PROJECT

CHAPTER 1: The Acquisition"

[oldndcctrucks]

Gettin' close to a complete truck...

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In the meantime, the left rear brake has been dragging. At first it appeared that the parking brake
cable was sticking, but it turned out that the main return spring for the shoes had broken.

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Also, the rear rubber cab mount cushions were crushed and hard as wood, resulting in a
rough ride and the cab banging on the truck frame at hard bumps.

Replaced with rubber discs (blue arrow) that I cut with a hand-made die (red arrow):

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I have also painted the frame; need to paint the axle:

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Despite the many hours spent on body work and prep, it's still a CRAPPY paint job with several
sags, drips, and areas to be color / wet sanded.

Just glad you guys can't see it in person!

Planning on playing hooky from work tomorrow and mounting the bed to the frame.

[oldndcctrucks]

Yeah I don’t think it should be.

But everything seems to be in short supply. Took me five different supply companies to find a basic bearing and seal kit for the NP 435, one of the most common manual trannys in America.

[712edf]

So your flywheel is the std 143 tooth version used from 1969 until 1988 or so? That disc shouldn't be hard to locate, or at least it wasn't a couple years ago.

Bucky

[oldndcctrucks]

Dropped the trans off at the shop this morning! There's a delay getting the
truck back, because the flywheel and pressure plates are 12", but the disc
in the kit is 11 1/2", so Gene will be spending time and a trip to another town
to try to get a 12" disc.

Got the bottom of the bed painted today, too...
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Probably won't get anything done the next two weeks for work, family,
and veteran volunteering obligations.

[oldndcctrucks]

The transmission is ready for reinstallation.

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All the aluminum is clear-coated.
The ID tag got new stamps stating bearings in Nov 2021

Purty, ain't it?

Hope I did it right....