KC John
Junior Member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2021
- Posts
- 21
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Kansas City
- First Name
- John
- Truck Year
- 1974
- Truck Model
- C20
- Engine Size
- 5.7L 350
Hey all,
Glad to have found this place. Disappointed in the reason that helped me find it.
We have a 1974 C20 that's mostly original (or mostly rust?) that my dad and I got about 10 years ago. Threw stuff in the back as we needed to haul it places. Over time she started running worse and worse. Then she basically stopped running, which was fine because she'd gotten to the point where she would hardly stop when she did run. We let it sit for several years and then my son turned 15 and I started thinking it would be a fun project for us to work on together. And it has been, even though I know absolutely nothing about working on vehicles.
We learned about and fixed the brakes. And then replaced a broken brake cable. New fuel pump got her running and then the squealing started. We learned about and changed the power steering pump and the belt to the alternator. That put an end to most of the squealing. Changed the lights in the dash because none of them worked. New reverse lamps. We got a lot accomplished before she kind of stopped running. Would start up and run fine but then seemed to bog down and die when it got warmed up... Which ultimately may have been a good thing. Because about a month ago somebody tried to steal her. Broke the driver's glass, cracked the steering column but it was freezing that night and I'm
guessing it wouldn't start and run.
My apologies for the long introduction. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction about where I should go to learn from some smarter people (everyone) about steering columns (replacements?) and ignition questions.
I found Raider's post and followed that along as best I could. You have some really helpful folks around here, and I've seen lots of posts that I'll be coming back to as our little project moves forward.
Thanks everyone!
Glad to have found this place. Disappointed in the reason that helped me find it.
We have a 1974 C20 that's mostly original (or mostly rust?) that my dad and I got about 10 years ago. Threw stuff in the back as we needed to haul it places. Over time she started running worse and worse. Then she basically stopped running, which was fine because she'd gotten to the point where she would hardly stop when she did run. We let it sit for several years and then my son turned 15 and I started thinking it would be a fun project for us to work on together. And it has been, even though I know absolutely nothing about working on vehicles.
We learned about and fixed the brakes. And then replaced a broken brake cable. New fuel pump got her running and then the squealing started. We learned about and changed the power steering pump and the belt to the alternator. That put an end to most of the squealing. Changed the lights in the dash because none of them worked. New reverse lamps. We got a lot accomplished before she kind of stopped running. Would start up and run fine but then seemed to bog down and die when it got warmed up... Which ultimately may have been a good thing. Because about a month ago somebody tried to steal her. Broke the driver's glass, cracked the steering column but it was freezing that night and I'm
guessing it wouldn't start and run.
My apologies for the long introduction. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction about where I should go to learn from some smarter people (everyone) about steering columns (replacements?) and ignition questions.
I found Raider's post and followed that along as best I could. You have some really helpful folks around here, and I've seen lots of posts that I'll be coming back to as our little project moves forward.
Thanks everyone!