Nothing big, but gotta share how much I like cars from the PNW.
So I discovered a dilapidated plastic fuel filter on the 77 yesterday. From a few years ago when the PO spent a lot of money to get the tanks working, he got a clear (now yellow and broken inside) plastic Fram fuel filter as part of the deal.
Made me get after fixing the cheesy filter and line setups on both squares. Ordered some metal Wix filters, a fuel line hose clamp kit and a fancy billet looking fuel pump/filter mount/holder last night on Amazon. Everything was delivered this morning. 3 different trucks 3 deliveries, 3 small packages….not sure how that’s sustainable practice but I digress…
Gave the 86 a real filter mounted up all proper like and new hose under the hood to replace the crusty glasstic filter (glass and plastic and also coming apart inside…) and some who knows how old fuel line.
Great, looks less _____ rigged and now not a rolling fire hazard.
Crawled under the 77 to replace that filter and found 4 of the bed bolts were loose. Just a little but I know some rattles were coming from them.
Here’s the great part. Thought what’s the chance these will spin on me, be frozen solid or actually tighten? I wedged a screwdriver under the nuts to keep the carriage heads engaged. ALL 4 bed bolts snugged right back up like they were just installed last week!
Pretty sure the bed has never been off except maybe when the saddle tank was installed circa 1980 ish.
To be fair though, this truck spent most its life with an overhead camper in the back just like the 86 did as well.
To put it in perspective, I haven’t encountered a single nut, bolt, or component on either squarebody or the 74 Jeep that needed a hammer, a torch, a cutting wheel or even any cussing. Not even brake drums. Somewhat a factor of being relatively well cared for, but my 2016 truck has required alternative removal means on several components rusted/frozen in place.
