Not The First Time

[geezer101]

'Royals' had all the interior trim panels, roof lining, carpet + factory accessories. 'Sports' had the nice bucket seats, 3 spoke wheel and the extra gauges but not much else. Mine came with the digital clock display but I found an analog clock by accident while scrounging through a wreck and restored it. I painted up the instrument needles with neon orange nail polish and did the same with the clock after cleaning it out and repairing the wiring and rubber grommet in the back case.

After the Gen 1 trucks they were all fitted with vented rotors and better calipers. Added bonus is actually being able to get the parts to rebuild them! I think you can get cross drilled and slotted rotors as an aftermarket replacement too.

I replaced the backlights and dash warning lights with LED's as well. The glow of the old school incandescent globes is nostalgic, but the backlighting on the dash leaves a lot to be desired and for not much more than a buck you can get a bag of T10 LED wedges and swap the lot.

The aftermarket sump plate you are looking for is called a 'TUFF PAN'. It's about a 1/2" thick billet alloy plate that replaces the pressed steel sump plate. It stiffens the transmission case to reduce flex that can cause gear meshing issues and failures on high output engines. Don't think they are in production now but it wouldn't be that hard to make one up.

*check the views on your thread to gauge how much interest you're pulling. Not everyone comments and to be honest I haven't been as active on site recently...

[boozehero]

boozehero ~ awesome upgrades good work ~ no MM or Ram50s in Hawaiian wrecking yards ~ I miss PickNPull ~ seems you have a supply of used vehicles ~ makin me jealous a little ~ I remember when you had trouble just getting your truck to run right

Thanks for the props.
I figure over time this truck will be nice. The Upulls here don't have many first gens, I guess I'm lucky to find any.
It's def not like my S10s. You can find pretty much anything for those, but, even now, they are not as available.

I was thinking of doing the body and making it perfect, but it looks ok the way it is - considering the paint is original and it's never been wrecked.
It has some minor nicks and scratches, unfortunately, the driver side rocker panel and lower fender has some dents. I'll end up repairing both and blend the paint.

One thing is for sure... everywhere I go there are reactions to this rig. Ladies call it "cute".
FTW...

[boozehero]

Thanks for the info Geezer.
I'm pretty sure that I will never find a "Royal" or even a "Sport" at a Upull. I'm super lucky to find 2 first gen trux at a local Upull.
One actually has A/C!

I've seen plenty of newer (second gen) trux, but (as you know) there is not a lot of interchange with interior parts.
I've been watching upulls all over the West coast for these rigs. Not may to be found.
Another issue: Upulls crush inventory several times each year. There was an 86 Mighty 4x4 at a upull near Sacramento, I grabbed some parts that I needed, and was going to buy the factory buckets and have them recovered. I went back and the truck was gone.

I was pretty shocked to see a first gen on the road three days ago. It had a pipe rack on it and was pretty beat. The guy driving it was oblivious of anything around him. Didn't look at mine.

I haven't seen a "Tuff Pan" for a sample or for sale. I'll start looking, although I don't think this 2.0 in the truck will ever have enough bag to do damage to a KM132... It would be more of a dress up for the transmission.
I suppose I could fab a plate from billet, I could even mill fins into it. I have a friend with a complete machine shop in Baton Rouge that would let me use his Bridgeport.

Anyway, I am no where close to any facility where I can do heavier work other than install interior stuff and minor mods/repairs.

[dash]

starion guy https://www.legionelitemotorsports.c...1c3da0-1/#main

[boozehero]

^^^ Thanks Dash
Looks like I'll be $100 poorer very shortly...

[B-Line]

Some serious work being done here. Fantastic!

[boozehero]

^^^ Thanks. This truck was asking to be cleaned up and upgraded.
I will be going to a upull this weekend to bag a set of the later vented disc brake assemblies.
Ebay sells plated/slotted/drilled rotors with ceramic pads for the later Mighties.
I'll also replace the ball joints while I'm there.
That's coming up.

[boozehero]

I bought a set of window channel felts from the "Atomboys" (eBay) in Thailand. They arrived 5 days later (!).
I installed one on the driver side, the wind was making interior noise miserable above 60 MPH.
The truck interior is almost silent now - except for the loud(ish) exhaust note.
Super improvement!

[boozehero]

B-line - I may be interested in stainless brake lines. I imagine that you have made stainless lines for these trux(?)
Please PM me with information/cost when you have a chance.
Tnx.

[xboxrox]

Just because

Are those mountains the Olympic or Cascades..?

[boozehero]

Are those mountains the Olympic or Cascades..?

Xbox - They're the southern range of the Sierra Nevadas. This is called "the Carson Range" looking South from Carson City.
Lake Tahoe is just North and Truckee, CA is North of there.
I was in Seattle just before I was deployed to Carson City. That's where some previous pix came from.

[B-Line]

B-line - I may be interested in stainless brake lines. I imagine that you have made stainless lines for these trux(?)
Please PM me with information/cost when you have a chance.
Tnx.

Yes, we sure have. Ill put the direct link below. Just click to go directly to it:

https://blineperformance.com/product...s-steel-lines/

[boozehero]

I was just about to click the "pay" icon, but - I am going to be changing the front disc assembly to the later vented disc brakes from a (maybe) 1987 to 1994 Mighty. I am guessing that lines would be different(?)

[B-Line]

Line lengths are only about 1/2” different between the two fronts. The 1st gen being slightly longer. As long as the new caliper is punted in the same location as your trucks original setup and the hose mounting point is similar then there is it big to worry about. If you need longer just let us know in the delivery notes At checkout.

B-lines

[geezer101]

Caliper angles are different between Gen 1 and Gen 2. Gen 1 runs vertically, Gen 2 on an angle with the top of the caliper facing more towards the median line between the ball joints. Gen 2 would theoretically have slightly shorter brake hoses (can't be 100% sure - I never compared them when I sourced my set of Gen 2 brakes)

[B-Line]

Is your stock 1st gen rubber line long enough? Have you tried to test fit? 1st gen lines are slightly longer so you’re likely okay. If you need it slightly longer just let us know by how much.

[xboxrox]

Ah thanks boozehero ~ I have two nieces living in the Silver State one in Reno & one in Sun Valley ~ Nevada was my adolescent playground for hunting Jack rabbits & driving too fast on isolated winding but paved desert roads (no painted lane lines) nothing but sand & sagebrush the kinda scenes on old 50s horror movies or Twilight Zone episodes

[boozehero]

Is your stock 1st gen rubber line long enough? Have you tried to test fit? 1st gen lines are slightly longer so you’re likely okay. If you need it slightly longer just let us know by how much.

I just went to a Upull and found a '94 with some fresh front brakes on it. There is a 50% sale for the Memorial day weekend, so I'll go back and grab them then. There was an earlier D50 there to compare the differences.

Geezer and Xbox both have offered excellent info. Mucho grassy ass.
The caliper is located in a different location between thefirst and second gens.
It looks like the same rotor thickness, but the later is vented.

I also found a complete A/C system on a different truck. How do you get that lucky?
I hope I have working A/C by summer, as well as improved front brakes. Soon.

[boozehero]

Xbox - I am currently stationed in Carson City, 28 miles South of Reno -as you know.
I'll probably be here until mid July, but who knows. My job description and job changes at a moment's notice.
I could be in Hawaii in a week, maybe Saipan or even NY.
I never know what's next

[xboxrox]

Xbox - I am currently stationed in Carson City, 28 miles South of Reno -as you know.
I'll probably be here until mid July, but who knows. My job description and job changes at a moment's notice.
I could be in Hawaii in a week, maybe Saipan or even NY.
I never know what's next

HOW COOL IS THAT !!!

[boozehero]

May 21...
The mountains around Carson City, Nevada, are white again. It snowed last night at higher elevations, the City was spared.
My truck has never seen snow (driven in it) and really hasn't seen much rain in its lifetime.

Next weekend is the Pick-n-Pull 50% off sale. I saw some other stuff that I will bag.
A fairly new 38/38 Weber on a Mazda, probably be gone by the sale, and some other stuff.

[xboxrox]

Don't get any snow on your toes..!

[boozehero]

Just filled the tank again today. Second time I have seen almost 19 MPG!
I replaced the Weber 32/36 with a 38/38 and have not been paying attention to drive easy.
Lots of higher speed freeway driving and fast starts around town.
The 32/36 was getting 16 to 17 MPG. How can a bigger carb achieve better mileage?

I know the answer, just figured I'd ask.
The next step is going to be eliminating the divider in the intake manifold. I wonder if that will improve performance or mileage...

I bought an AM/FM Multiplex (remember that term?) OEM radio. It kept skipping stations and acting poorly. I went out of my way to do a "pro" job installing it, soldering and shrink wrapping the connections. I made a great looking wiring harness wanting to be sure that there would be no problems.
I don't know how many radios I've installed over the years, and have found that a radio can electrically ground through the antenna.
Well, not this POS. As a matter of fact, the speakers don't even ground internally. They ground though the radio chassis. Most radios have speaker ground through separate wiring.
Anyway, I installed a ground from the radio to the chassis.
Guess what?
Yez, all is cool now. The illumination lamp inside the radio even lights now. No more station drift or other stupid behavior.

Maybe this info might be helpful for someone else with goofy radio issues.

[xboxrox]

Thanks for sharing this good news hero

[geezer101]

Nice boozehero I'm not sure if removing the 'bridge' that separates the 2 ports is a good or bad idea, but if you're going to mess with the intake manifold there are a ton of things you can do to improve performance. Radiusing sharp edges hiding inside and tidying up the floor of the plenum will increase air flow, using a small flap sander on a flex drive attachment on a drill can knock the top off casting lines and general crap inside of the intake runners as well. Lopping off that bridge will give you lots of access to the inside of the manifold plenum anyway. What are you using for an intake/air cleaner?