It’s been a while… I mean now that the ‘55’s in click and go mode I think the whole summer’s been out and about and away from the PC. Nice to see all the familiar names again, and a few new ones on the posts here. Some real interesting threads. And it’s good to see the photos, people are getting good at that. I must figure it out and get some of mine up here. Does this sound familiar? First time I drove the truck – only after I’d bought it of course – it was all over the place. Made way like a small boat in a rough sea; banged, thumped, groaned, creaked, whined and made lots of serious trouble noises; smelled, blew smoke and had weird stuff that may have once been alive stuck on the underside of the roof; swerved unexpectedly when I was steering straight, had a mind of its own on corners and the brakes generally helped increase my quota of unwanted scary moments by more then I ever want to go through again. So, it’s been a rolling restoration for the last three winters and a little bit of driving in the summer. But this year I think I’m getting it together. Finally, to the point - you know how you do one thing and you see an improvement, some big, some small. Well, I have lots of these, but the big new thing this year has been fitting an anti-sway bar. Straight out of the CP catalog and on the truck. It’s been the biggest single drive improvement I think I’ve had (well maybe getting the wheels balanced). I now drive in a smooth straight line and cornering’s a breeze. I just have to recommend you get one if you don’t have already. Now that the mechanics are straight, my next big job is the paint. The body’s totally free of rust (every time I read ‘rust free’ I really think they mean you don’t have to pay extra for it), just a few minor dents and it's all just about complete - no serious missing bits. But it’s like a 4th generation hand brushed dog shit brown over orange over light blue over, I guess the original, Mariner blue. It’s all coming off and going back to blue. I plan body prep over the winter and a color coat next spring. Never having gone down the paint route before, I’ll be looking for lots of advice when the time comes – be prepared.
Welcome back Mate! Long time, no post! Glad to see you're enjoying your truck! Let me offer you some friendly advise. Get rid of the sway bar! AD's are supposed to handle that way! P.S. I'll send you my address and you can send me the sway bar. We have places here in the states that can properly dispose of them for you!
Thanks, Mel! What a hoot! Your decription of your trip down the road brought back exact memories! Looks like I will add a sway bar to my list of improvements. That color your truck is is what most people spray a clearcoat over! Think of what it would cost to get a paint job like that?! I'm happy for you, Mel- The process to get them to "finished" is why I will be a regular here until someone finds a way to block me! and yes, "Pictures, please???"
Yeah, I'm surprised that you didn't have to pay extra for that paint job! A clear coat and a little sticker that says " It is Painted" and you're good to go!
So, Mel~ How much of a pain was it to install the sway bar? Did you go split mc with disc brakes up front? (just had to ask...) Thanks!
?? ' Finished ' ?? whazzat ? . I'm interested : is the swap bar a copy of the factory fitted Suburban one or the other style ? . I should really get off my duff and put one on too . Good to hear you like it , I've never heard of a rust free vehicle in Jolley Old Englande.........
No Zig, it’s just the sway bar. The other bits up front are as the truck came out of the factory. Leaf springs, drum brakes and real steering. I’m not really sure I know what a split mc is anyway? Fitting it on the truck was simple – in the end. The difficult bit was when I opened the box there was what was obviously the sway bar plus about 50 assorted nuts, bolts, bars and lots of those poly things that get advertised on the back page of Hemmings every month … no instructions . But there was a sales flyer from ADDCO who made the thing so I emailed them and they quickly came back with a nice page of instructions which basically said take off the old one and put on the new one. As a last resort I looked in the Factory Assembly Manual I have and there it was, section 3, sheet 5.00 . The new fittings are a bit different from the original but it was just like putting together a 3D jig-saw in the end and the whole thing simply bolted thru holes that were already in the front cross member. No drilling, cutting or anything. The assembly manual shows stabilizer bars only being fitted to 3102, 3105 and 3106 half tons, not my 3104 pick up. I guess one of those is the Suburban you mention Nate. And you’re right, although things do rust a lot in England, my truck was in California ‘til 2003 so it’s a good one. The pink slip shows the PO in Reseda, nice part of town is it?
No directions??? That sure wouldn't work with me~ My truck didn't come with a sway bar, unless that's an alternative name for the front axle. mc was just a short-on-time way of writing master cylinder. I figure if Nate can acronym us, I could do a crummy job of abbreviating!
Reseda , Ca. Yep ; That's way out in the WSFV ~ oops ! I meant : West San Fernando Valley , not terribly far from where I work in North Hollywood , the armpit of the SFV . Good deal on the sawy bar , you're going to like it . I'm supposed to have a set of half circle helper springs for my truck coming , I hope I can talk my son into putting themon for me .
