It was pretty easy to determine that there will be some issues with the heater core, as one inlet was missing. After unbolting the right hand side hood hinge, the heater was easily removed. The fan worked remarkably well, no vibration or grinding noises. The heater core will have to be replaced, probably a core from a Chevrolet car will fit close enough, it needs to be off an air conditioned car, though, to have the connections pointing the right way.

It soon became evident that a Caprice heater core wouldn't fit without some "adjusting". However, the core in it self happened to be the same exact size as the truck one, so planning of holes begun.

The old holes are plugged with heavy foam rubber, and the heater is mounted along with its fan, and the hood hinge.

New holes were drilled in the fiber glass housing, and the new angled hoses were cut to length and clamped in place.

The battery shelf looks pretty sad. It's going to get patched up, as we're going for the functional but untouched look.

A bit of sheet metal was cut out to make a patch. The new part was made mostly on the sheet metal brake.

Cut to size, and welded, the grinding is under way in this pic.

Some more grinding, and a few squirts of flat back and a couple of browns make the patch pretty stealthy. Most of the threads are chased with taps and dies, to provide smooth function with the old look.

The brake cylinder was pulled off the fire wall for some service. As could be expected, the bore is very rusty and pitted, so if at all possible it will have to be replaced. Luckily all the brake line nipples unscrewed pretty easily, so they can be reused with new break lines, which also will be replaced as they were too rusted to be considered safe.

A new master cylinder test mounted to the firewall. It's not meant for a truck, but made to fit a 1967 Chevy Biscayne. In any case we got lucky as it fits the mount on the firewall, also the brake pushrod and the length of the bore is about the same. One of the nipples aren't the same threadsize as on the old master cylinder, but as all brake lines are going to be new, that's no problem at all. The new right hand side inner fender was tweaked, and a couple holes adjusted to fit. After most of the work in and around the engine bay is done, the inner fender will go in to stay. Brakelines and hoses, a lube job, maybe some new grease zerks to go before it goes back in.

All the ¼" brake lines are done. Handy help came in form of a brake line bender and -cutter as a christmas gift from the wife. With the right tools the work wasn't hard, but a bit time consuming. Still to be done are the thinner lines from the tee junction at the engine cross member to the front brakes. (December 30)

After flaring and bending the two remaining 3 ⁄16" tubes to the front brakes, the engine was hoisted over the grille, and dropped into place. "Dropped" not being exactly true, as it didn't really want to fit right in. We actually had to persuade it, using the engine block to transmission bolts. The engine now sits on its mounts, but the bolts holding it to the transmission are not torqued yet. Plans call for trying to realign the clutch by pushing the pedal. When seen from below, the throw out bearing looks a bit too short, but there's still hope. Hopefully a good adjusting and some juggling around will make it all fit together nicely. (Januari 3 2018)

Some service was long due in the shop, and today a couple of new fluorecent tubes and such were changed. Work commenced with mounting the right hand side inner fender that was missing when the truck arrived from Texas. The new one came from the US a few months ago. The new heater hoses were cut to length and clamped to the engine and heater core.

Now that the inner fender is bolted in and ready, it was time for the battery shelf. Some fiddling and tweaking was needed to get it to fit right, but it finally did fit and the battery is now as secure as when the truck was new. As we're not planning on removing the engine anymore, the chains were unbolted, and an old air filter could be testfitted on the carb. It'll look good when the color is changed on it. As it's an old oil filled air filter it won't be used as is, and it doesn't really fit either, as it's been sitting on a single barrel carb. It might be off of an older truck. Anyway, it was bought at a junk yard in Canada for a tenner in 2010. (Januari 14 2018)

The clutch was adjusted, and even then the truck wouldn't roll with a gear engaged and the clutch pedal depressed. Finally the throw out bearing stuck, and the pedal wouldn't come up. I was afraid of that happening, as the bearing looked too short, and as a result fell off its track, so to say. Oh, well, just a deep breath and accept the fact that the engine's gotta come out again. Just far enough to change the bearing, but it's still a chore. (Januari 21 2018)

The engine out again, and yes, out for real, as the pressure plate has to be changed back to the old one as well. Luckily a throw out bearing similar to the old one was found, so, with any luck, the truck will work ok for a while with the new clutch plate and throwout bearing, and the old pressure plate. While the engine was out, the oil filter was changed to a new one, filled with oil before it was spun on. (Januari 28 2018)

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