Leaving Las Vegas- 76 Project

[rw74228]

Finally got my Pig back to my place yesterday. 1976 in really good shape (compared to my other one). This truck spent most of its life in Vegas and AZ as a daily driver and was moved to NC about a year ago.

I am now the 3rd owner of this pig and I can definitely tell it is a true desert truck. There is only one bad rust spot which is only a couple of dime sized pieces above the rocker that is rusted most of the way through. The back window works (I probably just jinxed myself), the floorboards were already covered with sound deadener, and the interior is complete and in decent shape. The PO also was nice enough to include window rubber and weather stripping for almost the entire truck, a spare carb, and couple of boxes full of other misc parts.

My plan before I get into the big stuff is to get the car up on a jack and get the brakes cleaned and clean off/POR the frame. I want to get it as mechanically sound as possible since I no longer have to worry as much about the It's going to be a slow paycheck to paycheck project, but I hope to get it looking like some others on here in a year or 5.

 

[PabloCruise]

Beautiful!

 

[Brenno]

Looks really honest, great find

 

[Jasferg]

Nice wagon! Oh and thanks for the pic of the back gives me a nice profile of the rear corners to do mine.

 

[Walkerm916]

Very nice pig it looks great I will have to put some pics up of the 72' the back seat was definitely in great shape I have already added it to the truck and have it bolted in. I will catch up one day. How much did the rocker panels run you from bobm?

 

[rw74228]

Finally got some time yesterday to work on and drive the pig after running into some problems with my FJ60. Now I have run into some more problems with the pig after driving it around yesterday.

I tried driving the pig to work yesterday for the first time in a few months just to keep it from sitting so long, and while driving through my neighborhood I noticed my brakes getting a softer and softer so I decided to turn around and try going back home. Unfortunately, while on my way home (and, of course, going down a steep hill with a 4 way stop at the bottom) my brakes completely failed and I had no way of stopping. I pulled the emergency brake and nothing happened.

OH S*** was the first thing going through my mind. It felt like a movie where a mobster (or my crazy ex) cut my brake lines and wanted me dead. After holding down my horn for 30 seconds hoping nobody would be at the receiving end of a pig T-bone, I shifted into first, cruised through the stop sign avoiding another car, and hopped the curb coming to rest inches from a tree and an embankment. Luckily, the pig survived without a scratch and I had it towed home. Looks like a leak in the brake line or a BMC issue.

I was hoping to have some updates with more progress, but now I have the time (and motivation) to get it safe to drive again.

 

[71greenpig]

Lucky the pig was not hurt and no one was hurt either...

 

[rw74228]

So after dealing with some other issues with my 60 PS box, I finally had some time to work on the 55 this past weekend. Replaced the BMC and painted the booster. Bled the brakes about 3 times to make sure there was no air in the lines and still had very soft brakes and could press the pedal all the way to the floor without the car coming to a complete stop.

We decided to check the wheel cylinders that might need to be adjusted and I was surprised to see that they and the shoes were in great shape. After a slight adjustment, I could tell a noticeable difference but still need to adjust the drivers side. Hopefully that will be the only problem with the brakes and a relatively easy fix.

Once we get the brakes fixed, we are going to start the disassembly and work on getting the fender patches and rockers installed and should be better about updates now that I don't have as many projects going on.

 

[onemanarmy]

Are you going to keep all the smog stuff intact?

How were your rear wheel cylinders? I've got one leaking (just one of the four) on mine and dread the job. Hopefully the remaining 3 can stop it ok.

 

[rw74228]

Are you going to keep all the smog stuff intact?

How were your rear wheel cylinders? I've got one leaking (just one of the four) on mine and dread the job. Hopefully the remaining 3 can stop it ok.

I'll probably get to the desmog eventually because it definitely clears out some room to work under the hood, but its not a priority right now. And I didnt think my cylinders were that bad, but I just had to order new cylinders for all 4 and am dreading the job just as much as you are. Hopefully that will solve my issue. Tackling that this weekend so hopefully i'll have an update soon

 

[onemanarmy]

Hopefully you can tackle the job and share some tips and tricks.

Post some pics of the Pig. Maybe I'll see you around town.

 

[rw74228]

Been a loong time since Ive had an update--after years of working on other projects and having a couple of kids, I have finally been able to get some progress on disassembling the pig and acquiring new parts (door panels, weather stripping, gaskets, headliner, master cylinders, brakes and anything else under the hood needing replacing)--having a son has definitely motivated me.

We have taken out and cleaned the carb and removed fenders and currently in the process of cleaning up the engine bay and getting everything off the firewall so we can clean it up and paint. We haven't found much rust other than a couple of spots after removing the glass, but a lot of that desert dirt everywhere. I also have some bobm rockers and fender patches ready to weld in once we finish up with the front end and hopefully go with the electronic power steering from cityracer. I'll post up the progress over the last few months and try to keep updating.

 

[rw74228]

More progress, I can somewhat see the light at the end of the tunnel...

 

[rw74228]

Before and after of the front brakes and a picture of how currently sits. Still a ways to go but definitely feels good working on a cruiser again with my dad.

 

[bobm]

Dat can holding that piece of wood down

 

[xtiaan2000]

Red calipers are always cool!

 

[DTC72]

Yes! Keep the pig overhaul status and write ups coming.

 

[rw74228]

My dad has been doing a lot more work on his own recently--It turns out that working on a pig is a lot easier when you are recently retired and my mom is already sick of him being around him in the house. Pic of the cleaned up the firewall and engine block and some new parts we ordered and some parts we cleaned up and painted

 

[rw74228]

More pics...

 

[INailedIt]

Awesome project!