Phssthpok

..but I coun't find any 'New Member Forum', so I supoose this is as good a place as any to stand up and say 'Hello"

I recently aquired a '77 2WD Longbed as a winter (GASP!) beater/econo-commuter. It's a little rough on the inside (Missing passenger door panel, old carpet, missing center console), but on the outside it's a a fairly good looking 20/20 truck ( looks good at 20' and 20 MPH! )

All in all I can't complain.. I paid $550 for it and it came with NEW tires!

I just gave the truck a tune up yesterday (minus setting the timing.. where are the timing marks on this thing anyway?) and all I can say is DAY-ammm..I'm amazed the thing was even running let alone getting me to and from work.

There was a mix of spark plug brands installed (3 Bosch, 1 Autolite). The Autolite was cross threaded and not even seated properly in the hole (still an issue.. is there anyway to repair this without removing the head?), and the Bosch's hadn't even been gapped when they were installed. They were about TWICE as wide of a gap as was called for in the book!

The cap and rotor seemed to be 'ok', and I could probbably have cleaned up the contacts with some sandpaper and run em just fine, but I replaced em anyway, as well as the wires. ( I kept the old cap, rotor, one plug wire and the coil wire in a box behind the seat as a 'road spare' set) I didn't touch the points as it appears the seller of the truck replaced them just prior to selling... probably just to get it running. (so I threw the new points in my 'road spare' box too!)

Now when I start the truck cold, it no longer settles into a chassis rocking, 'chugging' idle as it warms up.. it's just a nice smooth purrrr...and NO MORE BLACK CLOUD!

I still have to deal with MAJOR clutch slippage (I can break the clutch's grip just by giving it too much gas too suddenly... I fear it's only going to be worse with the engine tuned up now! ). I have plans to do a complete R&R of the clutch today, so that's not going to be a problem for long, but I DO have a couple of steering issues I'm hoping you folks can assist with.

First off, the steering wheel seems to have an excessive amount of play in it...like about 1/8 of a turn before it starts to act on the road wheels. Is there any way to tighen up the 'Armstrong' (manual) steering, or am I going to be relegated to simply buying a new gear box?

Also, the seller of the truck warned me of an issue with high speed directional controll.... this truck LOVES to wander around in the truck-ruts on the freeway! In fact... any change in direction (even minor ones) at any speed over 40 MPH is a bit of an adventure, as the truck wants to 'dive and turn' if I'm not very careful about how much steering input I give it. The seller said the outer tie-rod ends were shot, but it feels more like a ball-joint issue to me, but then.. I'm not a full-on mechanic by any stretch of the imagination so I could be wrong. Does anyone here have any experience with similar issues on their rigs, that could shed some light? <I don't want to spring for a full front-end rebuild if it is, in fact, just the tie-rod ends...it IS a beater truck for me after all...I just want it to be safe(er)>


So far I like what I see around here. I've joined a couple of other forums before for other cars, and I must say it's nice not to have to deal with assinine children and blingin'-ricer types.

I'm going to go shuffle my cars around (pull the Supercharged Sebring Coupe out of the garage and move the truck in.. and fire up the heater ), but I'll be back shortly to do more research here, untill my assistant arrives.

Keep up the good work! (and keep it shiney-side up!)

User 051420

I can't help ya..but welcome to YotaTech!!!!!!

Ironmike4x4

Hate to tell ya but more than likely you're gonna need to get a new head for it. Maybe someone else here will have an idea better than mine. Maybe tap a new thread? BTW welcome to Yotatech. I'm sure you will be surprised at how much help we yotatech family will offer ya.

Phssthpok

I thought about running a tap down the bore to clean up the threads, but the idea of dropping all those shavings on top of the piston just makes me . I though about pulling the head and Heli-coiling the plug threads, but I'm not comfortable with heli-coil in a compression application like that. never heard of anyone HC-ing a spark plug hole before. Logic tells me it shoudl work just fine.. but my gut says .. I tend to go with my gut. If I wind up taking the head off, I think I'll just have the plug hole welded up, then drill and tap a fresh run of threads.

I dont suppose anyone here had a spare 20R block lying around they want to git rid of? Wouldn't mind having one to build on for an eventual swap....as a weekend hobby type thing .

kyle_22r

helicoiling spark plug holes is fine. pretty common, just a pain to do with the engine in the truck.

those '73-78 trucks have a TON of body roll for some reason. i know they have a front swaybar but it seems to do no good...maybe replace the swaybar bushings with some poly ones? i'm pretty familiar with the dive on those things...tends to be a combination of really soft coil springs in the front combined with worn out components!

as for your engine...why not put a 22R in it? it's 2.4l compared to 2.2l of the 20R, a direct bolt-in swap, plus 22R engines are cheaper to build. the '81-84 22R is so similar to the 20R that you can even directly swap a 20R head on it for a bit of compression boost. however, i'd look for a '85-95 22R as there were NO changes to the block or head in those years(compared to 2 revisions from '81-84) and parts are more widely available and cheaper(a master engine kit with all the gaskets, pistons, rings, bearings etc can be had for $215).

jct61765

If your careful and patient you can run a tap down it. Just use grease and be careful. I believe Helicoil does sell a kit just for your problem. I would just try to retap it first though.