Nobody smokes tobacco in my truck anymore I put my foot down, anything else is a rare occasion if I'm in a pinch. I'm actually going to retrofit a HEPA filtration system into the factory airbox when I get back into the interior...I might even go all out UV stage too we'll see.

 

Look what I found today! I must have drove by it 5 times before I finally gave in and had to take a picture, same generation, same color blue (without the two-tone) same mirrors mine had and chrome wheel well trim only he has larger wheels. If he will sell it I will buy it for a summer truck build, it's super clean...even cleaner than mine

 

I bought a set of the wheels I have been after; TurbocastII they came with tires and were a great buy if they only fit right, they are 5x5.00 and my hubs are 5x4.5 so I sold them to Detroit Wheels for double what I paid:



Instead I bought these which are all 15x7 (the red set were 15x8.5 & 15x10) I'm having them painted just like the red ones only black, then shipped to me:

 

Nice! Gotta love making a profit like that lol

 

Looking pretty good dude, keep at it!

 

Since I only need to pass safety I removed all my emission systems; removed the catalytic converter, air pump and belt (which was very loud) along with the tubing, I removed the EGR and transducer, the vapor canister, all vacuum related tubes and all the vac solenoids:



There was a total of 28lbs of junk according to my trusty bathroom scale:



I made small block-off plates for the EGR ports on the headers:



I also made a block-off plate for the EGR valve itself:



I cut the top half off the vacuum solenoid rack so the plug wire holder would remain on the bottom, wrapped the solenoid plugs in a bag and tucked them out of the way:

 

I did the hinge pins and bushings today:



The hinges were pretty nasty and the washer-top on the sleeve/shims were getting thin:




I cleaned them up and installed the new bushings...not sure how they got so grimy?




Only thing is the top single does not seem tight enough see how you can see the pin between the door hinge and cab hinge on the bottom? The brass should be touching the bottom of the door hinge:



See the bottom door hinge touches snug to the cab hinge and the brass is touching:

 

Dropped the bumper, I think even nothing looks cleaner than a stock bumper until I get a pan:



About 10min and some Rustoleum rust converter and I think it looks a lot better on the eye...probably won't last a month into the winter but it was just way too much visible rust without the bumper. I also got rid of the useless spare tire and it's mount system, along with shamefully painting my 7.25" red:

 

Man that frame makes me glad I'm on the other coast.....

In other news, I wonder how hard it would be to just get a piece of sheet aluminum or stainless steel (or just sheetmetal) to cover the gap for now. Tack it to either side and call it a day, or paint it black or blue to continue your color theme. Bet it wouldn't be more than $30...

 

Yeah I was thinking about welding a flat wide piece of bar stock to the stub rails on the bumper.