Chuck the Truck's 52 Chevy - Washers, Doors, & Tailgate Chains

Windshield Washer Installation

I drive year-round so I really need washers, despite my fondness for and regular application of Rain-X. I bought the nozzles off Ebay, originally for an old Dodge B100, but they looked of suitable vintage for the truck (no neon!). The rest of the system is from the Anco Universal Windshield Washer Kit. I could have hidden the plastic tank or gone to a glass bottle setup, but I don't drive with the hood open so I opted for convenience. Before drilling holes in the cowl, I wired and temporarily plumbed the whole system to check the squirt range and pattern. The nozzles are adjustable and really work well. I picked the spot and drilled the nozzle mounting holes after checking both sides so I didn't drill through the wiper linkage, speedometer, etc. The switch is hidden on the lower flange of the dash; I find it by feel. The system works great and in Illinois is nearly as essential as brakes. 09/04/04

A post on Stovebolt prompted this response from me. Now I've got pics and I'm done futzing with the doors.

My experience was that grinding wasn't the solution. And I prefer the Steele Rubber weatherstrip. Buy the whole kit - it's cheaper than the weatherstrip alone. Bending the hinge (and opposite of what intuition dictates) is the answer. You have to remove the hinge to bring it in. Bend your hinge(s) to bring the leading edge in and the whole door moves in. If you over-correct, then the block of wood can be used to sneak it out. My doors were lining up fine with the stock latch. I finally fixed all my closing issues by going to Bear Claws. On a do over, I'd look for a latch that uses the loop like newer cars, rather than the post of the standard Bear Claw. I've torn the seat out of two pairs of britches on that post. Perils of a big butt?

12/05/04 Frost on the pumpkin. At 21,000 miles it is showing its dings (and dirt) hiding under the frost this AM. I remember scraping a curb while parking, but never noticed that it tweaked the bumper. These frost pics give me an idea - flat red primer.

01/01/05 Talk about not noticing! The tailgate chains were always a pain to get into the hole in the bed, and they were chewing up the paint. Just today, as I was putting in a load, I had a real Homer Simpson "Doh!" moment. I realized that the chains have right and left, and as usual, I've had them backwards for two years. The open end of the hook should point away from the gate as shown. While changing them, I noticed the stupid Chevy Duty hardware had 5/16NC thread with 12mm hex. I put regular nuts with a 1/2 hex on. Yes, that's dirt and road salt and rust.