So first impressions after driving her for a couple days. I've ridden in it many times, but driving it...
This thing is a hoot. Hot damn.
You put your foot down and your doing 100, like now. It blazes tires. There is no problem of going way over the speed limit, let me tell you.
Brakes, brakes are great. Nice firm peddle, no serious fade, at least as best can be for a 79 pickup; they really aren't as bad as you'd expect from a vehicle that is 38 years old. I'd say the peddle is firmer, if not just as responsive as most 2017 vehicles off the lot. Granted these brakes are fairly fresh.
Throttle response is immediate, absolutely 0 lag. You touch the pedal with the lightest foot and it moves.
The biggest thing is the trans; it's tough to get on it. 1-2 does not like to shift gears at WOT without letting off; then sometimes, not always, it will spit and sputter pretty bad. 2-3 is crisp 80% of the time at WOT, had it do the same thing a few times or feels like it loses 60% of its power and won't gain rpm almost like it's flooding out and misfiring until I let off. Typical driving conditions it drives beautifully. There was some issues with the vacuum modulator and line going to it; it also needs a shifter cable. Kick down at wot works beautifully, all downshifts slowing down are perfect. Just upshifts at WOT are spotty. I know the one plug wire is too short on cylinder #7 and likes to pull off under load so that may have something to do with it running like poop. I also need to figure out why it will not go into second period if I shift manually. I don't think there's anything wrong with the trans in of itself, I think it's just a few kinks that need working out.
The wind noise is infuriatingly bad. That needs to get remidied before anything else.
I feel as if theres more in this engine than my buddy let it have; the Rev limiter is set low at 4500rpm. At that rpm it's still pulling quite strongly. It feels the strongest from 2000-4500 so far. I feel this engine has potential to see 5500 or better. Low end torque is fantastic. It makes great power throughout the Rpm range. I feel like a higher stall wouldn't be a bad idea.
It actually doesn't handle really all that bad. Obviously it's not going to turn corners like a brand new Corvette, but I have no problem taking 75 degree corners at a good click. It does not handle better than my 95 however. I don't feel uncomfortable on most corners going over the suggested speed limit by 20mph. Most typical back road corners are not an issue. Tires don't squeal let alone want to break traction until you start getting real stupid with it. I have yet to. My balls ain't that big yet.
There's some drivetrain vibration around 55mph, I think it's got something to do with the drive shaft, maybe out of balance. U joints aren't making noise, but wouldn't hurt to crawl under it and check them out. The power steering leaks pretty good out of the line I replaced; it never wanted to seal no matter how tight the fitting. So it loses fluid out of the steering box pretty quicky.
The headlights on hi beams are, well you can see if that counts. Lows suck, typical sealed beam stuff. I'm spoiled with my great lights on the 95 that I installed. To the average person they are decent, to me they blow in low light levels; specifically dawn and dusk where its not quite dark but its not light yet either. In total darkness they are pretty good. The cab lights not working/working when they feel like, annoys me. The giant tach is so bright it blinds you, not to menation it's tacky as hell and makes it difficult to see out of the truck while driving. Dash lights are dim, the dimmer don't work they are either on or off. I threw the idea of putting LEDS in the dash, but there's really something about the dim green glow it emits...
The seat needs to be redone. Bad. It's like a couch, that's good, except the couch is wore out. You sit down and you are instantly bottomed out; enough that seeing over the dash is almost a chore.
It needs a head unit and speakers something fierce. The speakers are original and sound effin' terrible. The head unit is old and outdated. They need to go.
But otherwise I am happy with it and thrilled to finally be the owner. I first saw the truck 3 years ago at my local tracks Wednesday cruise night; became good friends with the kid after seeing him post in a mutual Facebook group; I recognized the truck in his profile pictuee. I sent him a find request, he eventually commented on a post I made; got me my current job, and started hanging out a lot. Now I'm the owner of the truck that sparked a great friendship. The first pic I have of this truck is a Snapchat pic of him driving it on the track's ashpalt oval for the roundy round guys, with a caption that said:
Well I :censored:ing got it.
