BillyBob Work-in-Progress Log

WHAT'S NEW is a chronological listing of updates to the BillyBob site.

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

TRAVELS WITH BILLYBOB With apologies to Steinbeck, this area of BillyBob's Garage will be used to log the trips BillyBob and I make together.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS was the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I could accomplish without a garage up until the summer of 2010 when I finally got enough warehouse space to work in. Now, it also includes the continuing work on BillyBob in the shop.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PARTS SHOP The Parts Shop is a repository of How-To articles. Things that I have done over and over enough times to have developed a procedure. This gives me a checklist and saves brain cells.

STEALTH SHOP Urban residence design with large integrated shop and separate living quarters for a relative or renter.

You will need the Adobe Acrobat browser plugin to view these wiring diagrams which are in the PDF file format. This format allows zooming and panning. If you don't have this plugin, it can be downloaded and installed (free) from the Adobe site. The button below will take you there.

BILLYBOB WIRING DIAGRAM Here's the wiring diagram updated with BillyBob's current state 'cepting the third-party strap-on turn-signal director.

STRAP-ON TURN-SIGNAL DIRECTOR/BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT This turn signal and brake light circuit diagram shows the current state of the third-party turn-signal director wiring, which will remain in place until I figure out the problems with the OEM turn-signal director. It also shows the OEM headlight switch.

64. Pacing the Cage

December 1^st 2010  A front spring leaf snapped on the Deerslayer a week ago so I've put BillyBob back in service as the daily driver. Been drivin' him for three days now and it's like old times. He's been idle for more than two years but all it took was a fluids and tire pressure check and off we went. Even went to the Delray Cruise-in last nite with BillyBob.

December 10^th 2010  I arrived at the BillyBob Shop wednesday nite to find this trailer blocking the overhead door. Mine was the only door blocked in the complex. Nobody seemed to know what the deal was. I couldn't put BillyBob inside or get Deerslayer out. I decided to take a vacation day on thursday to see what was up with this deal.

Nothing regarding the trailer happened in the morning so I puttered around the shop. I plugged one of Deerslayer's leaking front tires. A truck driver arrived in the afternoon to hookup and drive the trailer away. He didn't know anything other than that he was to retrieve the trailer. I still don't know which one of my neighbors is responsible. I'm gonna pick up some "Gay Pride" bumper stickers for the next vehicle that blocks my door.

When I found out that there were screws in both of Deerslayer's front tires, it was an excuse to get some more tools. I ordered a nylon prybar assortment to get the tight-fitting dogdish hubcaps off Deerslayer's wheels (without damage to wheel or cap) and a generic tire puncture repair kit. Both were ordered thru Amazon because I have "Prime" shipping with them (no charge for many items for $79/year).

BillyBob has been the daily driver for two weeks now. I've even been using the radio and heater on a few of my morning trips to the Krash Pad. The rear main seal is leaking to the point that I'm losing a quart a week to the pan I place under the truck everytime I stop. I put a quart of Bars Main Seal Repair in last weekend but it didn't help. I would have been very surprised if it had helped. I believe the problem is the loose neoprene seal I put in some time ago. My plan is to put in a rope seal tomorrow.

December 13^th 2010  Well, that didn't go 'xactly as planned. Does it ever? Got off to a good start saturday morning. Got BillyBob's front end up on jackstands after removing his spark plugs so I could rotate the engine from underneath easily if I had to. Placed the jackstands under the frame behind the spring perches so the suspension would drop down and give me a lot of room to get the pan off. I wanted to avoid the problems getting the pan off that I had when I did it with the truck sitting on the ground at the Krash Lab.

When I got the pan off, I discovered how badly I had mangled the gasket the last time I put it on and realized I wouldn't be able to reuse the gasket. Have to order one on monday. Got the breaker bar out and loosened the rear main cap bolts before I retreated to my comfy chair in the corner and polished off a few Iron City beers. On sunday, I made another run to the BillyBob warehouse bay in Boca to bring back another load in the crippled Deerslayer.

December 18^th 2010  About the middle of the week, I discovered a lot of bruising on my right calf. I'm thinkin' whiskey-tango-foxtrot? I don't remember hitting my leg on anything. It finally dawned on me that it came from bracin' myself against the frame when I was under BillyBob tryin' to break loose the rear main bolts. Damnation! This getting old is a crock of spit!

December 22^nd 2010  Last nite wuz "garage girl" pinup photoshoot nite at the BillyBob Shop. Rob, who owns the Merc leadsled, came by with Boneyard and a photog and gals in tow. We pushed BillyBob out of the way and set up the Merc to appear as if the engine was going in. Then we sat back with beers and cigars and watched the magic. I couldn't take shots during the shoot because my crappy camera flash would trigger the photog's lights and mess with his shots. I got one pic of the model, Michele, tho'. It was a fun nite and there will probably be more photoshoots at the BillyBob Shop in the future.

December 27^th 2010  I had friday (Christmas Eve) off. In the morning, I visited BillyBob's Boca warehouse bay and hauled a wire shelving unit back to the BillyBob Shop in the crippled Deerslayer. My landlord dropped by and told me that someone had dumped an "entertainment center" shelving unit behind the building which he had dragged to the curb. He thought that I might want to grab it before the city hauled it off. I went back behind the building with Deerslayer in late afternoon and picked it up. It was heavy particleboard, about 150 lbs and bulky. I had to lever it up into the bed since I didn't have the musclepower to lift it outright. It is sturdy and will make a nice addition to the BillyBob Shop.

December 30^th 2010  Got around to placing the entertainment center shelving unit last nite. I've decided that this will be where most of the BillyBob Shop detailing supplies and tools will be stored. I am slowly getting things organized into different categories around here. It's a nice luxury after years of draggin' stuff out of and into the storage shed at the Krash Lab on work days.

I haven't been gettin' much done in the BillyBob Shop yet. I'm trying to get motivated with only limited success. Experiencing something like cabin fever but, since I'm in south Florida, it's more akin to "pacing the cage".

January 24^th 2010  Still spinnin' my wheels pussyfootin' around. Friday, on my way home from the Krash Lab, I get a call. I pull over and call my friend, Johan, back. They are working on French's chebby again. It's a starter problem that left him stranded last week. I run by the BillyBob shop and pick up a couple of my starter motors and some beer.

There's quite a bit of activity at the Johan shop when Deerslayer and I get there. Several members of the now disbanded Saints and Sinners car club are there, workin' on different tasks, either on cars or the shop itself. I misunderstood Johan on the phone. They needed a dashboard starter pushbutton, not a starter. I had a toggle switch like Deerslayer uses up at the Krash Lab so French and I took a ride up there to get it.

When we got back, there was pizza and more beer to take care of. French fiddled around with the toggle switch until he lost one of the terminal screws and gave up for this session. Rod was making interior upolstery panels for his Merc. Bryan (Buggsy) and Joel were hanging buick and chrysler hoods on the wall to get them off the shop floor and Johan was fabbin' square tubing supports for Craig's (Krashman) pickup bed. I wuz inspired (shamed) into getting my butt in gear at the BillyBob Shop but it wore off after a couple of days.

Today, at lunchtime, I went to the BillyBob warehouse bay to pickup another load to take back to the BillyBob Shop. Damnation! My procrastination had resulted in the Renegade's battery being dead again. I was able to get enuf stuff around the dead jeep for a load and I brought the jeep battery back with me too.

January 31^st 2010  Last monday, I found a "button" type switch in the stuff Tony gave me when I picked up Deerslayer. I dropped it off at Johan's shop on monday nite. On thursday nite, French called and I went back over to the shop again with my two spare starters. My button switch turned out to be too big but French had picked up one like his old one on ebay. He was able to make one good switch from the two he now had in his possession. He had put a new solenoid on his starter too but the problem remained. As soon as the battery was connected, the starter would spin. I suspected a solenoid problem even tho' it was new.

We tried it without the button wire even connected to the solenoid and the starter still turned as soon as the battery was connected. French swapped in the starter from Jarle's chebby and it worked. Finally, French put Jarle's solenoid on his starter. That worked and we called it a day.

The guy with the bay next to BillyBob's Shop works at an import shop in Miami. He told me the other day that the shop was replacing all their two-post lifts and did I want one. He hasn't gotten back to me with details but I started thinking about where I could put a two post lift and still get the same number of rides in there too. I might be able to do it if the lift was placed behind where Deerslayer is in this pic taken from the storage loft. We'll see.

February 8^th 2010  On superbowl sunday, I wuz hangin' out in the BillyBob Shop office (the flamingo room) when a knock came at the door. It was one of the cute gals from the photo studio a few bays down. She asked if they could do a pinup photoshoot usin' the BillyBob Shop and trucks. I sez shure! We set up, 'nother gal went for beer and I got a couple of shots too.

DEDICATION

This BillyBob Log entry is dedicated to the memory of Steve "Oldsub" Hanberg.

On January 3, Steve's friend, Jeff Erickson (who goes by the screename "Rustednuts"), informed the OldGMCtrucks forum that Steve had passed on after a long struggle with cancer. He was actually holding his own with the cancer but it appears that a staph infection got him in his weakened state. Steve was known far and wide on the many truck boards. He was a visitor to the BillyBob website as I was to the Oldsub site and, again, I will miss an Internet friend that I never got the chance to meet, face to face. Thanks to Joe Mendola for the photo of Steve.

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Issued Tuesday February 15, 2011

Updated Thursday April 12, 2018

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