It's all about the small victories and tiny steps for me on this project. I just don't have the time, money or space to go all in on a full resto. And I`m enjoying driving this thing too much to tear into it any deeper at this point.
Finally got the reverse light operational. Replaced the housing and bulb with a new unit and led bulb. OEM is pretty dim. Wasn't getting power to it though. New unit has a separate ground, so rewired a new ground, but still no power. Went hunting for the switch underneath only to learn its easily accessible on the steering column... the column shift linkage actuates it on the 69 and the switch was misaligned and sticking. Adjusted and cleaned it and all is well.
I got the 40 out on the highway yesterday for an extended run at 65-70 to see how the cooling system held. Stayed nice and cool and didn't spike too bad when I got onto the 2 lane and stopped to shut it off. 👍
Only issue was that I noticed the front hubs were flinging a little oil/grease. Already have front and rear rebuild kits coming from cruiser outfitters, that's next. Also have a broken stud on the rear, so will replace that while the axle is out.
Need to find a replacement for those chevy wheels. Can't decide if I should go with oem 15's and hubcaps, city racer 16`s, or maybe swap the 16" 70 series wagon wheels off the 60 onto the 40? 🤔 definitely going to do an OME 2.5" lift too. Stock springs are flat. And what about tires? 😉