Picking up a M1008, I have a few questions.

Sharecropper said:

You should read posts 301 through 315 in my rebuild thread. There are issues with the compressor mounting brackets furnished with the Nostalgic kit. These issues can be corrected but not easily. Nostalgic does not produce the mounting brackets, but instead purchases them from Component Parts Inc. in Houston, a small mom & pop machine shop which does not have a website and does not accept credit cards. Nostalgic then re-sells the brackets along with their AC kit.

There are differences between the Nostalgic and Vintage AC kits. As previously stated, the Nostalgic kit includes the compressor brackets, however the Vintage kit does not. The Nostalgic kit provides AC only and leaves the 35-year-old heater core in place. In contrast, the Vintage kit completely replaces the entire heater box and core, and blends dry conditioned air to the new defrost plenums. This blending of dry conditioned air will clear a fogged windshield much faster and more efficiently than the OEM heater-only defrost mode. Also, the Nostalgic kit utilizes the OEM cable-operatied control panel, where the Vintage kit completely replaces the factory panel and cables with a new electronic panel.

For my P400/700R4 build, I purchased the compressor brackets directly from CPI in Houston, and purchased the Sanden compressor from Summit racing. When the time comes, I will also purchase the condenser from Summit, and then purchase the behind-the-dash evaporator unit from Vintage.

Hope this helps.

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What a bummer, sounds like we have to modify kits that were intended for these trucks in particular. I am local to CPI in Houston, I wonder if I took them a truck if they would be willing to modify and correct the brackets for these trucks to offer in the future. It's a good thing that we are coming up on the cooler time of the year so I have time to get this all worked out by late spring.

Tex68w said:

What a bummer, sounds like we have to modify kits that were intended for these trucks in particular. I am local to CPI in Houston, I wonder if I took them a truck if they would be willing to modify and correct the brackets for these trucks to offer in the future. It's a good thing that we are coming up on the cooler time of the year so I have time to get this all worked out by late spring.

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Tex - the issues with the CPI compressor brackets can be overcome fairly easily, however the spacer that they include with the crankshaft pulley will not align the belt to the compressor properly. And since I am such a stickler for proper alignment, I had to determine the correct spacer thickness and then have my machine shop produce one at a cost of around $150. CPI includes a 1/4-inch spacer, however to properly align the belt with the compressor pulley a 3/4-inch spacer was required. It would have probably worked Ok for a while, but an out-of-alignment belt creates heat and stress which will destroy a belt in a short time. And since my engine is still on my shop stand, it was easy for me to make the modifications for correct operation. I can only imagine the difficulty of adding the brackets and pulley to an engine already in the truck, and also aligning the belt. That is why I documented the issues and corrective steps so thoroughly in my rebuild thread.

The lady at CPI that you have to speak with is a Ms. Lillian. She and I had several lively phone discussions. She informed me that she had worked at CPI for over 30 years and remembered Dwight D. Eisenhower as president. When I told her of the issues with the kit, she referred me to the man who originally designed the brackets, a fellow named Herb. I spoke with him on the phone and explained the issues with the kit, and he said that he would look into it and call me back. I never heard back from him. So I decided to fix the issues myself. Post #308 in my thread shows the extreme misalignment. Posts #315 and #327 show the finished compressor install.

Hope this helps.

I'm sure this info can be found deep in a thread somewhere on this site, but I'll ask anyways. Where is the best place to get new front signals, side markers, and rear tail lights? I plan to replace the head lights with a simple Sylvania Silverstar unit unless there are better suggestions.

You can just do what I did and make a couple big orders from rockauto. There is plenty of selection. Buy for an 84 K30. If you do, learn from me and make a small purchase first and wait for a discount code to show up in your email before your big one lol.

This is mine with original saggy springs on 9-16LT Power King bias ply tires. On 7 inch wide wheels that are the same as the original steel wheel offset.

When off the vehicle, they measure 35 inches tall and 9 inches across. I trimmed the front fender near the cab a tiny bit and the front lower corner of the lower fender with a cut off wheel. I use a second set of wheels for the off road tires, and my street tires for day to day usage. It's easier to fit a tall narrow tire versus the 12.5 sizes available, but 35x10.5 tires are limited in selection and pricey. These ran me just a touch more than 700 new, special order from NTB

Tex68w said:

I'm sure this info can be found deep in a thread somewhere on this site, but I'll ask anyways. Where is the best place to get new front signals, side markers, and rear tail lights?

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LMCTruck has it all. You might want to consider switching to LEDs.

Tex68w said:

I plan to replace the head lights with a simple Sylvania Silverstar unit unless there are better suggestions.

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The headlight circuit on these beasts is badly overloaded. I suggest either going with LEDs, or your Silverstars, but with a headlight relay kit. This takes the load of the headlights off the headlight circuit.

Headlights: LEDs are expensive and my pockets weren't that deep at the time. Went with the Hella H4 conversion units. Much better than stock. Then relay the headlights so you're not sucking all the juice through the switch!

All the other signals and lens stuff, fleaybay buy it now. I do all the ordering for the shop i work part time at. If i can get parts cheaper i order on-line....alot! I figure out part numbers, then look for the lowest price with shipping.