So, the day before yesterday I purchased my first old Chevy. (Previously owned a 1967 F100.) I picked up this truck from the original owners son. The original owner passed away around 08' and the truck for the most part has sat since then. The previous owners son did a little bit of work to the truck before deciding the let it go. He got the bench seat reupholstered, the carburetor rebuilt, a new gas tank / sending unit, a new fuel pump,and a new muffler installed. Yesterday I did some work on the truck in the previous owners yard. Installed an aftermarket electric fuel pump as the stock one was not working for some reason. I also had to read up and do some tinkering with the linkages. (Truck is a on the column.) Believe it or not after sitting for almost 10 years I actually managed to drive it home yesterday. The brakes were a bit sketchy and it felt like a wheel cylinder exploded about halfway home. (Was about a 10 miles city drive from my house.) The drive actually went perfectly well aside from having issues with the linkages on the 3 speed column shifter. I eventually got to the point where I just had to keep it in 2nd / 3rd the entire time. It was getting stuck in reverse, then stuck in first, then it was trying to engage 2 gears at once, then I couldn't get it out of gears, it was just a mess. But, in the end it made it home.
What I plan to do with the truck:
I am going to be using this truck as my daily workhorse. I do hardwood flooring / laminate installation and need something reliable that can pull a small trailer, start every morning, haul demo / old carpet / tile / etc. I am not looking for a hot-rod, I prefer everything to be stock which is one of the most appealing things to me about this truck.
What needs to be done:
Considering the truck actually drove home fairly decently not a whole lot actually NEEDS to be done. I could honestly probably get away with doing the brakes, fixing the linkages, and doing a tune up, although there is a good handful of other small issues I would like to address.
Today I am going to AAA and taking care of switching over the title and getting the tags up to date / insuring the truck.
The brakes. I am not too sure how bad the front / back are. I heard working on rear brakes on a C20 is a pain (something about the rear axle having to come apart?). Hopefully that is not the case and addressing the front disc brakes will be more than enough. The truck also has one of the biggest brake boosters I have ever seen, not sure how well it is working if at all. The master cylinder was leaking like crazy on the drive home. The gasket was completely shot so hopefully that is the problem there.
The transmission shift linkages. I don't know where to even begin on this. I watched videos, read books / articles, had a friend who is a Chevy guy come over, and I am still having issues with these linkages. We got them to the point where I could drive the truck fairly well but had to be over-dramatic with the shifts if that makes any sense. Any little slip and things start going out of wack. We adjusted the small sleeve as far left / up as it would go with no success.
Tires. On the way home I stopped at the nearest gas station and put some air in the tires. They were sitting at about 5 psi. The tires are pretty old and cracked. I filled them up to 40 psi and they seem to be holding air just fine but I don't really want to drive around like that. I am planning on getting some new tires pretty soon here. The wheels are 16 inches. The current tires are 225/75/16. I also need to get a spare situated.
Engine gaskets. One of the valve covers leaks onto the exhaust manifold. There is also a small exhaust leak on the drivers side. I have a full gasket kit for a 350 so I plan on taking care of that possibly today.
Tune up. I want to get new plugs, wires, cap / rotor, electronic ignition, oil change was already done, temp gauge doesn't work so I am not too sure how it was running yesterday in regards to temperature so I will probably get a new thermostat. Not too sure what temp thermo to run in this truck.
Electrical. The headlights do not work. I don't think it is the actual headlights but instead the switch or a fuse as the read lights don't light up as well.
Other than that it is just some small stuff that just makes driving the truck more enjoyable but not necessary. For example the tailgate has a hard time staying closed (popped open while driving), can't open the doors from the inside of the truck, speedometer doesn't work, temp gauge doesn't work, glovebox needs to be installed (p/o bought a new one), would like to get a carpet kit installed, would like to get a dash pad, the previous owner gave me a patch panel for the passenger side where there is some rust.
For anyone who didn't see my first post here is the VIN.
CE241Z609459
C = 4x2
E = V-8
2 = 3/4 ton
4 = Pickup
1 = 1971
Z = Fremont, CA
Sequence Number = 609,459
Here is an updated album of photos of the truck:
https://imgur.com/a/WicpB
If you have any recommendations / thoughts feel free to shoot them my way as this is my first Chevy pickup so my knowledge is pretty limited.
King951