[Street Lethal '72]

So.. What a flippin' nightmare that was...

Let's start yesterday at 8am.. I board the plane to fly to Tampa to get the truck.. The plane moves about 2 feet, stalls, and will not re-start. They send us back into the terminal, and an hour later, put us on the same plane.. nice. But okay.

I get there, the guy picks me up in the truck.. on the way he ran it out of gas, so he gets gas, shows up, it stalls a few times in the pick up lane due to air in the line (visible at the filter), finally purged it and off we go.. I can see during this time, that the cab of the truck is indeed destroyed.. which I expected.. but the attempted repairs I saw I did not expect.. more later.

We go straight to the DMV and transfer everything tag ect. The truck ran great and shifted smooth. Okay, I drive away. I get about 40 miles out of Tampa headed to Miami, and the whole rear suspension drops, slams the bed onto the big fat tires, immediately cuts one in half.. I go fish tailing off into the grass.. no control. If I tapped the brakes it went sideways, if I let it slow on its own.. the fish tail. Either way, a delicate combination of the two puts me in the grass... safe as could be anyway.

I spend 3 hours on the side of the road, in the *****in' heat, getting eaten alive by mosquito's, weighing my options.. 201 miles from my house. Find I dropped my only source of money (a credit card) somewhere along teh way. I call and cancel it while I am waiting. End result, a $500 tow home.. after haggling that my girlfriend would have the cash on the other end.. my day finally ends after a total of 12 hours, with a total of 4 originally expected.

On to the truck..

Things I didn't know, first.

I didn't know the wiring harness had been ripped apart and speaker wire run in its place. The steering column has been gutted, no turn signals, and the steering wheel welded on. The turn signal wiring had been hacked to the brake switch, so it had functioning brake lights. He also purposefully only wired up one headlight (?). The column is also apparently missing all the shaft bearings as you can move it a good inch in every direction. It looks like the harness was all there, until he hacked it. The air bag system is rigged from beginning to end, and apparently goes no where near 100 miles on a fresh fill (like he described to me it would, "for sure"). Also, the drivers door does not stay shut, unless you hold it shut, then lock it. The bench seat was not bolted down, and the seat belts removed. He also says after I have it in drive, "Oh yeah, if your going to park it for more than an hour, disconnect the battery.. it will drain."

The tire damage, wiring, air bag set up, and steering wheel:











The cab and firewall were indeed rusted through, apparently the repair was to fill it all with spray foam, cover it in a thin layer of bondo to the shape of the spray foam, then spray paint it black or white (inside and out):






The gas tank had been relocated to the bed. It is a ten gallon box, and the cab fill hole still wide open (rain run rights in):




Also, none of the gauges work. The odometer has stalled, and the speedo goes to 100 as soon as you start moving. It has an over-sized radiator from some other truck, zip tied in, and no overflow tank:



This truck also had the OEM side bed tool box, which after he explained how rare it was, described to me how he fiber-glassed the hole shut, and bondo'd over it. The slab of bondo is falling out, I am going to try to rescue this:



BUT, there is some good. The 350 runs strong as hell, no smoke, and only light leaks. Never missed a beat. The trans is also operating perfectly, 2 large but easily repaired leaks. It even drove straight as an arrow down the road, and real smooth. The chassis is in great condition, with the exception of rusty bed cross members:





The cab actually has a solid floor pan. It needs a drivers side fender, but the hood and hinges are near perfect:



All in all, I am not happy, but after a nights sleep, have decided to move forward.

The list:

To make it move again -

1. 2 tires
   
2. Repairing the suspension, dropping the air bag system. I am not the type to do a quick fix, so expect the full suspension replaced and upgraded. I am getting a quote now for the parts.

To make it legal/safe:

1. Fix speedo
   
2. Bolt seat back in
   
3. Re-Install seat belts
   
4. Wiring Harness
   
5. Steering Column
   
6. Steering Wheel
   
7. Repair drivers door
   
8. Replace missing marker lights

To make it go farther than 100 miles:

1. New gas tank, going under bed. Also, hook fuel gauge back up.

I can actually do all of this here shortly. Then I will be moving on to:

1. LF Fender
2. Core Support
3. Multiple Bed Repairs - Wood Bed, Front Panel, Repair Sides
4. Tail Gate
5. Cab
6. Door Repairs
7. Figure Out Aux Gauges

Wish me luck