Thought I'd just sum up my progress and questions here instead of starting a new thread for every little thing. Picked this ol' truck up a couple weeks ago for a thousand bucks. Was sitting in a friend's back yard for the last few years. Different carb, new gas and battery got her running well enough to come 5 miles home. I've been slowly going at it piece by piece and trying to gain some direction for the project. Mainly I wanted a truck that will haul materials to and from my house remodel project (I live in a log cabin from the 1800s that is also mostly original...), with a bit of hauling for my part time work in gardening/landscape installations. But I also love old cars and would love to have her looking good. So my ethos for this one is to fix it up as best I can, not worrying about making it original or OEM so much as reliable, functional, and presentable.
Truck was originally dark green with a 292. Now it is white and rust-colored with a 250. Interior has a bench seat from some modern truck which sits very high on spacers and necessitates a small steering wheel (the one that came with the truck is gold sparkle.. awesome.). Hoping to sort both of those out so I can have a little more clearance for a properly sized wheel. Have power brakes but no PS. Odometer says 43,000, but I'm thinking it's rolled at least once. Does appear to have been parked more than used, so it's possible those are original miles, but doubt it with the engine swap.
So far I have installed an aftermarket/universal wiring kit and fuse panel, so every wire in the truck is new except the taillight harness and reverse wire from trans. Best I can tell, everything works except the wiper motor. Also new alternator (GM one-wire, I hate external voltage regulators
Fluids are new, everything's been cleaned under the hood. Have a leak at pinion seal on the differential which I will be tending to this week. Rear brakes are cold after driving around so I'm anticipating new wheel cylinders and such back there. Rotted oak bed is removed, looks like someone tried to tow something very heavy (or yank the truck out from somewhere) by one of the rear crossmembers, but the frame still looks straight.
I've got rusted cab corners, ok rockers bondo's over rotted rockers, rust over the windshield inside, rust on doors, and rusted fenders and inner fenders. Looks like it had a makeover restoration sometime in the 80s.
Never tried it before, but I'm in the market for a TIG welder so I can actually work on the body myself. Will take some practice I'm sure but doesn't seem impossible.
Things I am looking for within reasonable driving distance:
Front bumper
Wiper motor
Thanks 67-72chevytrucks.com