the begining!

[littlejimmy]

I am a new member here but have been reading for months on end. I own a 73' GMC Jimmy which my dad bought in 72'. After thirty years of owning the truck I bought it from him two years ago. Well the finances are in order and I have 9k to invest in the truck. I rolled the truck when I was fourteen, weekly "borrowed" the truck growing up ( unknown by the old man.) , Blew the motor when I was fifteen, ect, ect, ect. I sold a 2000 Dodge cummins 4x4 to pay for my madness. The gut wrenching part about my project seems to be that 9k is only going to get me "most" of the way to my goal. The truck has 389,000k miles on it and "looks" better than 85% of the trucks from that date but the body is cancer laden (can only be seen if carpet is lifted up), Steering, Brakes, Engine, Tranny, Transfer case, Diffs and axles, all u-joints need to be replaced or rebuilt and that's before the cosmetics... Looks like I will be with you folks for a while. First to be tackled, Controls= Steering and brakes. Any helpful tips for cheap mild upgrades in these area's would be greatly appreciated.