Just thought I'd relate my latest tale of another LUV that would have otherwise been left to rot being revived. I have been sorta waiting until I got it on the road and some of the bugs worked out, but at last its what I'd call a runner. I sold my white 79 4x4 a while back, which came to me full of problems from wiring and mechanical issues to abused interior and a horrible body lift. When it left, I had brought it up to nice looking inside/out and a solid daily driver. Now I'm starting back up with another basket case. This one has years of prior-owner-shouldn't-own-tools-itis.
The latest patient is another 79 4x4. This time its black, well sort of. The last owner painted it with textured trunk paint. You know the stuff with all those little chunks of blue gunk in it? It also has 60 series tires on chrome outer/gold center modular 15 inch rims. Not exactly a match for a 4x4. The doors, hood, and bed all appear to have been swapped from a yellow 77 truck. The cab and fenders are original and were once white with a dual pinstripe down the side. There is a dent in the back right corner of the bed (easy fix) and both rocker panels have a little bit of a ding in them, but the whole body is rust free. The interior is downright nasty looking with two exceptions. The seat was not long ago recovered in plain brown vinyl, and the floor has only a little surface rust under the scraps of black carpet. The dash of course is toast, but it is limited to cracks on the upper portion, so a cap should cover all the bad spots.
Mechanically, it has good and bad. I started with what I thought was a head gasket problem, but found the head was cracked into the #3 combustion chamber. I put a good head together with the bottom end and it runs, though with a slight knock at mid rpms. It runs solid and has good compression and oil pressure so for know its good enough. I had to pull both calipers apart and clean the crud out so they wouldn't stick, and it needs a wheel bearing repack on the side that was really getting hot. (both sides really though) The idler arm bracket bushing is totally shot, but the rest of the steering linkage is still fairly tight.
I had an uphill battle getting it just roadworthy. The gas tank had a half inch of some pinkish crud in the bottom, enough to clog the pickup tube. Most of the lights were screwed up somehow or another. It has 4 headlights, but only two were wired. Three out of the four were actually factory original Toshiba bulbs that still put out light.
Here's the list of what has been done so far:
Head and gasket replaced
Oil changed 2x, seafoam added first time to clear glop
Weber 32/32 carb installed (manual choke, not staying long, my test carb)
Brake calipers rebuilt, good pads installed
Replaced taillight assemblies (had paint on lenses and broken parts behind)
Cleaned paint from lenses on front turn signals
Replaced broken grill
Replaced broken headlight surrounds with ones polished down to chrome
Cheap Grant steering wheel replaced with Mikado wheel
Rewired 4 headlights into 2 light harness, relays to bat in progress
Headlights upgraded to halogens
Fuel tank replaced (now to fix the F--$@#! guage sender in the rplcmt tank)
Rear diff pinion nut retorqued, hoping to hold off rebuild for a while
rewired fuel pump to relays instead of acc hot wire
Paint overspray removed from all outer window surfaces (ugh, it was nasty)
Wiper shaft seals replaced
Windshield gasket leak sealed
Next on the list:
Patch a crack at the muffler inlet (until I can get it in to have 2"+ pipe run)
Repack front wheel bearings/hubs and replace a broken lug bolt
Straighten front bumper (its not bad, but has a couple of areas that need help)
Swap carb to stocker, need auto choke back, might try the 32/36 I have before it gets put on my 77 though
Pull fuel tank sender and repair/replace
Replace heater control valve(slight leak)
So far I'm out $150 for the truck, $25 for a head gasket, another $30-40 in intake/exhaust gaskets and hoses. Actually, almost all the gaskets/hoses I had stocked up before I ever bought the truck. Everything else has been has been sweat equity and parts pulled from my collection. I took a gamble on the head not having it machined/cleaned at a shop, but that would have cost almost as much as the truck.
It is well within spec for flat, and after I got done it was almost as clean as a freshly shaved job. So, from junker to driver, it has cost me around $250 to get this one back on the road. The only cost at the time I put it together was oil, filters, antifreeze, and can of Seafoam. Won't be long at all and I'll have more in gas spent than money on the truck.
Plans for the future? I have thoughts of lift, tires/wheels, maybe 2.3l or 2.6l isuzu motor, but one thing is for certain. There will be a full paintjob, the trunk paint has to go, and soon
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