Holyfield19

My name is Rob, and I have a problem........

I have had the itch for a while to get my hands on an early 80's pickup. I found one in Ga after searching for a while, and decided to go have a look. Against my better judgement I decided to buy it, loaded it up and brought it home: 03/13/15



Here it sits in my driveway:



20R motor 4 speed L43 trans. 32x10.50R15 Super Swamper TSL radials.
It runs and drives. 4WD works really well, and the frame is in good shape. The L43 trans needs some help, hopefully I can get some of the play out of it with a shifter bushing kit, until it gets replaced.

After going over it at the house more and more, I found that it will take a bunch more work than I had intended to get it back on the road.

So I bring in number two now: 03/28/15




Found this little gem not far from the house. Made the guy an offer and we made a pretty good deal. This cab is an 83' and in very good shape:








The dash is complete with original tape deck and all climate controls, everything is still attached to the firewall, and the wiring harness and ECU are still in one piece and not all hacked up. The head liner cleaned up nicely.

The plan is to swap out the cabs, and bring this back to life as a DD. It may take a while, but I will update progress as I go. I have always wanted to do something like this. I may be in over my head, but I will enjoy learning as I go. I know it is an older truck and nowhere near perfect but I plan to make it mine. I may ask for some help along the way, after all its my first time restoring something.

rattlewagon

81 doesn't look that bad? Whats so wrong with it that you need to swap out the cab?

Holyfield19

There is nothing inside of it. The floors are gone, replaced with metal from street signs. The fuse box is gone, and wiring harness has been hacked up. Windsheild frame is leaking pretty bad. Guage cluster is broke, the speedo is the only thing that works. The drive train is good, along with the axles and frame. I'm not trying to make a serious toy out of it. I am looking to bring it back more as a reliable DD. I know it will not have all the comforts of my 06' Sport, but I just want something to tool around and Back and forth to work in. The 83 cab I picked up is in much better shape, and didn't really cost me much at all. I figured there would be less work in swaping cabs and a few parts here and there, than trying to scrounge around for parts to fix up the 81 cab.

Holyfield19

When i'm all done with the 81 cab, i may try to sell it, scrap it (which I don't want to do), or sit on it if I need anything else off it body wise.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

the 83 fuse box uses the blade style fuses, much better than the 81 glass style fuses

if you were on the wrong coast i would make you on offer on the roof secton of your 81 cab. I want to fill in my sunroof..

oh and your replacement cab is certainly a gem...my spare cab was stripped and has core support damage, but it was free

Holyfield19

Yes, I may just hang onto the 81 cab for whatever. My father is a gear head and has always worked on cars. He built himself a 32' Ford Model A from nothing. Anyway, when i was really little, there was a body from a 30' something 4 door sedan hanging from the ceiling of our garage. He always said it was his next project (but he never did anything with it). I might get a wild hair when i'm done with this one, never know.

The 83 cab is in really good shape. Minor dings and dents, but they can be fixed. The only concern I have is a little rust, right under the gas pedal. I was thinking about maybe cleaning it off real good, and fiberglassing in something. Does that seem legit? I'm new at this so i'm not really sure. Any tips or advice I can get I will gladly accept.

Also, should I try to remove all of that sound deadening material or whatever it is? The black plastic/rubber stuff on the floor boards. It is already chipped up in some spots.

Holyfield19

As I was reading the desmog thread, I was thinking about the 81' sitting in the driveway. When I got home I popped the hood to look inside, and low and behold, non of the stuff in my engine bay is hooked up either. Only thing about that is, there are a ton of loose, open vacuum lines hanging around in there. It has a factory carb on it now, fuel pressure regulator, and gauge. I guess I am going to read back through that thread and see what I can figure out.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Looks like a great little project you have. Will be a great learning experience for you and something I think you will be glad when done. Looking forward to your build and welcome to Yotatech.

Holyfield19

Made a little progress yesterday. I called the two biggest guys I work with to come help me get the cab off the trailer in my driveway. Lucky for me, they will work for a cold beer.

Unfortunately, it is raining today, so I may not be removing the bed and wheels like had wanted to do off the 81'.

Holyfield19

Made some progress today. Bed, and bumpers have been removed. Broke out the old angle grinder and wire wheel. Cleaned off the frame. Looks good cleaned up. I did find a bad spot, in a bad spot. Between the frame and gas tank. Can anyone direct me to a good cab swap write up? Or maybe some tips?

Holyfield19

Frame should be ready but I will probably wire wheel it again. I would like to prime and paint it so it is real.nice. 1 step forward, 2 back it seems There is always something else it seems, something you didn't see at first.

Holyfield19

Does anyone know if doors from a 1981 will fit on a 1983 cab?

I was looking at my cabs and fenders, and it seems the 81 fenders are longer from wheel to door. I had planned on putting the doors from my 81 on the 83 cab.

slacker

iTrader: (1)

79-83 are the same , only real difference is if it is vent window or not , but those are interchangeable as well .. so yes

fenders are also the same

.

Holyfield19

How do I fix this?

Fiberglass?

Driver side floor board. The worst part is right in front of the gas pedal. Passenger floorboard looks great. I just thought I could lay some fiberglass mat around on the floor and do the same on the underside.

RylanBegley

Man, cool find. Look forward to following your progress.

Holyfield19

I was able to get some work done this weekend:

Holyfield19

Someone please tell me the best wa to get the factory sound deadened off the floor.

It appears it is just going to take about all day with a putty knife, grinding wheel, and a sander.

I need to fix some holes in the floor board on the driver side. I was going to use the POR-15 floor pan and trunk kit. I need to get all the deadener off the floor.

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

IIRC in reading through the threads here, someone used dry ice. Put a layer over the deadener, set for a few minutes, then pop it off. Guess it freezes it or makes it stiff enough to pop it off. A lot less messier than a heat gun/scraper. I'll try to find the thread. Found this one!!!!https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...hlight=dry+ice

Holyfield19

A gasket scraper and about an hour got me this far.

kawazx636

iTrader: (3)

You are going to regret using filler on that rust damage. That section of the fender needs to flex quite a bit just to get it properly mounted and aligned on the cab - it won't take much for that for that filler to crack under your paint. The proper way to repair that would be with mostly metal work and very minimal filler.

Dry ice and a putty knife - chips right off. DO NOT USE HEAT! Heat just makes it stickier and harder to remove. On my truck I got a little lucky in that it was dried up pretty good and just chipped right off with little effort, but still annoying. On other cars I have helped out on, dry ice was the easiest. Most welding, gas supply or medical supply retailers will have dry ice available.