1979 4x4 vs. 1982 4x4 pick-up, what will swap over?
 

Hi everyone,
I currently own a 1979 4x4 pick-up with 37,000 original miles on it. It is 100% original, I even have original tires. The problem is that it is rotted beyond repair, as it spent it's life in NJ as a plow truck. My goal is to buy a 1st gen pick-up and swap over all of my parts into the "new" truck.
I found an 82 short bed for sale in CA. THe truck has a bad motor and trans, and the interior is stripped, however the body and frame are rust free. What parts from my 79 will swap over? I realize that the headlight system is different, I want the round 79 lights. What about the dash, and the bench seat? Is the engine and trans from the 79 a direct bolt in for the 82? What issues will I deal with in terms of the wiring? How about the tailgate? Is there a way to swap the two latch system over to replace the center latch system on the 82? Any ideas on this project?


Thanks,
Zack

pretty much every thing will swap. the '79 had a 4 speed l43 where the 82 would have had a 5 speed l52.
-Not sure about the tailgate.
-bench seat is a direct bolt in swap
-the dash might be different in the '82 as it probably has a Tach, odometer will be 6 digit instead of 5 like 79-81.

Like said above you will want the L52 5 speed out of the 82 if it can be fixed it is much better than the L43. I dont think the tailgate will swap because my 80 has the two latches on either side where my 83 has the single handle in the middle.

Ok but if I did want to keep the 4spd, will it be a direct bolt in? As far as the tach, and speedo, yes the 82 and 79 are different, but can I swap my 79 parts in?


Thanks,
Zack

Also what about the wires in all areas of the truck? Will the underhood wires be the same? I want my 1979 20R motor.


Thanks,
Zack

some will be....but not all...

if i was you..i would put your 20R head onto the 22R block and use your 20R intake and exhaust and then you will have the 22R/20R hybrid motor that LOVES to rev and puts down some impressive HP numbers!

add a cam, a weber, and a header..and you'll be a little sleeper truck lmao

and the L43 4spd is a P.O.S. get rid of it......it's not very strong..and it's a 4SPEED!? lmao the 5speed is a lot nicer lol

Thanks for the tips everyone. But at this point I want to keep everything 100% stock. I don't want to change the heads or anything. I hope everything wires up properly?

Zack

Zack -
I put the 22r out of an '81 into my '79. It is mostly plug and play, here are the differences.

Are there smog considerations? I live in Cali, and bought my '79 "as is", so I had to smog it. The 20r was blown, and there was no way I was going to rebuild it, and so I got a 22r with 39,000 original miles from a friend. It took <2 weeks to drop the motor in, and about three months to get accurate diagrams to wire in the '81's smog computer. The 22r smog computer probably will not work for the 20r motor.

As far as the 4 speed mating up with the existing transfer case, I'm not sure, but I think so. You might want to do more research, but I am pretty sure it was the same transfer case from '79 to '84. My 22r mated right up to the '79's tranny, that probably bodes well for you.

Don't forget that you will need to transfer the motor mounts from your old truck into the new, the 20r motor mounts were different from the 22r's.

The biggest differences will be electrical. Many of the disconnect plugs for different components were of different size and shape. The actual contacts inside are usually the same, however, so you can cannibalize your electrical connectors by dissasembling them with a pick.

Good Luck!

Well basically my 79 4x4 is totally driveable now with only 37,000 miles on it. So I want to take EVERY part from the 79 and drop it into the 82. All I really want to use from the 82 is the rust free body and frame, and nothing else. So the trans and transfer case and all would come out of the 79. As far as smog "stuff" goes, again I want to stick with everything from the 79. I wonder if I could just pull the wire harness from the 79 and use it in the 82?

Zack

Probably not on the wiring harness, at least not easily. It routes through the firewall on both the drivers and passengers sides, and probably would have to be cut on either side.

However, if you are going as far as to do what amounts to a frame-up resto on that rig, it might be worth de-smogging completely, and just getting an 18 ckt painless wiring harness for 350$...