First of all I gotta say I love this forum compared to Pirate....alot friendlier. Well here's the scoop, on Saturday I will be picking up a 1981 4x4 pickup. I've been readin up this past week and a half to get prepared. I plan on doing a full tune up and getting the Weber 32/36 card right away. I've been looking at a Performence DUI distributor and wondering if anyone has any experience with them. I'd like to add a slight lift down the road, but was wondering if the truck should clear 32's stock as I can get some new tires and rims pretty cheap from a bud. One last thing.....this beast hasn't been run(other than started to prove it does run) for about 8 years, anything other than my current plans and oil/coolant change I should be lookin at? Maybe an aftermarket radiator if there is such a thing....thanks in advance

 

Chances are you'll need to get the brakes done.

 

if its been sitting, flush the brakes, oil, coolant, gas, power steering, if it has it.. pretty much any and all fluids. grab a grease gun and lube up all your joints and driveline connections. it should clear 32s decently, if it rubs, hammer down the pinch weld

 

The truck will clear 31's with no problem, 32's if you've got the right offset (backspace) wheels. Ten bucks says the front right side sits 3/4" lower than the left, though. As for the Weber and the distributor, I would say do a complete fluid flush and change, check your brakes, seals, etc., and get the thing running good before you dive into intake or ignition mods.

 

i am thinking the opposite, most of them seem to sag to the left because of the driver...
in addition to what has been mentioned you are probably going to find that you have leaky knuckles, consider a good front end rebuild kit like:
marlin knuckle kit (half way down on this link: http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/axles.htm)
or Trail gear (some people bitch about the bearings but I know tons of people that have no problem with them) http://trail-gear.com/knuckle-service.html

Pull up the carpeting and check under the floorboards, the windshield and rear window like to leak and you end up with stuff like this after years of it:

 

well brought it back yesterday....$780 total including gas for my buddy's flatbed to haul it about 175 miles or so....the frame is solid, rust on the bedsides of course...the cab floor is somewhat rusty and looks like one of the body mounts will need to be repaired eventually....came with an extra carb and gauge cluster....the interior is pretty damn good for the age, no cracks on the dash and the door panels are good....plus the headliner is not sagging at all....all in all pretty pleased

 

A couple other maintanance things...

1. Change all the filters ie. fuel filter, air filter, oil filter (that ones obvious for when you change the oil)

2. It would be a good idea to change all the fluids including transmission, transfer case, both differentials, coolant, oil (obviously)

3. The tires on there are definately no good after sitting for 8 years, but you already mentioned you were going to change those

 

i bought my '83 that way, it had sat for 6 years without being started, i did a full tune up- bled the brakes and clutch and greased u-joints.

i didnt have any problems except contamination in the fuel lines made it not want to start a few times, and a few various parts fell off as i was driving. however it all sorted its self out in the first month or so.

best advice i can give is get it functional and drive it as much as you can

 

funny story....my dad showed me a 1983 SR5 pickup that has apparently been sitting behind a building about 5 blocks from my house for the past 4 years.....the frame n body are both in better shape than mine, but all the windows are broken out and it's obviously been sitting for some reason, I think I'll snoop around an see if the owner is willing to part with it.....they did have one of those rubber bed mats which has of course been collecting water the last 4 years, but still it's easier to replace the bed floor than the sides at least IMHO....

 

 

Hey Ocdropzone: Where did you get the pics of my floorboard? Your pics look exactly the way mine does.

Crtzlow

 

i have 33x12.50's on mine and they only rub the pinch weld. couple smacks with a 5lbs sledge and it doesn't rub very bad anymore.


hey, where are the pictures of your new ride?

Al

 

yeah- it sucks, windshield must have been leaking for a few years before I bought the truck....seems to be pretty common

yep X2, one of the first requirements to start a truck thread is to have a digital camera and a photobucket account

 

still waitin to here about the 83, as far the 81, the digital got broke a while back an I just never replaced it.....it's amazing how little things last with 3 toddlers running around the house....

 

take some pictures with one of those disposable cardboard cameras, take it to wal-mart and have them develop them on CD. its cheap and will keep us from nagging at you to get pictures.

Al

 

Sounds like a good purchase with a good future. I bought an 83 a couple of days ago(sorry about thread jacking) I'm wondering about steering, feels like power steering without the power part. like standard wheel travel with higher effort. any advice?

 

good deal lil mule, i would recommemd a thorough power wash at your local coin op, will make it easier to see if anything isn't right underneath, or evict the mice.

 

its probably because you have the ever elusive invisible power steering pump.


oh wait, its not invisible. it doesn't exist.

these trucks have manual steering. but you can put power steering on them fairly easy.

Al

 

well I got an update on the 1983, the guy is willin to sell it, but I'll need new windows and I have to replace the head gasket.....any idea how hard that will be? BTW I gotta get pics b/c there is little to no rust on the floor & frame of this thing!!! like I said the bed floor sucks b/c of the rubber mat they had "protecting" it tho...

 

I had a 86 F350 without power steering, and you were just playing dj with the steering wheel. This one is building arm muscle so I was kinda confused I guess. My first carb, no power anything to break down truck