Hello,

I purchased this truck a few years ago. It was not running and 1 rear wheel was locked up. I initially started fixing it up for my son. Who with a limited license and driver's ed can drive at the age of 14. The more I work on this truck the more I like it, which may mean he might get another vehicle. I have rebuilt a few V-8, never done welding or body work, but plan on attempting. I enjoy the simplicity of this engine and design. I will try to post pictures when I can.

Kelly









Look it's smiling!

 

Just got done reading about your wrecked 3rd Gen and then seen you had this build. Alot of these 2nd gen trucks, the bed may be bad but the rest of he truck can be really solid. Just depends. Check the rear of the frame especially.

Seen you were going to Missouri for a funeral when you wrecked. I currently know where two great beds are at, just dont know what part of Missouri you go to. They are out there, just have to look.

These trucks really are set up nice and easy to work on, and the when done right are just a great fun dependable ride. Looking forward to your build.

 

Terry87.

I appreciate the effort. I took these photos over the summer. I found a Japanese bed in Minneapolis (truck railing on outside, single wall bed). But Thank you.

 

wish i could find something like this for 400$ bucks just needing some work, did you check the frame out on it?

 

Frame had surface rust. I took the bed off, cleaned it up and used POR-15 on it. All the brake lines were rusted and were replaced. I had to replace the fuel sending unit, fuel pump, fuel lines, new cap rotor and wires, and it fired up.

 

Body work takes time and patience. I am not a pro, but I do my own and actually enjoy it. Best thing I could say is to jump in and do it. Any information you might want to know I will give it my best shot. Not much bodywork threads on here, but when they do I subscribe.

 

Thank you! Looking at your builds, you definitely have a skill for the restore. I've put the cart before the horse. I've done a lot of the work but have not posted the pictures yet. I thought I would get around to doing a few per evening.

 

I started the body work. I have had no training in body work. Only what I have read and found on the internet. I figured how bad could it turn out?




I used a wire feed welder to seal up these holes. I learned real quick how thin the metal was by burning a bigger hole. Turned down the welder to the lowest level and used a wet rag to cool the metal and took my time.



Took the bed off to make it easier to work on. I coated the bottom of the bed with black undercoating

 

 

I painted this the truck this past summer, never thinking to start a build thread so I'm just now putting on here. I'm trying to get caught up to my current engine build. Ok this is my first time painting a vehicle. I created this temp paint booth in my shop using 10' 1 1/4" pvc pipe with T's and 90's duc tape and mono-filament tape (Tape that needs to be cut). Using, I believe 4 mill plastic with a width of 12'. I placed furnace filters on the far end and used a squirrel cage type fan (donated by friend) at the opening to draw air through the booth. I am not sure it helped and I'm not sure this temp booth was worth the effort. It did cut down on dust in the paint. What's great about this booth, you do not need to use PVC cement. All you have to do is use a rubber mallet or jam them together. After your done, you can reuse the PVC pipe using the rubber mallet to disassemble. Total cost for the materials was about $140, probably cheaper where you live. It worked ok. However when I kicked on the fan, it drew in the plastic to some degree so you want the plastic as tight as you can get it. I put heavy weights at the bottom to keep it from bowing in. I also hung about 10 sticky fly strips which are not pictured.

 

Painted door jams first.

 

Then I primed and wet sanded.







Wet sanding went really well. It smoothed out the rough primer.

 

Ok I started painting using a base coat/clear coat. Reattached the doors and put the bed on saw horses so I could get to the back of the cab.
















Clear coat







Sorry for the quality this was taken with a cell phone. The bed is just resting on the frame. It is not leveled with the spacers.

 

WOW!! You did a great job on your truck. Looks great. Bet the satisfacton level is way high with you as well. Great job again.

 

Terry,

I'm guessing I'm like you. I like making something new again. I remember when these trucks came out. I always wanted one but could not afford it. I can afford them now, they just need work. I had to buy it when I saw the Beastie Boy's sticker on the rear window. I've always been a mechanic, not a body guy. I found body work fun to do, but I can see all my mistakes that I won't make on the next one! You just have to jump in, what the worst that can happen? You have to redo it. Thanks for all your advice to date.

Kelly

 

I bought this in a kit. It came with a spraygun, 4 canisters of liner, and a hardner. It was easy to use and I would do it again. You need to make sure you rough up the bed well and clean it. I sprayed it in the open. I had a few spots which pealed due to poor prep. The canisters were mixed with the hardner then screwed onto the gun and sprayed. I went over the bedrail. Great stuff but you need to purchase additional canisters to make it thicker.

 

You do really nice body work. Any plans for modification?

 

It's Winter time here so we pulled it into the shop. The shop is not heated but we use a forced air heater. Initially My son and I were just going to fix the broken timing guides, put in an RV cam, with new cover, oil pump, and water pump to include timing sprocket and chain. We were going to do it with the engine in the truck. Eventually we just decided to pull the motor. It was much easier than I thought and I would suggest it if you have the equipment pull the engine. This engine was working fine with only 126,000 on it, but I decided to just redo it so I would know it was done.





















You can see all the plastic timing guide on the right is gone. I found all the chunks in the oil pan.

 

Cleaning off the years of grime.

 

I sent the head off to have it cleaned, checked and resurfaced.








I did not have the block bored out, I honed the cylinders, leaving the crankshaft in place. I looked at the rod bearing and they look good, so I left all the bearing alone. Here are pictures of the honing. I liberally applied oil and kept the hone moving at all times but could not get a cross hatch pattern, but it did look a lot better.



The one on the left is not honed, one on the right is honed. It was tough for me to hone it with the crank in. You have to rotate the crank out of the way as far as you can, to hone it. I broke one honing stone hitting the crank's beefy side (lesson learned). I also attempted to keep the grit off the crank with towels. When completed I sprayed everything off with brake cleaner and re-oil.




Here are the new pistons and rings in place.