Yeah, the guy who bought it was Samoan and totally, well, 'L.A.'d it out.... SAD lol.

 

Nice find on the single cab!!! You're already making some quick progress! I hope everything works out for you and goes smoothly so you can make a quick sale!

 

Hello Mark..When I get the bed off I plan on cleaning it up and painting it black. It has a solid frame on it.

I should be in Joplin tomorrow and will see if I can find that Blazer again. It really looks like that one you had.

Thanks Ed.. I plan on flying thru this one. I have been making some fast progress on it but only because I have done this a time or two.lol (6 times overall).

 

Well my runner is at dads. Hated for it to go but it would only be in the way and dont want to keep the neighbors happy. If all goes well I hope to have it back soon and some major progress should happen if all goes as planned.

Been working on getting some of the old paint off. My youngest son was using 40 grit and me going over it with 80 grit on the drivers side. That is some tough paint that they used on it.

Did pull the seat and carpet out of it to give it a good cleaning as I will be in there working and it was dirty. Carpet came really clean. Just waiting for it to dry.

The motor will turn over with a wrench so that is good. Someone used a regular clip on the starter hook up so will need to fix that. They have rigged up some trailer lights which is one of my pet peeves and I will get it corrected also.

The PO did tell me that it wouldnt start unless you use that Clutch Start Cancel switch. Looks like the 80 amp fuse is blown and they wired around it and somehow ran a wire from the fuse area to the steering column. Just dont understand why people dont do things right.

Got alot done just nothing really picture worthy. Here is the 'Before" and think the "After" pic will do some good.

 

Wife isnt working until school starts again so I shut off my laptop and it isnt as easy update my thread as we all have to share the home computer.

Just got the truck running. Sounds great. I wouldnt start and I could hear the starter solenoid clicking. Couldnt find anything in Haynes or FSM on testing it. I then replaced the Ignition system and had my oldest to bump the starter and I tapped on the starter and one of the two got it cranking. Put in some frresh fuel and it fired up after getting fuel thru the lines.

Been working on the truck bed and have ALOT of time wrapped up in it. The PO had some metal laying in the back and rusted the floor out that it needs replaced. I will patch the side walls up with fiberglass as I dont have a welder to do patch panels and the experience. It will still look good and overall the truck is really solid. Frame is excellent and cab is rust free, just has some dings to work on.

Have been removing alot of wiring that the PO had to bypass the ignition and has wired in trailer lights. Got all that removed and need to go and hook the wiring up right.

Carpet cleaned up nice. Is a little faded and is back in the truck. Still cleaning the rest of the interior and they have the heater control busted up so will need to get that fixed.

It needs front end work badly. Ball joints are gone and the U-joints are toast. I drove it less then a 1/4 mile and clutch, brakes and tranny all seem fine. I will get a video of it soon as I to get all the software on the home computer as it is on the laptop.

I will try getting caught up on threads and pics soon.

 

I have mentioned this in my 79/83 build ( which I will get to someday) but I have had the Downey bed for a few years now. He went out of business and had it listed on ebay. I didnt think I had a chance for it so didnt even bid and didnt want to draw attention to it so waited til it expired and asked if he still had it. He said yes and would still sell it.

Today I got the pickup running and have had the bed off for the past couple of days and was really impressed with the cab and frame. I have been keeping my flat bed for gas mileage and it does come in handy, but got to thinking that since I have a fresh rebuilt motor and a Knaphyde bed on it with heavy duty cattle racks and alot of farmers around here have asked about it, I figured I still make my goals of selling a truck and having a unique truck at that.

The bed origanlly came from his work truck and was actually on a 94 truck. I have a couple of magazines that he used it to advertise in. A few years ago I put the in the wanted section of Yotatech that I wanted some magazines and a guy on here and he sent them to me.

This will be my next project and should be the easiest one I will have done. I want to sell my flatbed, get my runner finished and then I will move on to this one. The truck needs front end work and still dont know if it is dependable just yet so it will be getting some attention. I will eventually start a build thread on it.

It is going to need painted as it has been sitting and has some cosmetic damage from shipping and Jims using it. Might do a color change but want to keep the Downey on it.

My next project. I want something a little different. Needs different wheels.


Needs some sort of a bumper and change the tail lights.

 

What an awesome project... will be watching closely

 

hahahahahaha I new you would do this hahaha. the bed looks great on there man glad to hear its running buddy.

 

That looks nice! Definately stands out (in a good way lol) the fenders look like chevy stepside fenders, I've even seen some chevy luvs with similiar beds on them too. Is the bed fiberglass? Looking forward to seeing more of this one!

 

Stepsides are awesome!!!! There a guy in my town that has a 1st gen with a step side bed. Thinking its off a older (50s) truck. Love to have one on my truck

 

That bed is so cool, Terry!!! I met him in person, when picking up the Bumper Guard and Mega Travel Ball Joints.... GREAT guy!

 

terry, looks good, are you going to bob that bed....

 

Thanks Kitty.. I think I will have a different truck then normal. Sounds alot like me. hehe

Hello Jason..I think I lucked out. After I seen the frame and cab and how well it is running, and what I was wanting anyways so it worked out. It is a bare bones truck. I have a tilt column and a clock so it will be getting upgraded soon. I hope my luck holds out. Will know more tomorrow.

Thanks Ed..I have seen a Luv with one before from a distance and wondering if it isnt the same bed. I hear they are NWOR (Northwest Off Road) if I understand right. The fenders are fiberglass and the bed itself is metal.

I have been wanting to someday try getting a 60-66 Chevy box and seeing about using a 78 Chevy rear fender and seeing how close it would be. The 60s box is fairly reasonable from aftermarket and could possibly be cut down to make work. I looked into late 70s fenders and they are produced anymore from what I have found out so far.

Hello dsal_86Yota.. There was a first gen pickup that was in a magazine. Dark metallic blue. He wants a fortune for it. Looks good though. It is on Clist somewhere here locally and tried to find a link to it and couldnt find it just now. I will look again here in a few and see if I can find it.

Hello Mark..I got to talk to him for quite awhile. Once I asked for informtation about its history and he told me who he was (Jim Sickle) I knew then. Really a great guy. He created his own business and did good for awhile. Really a nice guy. To bad he went out of business.

Sure wish I could start some thing like LMC does for the domestic trucks. LMC is about 3 hours from me and they have just about everything you could need to build a truck from scratch.


Hello Bill... I wont bob it, but one day I would like to learn how to bob a truck bed and bob in front of the rear fenders to create a short bed. I will practice on a Nissan or old domestic when I get my shop up and going and get the skills.

I have a truck magazine somewhere that I need to find, that shows how to turn a domestic truck from a long bed to a short bed. One of my long term goals to get those kind of skills and get good enough to make it look like it came from the factory that way.

 

Not having my laptop has slowed me down on posting. I plan on getting a videio up of the truck later tonite.

If all goes well, I may be painting a 3rd gen runner for a guy that has a 4x4 standard cab and a 1sr gen runner. He said I paint it and a little abodywork, I could have them. No titles so it will be for parts, I can strip a truck down quick and not much goes to scrap, just what isnt usable at all. That would speed things up on my projects. Hoping for the best. He has said the same before and not come thruogh so will have to wait and see.

Hoping to have the cab in primer by the end of the day or tomorrow. Most of the dings are out of it now.

 

Yeah, talked with Jim in his garage for about 2 hours! lol... He was OVERWHELMED by online buttheads, on pirate, etc.(not blaming pirate for him going out of biz... )... Anyway, that guy has some SICK projects of his own, right there in the Garage! 54 Ford Pickup(I have a pic, I'll post it up.... Hmmm, THINK it's a 54... Meh, ...you'll know, lol).

WOW, regarding the '2 donor rigs'! I REALLY hope you get them, bud!

 

X2 /\ /\

 

take that tailgat to a shop that custom cut vynle stickers and see if they can coppy it....I really want to see that bed on something! x3 hope all is goin smooth

 

Hello Dirtdobber... I started a build a build tread for it. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...-build-253985/

 

Hi Terry, I was just re-reading back through your build, specifically your interior restoring section and just had a couple questions. You said that you used an off the shelf spray can interior paint to re-do your panels, I was just wondering where you got it, or what brand you used. Any kind of special prep work, or just wash them with soap and water? Also I'm going to be swapping some shoulder belts to the rear seats, did you use a dye on the belts, or is it the same product you used on the panels? Anyway thanks for any help, I appreciate your build threads they're always full of great ideas and useful information!

P.S I'm also doing the rearview mirror light swap (took the one out of my 85' single cab parts truck) thanks for the idea!

 

Hello Ed.. The off the shelf spray I got from Oriellys. It is about $7 a can. If yo want a factory color you can take a sample into the store that mixes their paint and they can get a close or exact match. It is about $23 a can doing it that way. If you are using the same color panels, one can will go a long ways. If you have to change colors it will take a few more coats and that can add up.

If you have to use a different color panel, try to get gray and if that isnt available any other color will work great also. Just take several coats. I didnt use the primer. I use a Adhesion Promoter to keep from filling in the texture of the plastic. I just use Simple Green and give it a good cleaing and make sure all residue is off.

Cleaning takes the longest and painting doesnt take long at all. Use a couple of light coats over one heavy coat. It will dry quick. I did do my seat belts also. I replaced the carpet. You could probably do the carpet but it would get expensive as it would take alot to coat it.

Glad you like the rear view mirror ligt. It is handy. Also in my 86 runner build, I show how to install the SR5 Maplights. One I just recently discovered.
Post #384 shows what I used. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...9/index16.html