Recent Updates

The LH marker/turn lamp did not work at all, and the RH one only worked for the turn signal element. I took the lens off of the LH marker and discovered there was no bulb in it at all. I could not get the new bulb into the socket, so I unbolted it from the… Read more: Front lighting

The rear harness plugs into a socket on the frame, Unfortunately, someone had cut all the wires and used butt connectors to repair that. A couple were connected, but most of the wires had torn apart. I spent a couple of hours stripping wire ends, and splicing in soldered connections to make it all work… Read more: Bed wiring harness

A friend set me up with a belt tensioner, so I started to figure out what to do with it. Originally it went on the upper right on the engine, but that is where the alternator is now. I was happy with the battery wiring to the alternator and starter, so I didn’t want to… Read more: Accessory belt

At first I thought the Gasoila had sealed the joints properly, but then after a couple of days it sprung a leak again. I went to the hardware store and got brass replacements for the two hose connections and the plug. I also got yellow sealing tape that is designed for use with gasoline, instead… Read more: Regulator…take 3

The fuel regulator ended up wanting to be right where the ignition box was mounted. Additionally, the wiring looms for the ignition were looped around the carb and just laying on the intake. I decided to move the ignition box to the left inner fender, and leave the regulator alone on the right. The looms… Read more: Engine wiring cleanup

The truck did not have a rear bumper, but PO included an aftermarket tail pan that fills the space where the rear bumper would go. I decided to put it on to see what it looks like. I’m still not crazy about having the fuel tank there without protection, but I like the look. I… Read more: Tail pan

My parts order arrived, so I was able to install the fuel regulator. I installed it on the right hand inner fender, which is competing for space with the MSD box. I am going to try to move the MSD to the left inner fender, the wires look like they will be long enough. For… Read more: Regulator installed…mostly

The truck came with a bunch of parts in the bed, including two electric fan setups. Both of these appear to have come from junkyards. One is a dual-fan setup with straight blades. This one has a fair amount of damage to the plastic shroud. It will work, but it’s a little beat-up. The other… Read more: Cooling fan

The alternator is mounted on the right side of the engine using a bracket made by ICT. When I wired the battery, I did some research on the alternator to see what I needed to wire up to get it working. This alternator had the big heavy cable from the battery, and also two smaller… Read more: Alternator

After putting some fresh gas in the tank, I hit the key and it fired up after some cranking. It ran great: …for about 15 seconds, and then it started running rough. On restart it was running even worse. I took a quick look at the engine and noticed that fuel was running out of… Read more: First startup

The grille and radiator support was removed to get room to install the new engine. All of the parts came with the truck, they just needed to be reassembled. I had put the grille and radiator support on temporarily, but this time I put all the bolts back in, and made sure everything was aligned… Read more: Grille and headlights

I found some original used stock-height springs for the front and back of the truck. They are much taller than what is currently installed. Now I have to figure out how to jack the truck up high enough to be able to install them.

The previous owner disconnected the stock tank behind the seat, and installed a fuel cell at the rear of the frame, where the spare tire was originally. This is a generic tank, probably 15 gallons, with tabs on the lower corners to mount it. There is all-thread holding the tank up to the frame crossmembers.… Read more: Fuel tank

The plugs that were installed originally were NGK BR7EF. Shopping online showed it was cheaper for me to get a set of 10 (for a Jaguar?) than a set of 8. I re-gapped the plugs to .040 and installed them.

Before I tried to start the engine, there are a few things I wanted to check. I pulled all the spark plugs out, they looked dark and a little oily, but not terrible. While the plugs were out, I turned the crank pulley by hand to verify that everything turned freely. The oil on the… Read more: Engine wakeup