Friend of mine from a previous employer propositioned me at a school event the other day (our boys all go to the same school so we keep in touch that way).
I had noticed that his red pickup hadn't moved from its spot in about 8 years. He's also a neighbor, so its not like I was stalking his truck - I literally pass his house twice a day or more.
He made me an offer I couldn't resist, so last Friday I borrowed the tilt-trailer (with a power winch, woohoo!) from work and hauled it the 2 miles to my house.
This purchase gave me a good reason to buy a new battery for my van (10 year old OEM original) and use the still-good battery in the truck. Tossed it in and after listening for weird noises and checking for released smoke it fired right up like it had been run an hour before.
8 years and fire right up? Impressive!
Right rear brake was stuck (remember that power winch on the trailer? Yeah...love that thing....and unloading non-rollers with a tilt-deck is simplicity incarnate).
Couple of tries rocking with the clutch and the brake popped loose. Winning so far.
Brakes were non-existant.....I knew the right front line was bad near the flex-line. Turned out the rear line was also bad, rotted under one of the plastic clamps down on the frame near the front.
Found a ground cable broke in half on the frame to cab circuit.
It already has new tires, new shocks, exhaust. BONUS!
For $27.69 at the parts store, and a few hours laying under the truck on a nice sunny Saturday I am rewarded with a drive-able pick-em-up.
Went for a little ride up to 50mph down the road and back. No drama, just a bit of clutch-lining smell that might have been the brake lining instead, from sitting so long.
(Now needs a date with the pressure washer....mossy and dirty. Well, mossy for Ohio anyways. I've seen Northwest mossy, eww!)
Taa-Daa.
See the 4.3 V6 above? Ironically, this truck is nearly identical to the '94 I parted out last fall, except for the auto-trans and no-title of that one. The flywheel in this one would have been handy to have for the Willys project.
If nothing else it will be fun to have oldest son drive stick in this one. He has only driven tractors and Beetles so far with manuals, the feel of the hydraulic clutch will be good for him to experience.
I had noticed that his red pickup hadn't moved from its spot in about 8 years. He's also a neighbor, so its not like I was stalking his truck - I literally pass his house twice a day or more.
He made me an offer I couldn't resist, so last Friday I borrowed the tilt-trailer (with a power winch, woohoo!) from work and hauled it the 2 miles to my house.
This purchase gave me a good reason to buy a new battery for my van (10 year old OEM original) and use the still-good battery in the truck. Tossed it in and after listening for weird noises and checking for released smoke it fired right up like it had been run an hour before.
8 years and fire right up? Impressive!
Right rear brake was stuck (remember that power winch on the trailer? Yeah...love that thing....and unloading non-rollers with a tilt-deck is simplicity incarnate).
Couple of tries rocking with the clutch and the brake popped loose. Winning so far.
Brakes were non-existant.....I knew the right front line was bad near the flex-line. Turned out the rear line was also bad, rotted under one of the plastic clamps down on the frame near the front.
Found a ground cable broke in half on the frame to cab circuit.
It already has new tires, new shocks, exhaust. BONUS!
For $27.69 at the parts store, and a few hours laying under the truck on a nice sunny Saturday I am rewarded with a drive-able pick-em-up.
Went for a little ride up to 50mph down the road and back. No drama, just a bit of clutch-lining smell that might have been the brake lining instead, from sitting so long.
(Now needs a date with the pressure washer....mossy and dirty. Well, mossy for Ohio anyways. I've seen Northwest mossy, eww!)
Taa-Daa.
See the 4.3 V6 above? Ironically, this truck is nearly identical to the '94 I parted out last fall, except for the auto-trans and no-title of that one. The flywheel in this one would have been handy to have for the Willys project.
If nothing else it will be fun to have oldest son drive stick in this one. He has only driven tractors and Beetles so far with manuals, the feel of the hydraulic clutch will be good for him to experience.
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