Since the truck was converted to a camper, there was a lot of extra junk welded to the frame, as well as some reinforcement welded to the rusted out spots. All of this needed to be gone so my man can cut out the trash and make repairs, so that's what we did today. I dropped the axle and springs out from under and took the Metabo to the frame. She's looking factory now. I attached a pic of all the junk I cut off. The differential needs some attention so I'll do that while we wait for the frame repair. I couldn't touch gear oil with my finger and it looks like we very much need a pinion seal, but the truck hasn't run in so long it's hard to tell what else is needed. Once I pull the cover I'll have a better idea of things. It will probably be worth just to replace all the seals. There's basically no slack in it, so I think it's mechanically sound. I also have to do some research to find out just exactly what it is. It's a 10 bolt cover free float axle, and she's a heavy girl.
I don't have any paperwork, only the VIN to go by. The truck does carry enough sentimental value for me to want to save the cab. The welding will definitely be out of my league, but everything else I can handle. The wife was sharing the video of it running with the family that grew up taking trips in it and some where really excited. They even had a picture of it from way back and it was a pretty sharp truck. I floated the idea of replacing the cab, but it didn't feel right. Around here at least, cabs where kind of rare. It could also be that I wasn't looking in the right places. The one I did find was pretty rusted up and there were several holes. There is a local guy who's done some work body work for me before who will probably end up doing the welding. I'm assuming that all the sheet metal is stamped at the same plant overseas and will be of comparable quality. There's a place in Georgia that supposed to be high quality stuff, but I can't remember the company name.
The truck is drivable, but I mean just drivable. With the massive hole in the cab, leaving it out in the weather isn't an option, so I'll need to park it under the barn. I just need to be able to drive it in and out of the barn. The truck tries to pull itself when you put it into gear but feeding gas straight into the carb makes that a little tricky. Goals are to put some tires on tomorrow and get rid of the two piece wheels on the front. Then I'll have to figure out a way to get it to start without a bunch of jumper wires running everywhere.
That's where we are at today. Not sure how long it will be on the frame repair. Dude does it on the side and I told him I wasn't in a hurry. My last build thread was a 6 year ordeal, with a multi year hiatus. Hold tight men, we'll get it done but it might take a while.
