I spent the winter fixing the dashboard wiring and managed to put in a new waterpump. I even found a new 160 degree Gates bypass thermostat in our miscellaneous parts shed that will fit in the housing!
The brake light wiring was in pretty tough shape. a couple of the wires were completely melted and then patched together with marettes, speaker wire, and hockey tape. I cut that all out and am going to rewire it.
I finally decided against fitting power steering or power brakes for now; I'll just repair the existing brake system. I did bring in a replacement 1950s master cyilinder and am relieved it will be a bolt-in replacement. There is a little bit of brake fluid left in the system and doesn't appear to be very bad looking, so I'm now rather optimistic that the brakes wont be terribly difficult to repair.
I do have a question though- the service manual does mention vacuum reservoirs being available on the larger trucks. What would it look like, and where would it be located? I was thinking of adding one just to make sure I had lots of vacuum available for braking.
