Papa's truck
 

I would like to introduce you to my father in law (Bill's) truck. A few years ago we were at the Pomona Swap meet getting ready to leave and Bill let me know he sorta bought something. It barely ran and had to be towed home. But once home it didn't take Bill long to have it running. Since that time it has had a new carburetor, intake, exhaust manifold, hei distributor on the 292. He tore down the front of the truck and completely rebuilt the front suspension including having most front end parts powder coated black. It has saddle tanks but only the in cab tank is in use. Bill painted the firewall Orange to practice on and up the A pillar a bit for practice as he intends to paint the whole truck this color.

Bill also had the inner fender wells powder coated but they are not on the truck at this time. It now sports a chrome front bumper and he ditched the stock wheels for these "toyota" wheels bought off of CL. Bill also fabricated his own custom bracket and added power steering too. It got a new heater core and the doors received all new rubber. There is probably more I can't think of or even know at this point.
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I would appreciate any input on this truck any of you can add and share. I personally like the patina look and don't want it painted orange. i would also like to know more about the wheels as it needs a matching spare. Thanks everyone.

Re: Papa's truck
 

Medium olive green is my favorite color. I would agree with you and leave it. Cool truck, how is the interior?

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nice lookin truck, Bill did a good job !!!!

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Looks like a great start to a fun project!

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The interior is pretty clean it had a bench seat that was busted so Bill replaced it from another make of truck just to be able to use it. The original rubber mat is in amazing shape. And the dash is stock. He replaced the dash pad and instrument panel. it had a pos floor shifter and was replaced with a nicer unit. The column shifter was missing After bill and I put it back together he took it for a drive and after backing out of the driveway it grenaded and another three speed was located. Bill said that the tranny that was in it wasn't from a truck anyway and the new one was geared correctly.

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Well it is with this post that I must let you all know and with great sorrow that Bill passed away of pancreatic cancer a couple of weeks ago. He let me know he wanted me to have his truck and as of now it is parked at my mother in-law's house. I will be a more active member to this forum and look forward to sharing any progress made to Bill's truck.

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Sorry about your father-n-law. Just remember what he wanted to do to the truck, and as long as you want the same thing do it. It will make you feel good.

Re: Papa's truck
 

Cool story and truck.
My condolences on Bill's passing.
My father-in-law (Billy) passed last November also. Miss him a lot.
I would have loved it if he would have had a cool old truck to keep and think about him when I drove.
Enjoy your truck and keep us posted.

Thanks for the kind words. When Bill and I talked about the truck he was excited that I wanted to change things and wouldn't mind what I do with it.
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Re: Papa's truck
 

Sorry for your loss...prayers for your family. I agree w/ you on the old look..something very comfortable about wearing the old jeans.

Re: Papa's truck
 

Same here, sorry for your loss of Bill. Carry on with the truck and memories of Bill. Nice truck also

How hard would it be to find a matching hood? I am involved in the pre 67 VW bus crowd and they go to great lengths to find original paint items.
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Re: Papa's truck
 

Re: Papa's truck
 

Thought I would post some pictures of the home made power steering bracket Bill and I made together at one time.

Re: Papa's truck
 

pretty ingenius there. engine looks good. i dont think it would be too hard. i just sold a tailgate same patina, same color

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drove the truck home last night. I took my older boy along with me as he had a lot of memories of being in the truck with Papa. grandma gave him an old cell phone to play games on to keep him occupied.I chose rather to have him turn it off and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the old truck. we talk the whole way home.

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So I am trying to put a plan together on what has highest priority. It needs tires and a spare. The truck leaks power steering fluid, engine oil, and gear oil from the transmission. The power steering fluid is leaking from the fitting on the pump. About a year ago Bill and my brother in law while changing the clutch/flywheel also change the trans seals and rear main seal. Bill reported the trans leaked overnight after the repair. So my experience is in aircooled vw's so I am used to leaking fluids but I really think these can be fixed.

But where I need help is I don't know what the proper seals are I looked on rock auto and I can't figure out which ones are right. Bill told me the trans was a Saginaw but which one? Please help with any advice Thanks

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Went to the junk yard today to look for a coolant reservoir. I don't know if this year came with one Bill said it didn't. So I knew I would have to find something that would fit. This was from a 93 blazer and it looks like a good fit. I looked at a hundred different ones even from ford's. Even if they looked like they would fit they were poorly made. Where the screws go through it has steel inserts.

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Sorry to hear about losing your dather in law.

Its kind of a crap shoot as far as coolant resevoirs go, since Bill was right that most didnt come with one originally. The originals and even repros are rare as hens teeth and expensive. I have a 72 that was an air force truck originally and it was on my spid as an option. Unfortunately it was long gone. I bougght an aftermarker aluminum one but havent mounted it yet. On my other truck i am going to try a spare tank off my 79 malibu.

As for the hood, i wonder if there is still the black primer underneath. I would try sanding it down to see. I have a 70 that was wrecked but i kept the hood to use as a "pattern". My truck is faded similar to yours and hardly any paint is left on the original hood. The replacement has grey primer, but i can see gold peeking out. I would be willing to bet there is still black primer underneath that.

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I have a 72 truck bed trailer in the same color as your truck, but unfortunately, i am sure the rest of the truck is long gone, so no hope if finding you a matching hood.

You are correct about folks trying to find original matching paint sheetmetal for these trucks. I have seen several WTB ads over the years. Not real sure on the success ratio though. You might just have to join up and post an ad to see.

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I found a 1988 s10 T-5 transmission that oddly enough has the same part number as a 85-86 with the ideal gearing for 5th gear of .72 OD. the first gear is the 3.73 that they come with when you get that 5th. I had the box inspected and my transmission guy said it was runnable but I opted to have him rebuild it. I am going to be using the jeep input shaft method with saves me from having to use a spacer plate and allows me to use my stock clutch. I have to modify the shifter and cut a new hole in the floor. after all of that is done I will have the drive shaft length changed. I will post some pics