1970 heavy chevy!

[shelby987]

well, this weekend I went on a road trip, 200 miles south to ohio where I bought my first 4x4! I got a 1970 3/4t 4x4 ....plain jane as they come! The option sheet reads olive green paint, black vinyl trim package, and a heavy duty clutch....and thats it!

Stats: Very little rust, one bad cab corner, other than that, everything is very solid, some bondo to cover dents (rather than pop them)
3/4ton running gear with manual drum brakes and manual steering (to be upgraded soon)
full time 4wd (no manual hubs, also to be upgraded soon)
3 on the tree and I6 (250) under the hood, was a farm truck in PA, currently has what I have been told, 41k original on the clock (seems plausable for the condition)
The truck has been painted orange, but the interior is still green, I think the exterior will be stripped and repainted the original olive green.....the interior is very sparce, but in really good shape....transfer case pattern sticker still on glove box door, and in awesome shape!
I know...i know, this thread is useless without pics, and you will have them, but I have to get the truck first....left a deposit....the owner wouldnt hand over the title for a personal check....and at 4pm on a sunday....no banks are open.....so i have a road trip on wednesday night to secure the beast!

I have two questions though, what does the silver knob that you pull on the far lower left of the dash do? (it looks like a silver push pin)...the owner didn't know, and neither did I
second, did these trucks originally have a backup light switch mounted to the dash (next to the mystery silver switch) or is this a rigged up job?

This truck has a couple of basic upgrades in its future, but for the most part it will be a driving project.....a list of near future upgrades I will have questions on
1. Hubs (what to use on a 3/4 ton)
2. 250 tuning, is it worth it, specs for header, intake, and cam swaps
3. Power brake booster (what to use, and what needs to be fabbed up)
4. disc brake swap (dana 44hd front axle, anything easily found in j/y).
5. power steering (same as above, any easy donor rigs)
6. 3 point belts, (heard s-10 belts work well, any specific year? can I use the same female buckle already in the truck?)

thanks all, and I promise pics are on the way!!!