Help with my little 70 truck.

[kopfjaegger]

Hi all!

This is my first post on this site having just joined recently. I have a 1970 4x4 with 4 spd. The cab is pretty bad (the floor rusted out almost completely, as well as the door sills, and such). The bed and fenders are a little better shape, though. Now the so-so news. It has a pretty nice running 350 with a Holley Dominator intake Manifold, and it sounds like maybe it was worked on a bit. I think it has a Dana 60 in the front, but I'm not sure since this is my first 4x4 ever.

I have a 68 2wd pick up which I am planning to use for parts (body wise), I have begun disassembling the 70. I would like advice from everybody on this forum since, like I mentioned, it is my first 4x4, but I love these old trucks so I just had to get one to wrench on. I would appreciate any advice, tips, tricks, or any other help since I'm on a tight budget due to child support, ex-wife bills, taking care of 85 year old ailing father, etc. (what a sob story, huh).

I will post pics as soon as possible. My first few things to take care of are these:

1. To start, I would like to identify the axles (front and rear), gear ratio, etc. and perhaps the transmission and transfer case in order to see what I'm working with.

2. I removed the front clip, cab, and bed off of the 68, and am working on them to hopefully transfer onto the 70. I am sanding the heck out of all the body parts and test fitting this weekend.

3. I think that I will have to cut the floor of the 68 at the hump in order to bolt the hump from the 70 to it. It appears that the hump is the only part of the 70's cab that is in good condition. Perhaps that will help in clearing the transmission when I mount the cab on there.

4. I have leaks in both the brake system and the steering system (can't tell if it's the pump or what, but I keep losing steering fluid). Once the cab is off, I'm pressure washing the frame and going through the entire frame and fixing anything that may be wrong.

5. The steering is pretty darn loose. The Haynes book talks of possibly (overhauling?) the king pin or some such. I'm hoping that it's that or something not very expensive.

6. Rewire the whole thing.

7. Relocate the fuel cell to the rear under the bed, if possible.

8. Hopefully mount the saddle tanks that were on the 68 to begin with.

9. Exhaust. It has some kind of weird wanna be headers and the entire system from the headers back is rusted, holes in the mufflers, bailing wire falling off, etc.

After I post pictures tonight, if anybody would like to write and share your experience and wisdom, I would definitely pay attention. I usually wrench on cars and bikes, so I'm not stranger to the shop, but all the talk about transfer cases, lockers, clearances, has made me a little unsure that I should just do it alone. I want this truck to use in my search and rescue team here locally.

Anyway, didn't mean to be so long winded, just wanted anybody that can help to get a picture of what is needed so I can hear some helpful suggestions.

Thanks to everybody in advance. I hope to be an active and contributing member of these boards.

Cheers


Jorge