Big, Yellow, and ready to work!

[Sterling73]

Hey all!

Name's Sterling, I usually wrench on old obscure Nissans (rwd 80s 200sx) but the time has finally come for me to get a truck to tow them with and other general work...

I moved to Hemet CA late 08 from northern IL, finally ridding myself of the undesirable weather. A long time fan of old Chevy trucks, a fond memory of my childhood (they've all but rotted away from widespread use in IL), I finally landed one of my own!

Its a super base 73 8' utility bed in YELLOW! Formally what appears to have been an LA county work truck, the only option is power brakes, which is exactly what I was looking for! That, and it was $600 and runs, yay! This was last August.

enough already!

I have no use for the ladder rack on the truck (use it elsewhere round the property) so off it comes, the day I get it,






quite the audio system,

note the magnet lol

swear I didn't put it there!



Specs:

1/2 ton 5 lug
307CI/TH350
New single exhaust with glasspack... loud and deep, the way it should be!
Full 8' utility bed
Toyota truck? seats retrofitted
mostly original otherwise
'heavy duty rear suspension' according to sticker
base other than power brakes (thank goodness@brakes) and auto trans


I think I drove it the first day, and immediately began taking it apart...its a problem I have, probably not the only one like that here! Plan is a full update, tho the truck will still see mostly work duty.

A general idea of whats on the menu:

-Meet other local enthusiasts!! I'm still amazed by the number of these era trucks still in service here in socal, there has got to be around 10 within the few blocks of here still being used. its so cool.

-Complete rewire. I suppose unlike a good deal of auto enthusiasts, especially with older model vehicles, I rather enjoy wiring. The plan is to build an entirely new harness customed to this truck, a very basic system to meet the few needs of this pickup, as I'll detail in a bit. This will include aftermarket gauges replacing all the stockers. Im aware of repro's but this is a challenge!

-I love the utility bed, but as it stands atm, I don't need it. What I do need is toolboxes for my garage, so for the time being, I will be dismounting them and setting them up alongside both walls, and custom building some fenderwells-I've done my share of metalworking and welding etc, but maybe I'll get wild and try some fiberglass. This is a rather long-term project, so options are endless as budget allows

-Although it may seem bizarre, HVAC elimination. (DONE) I rather love the heat (I did move to the desert!) so no particular use for A/C (in my DD I use it a few times a year) and the truck never had it factory anyway haha. and I am still from IL originally, hence my concept of cold not really mixing with Cali, so all of the hvac stuff including heater is gone. I won't be driving it much, so this won't be a problem. I moved here in November, and daily drove an old Nissan I partially restored with no hvac for a good 6 months or so and it was fine, so this is nothing new, although not fairly normal (but is for me!)

Short term, minor update/maintenance:

~conversion to HEI (working on it)
~fluid flush (DONE)
~replace rubber brake lines (ready in box!)
~new block plugs, old ones were rotted bad! (working on it atm)
~hoses/belts etc
`Optima battery (will be located underdash to shorten wire and keep an empty engine bay) and aforementioned new custom harness
~switch from sidesaddle fuel tank to one between the framerails
~3point seatbelt conversion (DONE)
~replace manual steering box with one that has no slop (have a good junkyard part ready)

Long term stuff:

~lowering. axle flip rear, front drop spindles/springs to match. I'm quite keen on having the truck sit level, ie no front or rear rake, its a personal thing. I have not yet done enough research to determine which parts I'll be purchasing to pull this off, so any input is greatly appreciated!
~complete removal of stepside bed and conversion to aluminum (mostly) flatbed. I'm not completely dedicated to this yet, but it would serve my purposes a bit better.
~conversion to manual trans (pedals installed). A personal preference, I enjoy choosing my own gears. In this context, its just one thing less I have to worry about when towing up the grades of socal mountains on the way to (semi) local tracks! this might get pushed aside for...
~4.8L Gen III/5- or 6-speed trans.
For the loads I'll be pulling, and the intended curb weight, this combo will be more than sufficient to meet my needs.


One might note the general lack of aesthetics above. I'm really not concerned about looks, the paint is OK (its a respray, pass fender replaced) and I'm just happy to have it. It could be, I really like the mid 80s look, so a conversion might happen there, but for now its fine.

I've been cruising socal's AWESOME junkyards and just grabbing goodies as i come across them. I'll put up more pics later, but think of it as a junkyard restoration. The only big body issue is the floorpan is rusted decently, tho its inside out from use (look underneath and it looks brand new yay! so not used to that). Easy work tho, and I can actually buy pre-shaped pieces. Not used to having aftermarket options, thats for sure. Domestics FTW.


This is actually a fuel economy build, ironically. I am looking to make this truck as reliable and usable as possible, something I can haul the racecar for hours, or jump in unloaded and cruize to LA to grab some parts and get decent gas mileage. The goal is mid 20s- I'll say 25mpg, because thats what my old Nissan gets, and if I can pull that off, awesome! As I've read with Fred (awesome build by the way @ 70pages!) the concept is possible.

The one thing I have not figured out yet is the rear end/drivetrain setup. Ideally, a reasonably priced 5speed is what I'm looking for... but as for the rear end, I don't know yet. I have not figured out what I have currently ratio-wise, and what would be ideal, but I'd rather not swap it unless I have to, it seems fine and thats just more $ This, like most things here, is not an urgent issue.


A few things I'm trying to figure out...
Factory service manuals? I discovered Brother's, who is only 45 mins from here! but the 73 book is on infinite backorder. I'm really after the wiring diagrams, I need to understand the wiring coming out of the ignition column, thats the key and base for the new harness. They had the wiring in a separate book, but the diagram was incomplete.

4.8L setup? The basics have already been done well by a few guys on here (hats off to them!) but my setup is unusual with trans choice and what not. Fabrication...say I go hydraulic clutch etc...is of no objection. The other deal is the EFI harness... I understand there are guys who you can send your stocker to, and they'll return it to your specs... but thats what I do with the old Nissans. I want to figure this out myself, I can have someone local do final tuning. Or, Megasquirt(standalone), but I'd rather not, seeing as the stock ECU has been mapped so well.

I've got a good deal of pics to share, as I've been wrenching for some time on it, but not as complete as I'd like. My brother moved out here for a few months after college graduation which pulled me away from this, and now I'm gonna get back cookin' on it!

well, thats one looong intro, much more to come!

later, Sterling