Ol' Jesse

[jtodus]

What's up fellas. Been a long time reader but first post here. I've always wanted a square body and I recently came across one and scooped it up. Ol' Jesse my wife calls it because it reminds her of uncle Jesse from Dukes of Hazard. lol. Anyway, It seemed to have the basic things I was looking for. It's a 1987 GMC Sierra 4x4. One of the previous owners did an auto to manual transmission swap and put in an NV4500. The truck needs a lot of work and I'm willing to put the $$ in. Now, I'm no mechanic but I'm also not mechanically declined. I also have plenty of friends that are very mechanically inclined and between us we have everything we need to do the work that I plan on getting done. I picked this truck up right before I left on my deployment so I didn't get much time with it. I'm looking for guidance on what to buy and how I should do this rebuild. I've got a budget of around $15k. Things I know I need to do: Rebuild the motor and tranny. New front and rear axles. New gears. New clutch and all clutch parts. Needs to be re-wired. Lots of Cosmetic stuff. Pretty much a total rebuild. Not even sure if the 4WD works. it has no Front drive shaft in it. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have about 6 1/2 Months before i'll be able to complete any of the work but would like to start ordering parts and getting them sent to my buddies garage. Ready to sponge....fill me with your knowledge!!!


This is the only pic I got on my phone before I left. I can get the wife to take some more if I need them.