Previous Owner Stupidity

[Big-Blue]

"Do you guys hear that rattle?" "I wonder what it could be?"



Okay..I'll stop now...

[toddtheodd]

I just got done dropping the motor back into the truck, and as I was, I noticed a lot of wires that were just hanging. Looked like they hadn't been plugged into anything in years.
So out they came. Think they might've been for an after market cruise control... Anywho... They're gone now.

[surfacerust]

ha when i brought norma jean (69 custom10) home, it had 3 different wheels and 1 snow tire

PO had put two 4x4s down paralell on the floor and attached them thru the floor with wood screws and on them put two early nissan car seats and a wooden wine box for a center console, at least they put some stain on it. all attached with wood screws. it was hard to see over the dash. but at least the pea green shag carpet was ... there and well .. clean (the only place it was clean) ratty white 72 door panels and matching visors. GIANTauto meter tach with shift light and recal (new200 dollar tach on a truck that i bought for 500)
and brand new heater controls and vents!

piece of a 2x12 under the battery and a generic overflow bottle attached to a piece of wood screwed to the inner fender.

my buddie told me that i had to worry about rust and termites haha

rear u bolts were heated and bent 5/8 all thread

when i took the 8 foot fleet bed off, i only had to take out 4 bolts

headers welded to the exaust... thru the life of at least 3 exaust systems. between the collector and the 2 inch exaust was a piece of 1.5 inch

lincoln locker. 8 different color body panels and a tweety sticker on the tailgate...

but the wiring harness was spotless!! i swear it was the most beautiful one id ever seen!!

[Crazyz28]

Truck I recently bought, haven't gotten the chance to take a close look at the wiring mayhem though, but why rely on factory switches when you can make your own switch panel. (I already plan on rewiring the entire truck once I get it delivered to my work)

[CWS]

The driveshaft carrier bearing bracket broke, so the PO tried to weld it back together. Looks like the first time he attempted any welding, what a mess. When he could not weld it, he just put a big cable tie around the cross-member to hold the carrier bearing and drive shaft up. So the driveshaft is just swinging around under the truck. To his credit, he did tell me the bearing was making noise and needs replacement.

The right rear axle seal was leaking and soaked the brakes. His solution, remove the rear brake line from the MC.

Of course he lowered the truck by taking a torch to the springs.

[ERASER5]

Originally Posted by toddtheodd

1) Soda can tabs and pennies in the fuse box. I still don't know why they used them, because when I replaced them with actual fuses, none blew...

Toss the pennies and use .22LR bullets! Put them on a hot circuit and it could get you a few Test Tickles!

[mclairmo]

PO drilled hole in roof of my 68C10 for antenna and installed snaps around inside of rear window for a camper curtain thing (I guess) and welded rear tow bumper to the frame. Also, PO replaced original 396and TH400 with a small block and TH350, grrrrrrr. I guess that's why I got it for only $1,500.

[blaserman]

Burlap over the vales to keep them quiet. Really a mess trying to get the pieces out.

[psuautotechstudent]

One of the PO of my truck put on custom wheels and didn't get longer lug bolts. They were wayyyy too short, so when i installed new springs in the front and had to take the wheel and tire on and off like five times, the few threads that were left stripped out and four of the six lugs popped off in a parking lot. So I had to go to the parts store and filter through lug bolts till I found some that were ridiculously too long and put all new ones on with all new lugs.

[red71c10]

Other than a few extra mirror holes in my doors, about all the original owner did was have the rusty floors and rockers fixed with sections cut out of a wreck. The new metal overlaps the old and is tack welded in place. Obviously it could have been done a lot better. The cab corners weren't even touched and are still rotted out. On the plus side, the rest of the truck is so unmolested original that I was willing to put up with the inferior rust repairs.

[bhoeger70]

a zillion holes in the doors for different mirrors and a set of mismatched heads one side had 62cc combustion chambers and the other 72 (actually ran fairly smooth).

[Lippyp]

Any American vehicle thats been over here for a fair time has the odd bodge largely due to used parts not being easy to get, not many 67-72 Chevy's in junkyards in the UK. Mine has the obligatory hacked wiring including dodgy trailer wiring. The power steering pump had some badly home made brackets so it didn't quite line up right so the belt wore very quickly, it has a small electric fan complete with steel shroud from some japanese car crudely fixed over the top right hand corner of the rad with no relay or fuse so the illuminated switch that turns it on used to glow when the fan windmilled as you drove it and the back of the switch used to get damn hot it was pulling so many amps.

Power steering is now sorted with a matching pump/pulley set, fan wiring was fixed with a relay and fuse although I'm about to put a better fan and shroud on and a thermostatic switch so I don't have to remember to switch it on and off. The wiring is being fixed in stages.

[landarts]

Wires to the headlights and markers were cut , stripped and then one twist left open and bare. Also found wires from the coil and starter cut , stripped and twisted once and left bare . This list goes on and on, its kinda like a action mystery novel!!! When you drive you never know what kinda of surprises will pop up.

[tim21391]

right on i like the comment of.. if it wasnt for the previous owner then u wouldnt have a truck.. very true..

[tim21391]

if u dont want it ill take it.. ill have my truck done as a show truck and id make this a sleeper

[basemodel67]

I guess I'm lucky my truck was owned by an old guy that took the truck to the dealership for everything and didn't try to add anything to the truck. Only thing done were little hooks bolted to the top of the bed. Worth every penny of the $1000 I got it for!

[ChaStur]

Shag house carpet held down by wood trim
Sock IN the gas tank
"New" fuse box with twist on wire crimps
70's curtain glued over BO covered seat. Orange and itchy with a slap
in the face of eu'debiker
POR. The bad kind
Rubber roofing glued over key rust spots
31x10.5x15's. 2wd mind you
Factory radio chewed out of dash. Ofcourse 6x9 holes in the doors that match
71/72 front bumper on a 70
Bullet hole in the middle of the hood. Close range
Two whip antennas mounted to cowl

There's plenty more but that's off the top of my head

[toddtheodd]

Originally Posted by ChaStur

31x10.5x15's. 2wd mind you

My truck had the same exact tires when I bought it...

[Diablo de la Noche]

I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but holy f*rd!
Wiring: Nothing is right. mystery wires everywhere, some ending in the engine compartment, some not.
Holes: Tons of mirror mount holes, hole for CB antanna in center rear of roof, right in the curve. Made with a can opener and screwdriver, I'm sure. 6x9s in door. (that's fine, I will fill them with 6x9s.) Aftermarket stereo, rectangular hole. They were nice enough to leave part of the round holes on the sides. Random 1" hole in the side of the front bumper, just on one side.
Engine: Later model power steering pump, crooked, leaking so much fluid it has preserved everything around it. Carb so leaky it has turned totally brown, and has a piece broken off the bottom corner. Tiny nissan battery. Headers missing bolts, cut and welded to mismatched exhaust. Electric choke wires cut. Hoses that go from the carb and...right back into the carb. Leaks, leaks, leaks. Washer reservoir filled with ATF (probably for the steering pump).
Transmission: Clutches totally gone. Pan filled with glitter and sludge. Leaking. Took off the pan and the gasket fell off.
Frame: In engine compartment frame was bent to make room for something.
Body: Ouch. Nothing straight.
Other: Evidently, the axle fell apart as some point because the brake housing in the rear is shaved flat on the bottom. Steel brake lines over rear axle bent up, way up, to the bed. No emergency brake. All of the door guts are toast. Replaced rocker panel (looks like a small child welded it). Torn fender.
Tons of other stuff to deal with.
And the kicker: The cab is bent. Noticed it today. A 1 inch buckle just behind the driver's seat above the bed that extends to above the back (small) window. Doesn't show inside.
I guess it's going to be a flat black rattie. I don't mind, I just like the hugger orange/gloss black Foose look.
Could be worse, the tranny could be fried. Oh, yeah...it is.

[special-K]

Let`s see...I took an about original`71 K/20 and drilled holes in the roof to mount factory cab lights,filled the doors and installed west coast mirrors,drilled hole in the bed rail to mount ladder racks,drilled holes in the step bumper under the tailgate to mount three clearance lights,drilled a hole in the dash for the toggle switch,and cut the fenders for 37" tires.I also mounted a tach on the A-pillar and an intermittent wiper switch under the dash.I mounted a snow plow controller,drilled two holes in the frame up front and welded a stop so I could run an`84 plow mount because the plow company only supplied a universal kit for`71s that required two holes through the core support for braces.I also put a key switch for the alarm under the fender badge and screwed rubber fender lips on the front.at first,I cut out the grille to mount the turn signals,nice fit!Then i bought a N.O.S. 69/70 grille when i painted it.But,I didn`t cut the dash or doors for my stereo.

[TCLARK]

PO couldn't get all the rust out of the tank behind the seat, replaced it with a Honda tank under the frame, now the guage reads backwards.............BUBBA LIVES !

[oldcarfart]

Keep in mind that even good looking wiring and hoses are 20+ years old, repair by replacement best way to go in my not so humble opinion. I have seen "show" cars with killer paint, etc., with single hole master cylinder, wiring with household wiring nuts, steering with 1/4 + turn slop. Maybe I think backasswards but reliability and safety before beauty.

[imaguywithemail]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

The thing about a 40 year old truck is you dont even know it was the previous owner it chould have been the 1st 2nd 3rd on and on. So when you buy a old/used truck,car,motorcycle,house its YOUR responsabillity to look at everything. The seller is trying to make money, you have to make sure you dont get screwed.

HA!!! In my case your statement is wrong!!! Lol. I bought the truck when I was 15 from a friend, and sold it to another friend at 19 when I blew the transmission out (being dumb doing burnouts). Now the only thing wrong with her when i sold it to him was the transmission. Had a brand new engine, brand new tires on the original rims (painted matte black), new bumper, new seat, windshield, etc. . It sat in his driveway for 1 year before I bought it back from him. At first I thought the upgrades he'd done were good! they were at first. Then stuff began to fail after about a week. He'd replaced the stock intake with an Edelbrock Performer (i thought 'good!'). Except while doing so he had stuck the distributor in a tooth off and had the thing practically sideways just to get it to run (didn't notice when picking it up so i drove it that way for a few days wondering what the heck was wrong). Ends up the intake he put on was used and the two of the carburetor stud holes were stripped out, and the water pump had one bolt hole plugged with the broken off bolt!! Then I got to wiring. He had disconnected random crap, and reconnected other random wiring crap so I'm still having to fix his mistakes. Plus he'd tweaked the carburtor so one side was running super rich and the other was super lean. The only thing the guy I bought it from had done was catch the bed on fire on accident so my tail light wiring is charred. and funky. I'm just glad I got her back. Now she's MINE!!!

[1971 GMC SHORTY]

P/O was a Family Member who had it for 15 years. Had to drive 250 miles with his Sisters Husband What an ass... Got there ck all oils all looked good stated Truck to ck trans oil>>>> the dip stick tube came out mother F%&*#% atf ever were.. it 8pm on a friday night in Fresno Drove all over found a chrome tube after 5 auto parts stores came back tried fitting it to much chrome spent 45 mins sanding chrome off make it fit.. got it in.. he says thats all i had to do to fix yet best to come.. got it home ran good.. oh i had the motor done bye my machine shop, trans shaked comeing over grapevine wow.. got home went to pull trans. roller bearings in u-joint caps missing. ready to fall off. center support wasted no rubber.. the best he just put the 12 bolt in it and a trans that was sopose to be rebuilt the gear oil was like mud.... so much for family..

[Bugeyev8]

no wonder he could not fix it...he was usiong all his tools as parts for the truck...he had nothing left to work on it with !! lol