Well, after a bit of a break for the winter, it’s time to get back at this thing. We need her to be rally ready and I have another trip in May so need to get some stuff done. Here is my short list.
1. Find/fix water leak.
2. All the same color
3. Fix fuel leak on rear tank
4. Adjust fuel senders
5. Rear shoulder belts
6. Door pulls inside
The longer list in no particular order:
7. Aux power plug 12V for winch power.
8. Inverter
9. Backup camera
10. Radio
11. Glass cockpit
12. Better mirrors
So all that said, I’ve been getting a little puddle of antifreeze that I had tracked up to the front pass corner running down the manifold. I thought the hose connection out of the head was leaking but I think I finally found it. The other end of that hose feeds my filter head manifold and that clamp was loose. The crud forming on the fitting was the giveaway. Fingers crossed.
Okay on to body work. Temps in the 50’s are warm enough for me to make enough heat to shoot paint so it’s time to get cracking. Pulled the bed mat and bed liner. Tailgate. Decided to go ahead and pull the aluminum caps while I was at it. I was getting ready to pull the bed again and I found this.
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I figured on a little surface rust but nothing like that. Then there’s this.
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So now I have a problem. There are holes all the way through up there. With the rot there and the rot in the fender wells, I’m looking at full bed sides. I could try to patch it in but it’s going to look like crap. Full bed sides are a grand to the door. Then a ton of work and by myself, I’m not sure I can get them right. The final option is a clean bed. A place local lists them for ~$1800. If I can get a good clean one, that’s probably the route I’m going. Just have to break open my piggy bank.
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So that’s where things are. I started toying with mirrors too but that’s not ready for prime time.
Stay tuned. Business is about to pick up.