White Trash
IDI noob
So I got the truck home, turns out it's an '89. The whole time I was dealing with getting the truck I never knew it's true vintage. 
Rolled and beaten it still drove fine on the highway, the engine ran great and the trans shifted smooth what more could I ask for in a free truck eh?
So last weekend I struck a deal for another free truck for body parts on the 89, it's getting a 81 front clip. Not that I don't like the brick body style but the 81 will much better match my 80 Toyota styling and I'm gong with an 80's theme on both rigs.
Some interesting things have come up, at some point in time the farm morons hooked a a chain to the bottom of the core support so it is tweaked pretty good so I'll have to straighten it out and do some welding on it to repair their damage.
The '81 had a recessed section on the edges of the core support so the much shorter fenders can bolt to it. I'll cut and modify that today as well so they will bolt on with no further mods.
The hood bolted right on and once aligned with the cowl and fenders properly dropped down and latched like it was meant to the there the whole time. I was very happy to see I wouldn't have to modify the latch assembly at all.
The fenders bolt on just like stock with the exception of the lower bolt near the rocker. The '89 has the bolt coming in from the side while the 81 went straight up from the bottom. No problem there I already have a plan for attack. Also the top two bolts by the hinge seem to sit about 1/2" lower on the '89 so I'll have to make some shim stock for proper alignment.
The doors as expected are a direct swap. The lock arm on the 81 is in the door panel by the inner handle while the 89 is up on top like normal. No problem, just dropped the 89 latch assembly in there, the hole for the lock rod is already in the top of the older doors.
One thing I'll have to deal with is building my own grill. I'm putting in 7" round headlights (no real reason other than I have them and like to keep my junk looking the sameish) and I have no grill or lower valance that is in usable condition. I need to make a bumper too, if I could find an old smittybilt dual tube with hoop I'd put it on there in a heartbeat.
Anyway, I'll have pics up later today, I snapped some off yesterday but we ran out of daylight and thus heat this time of year before getting it reassembled so we called it a day early.
Rolled and beaten it still drove fine on the highway, the engine ran great and the trans shifted smooth what more could I ask for in a free truck eh?
So last weekend I struck a deal for another free truck for body parts on the 89, it's getting a 81 front clip. Not that I don't like the brick body style but the 81 will much better match my 80 Toyota styling and I'm gong with an 80's theme on both rigs.
Some interesting things have come up, at some point in time the farm morons hooked a a chain to the bottom of the core support so it is tweaked pretty good so I'll have to straighten it out and do some welding on it to repair their damage.
The '81 had a recessed section on the edges of the core support so the much shorter fenders can bolt to it. I'll cut and modify that today as well so they will bolt on with no further mods.
The hood bolted right on and once aligned with the cowl and fenders properly dropped down and latched like it was meant to the there the whole time. I was very happy to see I wouldn't have to modify the latch assembly at all.
The fenders bolt on just like stock with the exception of the lower bolt near the rocker. The '89 has the bolt coming in from the side while the 81 went straight up from the bottom. No problem there I already have a plan for attack. Also the top two bolts by the hinge seem to sit about 1/2" lower on the '89 so I'll have to make some shim stock for proper alignment.
The doors as expected are a direct swap. The lock arm on the 81 is in the door panel by the inner handle while the 89 is up on top like normal. No problem, just dropped the 89 latch assembly in there, the hole for the lock rod is already in the top of the older doors.
One thing I'll have to deal with is building my own grill. I'm putting in 7" round headlights (no real reason other than I have them and like to keep my junk looking the sameish) and I have no grill or lower valance that is in usable condition. I need to make a bumper too, if I could find an old smittybilt dual tube with hoop I'd put it on there in a heartbeat.
Anyway, I'll have pics up later today, I snapped some off yesterday but we ran out of daylight and thus heat this time of year before getting it reassembled so we called it a day early.
