Back with a different truck

[Budbeater]

I registered here years ago under the name "Bud beater" because of my ride, a red and white 1971 long bed Chev ¾ton that had been pinstriped to look like an old school Budweiser can. Well, that truck blew a head gasket years ago, was stripped of the useable parts, and the rust was sent to someone who thought they could do something about it.
Meanwhile I graduated to a one ton 1982 GMC crew cab. I had to park it last December after two electrical fires made the wiring harness give up. It couldn't run the headlights, and the heater at the same time...not good for winter driving. Also the headlights would randomly turn off while driving. Double not good. So the big brown machine had to sit.

The rewiring process started in the late spring and was an absolute pain. 30 year old wiring is simple, but previous owners had been unkind by splicing in wrong colored wires and routing them wrong. I had previously eliminated the ac and am taking out the non functional cruise control so i simplified the under hood wiring. The convoluted tubing was crusty, funky, or missing. It was replaced and new clips have been added.

Somewhere in the mix i decided to go ahead and mount the WARN winch bumper that i had removed from the 1971. I stripped it completely, painted it tan and brown (looks great), and repainted the rear bumper to match.

Well, last week I finally got the beast fired back up. Trucks shouldn't sit for a year. I had to run the valves on the driver side because a couple were clattering, but all in all I am happy to hear it run.
I also replaced the driver door, painted and all, but barely got new weather stripping and fuzzys yesterday. Of course they went in today.

Now I need to find a bigger winch. I just am not sure that the winch from the 71 is enough to pull this bigger beast.

 

[Budbeater]

I guess there isn't much love for a truck that came equipped with what other toys aspire to add. Yup, this long wheel base monster came with some of the best hardware ever put under a factory truck. First off it is a 454 bigblock. With a couple of modifications, I put out at the rear wheels what the truck was rated at the crank from the factory. Granted, it isn't much, but until I get new heads, it will do. I have a stoutly rebuilt TH400 sitting in front of the 205 transfer case. The Dana 60 front just got new u joints, and out back is the monster 14bolt with a factory limited slip. Both pumkins house 4.10 gear sets. The previous owner put some military springs under the truck and it sits easily over the 33" Toyo mud terrains. I have had 3800lbs in the bed and it barely kisses the helper springs. It has also bumper towed about 14,000 lbs at easy freeway speeds on hot July days.

 

[sixstringsteve]

got any pics?

 

[LT.]

got any pics?

I would like to see some as well.

LT.

 

[TJDukit]

Sounds like a pretty cool truck. Get some pics up and welcome back.

 

[Budbeater]

Ill get some pics up by this weekend. I had a major setback today... I bought a new winch

I figure that photos of a winch bumper without a winch on a 4x4 forum is almost grounds for a ban, so I will complete the install and add some photos.

I did find something cool though. I found the photo I took of the first electrical fire as the smoke is still rolling out of the engine bay. Ill post that first.

Admittedly, there is not much sexy about bringing a tow pig back to life, but it's my tow pig, it has great parts and is tough as hell. It has brought me home from places, limping on broken parts (last year from the mountains above Kamas to Ogden with the fan ripped off the water pump, a hole in the radiator, and no overheating). It deserves a chance at more life.

beater

 

[Budbeater]

I have the winch mounted! I will have to wait for the weekend to mount the control box since I couldn't use the supplied mounting bracket. What I did instead is modified the bracket from my old winch to give the box a different mounting position. It should turn out well. I have to drill a couple of holes, but it will be clean.

Now I just have to buy a second battery and hook that into the system. I salvaged and installed a second battery tray from a suburban when I first purchased the vehicle. I have the materials to make the positive wire, but I have been waiting to have a reason to put it all together. A winch sounds like a good reason.

Beater

 

[sixstringsteve]

It looks like one of those stealth, invisible winches. I like it!

 

[Budbeater]

It looks like one of those stealth, invisible winches. I like it!

It has to be, since it is attached to a stealth invisible truck. Ill get pics. It is just a pain because I cant load them direct to the site from my phone.

 

[Budbeater]

Winch ON!

Ok here goes. Going to see how many photos I can get up tonight. This first one is of the fire that started this whole debacle.

 

[Budbeater]

These photos are of the front and rear bumpers. The front one came off my 71 Chev and the back one came with this truck. Now that they are mounted and painted they match...almost like I meant to do that.

 

[Budbeater]

Here is a photo showing that I gained some interesting clearance up front.

 

[Budbeater]

And finally one of a closeup of the new toy. I upgraded every fastner when possible. There is new grade 8 or stainless hardware at every point. I also added an additional bolt on each side from the bracket to the frame. I didnt think that two bolts a side was enough. They were beefy, but I didnt want to chance it.

 

[Budbeater]

Well, the truck is back on the road again. I have now started on rebuilding the interior. Since the truck is over 30yrs old it has seen its better days. I replaced the drivers door 18 months ago, but barely got the new weather stripping in. I also rebuilt the door panel and replaced the cloth inserts by making leather inserts. It looks and feels great!