speedypedro

Hello everyone. Approximately 6 months ago I purchased a 87 pickup from a good friend. 178K on the od, good body and some rust in the typical frame location next to the gas tank on the shackle. He previously did most of the engine and body work - 22R from a Celica with 70K on it and a bunch of new parts. Interior was in pretty good shape as well - except for, of course, the infamous cracked dash pad. Bonus - Smitty Bilt front and rear tube bumpers.

Attached is the first picture after I started tearing into it myself. I'll post some more pics shortly.

speedypedro

Repaired shackle and frame by a local mechanic. I do not trust my welding skills yet to repair a shackle.

speedypedro

I spent $20 on (4) tie down straps and (4) heavy duty eye-bolts AKA ghetto hydraulic lift. I took the bed off to clean off the underside due to some minor rust showing up on the top side of the bed and to spray a few coats of paint. I was contemplating POR-15 but it is just too expensive. The underside had been covered 10 years ago with tar / oil. Although the rust was minimal it was worth the time to remove the TAR and clean up the rust.

FYI - steps to remove tar included hours of research, a rotary tool with a scraper blade (worked the best when it was cold), a spray bottle and some gasoline, finally about 10 cans of brake cleaner. Total over 25 hours worth of work.

speedypedro

Here are some before and after interior pics. Gave myself a bloody lip on the bare steering column. Painted the dashboard parts with plastic rattle cans from Lowes - I'll get the product name if anyone is interested. The downside is I attempted to repair the cracked dash pad, with silicon and it looks like crap. You can hardly see it in the picture - I'll post a better pic. At some point I'm going to either replace the dash pad or repair it with some fiberglass. The other disaster was I broke the driver's side window pillar the the passenger side heat vent. I'm pretty sure I can repair the pillar but the vent is destroyed - and what a difficult part to find!!!

speedypedro

Here is a picture of the Smitty Bilt front tube bumper. I painted it with Herculiner - I think it looks pretty good and surely can withstand a beating in the woods. Painted the rear bumper the same way. I'll post some more pics and info on how I mounted the turn signals in the bumpers - might help someone out here.

speedypedro

Updated Picture with my new American Racing Wheel purchased on CL for 180 on CL with 2 good tires and 2 bad tires. The 2 good tires were 10.5 X 15 X 31 Goodyear Wranglers with maybe a few thousand miles on them. I purchased 2 more from Wally World for $143 each - not too shabby. I'm not completely happy with the large gap between the bottom of the fender and the top of the tire but 33's and a 22r with the stock gearing is just a little too weak for me (plus the brakes really should be upgraded as well).

speedypedro

Oh yeah, here is a better picture of my front end with the Herculiner painted Smitty Bilt tube bumper. There is also a picture of my somewhat custom turn signal installation with small furniture / shelf support hardware with stainless steel nuts and bolts.