1976 Crew Cab Long Bed Camper Special resto-mod

[rajincajintj]

i guess its time to start one of these.

i found the truck in the classified here, but it was 700 miles away from me. after several emails and phone calls and text messages i purchased the truck from a good seller. he purchased the truck from the original owner. he did an incredible job swapping in a 1998 Cummins 5.9l 12V motor with its 47RE with electronic torque converter lock up and electronic overdrive. otherwise, this truck is completely stock and clean!!

i got the truck back to louisiana and started driving it. i put ~4 tanks of diesel through it and i think i have a good idea on what needs to be done and what i want to be done.

needs:
AC Installed - truck has vents and low side equipment. engine has compressor mounted already. just need to mount the condenser behind grill and plumb and charge the system.
front brakes squeak real bad - replaced pads
air bags all around
linex in bed
weatherstripping on doors needs replacing. now
second battery for starting duties
the trailer wiring needs to be fixed
KDP needs to be addressed
Amsoil all around



wants:
LED lights - replaced. had to put the tails and flashers back to incandescent to ensure operation. all of the running lights are LED, interior and cab and rear clearance.
i'd really like the big ass spike lug nut covers, but i'm having trouble finding them for the 1" lug nuts i have
fix cargo light
fix lights for tranny controls feedback
some of the trim screws are rusting so i need to replace any household screws with SS screws.
seat covers and floor mats - in the process

so here is my location to document my progress

[rajincajintj]

here is how the PO found the truck



and then how i purchased it:

[rajincajintj]

the jewel under the hood.

[rajincajintj]

first order of business was to quit slamming doors!!!

so these came out


and these went in

[Dcheat]

Thats a drool worthy beast. Yup.

[SKT]

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Looking forward to following your progress - great truck!

Keep us updated w/ lots of pics.

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[CodyWorks]

That thing is awesome. I love the cummins in there.

[mattcrp1]

I had a 79 crew i had started a 12 valve conversion on that I had to sell, i always wanted to do one. Nice rig!

[Lokin4AReason]

nice truck =0)

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by Lokin4AReason

nice truck =0)

thanks guys,

ill be slowly plugging away at things needed

i know some of you are on the west coast, but for the rest of us, its spring and torrential rain is all around.

i found this last week:


nothing like a little water on the floor board to strike fear in my heart

so this came yesterday:


i should get these installed over the weekend before the rains come back

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by rajincajintj

got a couple of these knocked out and its not helping. rain is still collecting on the driver side floorboard.

time to sit in there and see for myself.
man, i hope i do not need to take the windshield off.

[COS399]

Nice Rig.

I would check the mounts for the windshield visor for your leak. Good luck with it.

[COS399]

check your clearance markers also.

[rajincajintj]

i was also chatting with my title guy when i did the paper work and he said they could re-issue old plates to vehicles so i went and found an old plate, and shot some paper work off to the state. i should know something within 5-10 working days.

i'd love to see this on the back of the truck:

[Hankster]

Nice ride, hope you get the water situation figured out!

[rajincajintj]

i know some of you folks arent getting any of this glorious rain, but we are.

and im happy to report the new precision gaskets are doing their job well:

[rajincajintj]

and i am also enjoying a little birthday present from a friend who knows my style:

[rajincajintj]

little updates:

got my tint done finally. 20% ceramic all around. just to keep the heat down

[rajincajintj]

i also got the AC charged up and working

its been super hot here lately, this is at an 83* exterior temp:



an 11 degree delta aint bad, but i will run it for a while and check the freon levels. im sure there are some leaks or something with this older system

[rajincajintj]

aaand, if you look closely at that picture of the tint, i have a little issue with the rear view mirror on the driver side.

i clipped the garage door on the way out (in reverse) of the garage and ripped the mirror out of the door:




literally almost cried. not quite sure how to fix that yet. a new door might be in the works. i'd like to try my metal working skills and make a newer thicker panel to mount these to and weld it in the door. who knows.

[tinydb84]

Damn that sucks. It can be fixed though!

My buddy took out his mailbox the same way. He wrapped the door of his Ford Ranger around the other way doing it. I couldn't believe he didn't notice until it was all the way against his finder....

[Hankster]

Glad to see you got the water situation fixed, and I'm sorry to see about the mirror,

[rajincajintj]

the mirror will be fixed. i think ill rock a mismatched door for a minute while i try to get this one fixed.

on to fixing more stuff:

finally got around to putting power back to the rear clearance lights. looks like someone ripped the tailgate off at one point and left the wire hanging. all i needed was a butt connector and a length of wire. i also ordered some LED replacements. once the new ones come in, ill rewire the whole shebang.


and i also got the cargo light lens replaced and the absolute LAST LED bulb i need on order. then the entire truck will be LED except for the front indicators and the tail lamps.

[rajincajintj]

on to the next issue. i need to find a replacement single wire tank selector valve:



this one was bypassed by the original owner.

[rajincajintj]

while i hunt for the right answer on the fuel tank selector valve, i am slowly knocking out all of the little things that are not working right:

rear clearance LEDs wired and installed:
13LED units from superbrightLEDs.com