Need to get the '75 on the road, help me be crafty

[dccarpenter]

I picked up a nice '75 for short money a few months back, I've been working on it at my mom's garage but she's moving so I'm going to lose the garage space for it and will need to street park it in my neighborhood, I need to get it street legal and inspectable in the next few weekends.

I need help with a few issues, any suggestions are welcome,

* Locks: I've got new doors on it(yay rusty ones are gone), but the handles, lock mechanisms, everything is still in the old doors and unfortunately the pieces had broken and rusted out. I live too far from any convenient junkyards to deal with pulling a new set. Is there any kind of legal alternative to the factory locks I can do? If I was in the country I'd just install slide bolts on the doors and lock them that way but know that won't get past inspection here.

* Paint - Was going to ask about what kind of paint I could roll on the thing in winter temps, screw it. Going to just go to Maaco and have them blast it for $199, at least it will be 1 color.

* Rust at tailgate hinges/back of bed - I've got a lot of rust where the tailgate hinges are attached and at the back of the bed..but it is only for a few inches right at the very back. As a temporary fix I wanted to bolt in a piece of 3/16" 3" x 3" angle aluminum to cover the rust , cut the existing hinges off, then attach some kind of new hinge(piano maybe?) to the tailgate and bolt it through the angle aluminum. Any thoughts on this? Any ideas for hinge type I can use?

* The wiring is a bit of a mess, any thoughts on just wiring in toggle switches for the lights? Has anyone done this and not regretted it? I'm also considering just abandoning the existing dash and putting in autometer gauges, just going to replace the ones I can afford.

And here's a reward , of sorts, for reading my long winded post, a pic of the beauty that is my truck

[Psycho71]

First thing I'd do if I were you is scrap the Maaco idea for a paint job right now if money is a factor at all. Use that money, find a board vendor who has the locks, handles, hinges and all the little stuff you need to replace. It will likely cost less money than you think it will. As for the rust, I'd just have to see how bad it to know what "I'd" do. As for the lights, you could use toggle switches to make them work and still do it right (kind of), but you really need a relay and some inline fuses in the circuit to get the best/safest results. But again, a headlight switch and/or a little time chasing the wiring issues might be a better route to go.

Then if you just have to see it all one color, rattle can that dude for now and paint it for real later when it can be done right. I've seen some decent rattle can jobs done, it's not the end of the world. For $199, you're not gonna have a paint job that lasts any time. Not unless you spend a lot of time doing some real prep work before they get it.

Honestly, it looks like you have a good base to start with. If you start bubble gumming things now, it will only discourage you down the road. If at all possible, take your time, fix things right, and not have to re-address those issues again. That's my advice.

Oh, and ask questions here. Lots of good people here who will help any way they can.

[SS Delux]

PM sent

[dccarpenter]

Psycho,

I appreciate your thoughtful reply. Unfortunately time is not on my side..soon the sidewalk and Autozone parking lot will be my only place to work on it as I'm losing the garage spot for it.

I'm going to try to go factory with the door locks if possible, have checked out some board vendors.

As for the lighting on toggles, the problem is the wiring was run poorly to the exterior lighhts before, I'm going to run new wiring encased in wire loom with proper crimped connections, if I can make it work with the original switch/harness great otherwise I'm bypassing. No time to go electrical gremlin hunting for a weekend as I only have 2 weekends before this thing has to hit the streets legally.

As for the Maaco thing, I have no garage(or even driveway) and it's winter so I won't be able to rattle can it. Money's not really the biggest concern and I simply can't drive it for work looking like it does now, I can drive up to a jobsite with it looking like a 'beater' but not 'POS that should be junked'... I figure spending the $200 so that I can actually enjoy driving it every once in awhile to work rather than leaving it at home because of its looks is worth it.

And finally , found some good news on the tailgate, there is a post on another board where someone has done the exact tailgate mod I was proposing with photos and it seems to have worked out for them. I've ordered up the angle and can't wait to give it a shot.

[Psycho71]

Glad you are finding solutions for the issues you face.

As for the lights, get you a toggle switch and a 12v HD relay. Run a wire from the battery + to one side of the normally open contact on the relay, then one from the other side of the normally open to the headlights (low beams I assume). Then run a hot wire from the fuse block or battery to the toggle switch, then from the toggle switch to the coil terminal on the relay. Then a ground wire to the other side of the coil terminal on the relay. If your headlights are grounded, they will now work. Of course, having a fuse on each wire from the power sources would prevent an electrical fire, should something go wrong.

You can duplicate this for the high beams as well, but most states that I know of require a high beam indicator working in the cab. So you'd have to run a wire from the coil side of the relay to an LED or some other type of indicator mounted around the dash area to pass inspection. if this is required in your state of course.

Of course, both of the above solutions only address the head lights, not the tail lights. Do they work now? If not, that could get a bit more involved.

[Psycho71]

Another idea.

Maybe call a few mini storage locations to see if you could rent a space for a months or so, so you'd have a place to chase a few gremlins? Let them know that you wouldn't be painting or have any fluids leaking, and they'd probably be alright with you doing some minor repairs. Just a though!

Keep in mind, I have no experience with mini storage policies. So I may be way off base on the ability to do this. It's just something that popped into my mind.

[dccarpenter]

Thanks for the great info guys, I'm going to contact the guy who runs the location where my cabinet shop is (it's a mini-storage that he supplies power to each unit and lets you use for work) and see if he has a parking spot available. He's totally cool with minor mechanical work in the spot.

Really can't wait to get my Blazer going..my truck's transmission is now down at least I'm only a block from the subway to get to work.

[C-10 simplex]

The other thing you've really got to be thinking about, despite the paint and the trans being out, is security.

These trucks are TOO in demand by theves. Almost more than money or life itself.

Steering wheel locks, chains, ignition/fuel shut offs. Whatever you can do to slow them down.

P.S. i know that they don't have good subway/metro access, but try Brandywine auto parts.

[dccarpenter]

Quick update,

Got my head and taillights working via the original dash headlight switch and brake lights work. Turn signals not working at the moment but haven't checked them out yet, may just need the flicker thing replaced.

Found some angle aluminum online to use to cut in and put on the rear of the truck, then will remount tailgate. It's functional for the moment.

Found some latches from Autoloc that are aftermarket and inexpensive, they are meant to be weld on but I'm wondering if I can't surface mount them for the time being.

Brake lines are 90% done, just need to run a line from the proportioning valve back to the rear brake T. I ran all new metal lines everywhere else including from the master cylinder. We started replacing the rear shoes and wheel cylinders too, hardware kit looked good and the drums where in good shape. Ordering two new cables for the e-brake and hopefully will get that working.

Exhaust is in great shape, no leaks, and the driveshaft is reconnected. Starter is still being a bit vexing, put the new one in and think I wired it wrong because now get nothing at all when turning key, need to get back under there and get it figured out.