Project Firetruck

[c3006]

Well I started a help thread that was on the edge of turning into a build thread so I decided to start a build thread before it went any farther. Fire Truck is a 1987 R30 ton dually that started life as a hazardous waste response truck at a fire department in South Carolina and basically sat around mostly unused and sitting inside out of the rain waiting for the spill at DuPont that never came.
The truck was sold at auction in 2009 with 10,800 actual miles on it and driven home here to Tennesse where the motor and tranny were promptly taken out (454 and turbo 400) and put in the buyers car carrier as they were like new as was the truck. The truck was pushed under a shed where it sat till I purchased it off craigslist a couple months ago,below are the Craigslist pics.






The paint was faded but there was absolutely no rust anywhere and I knew I had to have it so it headed to my house as I had a fresh small block and turbo 400 needing to go into something and my 69 short bed project was looking to go long as the body is much worse than I anticipated and is going to have to go frame off and as I just sold my 2009 2500 diesel silverado and needed a truck so the work began on project Firetruck.

[c3006]

Here is a pic of the SPID on the dash door and sticker beside it

[c3006]

I considered buying a flatbed and taking off the fire truck bed completely but started falling in love with all the tool boxes so we cut the high top off and called in the grandson to help with a bath which brought the paint back nicely.

[c3006]

It became apparent that it might be a pain to put in my small block because finding the right brackets to install the power steering that also assists the brakes was not looking good so I took this as a sign that I was supposed to put a big block back in and found a 83 Suburban that had a 454 that had been rebuilt along with the tranny at a good deal so brought it as a donor.

[aggie91]

Interesting so far. A freind of mine had a similar bed set up on his dually that he used to tow his race car with. Always had what he needed with him..

[c3006]

Got motor and tranny in,hopefully get it fired up tomorrow

[c3006]

Motor fired right up and ran great but had to turn the distributor counterclockwise about as far as it would go to run smooth,I think I'm a cog off. If I lift it and rotate the rotor button one notch clockwise it should bring it around where it needs to be I hope.

[c3006]

All buttoned up off to muffler shop tomorow.

[Just call me Sean]

Will you be removing the ambulance type lights on the fenders? Looks like you got the rest with the top removal.

[c3006]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

Will you be removing the ambulance type lights on the fenders? Looks like you got the rest with the top removal.

They are disconnected but I think I will leave them as I kinda like them and I don't want to do the bodywork it would take to take them off

[Just call me Sean]

Maybe you could hook up the white portion to the turn signals as a cornering lamp like Cadillacs had. It would be a neat custom touch, and then they would be useful. Just a thought.

[c3006]

Painted rear bumper and made some aluminum tread plate caps for the tool box. Got all the bugs out and it's running and driving great. Gonna try and do a do it yourself bed liner tomorrow.

[jpnh]

cool/ looks much better with the top chopped off/pretty mint

[c3006]

Took a lot longer to sand and degrease the inside of that bed than I thought it would,only got the first coat of bed liner on.

[c3006]

New antifreeze overflow tank from GM dealership leaking right off the bat.

[c3006]

Replaced the faulty anti freeze bucket and put a little wax on,not bad for a 27 year old survivor with original paint.

[Just call me Sean]

Looking good. What's next on the agenda?

[c3006]

I'm going to drive the crap out of it while I'm fixing up the 69

[c3006]

Rigged my ramps up to use a a temporary tail gait and now I'm kinda liking it.

[cable666guy]

Pretty sharp !!