At this point I knew the rig was cosmetically sound. The body looks fantastic from 10 feet away. From 3 feet away the paint is actually pretty bad in some spots (some rattle can touch up here and there), but it looks nice.
The interior is fantastic. The only thing wrong there is the rear heater fan doesn't spin and I want a tuffy box.
I had also decided that even though the 75 carb and emissions stuff wasn't "right" it worked very well and it was just the purist in me that wanted them corrected.
So clearly my focus needs to be on the mechanicals. I created a list of things I needed to do, and last weekend I began working through that list in earnest. My goal is to have all of these mechanical things fixed by the end of May. I can only really work on the rig at night and sometimes on the weekends (family is my highest priority), so while this might sound like a long time for the list of things here, for me it seems pretty realistic.
I was able to find a set of 3.73 3rds from a '79 (thanks Yoda!). One casing is pretty rusted, but I believe it will clean up nicely. This will be mainly a daily driver, so the 3.73 gearing should work nicely for me.
Here's my list in the rough order I will attack:
- Tear down front hubs/knuckles (done)
- Remove front 3rd member (done)
- Finish removing oil pan gasket (done!!!!)
- Remove old gasket material from diff covers (done)
- Remove front steering components (tie rod, relay rod, etc...) (done)
- Remove LF Fender (to access PS box) (done)
- Remove old coolant hoses (done. Thanks Bull).
- Clean, de-rust, and paint: 3rd members, steering components, knuckles...
- Replace PS box (leaking badly)
- Replace PS hoses
- Rebuild hubs and knuckles
- Replace rear drum pads
- Replace front disc pads
- Drop Tranny/Tcase
- Fix Tranny/Tcase seals, rebuild as needed
- Rebuild parking brake
- Replace clutch, install new clutch fork boot
- Replace rear main seal
- Install 3.73 3rds with new gaskets & nuts.
- Install 2.5" Lift Kit. OME Springs, Shocks, Shackles, etc…
- Replace Tie rod and drag link ends
- Rebuild center arm
- Replace stabilizer (got a new one from Bull)
- Replace Tie Rod and Relay Rod (both bent)
- Reinstall Tranny/Tcase
- Fix speedo cable/seal
- New fill/drain plugs
- Install new oil pan
- Fix battery, frame, body ground wires.
- Install new battery tray (requires drilling out a broken stud)
- Install new hoses
- Install new Fan & AC Belts
- Install my Tuffy box
- Fix rear heater fan
- Clean frame rails (full of mud)
- Put my new OEM steel (freshly poweder coated!) wheels on
- Drive away