Picked up a '73 Piggy yesterday and finally got it off the trailer today, which means time for pics! Check 'em out here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/1143...s/5692794300380734945?authkey=CNTS1qy939-V0wE
The info: it was bought by the seller about 6 months ago and hauled out of a barn. It's a 73 with what seems to be original paint and a swapped out tailgate. It has all original mechanics, 4 speed tranny, front discs, most of the interior is there other than the driver's side interior panel. Fairly solid body as far as rust and what I've seen on here. No lack of dents to work out, but the rot isn't bad. I kinda dig the roof rack.. might even keep it instead of a safari rack.
The plans so far are to 1) get it drive-able for winter so I can play in the snow
. The engine is a runner, but needs to get flushed out and fresh fluids. I'm more of a motorcycle gear head, so this should be interesting... The engine ran when the previous owner bought it, but the valve cover has been off, so it needs a thorough going though first. I could use some advise on bringing it back to life...
2) Bucket seats and center console (while clearing the rear heater), eventually a new wiring harness so I can wire in heated seats and clean up the rats nest of wires under the dash. I might even relocate the fuses...
3) Engine swap this summer (a perk of being a teacher - weeks of nothing better to do than harass my cousin who is a mercedes diesel nerd into helping me out). Pull the gasser and go to diesel, not sure on a transmission and transfer case yet. Could try and find a merc. G wagon set up, or go for the adapter plate to run a GM one. Kinda wish I could just keep the original 4 speed with the mercedes engine.
4) Custom door panels - right now i'm thinking of using Bamboo flooring. It sounds cheesy, but done right I think it could looks awesome.
5) Lots of rust neutralizer and some rattle-canning. I actually LOVE doing body work. I've done a few motorcycles and repainted my truck. Ideally I'll sandblast the body and start with clean metal, but for one I can't afford the weatherstripping so it might be a while until I save enough pennies for that one. I kind of hate to do too much to the interior like sound deadening and carpeting until I get ready to strip the body totally - otherwise I'll have to do it all over again
The bad news with the rig - the rear tailgate is missing most of the internals, which will be a pain in the butt to replace and scrounge, so I'll take it as a sign from the gods that I need to do a custom rear hatch and just eliminate that pesky sliding window entirely. I need a dust guard for the flywheel - this one doesn't have one at all, and it's kind of necessary to drive it around up here with gravel and all. Gotta track down mirrors. Need a new windshield, weather stripping for it as well as for most of the doors. The rear bumper is bent into the body, and the spare I got is about the same. The rear seat is torn down, sandblasted and partially powder-coated which means I have no clue how to put is together, and there's pitting that should have been filled before powdercoating... and now it looks terrible! And the biggest thing for me is the wiring. I found a diagram, but I hate wiring! And this rig has no lack of loose orphan wires hanging about...
https://plus.google.com/photos/1143...s/5692794300380734945?authkey=CNTS1qy939-V0wE
The info: it was bought by the seller about 6 months ago and hauled out of a barn. It's a 73 with what seems to be original paint and a swapped out tailgate. It has all original mechanics, 4 speed tranny, front discs, most of the interior is there other than the driver's side interior panel. Fairly solid body as far as rust and what I've seen on here. No lack of dents to work out, but the rot isn't bad. I kinda dig the roof rack.. might even keep it instead of a safari rack.
The plans so far are to 1) get it drive-able for winter so I can play in the snow
. The engine is a runner, but needs to get flushed out and fresh fluids. I'm more of a motorcycle gear head, so this should be interesting... The engine ran when the previous owner bought it, but the valve cover has been off, so it needs a thorough going though first. I could use some advise on bringing it back to life...2) Bucket seats and center console (while clearing the rear heater), eventually a new wiring harness so I can wire in heated seats and clean up the rats nest of wires under the dash. I might even relocate the fuses...
3) Engine swap this summer (a perk of being a teacher - weeks of nothing better to do than harass my cousin who is a mercedes diesel nerd into helping me out). Pull the gasser and go to diesel, not sure on a transmission and transfer case yet. Could try and find a merc. G wagon set up, or go for the adapter plate to run a GM one. Kinda wish I could just keep the original 4 speed with the mercedes engine.
4) Custom door panels - right now i'm thinking of using Bamboo flooring. It sounds cheesy, but done right I think it could looks awesome.
5) Lots of rust neutralizer and some rattle-canning. I actually LOVE doing body work. I've done a few motorcycles and repainted my truck. Ideally I'll sandblast the body and start with clean metal, but for one I can't afford the weatherstripping so it might be a while until I save enough pennies for that one. I kind of hate to do too much to the interior like sound deadening and carpeting until I get ready to strip the body totally - otherwise I'll have to do it all over again
The bad news with the rig - the rear tailgate is missing most of the internals, which will be a pain in the butt to replace and scrounge, so I'll take it as a sign from the gods that I need to do a custom rear hatch and just eliminate that pesky sliding window entirely. I need a dust guard for the flywheel - this one doesn't have one at all, and it's kind of necessary to drive it around up here with gravel and all. Gotta track down mirrors. Need a new windshield, weather stripping for it as well as for most of the doors. The rear bumper is bent into the body, and the spare I got is about the same. The rear seat is torn down, sandblasted and partially powder-coated which means I have no clue how to put is together, and there's pitting that should have been filled before powdercoating... and now it looks terrible! And the biggest thing for me is the wiring. I found a diagram, but I hate wiring! And this rig has no lack of loose orphan wires hanging about...
