Introducing: "The Mule"

[Combat Chuck]

of course, leave it to me to do things out of order...

I decided to remove the passenger seat first to see if I should invest in anything to increase the height of the new seats, or if they'd sit high enough. The first three bolts came off easily, but the last one, well the track was frozen over it on the rail, and the spot-welds on the nutserts had broken, too.
why doesn't anything go smoothly?

Anyway, the easiest solution was to crawl under the truck, and drill out the nutsert with a battery-drill and a cobalt drill bit. That did the trick. I have a blurry picture of that to show.

Finally got the seat out, and lo-and-behold, a giant mouse nest, and a ton of old coins! Now I'm glad I removed the seat, bleeding vermin!

Next came the brackets, which I simply drilled out the rivets and spot-welds, and knocked them off with a BFH. Now for the moment of truth. I held uo a bracket to one of the rails, and... it fit perfectly over universal bolt-holes in the rails!

I finished collecting all eight brackets when I realized I had another problem, the PO brackets were raised in the rear, while the stock ones were flat, that's when I decided to use the raised ones on the driver's side, so I sit a little higher, and use the stock ones for the passenger. More time with the drill.

 

[Combat Chuck]

Finally, a pic of me holding the front bracket over the rail. Perfect match. On my way to class, I'll just visit my local hardware store for the nuts bolts and washers I need, and maybe a bottle of Goat Piss, and have the seats done by nightfall.
Once they're in, then I'll crack open a Moose Drool (or two) to celebrate.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Very, very nice truck!

That with a 1KZ-TE will absolutely rock. Shoot, a 3L with a turbo in that would really, really be awesome.

I agree with you on the bumpers, they need to go. No doubt. I made my own rear bumper, and I love it. But when I looked at fabbing up my own front bumper, I simply came to the realization that I couldn't build as strong a bumper as ARB makes without incurring a HEFTY weight penalty.

When you do the lights, the roundeyes are simply brilliant. Easily the best $104 I've spent on my truck. Easily.

Keep the updates coming!

Dan

 

[Combat Chuck]

Very, very nice truck!

That with a 1KZ-TE will absolutely rock. Shoot, a 3L with a turbo in that would really, really be awesome.

I agree with you on the bumpers, they need to go. No doubt. I made my own rear bumper, and I love it. But when I looked at fabbing up my own front bumper, I simply came to the realization that I couldn't build as strong a bumper as ARB makes without incurring a HEFTY weight penalty.

When you do the lights, the roundeyes are simply brilliant. Easily the best $104 I've spent on my truck. Easily.

Keep the updates coming!

Dan

Thanks!, yeah, I'm debating the ARB, but I don't know if they sell a first-gen bumper, I may make the second-gen pre-IFS one work, but then again 800 bucks is a lot of food. I may measure the frame rail spacing on my 40 and my Hilux, and if they're close enough, I may just invest in a MAF bumper...

This little 22R puts a huge smile in my face every time I drive it, and I can't wait to see how a TD Toy motor would transform things!

 

[Combat Chuck]

So yesterday, I picked up the hardware I needed, and drove out to school. The entire time my professors are talking, I just keep thinking about my truck, and how I should start working on Phase II- get a girl to occupy the co-pilot's seat (one step at a time, right?). Anyway, when I finally get out of school, I learn, I left my lights on for almost five hours, and I have to wait for AAA to come.

They told me it would be almost an hour, well, I knew what I could do to occupy my time. I dropped the tailgate, and got all the hardware mounted up onto the rails of the passenger's seat. by the time the truck came, I was ready to just bolt them in.

Of course, of all the things for me to overlook, chief among them is the slider spacing. The APC's were 1 inch wider, so a little time with the drill, some extra bolts, lock-washers and nylocks, and it all came together.

The driver's side was another story. The same bolt as the pass. side earlier had a dead nutsert, and similar problems, plus the remaining bracketry I needed wouldn't do down without a fight, and I kept losing batteries for my drill. After an hour more than I liked, I got a call from my dad, wo's working nights at the Press right now, asked me to brink him his lunch, which he left by his chainsaw.

So I throw the new seat it, torque all the bolts down, and fly toward Rohnert Park, and realize that, sadly, in this older, 4-cylinder, carbed truck, I can still do 65 better than most people on 101...

Anyway, the seats are done, and next up is the center-console, sound system and tires/spring work...

 

[Combat Chuck]

Just bought by first complete fill-up after a week's worth of daily driving.

The factors:
Novice manual transmission driver with a genetic case of lead in the right foot.
Some highway, some in-town, and mostly rural roads. Lots of hills.

I bought 9.7 gallons of gas, on 201 miles, which comes out to 20.73 MPG, which is the best average mileage my Olds ever got. So my fuel economy's about the same, but my functionality's greater, and the capabilities of this pickup surpasses my Olds in all ways but two: passenger space, and speed. But as long as I have one close friend or a very close lady friend (someday), and I enjoy the journey to wherever I drive, who needs six seats and 85 MPH right?

 

[DanS HJ-45]

I bought 9.7 gallons of gas, on 201 miles, which comes out to 20.73 MPG, which is the best average mileage my Olds ever got. So my fuel economy's about the same, but my functionality's greater, and the capabilities of this pickup surpasses my Olds in all ways but two: passenger space, and speed. But as long as I have one close friend or a very close lady friend (someday), and I enjoy the journey to wherever I drive, who needs six seats and 85 MPH right?

Dang straight!

I even took the bench seat out of the faux-lux and put in buckets just because the and I really don't need or want anyone else to go with us. It's more than enough for us (no kids for us, either), and frankly I'd rather not haul around that little bit of extra metal for something that we wouldn't really derive much utility from anyway.

I have a self imposed 65 mph speed limit. And given the choice between the interstate at 65MPG to get home, and the twisty 40mph road, I take the twisty, pretty, efficient road just because it's better on the truck all around, not just in terms of fuel consumption.

If you take it on any trips, I might suggest either getting some big plastic bins, or a large duffel bag to keep junk in the bed. Works fine for me, and then I don't clutter up the inside with stuff. Inside my truck lives a strap, a tool roll, the CB, the HAM, the amplifier, some speakers behind the seats, an ice axe, a collapsible shovel, a hatchet, a spare fuel and oil filter, zip ties, misc wiring supplies, and some rags. If you pack carefully, you can fit the essential stuff in there, and still have room for a lady friend.

Dan

 

[Combat Chuck]

Good ideas there, I do havea couple action packers I can use to stow stuff in the bed until I get my tonneau cover built.

Yeah, I definitely need to start stowing supplies and tools; tonight, on my way to work, my engine
wouldn't go below 3000 revs. Dunno why. Pulled over, called my dad to bring out a flashlight (I haven't put mine in yet) we checked the throttle linakge over, looked at the vacuum lines, nothing. Fired her up, and back to idling at about 800 revs, ran right all the way to work. I'll look more cloesly at all the joints in the system tomorrow morning when I install my stereo.


Also found why my cigarette lighter wouldn't work (I don't smoke, but use it to charge my Zune, and I run a tea kettle off it on my lunch). Not having a manual, I just picked through all the fuses one-at-a-time until I found a dead one ten amp one. Slid the cover over the fuse block fort he time being when I noticed Toyota had printed a diagram on the face. I was so used to the shoddy carelessness of GM tech, I hadn't realized that Toyota would actually do something so... logical. Anyway, the diagram told me the fuse I pulled should have been 15 amps, not 10, so there's my problem. I'll just pick up a bulk-pack of fuses Monday before school, and replace them all.

 

[liljlandon]

Carbs... IH8CARB.

Do the 22RTBI conversion... SO WORTH IT!

 

[Combat Chuck]

Carbs... IH8CARB.

Do the 22RTBI conversion... SO WORTH IT!

I'll have wait on that, since I'm hoping to go diesel in a year or so.

 

[H8PVMNT]

I want to learn about my carb before I do anything else...

Mine idles all stumbly but it seems to work great off road at all angles except when completely tipped over. It's funny I'm really knowledgable and comfortable with all the doodads on the efi but I can't find my way around a carb yet.

The TBI conversion would be great sometime though.

 

[Combat Chuck]

The TBI conversion's a great idea, making use of whatever resources are available, it's a great budget-conscious solution to the frustrations of a carb, but I will admit, of all the carbs I've used before this one, a carb off a Willys GoDevil engine, a q-jet, f-motor carb, and Rochester two-barrel, this one's simply the best, it's just so painlessly functional it's surprising.

 

[Combat Chuck]

Scored a front DS from a fellow PMC-er, and the bolts to go with from Yodaman. I also swapped out the Fuglybilt Jeep-tech afterbirth front bumper for a stock one, which is soooo much cleaner. Got the DS bolted up, and took her for a spin on the tractor-trail behind my parent's property. Gorram this thing rock in 4lo!
I've driven three other trucks with 4WD, and this little beasty blasts them all out of the water. My dad's old S10 was colossally unimpressive, his new truck, a Mazda B3000 is just plain gutless in 2wd, gutless and SLOW in 4WD, and our old Silverado was just too high-geared, it felt like my truck's 4hi was the brown truck's 4lo.
I love this rig, I can just feel that front live axle just tugging away as she ambles uphill, and I feel the gears really lugging hard when going downhill. Even though much of the trail is pretty loose with sand, and free round rock, I never once felt out of control, it was incredible!

 

[Combat Chuck]

 

[Combat Chuck]

My passenger in these shots is one of my Border Collies, Pepper.

I'm hoping tomorrow to go at the truck with my floor jack, socket-set and breaker bar, and get those blasted add-a-leaves out of the rear springpack, and bring The Mule's ass down some...

 

[Combat Chuck]

I work late tonight, so I had this morning to work on my truck. Spent a few bucks, 15 feet of wire, about 8 feet of electrical tape (I forgot to buy heat-shrink, I'll redo everything properly when I install my radio) and a few well-placed curses, but I got alot done.

First thing I did was locate the outputs for my radio and cigarette lighter from the fuse block, and cut them off about 6" back, then I attached leads to them, one I used to rewire the stock lighter, as well as a y-block of three DC plugs for other electronics. I would always get frustrated, because I couldn't charge my Zune, or my GPS or my phone at the same time, well now I can, with room to spare.

I also stole the cigarette lighter from my Oldsmobile, and made it into a pigtail that now abides behind the passenger seat for a 200-watt power inverter. I'm still hesitant to install my radio until I can build my overhead console to mount it, since my dash is remarkably unmolested, and I want to keep it that way, so I'm running some computer speakers off the inverter until then.

Also, if you want to talk about pain in the neck, getting all those screws back into the faceplate for the environmental controls was murderously frustrating. I somehow managed to get them in, but didn't feel like they were too secure, so I lifted off the lense of the backlighting-setup, and ran a self-piercing machine screw into the 1/16" hole in the right-side faceplate that corresponded to another small hole in the actual structural component of the controls, and torqued it down tight, so hopefully it won't come apart.

Today also drove home the need to just tear out my carpet kit and rinse it to within an inch of its life, man, that thing's gross!

I also haven't done the rear leaves yet, but I'm getting right tired of the fronts, I now avoid parking lots like the plague because speed bumps at anything over 5MPH is like a mechanical bull on crack!

 

[dngspot]

Sounds pretty darn sweet, got to love those first gen black pickups.

 

[Combat Chuck]

Sounds pretty darn sweet, got to love those first gen black pickups.

Yessir, minor frustrations aside, I'll take another '83 with some rough spots over a fully-working anything by General Motors anyday. Though, I will admit, I'm still a softie for the Oldsmobile 442. I'd love to restore one, but run a 2JZ-GTE or 2UR-FTE (if they even make 'em!) under the hood! I'd be the abomination of car shows across the 'States with my Oldsmo-Toy...

 

[Combat Chuck]

Some pics of the final, hack-hole free dash that Bob, the same gentleman I bought my beloved 40 from, gave me. Also I reinstalled the OEM SR5 gauge cluster in front of the radio, I almost used it to mount some 3" speakers, but I'm sure glad I didn't! Whatever the case, I disassembled it, washed all the dust out of it, threw it all back together, and now my cockpit feels just a little more "right".
And also, the power-block is held in place with a zip-tie, it was a quick fix for until I install my radio, then I'll come up with some sort of bracketry to mount it properly. I think I may just modify the stock ashtray-slider assembly, we'll see. Next big priorities are tires and springs. 3" of lift and some 31" BFG A/T's sound about right.

Another note: the cigarette lighter plug is from my 40, I never got the factory one, so if anybody has one for a first-gen they can part with, PM me.

 

[Combat Chuck]

I spent this last weekend helping my friend and his wife move from one end of Davis to the other. It was laborious, but fun. The Mule earned her keep, hauling boxes of books, and other junk. All-in-all, even with the bothersome in-town driving in Davis, and payloads, I averaged 25 MPG's, and this truck ate Sage Canyon road alive, she just stayed at 50 MPH, and 2300 revs in fifth the entire 50 miles to Davis, and just purred the entire way.

My sound system's due for an update, though, those little computer speakers weren't gutsy enough to overcome the sounds of all my windows open at 50, so I see if I can cram in my old Logitech 5.1 speakers from my old computer in there. If that works out, I'll be set until I can get that overhead console built.