The hood latch in grille is adjustable, adjust it and amaze your friends when you can actually "pop" your hood, give it lots of lube after adjustment. I hate seing these trucks with the lever bent halfway over cause the idiots before me didn't know how to care for something properly, just remove 2 bolts and bend handle straight with hammer and bench vise, lube, paint handle, reinstall properly, done!
when you first get the truck replace all the old vacuum lines with new, it felt liked I gained 30HP just from better vacuum!!! and my rpms dropped too! make sure to replace one at a time so you don't mess up the routing.
when you first get the truck:
change out the air filter, pcv filter, fuel filter, power steering filter if equipped, check/replace plugs and wires, replace cap & rotor or check/adjust/replace points, check/adjust timing, make sure you have good ground wires to bat and alt, block to frame, and body and frame. replace oil & oil filter and check trans fluid level. do that and have fun and get to know your truck and you might find something you misssed before you bought it.
It does make a performance difference, response is crisper and mileage is better.
In the inside on my two tone jade green truck, I changed to tan interior, but for the door panels I put the dark green armrests on the tan panels, looks sharp and slick and better than stock using stock pieces, simple & looks NICE!!! have to remove door panel and on back of panel undo two screws holding armrest to panel
I have bucket seats from a 83 datsun Z or something(free from friend), me & dad welded a custom frame for them and they look sharp! tan leather 4-way mechanically adjustable, I love lumbar support! I wanted head rests was the main reason, but I like how they keep me from sliding in the corners!!
Use anti-seize compound on any bolt or screw that is exposed to the elements that you have to remove and replace.
If you want to use clear turn signal lenses in front, buy some amber bulbs to go inside of them so you are still legal, not many people like a glaring strobe light to distract them.
lube/grease your hood hinges, made a world of difference on mine.
EVERYTIME you wash your truck, wash out the hidden lip on the rear wheelwells so they DO NOT RUST OUT!
don't use front chrome bumper as step to work in eng bay, you will scratch it, and it will be noticeable
you can get chrome plated(shiny) door lock pulls off of 73-96 Ford trucks and probably vans too
haven't tried it yet, but I was thinking about getting the bigger sun visors out of a van for my truck
the 73-79 doors have a stock 6 inch round speaker location hidden behind the panel, look before you cut!!! It ticks me off everytime I see one in a wrecker, a 6" speaker below the panel, I pull the panel to find an empty stock hole. They ruined a door cause they didn't look behind the panel. Easier to replace/fix a panel then weld a hole in the door!!!!!!!!!!
just because it is a 30 year old truck doesn't mean your friends should slam the doors with all their might!!! politely tell them not to do that, or let them walk home from the mall or wherever.
I repositioned where my window crank handle rests when closed and open so my knee can rest comfortably against the door panel.
If you look carefully in the wrecking yards you can find the armrest/handle piece, that looks like a strange canoe when removed, in plastic or metal, the plastic ones break if abused, the metal ones don't and you can paint them easily.
make sure to use that round opaque plastic spacer between the door panel and the window crank handle, it makes rolling down/up the window a little easier and doesn't damage the panel(and the spring between panel and door cuts down rattles, if equipped)
there are 9 clips holding the panel to the door, one screw on the door open handle, one screw on the window crank handle, two screws in the armrest/pull, and then the door panel comes off
the headliner is ridicuously easy to get out to replace or customize
try to find chrome headliner strips in wrecking yards, they look better IMHO
I think that plastic cover piece at each end of the benchseat that breaks often is interchangeable 73-96
for the benchseat itself bolting in, you have to use your 73-79 seat mounts/rails on the 80-96 benches, the rails easily unbolt from all 73-96 benchseats
my driveshaft is greaseable, check if yours is if you hear a clunk, and even if you don't
I used the hood to cowl rubber weatherstripping off of a mid80s ford van in my beater truck but I had to drill 2 holes for it to fit, be careful when removing, it breaks easily.
use anti-seize on your lugnuts
a lockable glovebox is a nice thing to have, search the wreckers and have a key made at a locksmiths place, doesnt cost too much when you bring the lock to them
clean the radio antenna for a better reception - it relly does work! just use something that doesn't leave a residue behind
theres a little tab on the bottom of the plastic guage/heater/radio surround that I always forget to pop in before I put the 1st screw in place and have to redo it
I'm done for now, enjoy!
