Hey Everyone,

I've been lurking around here for a bit to gather info, but I figured now would be a decent time to introduce myself. My grandpa recently passed and left me with his 1979 single cab short bed. I don't have much history on it other than I know it was a show truck of sorts and my grandpa only put about 1300 miles on it before he parked it in the garage. It only has about 54xxx miles on the clock, with I believe a 351M.

It is currently in a two door, two car garage between a 70s duster and a 30s dodge pickup. All three haven't moved since the mid 90s so driving them out is a no go. I got some wheel dollies to go back up on the 20th to continue. Once it is out of the garage I'll need to figure out some way of towing it back to Raleigh since it is currently in VA. I don't think my little Nissan truck has the power to do it.

Once I get it back to my house I'll probably look it over and see what all needs replaced/repaired and try to get it running as it is. Long term plans are to modernize it a bit for daily driving, and restore and bullet proof it as best as possible.

 

From the pics posted I'd say it looks like a very nice truck. It sits fairly high, is it a 4x4 ?

 

Looks like it is missing a few small things in the engine bay, but otherwise it looks really solid. I think you might be surprised how light these older are, you may have no problems towing that with your truck. My 76 f250 4x4 with a big block engine weighs about 5000lbs. There is a thread on curb weights somewhere on this board

 

Welcome to FTE, sorry to hear about your grandfather passing. Nice truck, looks 4wd.

Not to sure how it is in Va, but in Mo. to get a title transferred after the truck owner has passed away, a copy of the death certificate is required to be taken in with the title.

Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Thanks for the compliments. It is indeed 4wd which is the reason he wanted me to have it. My old Isuzu with 4wd finally died about the time he was making out his will, and he knew i was looking for something with 4 wheel. He was a good man, and tough as nails. I wouldn't wish his last year on worst of people.

As far as the title goes, I will have to do more digging since calling the DMV is like talking to some else's toddler.

My Nissan only tows up to about 6500 i think so the f150 and the trailer would probably put that at the limit. That bridge will be for another day.

Few more pictures crappy pictures. Its a bit tight in there with very little light. When I get it pulled out I'll get more detailed pics.

 

Honestly, you could probably throw some new tires on it, change/top off the fluids, and maybe have to rebuild the carb, and use it to tow the Nissan back - though even I wouldn't advise it...

 

Welcome to FTE. We all look forward to see what it takes to get a your truck running, considering it hasn't run since the 90s. It looks to be in really good shape. I hope you keep it and turn it over to your grandson some day.

 

Its out! For the first time in probably 20 years it has some sunshine... eh well near it

After getting it out in some natural light, I'm impressed how good it looks before a wash.

We put a battery charger on it just to see what it does and it looks like the starter solenoid is having issues.













It has some badly done wiring for an audio system that will be taken out and done correctly, this might extend to the engine bay so I'll trace it all our and replace correct to oem.



Also something for the long and lonely drives on the road



Now I gotta figure out how to get it to Raleigh.

 

Nice score. Looks really clean, especially for an east coast truck.

 

That thing clean up very nicely. I would drain the fuel tank of every drop of that old gas, before you try to get it running or run it off a gas can hanging off the fender.

Best deal is to drop and drain/clean out the gas tank, put in a new sending unit since the tank is out and be ready to replace the fuel pump.

If you try to get it running with all that old gas, after you rebuild the carb you will be back to square 1.

Contact a vehicle shipper. A FTE member shipped his truck with no problems from Mo to NC and then back to Mo 4 or 5 years later.

 

That thing is super clean! I'll bet it doesn't take much at all to get it running in tip top shape again. Rent a uhaul trailer and pickup for a day. Can't cost that much and mileage is usually unlimited. You'll have it home in no time.

 

Thanks, I believe it was a "show" truck of sorts before my grandfather got it.

Yea I'm glad it didn't turn over, I was just amusing my Dad. He kept bugging me to do it.

Once I get it to my house I'm going to pressure wash the underside, drop the tank, strip it down, rebuild the carb, do a full tuneup, replace all the fluids/filters/plugs.


Thanks! I'm getting some quotes from movers now, so I'll see what is cheaper. Hiring a mover is proving to be pretty cheap so far in my opinion.

It probably won't take much, but I'm going to go all out since parts are cheap and I don't mind the tinkering

 

That's what I was going to say also. Several years back I bought my 69 crewcab online and it was a couple thousand miles away. I went after it with my 96 302 F150 but decided that was a lot to ask of the 150 so hooked the crewcab to the trailer and jumped the 150 on. I had some bad gas to deal with when I switched tanks and had bought a vintage Warner trailer brake and put that in the 69. It was a great trip home and an adventure. Get roadside assistance, take your time and don't worry. If you have basic tools, you can do just about anything you need along the way.

 

It's here! now the fun starts.

 

I think this is the first time I've ever seen the same wheels as I have. Yours look much better though and you have a beautiful truck.


My wheels are now the same on both sides but I think they are on the opposite side of yours, and thus are reversed.