Well, after replacing the second Alt, and providing a temp power from the FP Relay to the FP lead coming off of the Inertial Switch in the footwell we got the ol' beast running. Hilarity promptly ensued...

- Tensioner Pulley is now Howling Like a Banshee. (We put up with it for the time being to concentrate on more important items), it quieted down at idle, but still hows/squeals during actual driving. It's 'On the List'.

- Owner previously mentioned 'I put 5 gallons in the Front Tank"..., that was good as we were having a better time using the Front Tank, including a temperamental Gauge that would react to bumps in the road and show an actual reading (vs being pegged or maxed out). Rear Tank shows a pegged needle on the gauge. More on this later.

- Truck seemed to run well in the drive way, cycled the Thermostat, despite dashboard temp gauge not working at this time, it too is 'on the list'.

- Owner took it for a quick spin down the road to see how it ran, 20 mins later he called "I'm around the corner and it stopped running". On a hunch I probed both tanks w/ a rubber hose laying in the bed; Yep- Front Tank DRY, Rear Tank showed _some_ gas. Sent owner for a few more gallons, he came back with 'Five More Gallons of Gas' (Pretty soon I'm going to nickname him the 'Five Gallon Man'. We siphoned half into each tank based on the fact that while he was gone I got the truck running, but it acted like it had, crazy I know, Ran Out of Gas.

Fired right up, jumped back into freeway traffic and an exit or two later we pulled up in front of Base Camp. Looked under the truck and saw what looked like Gas dripping from a Front Tank leak. It stopped dripping with the truck turned off. Front Tank Fuel Level Sender had started to act right on the ride back home and now pretty much shows a realistic 1/8 tank. Rear Tank still wont act right, Gauge wise.

SO, I'm hoping the gas spilling on the ground is related to a dry-rotted braided hose from 1989, and if true can be reached from up under without dropping the Front Tank or pulling the Bed off. (I can hope, cant I?)

Bad News: We are relegated to using the Back Tank Only (esp when we thought to have been having better operation w/ the Front one) &
Good News: the damn thing actually runs up and down the road.

Time to actually break out the Clip Board and itemize these 'List' items one by one...

This is a pretty long post, Thx for sticking with it if you got this far; I didn't necessarily ask any out-right questions, but I figure there are a lot of 'been there, done that' veterans about- maybe I might get some constructive comments.

btw- Lighting the beastie on fire and/or pushing it off a cliff, while entertaining, are currently off the table.

Thx

 

 

Thx, might have to wait until not this weekend, but the following...

 

If you have the means to pull the bed off, do it. It'll save you a lot of time and aggravation. Otherwise, you'll be working from underneath with the tank dropped. Much easier to work from up top than it is to work on your back with rust and grease and gas falling on your face.