Cyber Diner

Wow, you've really taken on a lot there. It's going to take years before you can drive it. I would start by putting it back together. Reattach the doors and all the other parts. Get the engine running and then drive it for a while, so you can enjoy it and stay motivated. Then you can still work on the cab. Well, that's what I would do.

well its like a house of cards that needed a lot more than i expected (although i shoulda known better) and i wanted to fix as much as i could as i went along. most of what i took apart really had to be for various fixes and seals and leaks and so on, and once you are that far, its not much farther to just pull rest of it apart. these old trucks arent really technically complicated, just time consuming

as a hobbyist working in my garage, with limited spare time, without a heated/cooled work area, and doing things sometimes in part day increments, i have had to remind myself that i cant do all the things the way a professional in a professional shop who can devote whole days and weeks to can, and tell myself at times, "its good enough, leave it be and move on to the next thing. keep your eye on the prize"

A couple of months ago, was first time I wanted to work on the old truck, or really do anything but just kinda exist, since my wife died last July. I finally ran battery cables to the starter and alternator, power to distributor (all wired through kill switches just in case), filled up all the fluids, and installed a couple of cheap gauges under hood. after priming carb she barked right off, sat and idled, hadn't even tuned anything yet. The engine had good oil pressure, temps were good, I was so stoked.

Then, I noticed a slight bubbling on front of engine, where marked, appeared the head gasket was losing compression and starting to dribble oil. sigh, never noticed before when it was so grimy.

That's last time I touched it, I haven't decided but I think I'm going to find a way to store it away (maybe buy a shipping container and put out back) and clear out half my garage from being hogged up all the time when I want to do other stuff.

Its too taken apart to sell really, and get more than salvage prices for it, maybe ill start back up on it again later. what a shame, but I sorta lost heart in it after the last couple of years.

my current main ride, 22 2500 6.4l gas, I love this truck. I'm thinking to maybe get a travel trailer or large enclosed trailer and I wanted something big enough to haul it, plus I always wanted the 6.4l 2500 when it was introduced, thing runs and drives awesome. I had about half down from trade in, only had to finance half of it or I'm not sure I would have bought it.

so far, I have installed a front under bumper receiver, wired up quick connect to battery for jumper cables and accessories, initially to support a 13k winch I installed on a receiver plate, with quick battery connects, so it can be mounted front or rear.

I installed a peragon bed cover, and trying to build a bed slide on my own based on the pic below. Im about 80% done, works ok, needs some adjustment, paint, maybe a bit of reinforcement to reduce flexing. I'm only like 150 bucks in it, so if I'm not satisfied I can wait to spend 1500 to 2500 on a bed slide lol. just a project I kinda wanted to try to kill some spare time. as I get older, it gets more awkward to climb in and out of these pickup trucks, and if I start camping id love to get it all setup with gear on the slide for the excursion.

pic of my work car right after i bought it, awaiting new tires before winter started. It's a 2000 Chevy Tahoe, 135k miles, someone took really good care of it before me.

where im at with mine so far, rolls in and out but a bit finicky sliding, i gotta get some round headed hex bolts and prob a bit of metal to clad the top of the side rails to smooth it out and take out some flex.

I have some heavy duty, weatherproof boxes already but id like to move to a stacking system, like the red milwaukee boxes in the pic with the black chevy. I can get them at home depot but wow, they are proud of the milwaukee stacking boxes.

just bits and bobs mentioned.

i would like to find a box to fit the winch, for protection and stacking purposes once I'm satisfied with the bed slide.

the slide needs a rubber mat of some kind to keep things from sliding around too much, as well.