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Almost Road Worthy Once More

A project log for 1983 Chevy C20 Pickup Restomod.

Turning a trusty, rusty old pickup into a reliable and interesting daily driver and work truck.

dustinDustin 02/03/2022 at 23:300 Comments

It's been a stressful week or so, but I've got the truck almost ready to go. Everything on it works, aside from the horn, 2 cab lights, and a front running light. I spent a few hours today tracing out all the wiring in the truck, and removing anything that was not needed. I found that my new used battery had died completely overnight, and traced it back to having the electric choke hooked up to the wrong circuit. I hooked up leads for a battery charger, and unplugged the choke, leaving the truck on a trickle charge for the time being. I have to finish wiring up the choke, electric fans, horn, and the voltage gauge.

The engine and drive train seem to be in decent shape, as well as the brakes. There is some body work to be done, such as replacing the cab corners and rocker panels, but that can be done later. I have 2 new tires to put on it as well. The shocks need replaced, but they aren't dangerous. I plan to clean up all of the wiring even further, and replace the fuse panel with a marine grade fuse panel when I have more time and money. I will replace the brake lines, transmission cooling lines, and vacuum lines with copper-nickel lines in the near future to upgrade all 3 systems.

I found a tow truck of the same body style and will go get the engine, transmission, windshield, dash panel, door panels, and perhaps the rear axle. The current plan is to overhaul the entire truck to ensure it is mechanically sound, rebuild an engine and transmission for it, then swap those out for what's in it now. I'll rebuild the originals and keep them as spares or for something else.

Once the truck is reliable and safe, I will start adding features such as custom cruise control, a winch, strobe light bar, work lights, tow hitch, rear disk brakes, and any other upgrades I want to add.

It's been hectic lately, but I should have my truck road legal tomorrow if all goes well. If so, I'll take it out for a test ride. Perhaps to the nearby park.

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