So, here's why this truck was dumb of me to buy. It has no motor, no trans, and has rust. LOTS OF RUST. And I mean LOTS of rust. But I actually bought the truck as a body project. That's right, a body project. I'm fluent in body work, and I've worked on several high end muscle cars over the years (even though my heart is in Japanese automotive). But, doing all of the this body work, repairing all of these old cars, I've always worked with a te of people, tackling the car. So, I wanna work on a vehicle, by myself, and see if I can save this truck and accomplish a personal goal.

The biggest thing, is the bed. It's pretty much gone from the amount of rust. The front floor boards have holes, the front frame rail in the engine bay has a hole in it, and I'm sure there are other holes here and there along the way that I'm forgetting to mention.

The main goal:
- Restore the body to original form (OEM)
- If OEM can't be accomplished, I will aim for OEM+ or modified.
- After body has been restored, I will aim to get the interior restored. Same as mentioned before (OEM first, if not, then OEM+ or Modified).
- From there, the engine will be the next big obstacle. The original motor is the 18R, but I know I will not be going back to that already if I get to that point. I will be going to a 20R most likely.

Anyways, here's just a few pics real quick.

 

Looks like you got your hands full with this one.

 

I have to agree with you... about the stupid project part. LOL I'm just pulling your leg. Actually, I'm always in awe of people who see a car in this condition and still think they can (and do) restore it. I've passed on cars with waaaay less rust and always end up wondering, "what if..."

I have my own non-running rusty bucket project car (a Series 1 240Z) now, but I bought it mainly because it belonged to a friend who unexpectedly died. I guess kind of a tribute thing because we (mainly she) used to talk about it a lot...

Good luck with the build!

 

Yep! It’s a POS. Hope you didn’t pay a lot for it.
The early frames were made from extremely light gage steel. I would do a total frame inspection before sinking any $$$ into it.

 

Eek I need a tetanus shot! Run don’t walk hahaha. I sure hope you didn’t pay much for that

I’d probably be making a Hilux chicken coop outta that one lol

good luck and welcome!

 

Haha for those asking, the truck only cost $100. So it's not much skin off my back (except what I lose to the cheese grated bed) if it ends up being way to deteriorated. But from what I've seen on it so far, all the rust in the important parts, are all manageable with enough patience. And I mean full on Yoda patience lol

 

Too bad you couldn’t fit the whole rig into your blast cabinet. Critical frame areas are the wheel arch’s and any suspension attach points. A good hammer and total frame inspection is a must.
I’ve seen trucks like this break in half when put on a lift. Good luck. Fred

 

Well, parts for any of these little beasts are hard to find, but 1973 is the oddball year. Any bed from 1974-1978 will fit your truck, though post 1974 beds had minor cosmetic differences, whereas only a 1973 bed will fit a 1973 truck, for example. The hard part will be finding (if needed) a valance, grille, and bumper. These parts are far more difficult to find than the post 1974 parts, and from what I've been able to gather, aftermarket parts for the pre-facelift models were never produced. Post 1974 models had a wider chassis, and the bumper from a later model will not be compatible with an earlier truck without modification. Valance panels are difficult to find, but do surface now and again, and occasionally on eBay I'll see a NOS grille coming usually from Thailand. A bumper is going to be probably the most difficult part to find. I'm going on nearly five years of parts searching and I haven't been able to purchase one yet. The rest of the body panels (hood, fenders, doors) are interchangeable 1972-1978. You may be able to piece together a complete drive train using car-part.com . I think the only interior differences with the later years are that a temperature gage was added to the gage cluster, possibly in 1975.