Passenger side view. Note the peeling paint on the roof and the box.
My truck came with the original owner's manuals and filled out warranty card still in the plastic case. Even the cassette.
The box looks pretty good for 12 years old. I took this picture while standing on "the Beast" to get a good view of it.
I showed this wet toolbox to the salesman after his manager tried to get $300 more out of me.
Look at that skanky carpet! I just knew it would be all rusted out under there.
Passenger seat removed. The carpet is skanky and wet under the seat, too.
Stripping out the interior. The back seat is out as well as some of the passenger side trim.
Carpet removed. I was relieved to find the rust was not nearly as bad as I had expected.
Rust spots. I will strip the paint off the floorboards and treat them with POR-15.
After I stripped the interior, I used sticks to prop up the foam on the firewall because I didn't want to remove the entire dash to get it. I kept a fan on it overnight to dry it out.
This is the body tag from the floor. I took it off because it was rusty underneath and I wanted to get that taken care of. When I put it back in I will use a couple stainless sheet metal screws.
I noticed there were quite a bit of needles under the cowl when I got the truck. I did not realize just how many... this is what I found.
This is what I took out by hand. It's about 90% of them.
All cleaned up! Looks better, and the drain holes are all clear, too.
I noticed this tumor growing on the floor of the truck. I looked underneath and couldn't see anything it could possibly be for, so I took a vice grips and twisted it off (in case there was a bolt or something under it). Nope. Just an errant dollop of seam sealer.
I took the instrument cluster out so I could fix the tachometer. I also treated some of the rust behind it with Penetrol.
Score! I got this closeout new-in-box class III receiver off the internet for $50 +$20 shipping. I haven't installed it yet, and probably won't until I need to.
The back part of the floor is stripped and ready for the POR-15 rust treatment. I'm glad I decided to strip the whole floor as the rust spots were much bigger than the bad paint on the surface.
Here the POR-15 is finished and ready for the new carpet. This stuff is supposedly so good that it works better when it gets wet, thus protecting the metal underneath.
Installing the carpet. The instructions said to use chalk to mark where to cut the carpet, but I thought that would be messy, especially with a dark color, so I used masking tape. I figured it'd be easier to take off and I could reposition it if I needed to.
Carpet is in. Here you can barely see the lumpiness aft of the shift lever. The carpet does not want to lie flat in the front. The back part (unfortunately mostly under the seats) looks very nice.
Installing the interior. Here the headliner and the driver's side trim is in. I cleaned/fixed everything as I put it back together.
Installing the tool box and back trim. See how much cleaner that tool box is. Not perfect, but a damn sight better than it was. I decided to leave out the folding seat cushions to have more cargo room.
Passenger side toolbox. Besides the jack, I have a scraper/squeegee and a pair of rubber gloves. You will be very glad you have rubber gloves the first time you use them.
Driver side toolbox. Rags, a fire extinguisher (ABC type) and a plastic red flag in case I'm hauling a long load. You can see how the lids come up all the way without the fold-down cushions being there.
Engine. Bone stock.
I decided to just strip all the paint off the roof while keeping the original primer as best I could because it was really crappy and pealing anyway. You can see some big rust spots marked in the upper left.
After I sanded off the rust and treated it with Metal Ready, I spot primed the bare metal and wet-sanded the whole roof with 400 grit.
Then I sprayed on a few coats of primer. The hood isn't as rusty, but the paint is peeling just as badly, so I may do the same thing to it this winter.
Until I got the new light switch I just jumpered the two connections for the running lights and headlights on the switch block.
The old and new light switches along with the mounting bracket and knob. The black part has that hole in it that's too deep for parking meter change (I use the ash tray), but I don't know what else you'd put there.
WHAM! FUCK!! Got into a little oopsie with the truck. I will bang out the bumper and the sheet metal, and replace the tail light. I found tail lights on eBay for $25-40.
I got the dent puller for $15 and banged the dents out to roughly the original shape. I put POR-15 on the inside to protect the holes and the area where the paint flaked off from rust.
The Bondo has been put on and sanded down. Kombi putty is used to fill scratches and small pits. A lifetime supply cost me $8. After this it is wet sanded with 320 grit.
Five coats of primer were sprayed, then wet sanded with 400 grit. I couldn't find a color match in a spray can, so that will have to wait.
All done! The after market tail light is decent quality. I also banged the dent out of the bumper. Not a pro job, but I'll keep the $1,100 for other things, thank you.
New water pump being installed. Notice how it is behind the brackets for all the accessories.