As per request, here is a bit on my workhorse.

It was summer 1985. I was busy building a '53 Chev truck with a 427 in the California desert when on my commute to the shop I spotted this cute red truck on in a grade B carlot along the highway. I stopped in to look at it, price was $500. It was in good shape except the engine was apart in the back with a broken  piston. Needless to say I scrapped the Chevy project and went for the more practical, and less expensive.

The bores were 40 over, the crank 30 under, with minimal damage to #4 cylinder. A machinist told me to find another crank. Life caused me to hurry at the time, so I honed the heck out of the cylinder, replaced the piston with same, and threw it together with new bearings. Took two bottles of STP and Castrol 20w50 to keep it from knocking. I spent the next two years commuting, and hauling FULL loads of gravel multiple times 30 miles to a bit of property I bought. Had to improve a mile long road. Built a wood frame road grader to tow behind so as to flatten the road. Really worked this little critter!

At 20k miles, the rear seal gave out. I started hunting for a transplant. Was across the street helping some kids line up a transmission on a Toyota they were having trouble with, and mentioned my dilemma. One of the kids said his dad had taken a Datsun engine apart and it lay along side their house. Said I could have it if I wanted. Now we cookin'! It was a L20B. Had the head done, honed the cyls, put in standard rings and bearings. Went to a junkyard, Pick-A-Part, and left a Datsun engine held together by gaskets. Did not get the hardware with the engine! Took the distributor and electronic ignition to boot. Got the radiator too, but it turned out to be junk.

My next visit to the yard was for a transmission. I took my 4 speed down there for exchange and found a pickup that someone had all but lowered the gear box, made it easy for me to pull. 5th gear bearing had failed, but rest was good. Rebuilt that, and of course got all the miscellaneous to go with it.

Knocked the firewall back about an inch, raised the bed and cab 2", made two simple motor mount supports, and used a Triumph TR4 rear mount with a bit of angle iron. I had this car and knew it was a simple mount. Had the driveshaft made to length, and presto, with the old rear end it would climb trees!

I was looking at a Buick aluminum V8, but the L20 was more doable. A week after I got running, another 520 passed in front of me at an intersection, and I heard the V8! Darn, sounded great!

So 120k later, and many years of hauling this, that, and the other thing, I noticed some rust through on the doors. Paint was gone on the top of everything also. And the windshield had to go. I let the truck go, did the minimum to keep it going, thinking one of these days I would get a ticket on the glass. Still, I decided to do a good spray bomb (Rustoleum Sunshine Red), good prep and prime. Yesterday I picked up 8 more cans to finish the job. Dried the doors, cleaned, soaked rust stop in the door skin seam, and got the first level of bondo on.

Ordered the windshield yesterday, and am working off all the squawks that have accumulated over the years. Bumper is a piece of pipe as a result of me reporting a neighbor for excessive burning smoke, turns out he was a cop, and the fireman told him who reported it. Got a ticket a week later for no bumper. The original bumper was a pretzel and also would not fit since the cab lift.

I had to build an elaborate remote shifting linkage as the 5 speed put the shifter into my seat. A neighbor kid had taken apart a '73 and his folks were tired of looking at it. So I got a seat, with notch, a rear end to replace my now noisy one, the transmission, engine, spare bits. The engine ended up in my '60 Thompson cabin cruiser 18' along with the heater for the cabin, and assorted other goodies. Really sips fuel and works well. Kind of strange when I start the boat, as it sounds like I am in my truck! Been in there since 1990 and seen a fair amount of service, now due for freshening up of the head.

Along the way, I picked up a '78 with a 74 drive train and makeshift flatbed. Been raiding that for everything it's worth lately, and now it is looking like a skeleton. By the way, the lower bench seat is a perfect fit, the back was too wide. '73 back fit perfect. Seems they did not change too much over the years. Parking brake handle and shaft was a perfect swap.

So there ya go, Happy 40th, and hence upgrades, to old paint.

Looks good...
love those mirrors!

Had the mirrors off, could not resist painting the window frames too. Still have to weld the left frame at the rear corner at the door. Really embarassing when I grab the frame with the window down, and it tries to come with me! Scraped the caulk out of the bed edges, found one small hole, will rust treat and recaulk. Had to make a new upper bracket for the left mirror as the silicone repair to the cracked bracket was unacceptable to such a good looking machine! The battery had fallen out, with the positive terminal contacting, and burning off the dipstick top, which in turn got hot and melted a groove in the heater hose. During the engine swap, I had to 90 the heater core fittings to go around the new engine, so to change the hoses the heater had to come out. One thing leading to the next, I found the core to be plugged with pine needles. Thank goodness for the easy access to the intake area, removed about 5 pounds of rotting needles. No rust, thank goodness!

Here is a pic of my L16 in the boat. Enjoy!