[dagnabbitt]

Been driving this all week on the previous owner's last tank of diesel, it sure gets great mileage. I spent about $30 at the car wash mostly to clean the engine bay, and vacuumed a lot of dog hair and cigarette butts out of the interior. Windexed the glass on the inside and fixed the jammed up seatbelts, it's quite a bit more enjoyable now.

Having got it on the hoist it seems to need a pinion seal, front brake shoes, and a front engine seal. Oil is... thin looking, I don't like the look of it. I bought a pail of Rotella 15/40, going to change the oil, oil filter - of course - and fuel filter. Rear chamber of master cylinder is low on brake fluid but no evidence of leaks, yet.

The box is barely held on the truck by three bolts, maybe. I expect I will do a little work to the box so there are more points for it to secure to the frame, the crossbraces are rusted out but I think I have something that will work. I have a rear dock bumper that I may put on, I think it will suit the truck more than the chrome sport one I have in my parts pile.

For the wheels, although I get a kick out of them because they are so inappropriate, I think they might have to go: they ride terribly and track all over the place, and I can probably sell them for enough money to get some extra parts for this project. Although I usually go for stock in terms of appearance I think that a diesel conversion can just pay homage to stock: I am thinking I will go with the below look that I have admired for a while, except I will go with a gloss black wheel instead of white.