1975 Jeep j10 4x4

Sweet! One of my dream builds is a Tow Pig made from a J20 and an 8v Cummins.

How long since it was last driven? 

Don't know about repop beds for these or what the best route forward is.  This might be a candidate for a DIY flatbed swap.  What's the frame like?  What's anything like?  Besides bed rust you've not really told us what the vehicle condition is.

Oh hell yeah

Great truck! Start simple, make it run and make it stop. Once it's drivable in the most basic form, focus on making it drive like it did when new - Make sure the cooling system works right, hunt down all the worn out suspension parts and replace them to tighten it up, etc.  All those parts should be available form the local parts house, they're nothing unique. It's just going to take working through the problems you find. As a basic driver they worked pretty well in stock form, certainly for a 5 mile commute. 

As for things like redoing the interior, I doubt most of the upholstered stuff is available repop. You should probably just find a local shop to refurb the seat.

That 8ball shifter brings back memories! I had the same one on the 3speed in my '69 big block F100.

Cool truck!

Since you mentioned seats, maybe do some measuring and go junkyard exploring? A seat is a seat, doesn’t matter what it comes out of.

First things first, I like to pull the old seats/carpet/whatever, clean it out, spray the dust off, poke around, make a to do list, etc. That always gets me excited for a project and helps to see it as bite size pieces instead of one daunting mess.

HawkeyeWrestling said:

I want to restore the body, the interior and make it drive good for a affordable price.  Also my budget can be anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000. 

I would like a beautiful redhead nymphomaniac with an oral fixation who owns a whisky distillery.

I work in the restoration business, I don't think you want a restored truck, you want a solid reliable driver that looks good from 20 feet.

I would suggest that you start by cleaning it up and getting it drivable, I would completely service the brakes, steering and suspension. Fresh hoses, belts, cleanup the fuel system, change all the fluids, etc. Make it run and drive as-is and drive it that way for a while before really diving into it. You may find that you don't actually like driving it, no matter how cool the truck is.

Once it's running and reliable and you actually want to keep it, then start picking away a the interior, bodywork, etc and get it to the point that you can spray it all one colour. Then enjoy the old truck you have.

 I used to have a '67 Gladiator and I loved it but there was no way I was going to sink restoration level money into it. It was just a good old truck.

In reply to ShawnG :

You are exactly right. I don't need a show truck, I just would to get it looking decent and running great. Please email me at amm1898@yahoo.com about your services you can provide and we can discuss pricing and what not! 

In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks for the advice! Definitely going to use it.

IIRC I pulled a powersteering bracket and pump off on a few months back.  If you can use it it's yours for shipping.

That's a pretty solid looking truck for a J10.  Those fender flares are usually gaping rust voids.  You can patch weld sections of truck bed to cover the rusted out sections.  You can also lay in a diamond plate aluminum sheet to cover the whole bed floor.  
 

Clean it up and get it mechanically solid before you spend money on appearance.  Rock Auto probably has every suspension component you need.  The engine will need gaskets and seals.  Replace all the brake lines shoes and wheel cylinders.  Drain the gas tank.  The gas is almost certainly no good, that assumes the gas tank isn't rusted out.  Replace all the fluids in the engine, trans and rear end.
 

But a super solid looking truck.

Nice Find!

Lots of common AMC Bits there.. that steering wheel and other interior bits remind me of the 70's ambassadors etc.

Good Luck with it.

Greg

You should be able to put whatever seats you want in there, just fab the base to suit. Hell, my Dodge Raider project I put WRX seats in (with the original Mitsubishi "trucker" floating bases). On a truck that size, you could probably grab seats from something modern, just do a bit of measuring and graft them to the original bases. Or a seat from another car you particularly think is comfortable, go get a couple of those and put them in. 

Otherwise, I know nothing about these, but looks like a cool project. Way cooler than the lame new Jeep pickup. 

also, the small mirror + giant mirror on the driver's door makes me chuckle. LIke, the PO wanted the big mirrors, but was too lazy to take off the stock little ones :)

Outside of a good clean, I'd do zero work to the body to start - except for the surface rust on the hood the rest of it looks pretty good in the pictures.  Worry about getting the mechanicals working well first.  Are the bucket seats original?  They don't seem like the sort of thing that would have been available in a Jeep pickup of that vintage, but if they are they may well be the same (or at least similar) to what was used in a Wagoneer.

Excellent project.

HawkeyeWrestling said:

In reply to ShawnG :

You are exactly right. I don't need a show truck, I just would to get it looking decent and running great. Please email me at amm1898@yahoo.com about your services you can provide and we can discuss pricing and what not! 

I think you may have misunderstood.

Your budget is best served by doing the work yourself. 

If you're unsure about that (I have no idea of your skill level), there's a lot of knowledge on this forum, just get a service manual, dive right in and if you get stuck, just ask for help. Everyone here is incredibly helpful.

First step is a shop vac and some hot, soapy water.

In reply to stuart in mn :

They are not original!