What to bring on 1000 mile road trip with a truck I've never seen?

So I made it, gave payment. Do a quick check, got a light out, heat doesn't work, got a coolant leak, headlights don't work. Headlights started working after punching the floor mounted button a few times. Fixed the heat and coolant leak by removing someone's heater block off screw. No seatbelt, manage to stretch the center one over and can do it up if I suck in my belly. Take off down the street, brakes go to the floor half the time. Went back to sellers shop, he had taken off. Waiting for a new brake master now, hopefully it's on it's way.

Cracked the brakes lines at the master, amazed they were not seized. Hoping the line holds when I bend it back to eliminate the crimped off D cutting someone put in.

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Sorry, mobile posting is difficult. Taking advantage of the Wi-Fi while I wait.

Hmmm... Hope that's an easy fix.

So the one thing you didn't bring with you needed replacing? The epic begins!

Are you waiting til tomorrow to set off for home?

Good luck!

Is the heater core good?
Your going to need heat!

New master cylinder is on and works, only bench bled not individually but it stops and I can lock them up so good enough for now. Gassed up and bought $150 worth of crap from Wal-Mart. Then bought a new spare tire. Just realized I hadn't eaten anything today with all the excitement, so I'm at a subway now. I'll try to make kansas city tonight

In reply to JohnRW1621:

Heat is good now! Just topped the coolant so it's spitting out the overflow tube now. Wish it had a reservoir. Also topped the oil, quite low.have to keep eye on that

good luck!

So, assuming you and the truck survive, what is the master plan for the truck?

Good luck with your trip and I will emphasize to use the On the Road list in the Grassroots forum. Don't be too proud to contact someone for help if you get stuck somewhere.

Blew a tire and put the spare (with an hour old new tire) on. Don't trust the other tires now so I called it a night. Going to Wal-Mart first thing tomorrow to get a new set. In Pryor, OK for the night.

In reply to NOHOME:

Daily summer driver. Probably just fix the rust, get power disc brakes, fix door and window seals. Eventually an iron block "LS" and overdrive transmission. Simple cookie cutter type build.

This thing is a little more rough than I had hoped. Good luck the rest of the way!

Good call to turn in for the night. Discretion being the better part of valor and all that.

I've gotta say, I think that thing is dead sexy. I hope you can keep it looking like that forever.

Yep. That there is REAL patina. Looks really straight. Seems like most of the issues you've had are comparatively minor and signs of disuse. Are you on a tight timeline to get home?

Seems like once he gets it home, he'll have replaced most of the rubber items, and it will be good to go for another 45 years or so.

I crawled around under it last night, washed off the spilt brake fluid, replaced and secured the sketchy fuel filter, and wrapped the upper rad hose in duct tape where it's touching the fan shroud. The floors unfortunately have more rust than I first thought, where they join the rockers and where it joins the firewall. Hoping the windshield/roof joints are okay....

The truck was very recently clear coated, so the patina should be preserved.

I'd really like to be home by Sunday evening.

Planning on stopping by LMC truck in kansas to pick up some rust repair bits, mirrors, window felts, door rubber, gas cap seal, and seatbelts.

I was hoping to get a Datsun 510 someday but the rarity of the body parts and interior pieces is amazing. I came across the LMC catalog and was shocked at how low Chevrolet truck parts cost. (I do realize a lot of the parts are import items)

In reply to Datsun310Guy:

It's true. Several years ago I did a quick restore/fix up on a '81 chevy fleetside. I opted to replace the whole box sides as they were under $150 for complete panels. Fit was good enough for that job. Cab corners were about $15 each. Very cheap and easy to rebuild a Chevy truck body with minimal filler.

This is quite the adventure!

I wish I lived along the route so I could say "hi" or have lunch or snag a coolant reservoir and have it waiting so it could be installed pit stop style.

Watching with interest. Keep up the good fight.

And don't get too far down the rabbit hole on the side of the road. Lots can wait until you get home.

Id just make a coolant recovery bottle from an antifreeze jug, wire ties and a yank of hose.

Oof, that's not a good tire. Doesn't any place that sells cars as a business have to make the things safe to drive before selling them?

I hope you made it to LMC truck parts. I see that they close at 6. about 45 minutes from now.