It runs:
No fuel in the tank, it basically ran off want we poured down the air intake. We drilled out the key cylinder until we could finally turn it with a screw driver. However, it wouldn't start with the "key". We put it in the run position and jumped the terminals on the starter. The lever for the column shifter is busted off. If the indicator is to be believed, the column is in the neutral position. We could move the gear selector on the trans by hand and we tried it in park and neutral with no luck. I'm thinking its got a bad neutral safety switch. Don't know if that might have anything to do with why the column lever is gone.
I would like to be able to drive it to give the engine a good run test and see how the transmission feels. I was thinking I could use a remote starter trigger to bypass that issue. Then I need to figure out a way to shift it from the cab. Last step would be to pour a few gallons of gas in the tank. Kinda funny with gas prices what they are, I'm reluctant to dump the gas in the tank when it may not run anyway.
You may be able to deduce from the video, the catalytic converter was removed. Apparently thieves cut them out of all the cars parked on the lot for the auction. They were also drilling holes in fuel tanks to get gas out of them, so I need to see if this tank has any holes in it. A lot of the vehicles were also vandalized with all the glass being busted out. Nate bought a Honda he wants to try to turn into a commuter a luckily the glass was all intact, however they did still the wheels and tires off of it.
I'm on the fence about what I want to do with the truck. I had been thinking about getting a truck exactly like this one to build for my next trail rig, but not for another 3 or 4 years. If I want to "restore" it, I'll have to go thru the bonded title process which may or may not be a pain. I did go ahead and pay for a carfax report because I wanted to see the history and verify the mileage.
The company on the door is the first owner. October 2012 it passed emissions with 79,618 miles on the odometer. The registration I found in the glove box was 2013. It was sold at a Ritchie Brothers auction in 2018 to the only other owner, but with no reported mileage - it still had the tag from the auction on the floor boards. So I'm thinking the mileage is accurate. It was bought in 2018 and parked. Apparently near a corn field because the cab is full of corn husks.
My original intent was to pull the motor, refresh it, maybe hop it up a little, and put it in the crew cab. I've never done a full engine assembly myself, and I'm kinda thinking I might give it a shot with this engine. I could take my time with it since it's not a dire need.
I have a cam for the 454 in the truck now that I purchased thru
@folkenheath. I haven't done the swap yet because if I'm honest I've been a little concerned about messing up the motor and being stuck not being able to drive the crew cab. Now I have a backup motor if I do mess it up.
The 4l80e in the '98 is 2wd and I'm debating about putting it in the C10 so it would have overdrive. Obviously it's a bit overkill for that truck, but I already own it and there's a good chance it's in good condition.
