New Guy with a 1978 K5

[J-No]

Hey all,

J-No here. I live in MN and just picked up this '78 K5. Runs great. Needs a muffler, some electrical work, and some TLC. I've stripped the interior and getting ready for some paint/carpet, etc.

I know nothing about working on cars. At 47, I decided I wanted to learn. I've been lurking for a bit, looks like a great community.

 

[Capt Ron]

Welcome, glad to have you on board.

 

[wheels87k5]

Welcome to CK5. A great site to learn. Any questions, just ask.

 

[J-No]

Thx!!

Right now I'm looking at electrical. R blinker turns on hazards. L blinker reads solid on the dash, no lights.

Replaced the turn signal flasher. Now im getting smoke out the dash when the car is off.

Is it pretty simple to pop the dash and follow these wires?

 

[imiceman44]

Thx!!

Right now I'm looking at electrical. R blinker turns on hazards. L blinker reads solid on the dash, no lights.

Replaced the turn signal flasher. Now im getting smoke out the dash when the car is off.

Is it pretty simple to pop the dash and follow these wires?

Symptoms are bad ground and since there is a ground block under the dash, it might be overwhelmed and melting.
Those wires are thin.
Check the grounds on rear taillights and front marker lights and turn signals

 

[J-No]

Thanks

 

[2Dogs]

Hey all,

J-No here. I live in MN and just picked up this '78 K5. Runs great. Needs a muffler, some electrical work, and some TLC. I've stripped the interior and getting ready for some paint/carpet, etc.

I know nothing about working on cars. At 47, I decided I wanted to learn. I've been lurking for a bit, looks like a great community.



View attachment 317432 View attachment 317433

Welcome!

Any ideas on where you want to go with the project? Restore, crawler, etc...?

 

[Wes Harden]

Welcome J-No. Also check for trailer plug, wiring can be shoddy, or plug can be damaged from ground scraping. Check the bulbs, the 1157 light bulb has 2 elements one for tail/running the other stop/turn. Sometime 1 element will break and short to the other, this will cause the other circuit to energize when it shouldn't. ie turn sig indicator lamp lighting when tail lights are on.
Good luck let us know what find.

 

[J-No]

Thanks all. The electrical will be a fishing expedition for sure. I'll get it worked out. It did not do this when I bought it.

Where to go with it? Not sure. Paint/Carpet on the interior. Probably just sand/wire brush, and rattle can the outside. I drive a Wrangler JKU as my daily driver.

Looking like I need some body work at some point. I posted in the body work forum the tailgate does not close anymore--gets worse every time I close it.

Should be an interesting experience.

 

[trukman1]

• If I may make a suggestion, get a folder or notebook, or both and keep all your receipts together, make a plan for how "exactly" to approach the project and note everything you do in detail. That way if you experience problems or questions later you'll have the information to look back on. Also, I'm sure you know but it's easy to forget, take LOTS of pictures of EVERYTHING! There will be times when you think something is simple then you'll get side tracked and it's easy to forget where things went or how they need to go back together. Also, lots of plastic bags and a marker. Bag your hardware and label them. Will come in super handy. I learned this the hard way. Not saying you don't already know all this, just making a suggestion.

Good luck with your build and welcome to the site.

 

[J-No]

Good plan. Life has been in the way lately. I bought a new tailpan, bolts, and spacers. 1st order is getting the tailgate to function. all bolts are pretty rusty. Then patch/paint the floors.

I may just put rubber on the floors. I see this as a trail/dog carrying vehicle.

 

[J-No]

Got it up and running.

Loving it.