"BEFORE" pics

Oh man, I realized I haven't really done a good solid 'BEFORE' post. That's largely because I only just recently took the time to sit and take pictures and really inspect all the little things about the truck in it's current state that need repairs. So, here's the official 'before' photoset:

almost empty - still have to take out the bent grid behind the drivers seat and the E-track along both sides.

Both are bolted in - so there'll be holes I have to fill in the walls, ceiling, and floor. I thiiiink the ones in the ceiling are just through the interior sheet, not the actual roof sheet. 

e-track bolted through the wall

rusted bumper - and now I have a plan to de-rust it! Thanks Carrick.

the paint is in pretty okay shape except around the rivets.

 I've scraped off the little bubbled areas on some, but this will require more research - what kind of paint is it? Do I prime? Do I scrape? 

missing bolt, and the ones left are rusted

The only reason I care about this is that I really want to paint the hubcaps. Gotta de-rust and seal I guess? Also I don't want to paint anything shut.

same question

The seat is actually pretty good - under the Dickies cover (which is in good shape, just dirty) it's blue vinyl with only a little cracking in the back.

Maybe reupholster? Maybe just draw all over the vinyl with a white paint marker? 

The speakers work :)

Probably not leaving them there though. I'm planning on insulating this area too, and setting up cabinets kind of like in this couple's conversion: https://www.flickr.com/photos/grummantravels/4787136099/in/album-72157615650626769/

vinyl lettering - how do I get it off?

I would just paint over it, but I know you'll be able to see the little shapes and that won't stand.

these work, but are pretty rusted.

I haven't driven it in the rain yet, so I'm not sure how well they work. Are the arms something I can fix or should I just replace them?

the whole dash is aluminum with some plastic/metal/glass fixtures. Needs a good cleaning.

The steering wheel is also twisted or something? In the 'neutral straight forward' position it looks like this. Also, the engine cover is dirty plastic. I'm thinking I'll clean and then paint it. 

More cleaning of aluminum and vinyl removal.

Also the sun visor is missing on the right side. Not sure what I'll do with any bare aluminum that I don't cover with insulation etc. Might leave it raw and try to polish it...

What the sun visor ~should~ look like

Handle lock doesn't work.

Gonna need some good security on this, so I might go for something more than just a new one of these. 

Gonna need a new one of these

Empty from the front. Bent-up grid thing visible.

This jump seat is pretty cute and maybe handy... but I'm not sure if it's worth keeping it.

Also, an update about the Metal Baby's visit to Mary the Marvelous Mechanic: We have a clean bill of health! Haha just kidding. We just squeaked by the inspection and things are running "good enough". Good news: It actually required less work than expected, totalling about $1000 instead of $1500 - yay! Mediocre (or bad-but-pretty-much-expected) news: The steering column will need to be replaced within a year or two, and the engine is not in awesome shape. That's a real bummer because I know very little about engines, but what everyone had told me was that a Chevy 350 v-8 would be a great, solid, dependable, strong engine, so I was really pleased to find a truck with one. Now that I know it's a little questionable, I expect I'll have to plan on some serious engine $$ sometime in the not-too-distant future.