What did I get myself into? Got a Gladiator

[Grand_Wag_85]

Crafty little suckers. That would be spooky...

Would turn the girlfriend into an EX real fast should she decide to flip it down...LOL!

[jaber]

Flipped the visor down and found a HUGE mouse nest up above that wasn't there as of a week ago. The snakeskin went up over the mouse nest and into the brow(because there is no headliner) so it looks like it definitely showed up for lunch. Wasn't about to stick my hand in there and fish around blindly so I tossed a firecracker up there and either he's dead, he wasn't home or he's deaf and PISSED OFF.

LMAO, messin with the wildlife...

[bigun]

Mice could have drug it up there too for nesting material.

[carnuck]

Vacuum cleaner with crevice tool for the clean out!

[bigun]

Depends on whether it's Ross or Saginaw steering.

How do I tell the two apart? All I really know at this point is that it's manual non-power steering.

If you had a Ross you would know it!

[carnuck]

The common problem is turning the steering all the way over and it just going clunk clunk clunk

[Grand_Wag_85]

The common problem is turning the steering all the way over and it just going clunk clunk clunk

This truck is having that issue but I think it's the steering wheel worn out because the wheel will turn but not the shaft and it's only if you really torque on the wheel. A ratty but intact 70's Cherokee just popped up locally for $400. I may jump on that for a drivetrain donor and swap everything over to the Gladiator if I can't get the 327 running. Are the spring widths the same on the Gladiator and WT Cherokee?

As soon as I can get GhostMedic's truck out of here I'm diving into this one full bore. When the gas tank goes into the other Gladiator we're gonna try tugging this around the yard to free up the engine. Coupled with a couple weeks of soaking if that doesn't free it up then I dunno what will.

[carnuck]

I think the spring lengths were different from Glad to Wag. They changed the width of the front springs from '73 to '74. I found that out when I went to swap my front axle on my '73 J4000 and the spring pads I bought were too wide.

[Grand_Wag_85]

Thanks for the info. Forgot that the WT is spring under and the Gladiator is spring over. Not a huge difference but not a bolt-in swap.

Turned wrenches on the engine today and all of the plugs except for #7 and #8 came right out. #7 and #8 took so much force to pull out I thought the plug was going to snap off. There was traces of rust on all of the plugs but a noticeable amount on #7 and #8. Sprayed a substantial amount of PB Blaster into each cylinder and realized I don't have the right socket for the crank bolt. What size is it? Also tried putting the truck in HI gear and towing it but I just dragged it...LOL If I can't get it turn after a few more doses of diesel fuel, PB Blaster and turning at the crank pulley I'm gonna try towing it and releasing the clutch in HI gear.

Yanked the DS valve cover and it looks pretty gunky but not the worst I've ever seen. Manually manipulated all of the valves for #1-#7 and they still do their thing. Pushrods are all straight. Feeling really confident now that it was something silly and the PO just parked the truck and the engine got stuck from sitting.

On a different note the bottom of the heater box is rotted out. Bad heater core?

[tgreese]

...

On a different note the bottom of the heater box is rotted out. Bad heater core?

Does it have antifreeze in the radiator? Even if the heater core leaks, that won't rot out the heater box. More likely you have squirrel nests, leaves and other debris in there that are wet from rain and rotted the heater box.

My J10 had a full-on squirrel mansion in the heater box, but it was dry - cleared it out and it is fine.

If you need another heater box, it should be easy to find one from a parts car. Disassembly is easy - drain some coolant, remove the heater hoses, remove wires and cables, and remove the 4 7/16" nuts that hold the box to the firewall. Then the whole thing comes off and you can open it on the bench by removing all the little screws.

[Grand_Wag_85]

No antifreeze in the radiator, looks like it's been dry awhile. No antifreeze in the oil either so who knows. The heater box is only rotted right around where your hand needs to be to grab the #8 plug. I guess I can see why they went to fiberglass...LOL Heater box will need to be addressed for sure but I gotta get this thing roaming around under it's own steam first.

[Grand_Wag_85]

There was also a 260 and 287 that fits.

It ended up being the 287. So definitely not the original motor.

I ended up selling the truck off in favor of a Grand Wag and the gentleman I sold the truck to used the 327 I had for parts to get this one going. He also did massive amounts of metal work to the truck and gave it a Mack firetruck red paint job. Apparently the motor that was in the truck was so seized up it took a BFH to drive the pistons out of the block.

So I ended up trading the Grand Wag for the Gladiator and I own it again, albeit running and driving!

The plan is to fabricate a bed and get it to be a trail truck.

Only photo I've got on my phone at the moment

[bigun]

Looks good