Hi all I convinced my wife to let me buy a wreck for parts (I've already got three cadillacs, a Nissan 240SX and the Blazer so I'm at my limit.) It's a killer deal because it's got no wheels, engine tranny or transfer case and it was in a front end colision so there is no grill, rad front 1/4s or hood. I promised to scrap it and get it out of the driveway in a a week or so. So I'm thinking of this for a list:

• Front suspension all the way to the frame, spindles, contol arms etc. I figure even if it's no good it'll be easier to rebuild this set ahead of time with ball joints bushings and bearings and then swap it all on quickly. Should I pull the torsion bars? Rear suspension the same? Should I take the whole rear end or just the brakes off the ends? I don't want to pull the whole rear end if the diff is solid and will never go bad.

• Gas tank/fuel pump, Steering box, column, pitman, idler and tie rods.

• The interior is apparantly immaculate but cloth, I've got leather but badly worn so I may swap that over.

• All the glass, the windsheild is OK and I'll pull the glass from four doors and the back hatch. The window motors and door solenoids. The rear wiper motor, should I pull the front wiper motor? Is it a high failure item?

Have I missed anything? I don't want a "duh, I should have saved that" moment next year when something fails that I threw away.

Jeff

 

if it's a G*) rear you may be interested in it if your's is currently an open dif. G80 is a locking diff (like better posi) and is pretty slick. The leafs may be worth while to as the asses have a problem with sagging over time.

Torsion bars are worth while if they are beefier than your current ones. say with track bar/sway bar. you can make them set up as quick discos then slap em in.

pitman/idler/tierods <-- condition dependant really. like shocks/brakes/glass etc.

can't hurt to keep an extra center console lid on hand, same with visors if they are not broken. if the rear bumper is any good, snake it. Same with bumper ends. if it has a tow hitch, snake it. if it has the roll out cargo cover in the rear, snake it. if the spare is still there, can't hurt to have an extra, and if it's a 2 door, grab the swing away. roof rack could be nice to have, but the middle slats are all you will really need. tail lights...

just get greedy

 

tail lights, tire carrier (if it's a 2 door), side mirrors, any electronic parts from the 4x4 (if it is because I paid $250 for a used encoder)

 

good call on the electronics. if you can see how many buttons the switch on the dash has, the TCCM would be worth having too

 

it all depends on how much crap you wanna start collecting.

personal experience has taught me to be a little more picky this time around.

when i was into the 1st gen's i had 3 sheds of "stuff". they were 10' x 11', 9' x 8', and 10' x 7 1/2' sheds (the 10 x 7 1/2 was almost 10' tall) and all were packed tight (and i knew what was in each one).

problem is, when i moved a year and a half ago, i said i wasn't gonna bring it all with me. didn't want to truck it the hour away i was moving-plus it would've been 4 trips with my 'Burb towing both my 20' & 12' trailer in tandem each time.

so what ever didn't sell, went to scrap (almost 10,000 lbs). be wise about what you're gonna take off, even the small s**t will build up into a big pile in no time @ all.

and The_beast is right, rape that truck of every module you can pry off it. on that note though, do you really want to take a whole door, just to have the window motor & lock solenoid? (i can't tell you how much glass went "bye-bye" when i cleaned house).

above all else, be sure to have fun while you're at it!

i should watch out, i'm looking @ a whole truck 'cause one of my HL's has a broken bracket>