Jordan Goodwin
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2025
- Posts
- 1
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- Lobelville, TN 37097
- First Name
- Jordan
- Truck Year
- 1985
- Truck Model
- K30
- Engine Size
- 350
Howdy from Middle Tennessee!
Dad helped me drag his farm/sawmill truck out of the trees the other day where it has been sitting for a decade. 1985 K30 with a dump bed. The goal is to just get it running and driving in the county first, but someday down the road I’d love to gradually restore “The Yellow Truck”. I probably won’t be able to do all the work myself, but I do hope to learn my way around it better and teach my young boys what I can while I’m at it. I want to just get her running around the county for starters and earning her keep (she will always be worked hard, but is gonna be cared for a lot better!) but eventually I’d like to have her in condition for long trips and heavy hauling if needed. I still don’t know what I want to do with the cab, so I’m putting that off for the future, and I’m just going to focus on function for a while. It is banged, pushed, dented, and rusted through in so many places. I’m torn between keeping her as original as possible and just stopping the rust and straightening things while preserving the paint and patina and as many of the original pieces as possible- or eventually making her look pretty well new. This truck started out as a Memphis Water & Light truck, and Dad bought it in June of 1996- when I was three years old. One of my earliest memories is of picking the truck up. He bought it without a bed, then rigged up the dumping flatbed on it, and rebuilt the abused 350 (he still tells about discovering dozens of oil bottle plastic rings inside the valve cover). When I was a kid, we used this truck to haul all the firewood we heated our home with, along with many other tasks. I began learning to drive with this truck, and in my teens used it to haul lumber, logs, firewood, things for the farm, and then to help build my log house. About ten years ago, we pulled the rusty retrofitted gas tank off to swap it, and never finished the job. It’s time to start giving the old girl the TLC she deserves- and put her back to work. Anyhow, I’m pretty good with my hands and somewhat mechanically inclined- but I don’t really have any experience with serious auto mechanics and I’m sure as heck not great with electrical. I’ll have lots of questions, and I’m already finding the forums here incredibly informative. Gonna get a pair of fresh batteries, a new coolant reservoir, and rig up a pony tank (any tips on that?) this weekend and see if the old girl will fire up- wish me luck.
Dad helped me drag his farm/sawmill truck out of the trees the other day where it has been sitting for a decade. 1985 K30 with a dump bed. The goal is to just get it running and driving in the county first, but someday down the road I’d love to gradually restore “The Yellow Truck”. I probably won’t be able to do all the work myself, but I do hope to learn my way around it better and teach my young boys what I can while I’m at it. I want to just get her running around the county for starters and earning her keep (she will always be worked hard, but is gonna be cared for a lot better!) but eventually I’d like to have her in condition for long trips and heavy hauling if needed. I still don’t know what I want to do with the cab, so I’m putting that off for the future, and I’m just going to focus on function for a while. It is banged, pushed, dented, and rusted through in so many places. I’m torn between keeping her as original as possible and just stopping the rust and straightening things while preserving the paint and patina and as many of the original pieces as possible- or eventually making her look pretty well new. This truck started out as a Memphis Water & Light truck, and Dad bought it in June of 1996- when I was three years old. One of my earliest memories is of picking the truck up. He bought it without a bed, then rigged up the dumping flatbed on it, and rebuilt the abused 350 (he still tells about discovering dozens of oil bottle plastic rings inside the valve cover). When I was a kid, we used this truck to haul all the firewood we heated our home with, along with many other tasks. I began learning to drive with this truck, and in my teens used it to haul lumber, logs, firewood, things for the farm, and then to help build my log house. About ten years ago, we pulled the rusty retrofitted gas tank off to swap it, and never finished the job. It’s time to start giving the old girl the TLC she deserves- and put her back to work. Anyhow, I’m pretty good with my hands and somewhat mechanically inclined- but I don’t really have any experience with serious auto mechanics and I’m sure as heck not great with electrical. I’ll have lots of questions, and I’m already finding the forums here incredibly informative. Gonna get a pair of fresh batteries, a new coolant reservoir, and rig up a pony tank (any tips on that?) this weekend and see if the old girl will fire up- wish me luck.
