I'm 50 something and the proud owner of my first pickup truck. After several weeks of perusing eBay and CraigsList and seeing a number of unsuitable I finally purchased a 1987 Nissan pickup and it's RED! It has a 5 speed manual transmission, manual steering, and power brakes. The manual transmission is essential. I'll be removing the gas engine and connecting the electric motor directly to the transmission. Automatic make the conversion process much harder. The manual steering is also a plus. Adding a power steering pump to the electric conversion is a extra chore I can do without. Thanks to my friend, Chris, for taking me to pickup the pickup.
The interior needs quit a bit of work. It's more than well worn. The first order of business was to fix the door handles inside and out. Both outside door handles were broken as was one of the interior locks. This meant leaving at least one window open so you could reach inside to open the door. Chris and I spent a most enjoyable Saturday hunting up door parts at two of our local junkyard. The last time I was in a junkyard was back in high school when I had a 1965 Rambler station wagon. Regular trips to the junkyard were required to keep that vehicle on the road. Junkyards haven't changed much since the 1970s with one exception--they're not junkyards anymore, now they're auto recycling centers and are sporting earth friendly names like Ecology Auto Parts. After about a half a day and $60 we left with all the parts needed to make the doors work properly. Now I need to plan the details of the conversion and order the electric motor, controller and adapter to mate the electric motor to the transmission.
I remember that Rambler - or should I say those Ramblers. Hopefully this truck won't meet the same fate. Sounds great Bill, have at it! -DJ
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