Need Portable Vehicle Resurrection Kit Ideas

This week I'm heading to the family farm 3 hours away in hopes of bringing home a free pickup truck. There are four 80s era Chevy/GMC pickups sitting on the back 40 that aren't in too bad condition, but are no longer in service at the farm (mostly because the farm fleet was upgraded to heavy duty diesel trucks a few years ago). So these pickups were mothballed and rolled out to pasture. The truck I'm aiming for is an early 80s C20 that was a county service truck. Almost no options, just a plain work truck. Supposedly it ran just fine when parked.

So, I'm putting together my bag of tricks to bring this thing back to life. So far my list includes:

Screwdriver set (all kinds)

Jumper cables

Battery jump box

Known good car battery

1/2" and 1/4" ratchet with sockets, extensions, and U-joints

Voltmeter

Brake fluid

Starting fluid

Carb cleaner

10w30 oil

Power steering fluid

Transmission fluid

I have access to an old jon boat fuel tank, which I'm considering bringing along with a length of fuel line and a cheap electric fuel pump (with alligator clip wiring).

What else? What did I miss?

I'd grab a set of radiator hoses, spark plugs and a couple of rolls of this magical tape:

http://www.motosport.com/US/dirtbike/product/?pssource=true&segment=badger&key=DEI-Quick-Fix-Tape&adpos=1o1&creative=51788190505&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=COy-46iDzcECFQIF7AodlXYA1Q

PB Blaster and a propane torch? These would be necessary here in the land of road salt, not sure about where you are.

plus one of these

all you need is spark and.....

id bring 2-3 gallons of fresh gas. (maybe that is the john boat plan?)

350 w/carb? 5 gallon can and 6 ft of 3/8 fuel hose to bypass the factory tank, new pump isn't a bad idea since almost every time I've done a field rescue the rubber in the mechanical pump is dead Its cheap for a 350 carb mechanical pump. A compression gauge if you have it, it will help. If a cylinder is reading low you can put a half cap of trans fluid in the cylinder to help bring it up. Some emery cloth to clean the plugs. Can of Wasp spray. If you plan on driving it afterwards be prepared to work on the brakes.

Did you bring enough farm trucks to share with the rest of the class?

The truck is in south Georgia, so no worries about rust. The fuel pump is a good idea. I may grab one to have on hand just in case. Wasp spray is a good idea. Radiator hose is a good call too. It may also be a good idea to just drag the truck up to the workshop and mess with it there instead of laying in a field. I can't drive a tractor, but I can work the Bobcat no problem.

I was hoping for cold weather but the forecast is for 80 degrees and sunny that day, so I'll dip myself in DEET and hope for the best.

If it's a 350 or for that matter an I-6 (my dad had a phone company truck that was a C20 with the I6 at one point) then the thing is so simple you should be able to get it to fire off without much effort. You may want to pull the coil wire off and spin it over a few times to bring the oil up before firing it up though.

Bee and wasp killer. Free vehicles in the pasture always have some sort of creepy crawly infestation to be dealt with. Air pump and tire slime.

Lose the "power steering fluid" and "transmission fluid." Most cars use ATF for both, so carry that. For those that don't, the odds of you having the right fluid without carrying a van full of it were slim anyway.

Edit: BTW I didn't see any wires, relays or fuses in your kit.

WD-40 and a small hammer, should you encounter a sticky valve. I'd also much prefer over jumper cables, a known good battery, and dragging it close to a power outlet so you can hook a booster box to it if needed.

Also gear lube in the likely event the axles leak and are low.

GM power steering systems run fine on ATF.

Though if it were properly mothballed (fogging oil, double dose of marine stabil, full tank of gas, carb filled with 2 stroke oil through the vent) it should light right off.

Sounds like a really cool mission. Old truck rescue!

Agree on the wasp spray, cell phone, etc. I'll add Brakleen to the list, for brakes, spark plugs, etc. Coolant in case it is dry. Tow strap to get it rolling if it won't start. Maybe a sheet of Masonite or plywood for working under the truck. Talk of starting fluid, carb, and portable fuel tank makes me think "fire extinguisher" would be nice. And "first aid kit" to handle those annoying stings and cuts. Best of luck! Tell us how it goes.

You want to bring some of this

Not this

And bring some of these.

I have made radiator hoses out of the gorilla tape. Just run the system with out pressure and it will get you home.

Enough rubber fuel hose that you can go right from the fuel tank to the fuel pump, and possibly from the pump the the carb.

And an electric fuel pump too, incase the diaphragm is rotted through.

Well the rescue attempt was a bust. For some reason the key wasn't in it, so that was strike one. Then we couldn't get the hood open, strike two. Then we got stung by paper wasps in the front fender, strike three.

The truck was also a lot rougher than my father-in-law was expecting. Apparently he and I have different ideas about what constitutes a "work truck". The cab still had a seat, all the glass, and floors, so I called it good. He wasn't so enthusiastic. It was his call since it would have been his truck, I was just being a good son-in-law and offered to get it running for him. I guess when you are approaching 70 years old there is a "crap I don't put up with anymore" point and a cobbled together truck is one of those things. It did make him realize that he's better off spending the money on a decent used truck rather than trying to find a cheap beater.

I did learn something valuable though! Carb cleaner is like freak'n MAGIC on a wasp sting. The pain and swelling stopped INSTANTLY after I hit the stings with carb cleaner. Last time I got stung by wasps I hurt for days. Now I have to look hard to find the marks from the stings. Who knew?

In reply to slefain: Man, it takes a brave dude to experiment with carb cleaner as a treatment for wasp stings! Probably not FDA approved for that purpose, but glad it worked. Sorry the truck didn't pan out, we were all hoping it would.

Brake cleaner is wasp /hornet/stingy bug spray. Knocks them dead just the same as the fancy hornet spray. I would never spray it on myself however as I have really bad response to just smelling the stuff. Same goes for carb cleaner.

Chris

I've found that carb cleaner doesn't burn, and brake parts cleaner only burns if you let it dry or get it under your wedding ring. Brake parts cleaner will take the coating off you glasses though, so gotta watch that. It tastes bad too...