I pulled the power steering pump and the steering gear from the truck yesterday.
I looked on some web search and found a salvage yard about an hour away that has the manual gear box. I called them today and told them what part I was looking for, and the guy said "Yeah, a lot of hot-rodders buy those up". I was too slow to reply with something clever about me being an "Eco-modder".
We're supposed to have really crazy nice weather tomorrow (50F in January in Wisconsin!?!?!
) so, I'm hoping I can make it out to the salvage yard.
In thinking about it, I should focus the project first on a few very simple things, like "What do I need to do to the truck to be able to move it into my garage?".
For example, if I could STEER the truck that would help. Manual steering won't require a 12V battery or an engine or ANYTHING else to work, so it's a good starting place, just to steer the truck into the garage.
I'll also made sure I have tires with air in them (two were flat before.) I think the thing after that will be brakes - making sure they aren't rusted solid, and then making sure they can work. The truck has power brakes. Even without vaccuum, they work, you just have to push hard!