I just wanted to say hello.
I too had a need to have a tiny 4wd pickup and decided a mid eighties diesel was the smart option. Found one in Portland that the engine was apparently "recently rebuilt", so I flew out, and test drove it... while I wasn't quite a fit as I had hoped, I went for it and drove it back to Michigan. It was a great trip and aside from consuming a lot of oil (qt a fill up), spraying a ton or coolant out of the radiator cap, and a non existent idler arm bushing, it did pretty well and was surprisingly comfortable for two... I was wishing for cruise around the middle of Nebraska. When I got home and 30 feet from a hoist, it got stuck in gear (... so it launched me into the trans. I was lucky it made it the whole way before it popped and only cost me time and few knuckles... plus, I now know a lot more about the drive train... speaking of that, this site is amazing. such a wealth of knowledge.
So here's that bull dog coming out of Teton pass...
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So hello and thanks for the manuals, knowledge transfer, and commiseration (for lack of a better word).
Ben