82 C10 project, no rear lights

[RZguy75]

Hey eyeryone, thought I'd make a post after not finding out much by searching, here and elsewhere.

So I got myself an organic SWB 82 C10 a couple months ago as a driving project truck. It's in rougher shape than the photos indicated, but supposedly had a crate 350 motor and TH400 tranny with about 300 miles on them, so I went ahead and got it since I figured I could work on just about anything else with my limited space and tool selection.

This thing has a ton of issues, but my biggest one at the moment that keeps it from being street legal & safe is the rear lights don't do anything. Headlights work, but kills the fuel gauge when they turn on. Stereo doesn't seem to do anything, not sure about that, and there's no dome or cargo light to test. No turn signals, either, but again, not sure if it's a broken switch or a cut wire. The windshield wipers work, though. No climate control to test, the previous owner(s) yanked the heater box and all ductwork inside the cab, along with the controls.

I'm wondering what the best way to go about the process of elimination to fix the brake and signal lights is, so I can drive to the hardware store if I need something bigger than our SUV can carry, or run to the lake with the kayaks.

Best guess is someone was trying to make a drag truck and gave up halfway through, considering the lack of lights, sun visors, heating, etc. The column shifter was disconneted at some point, too, and rather than reattach they put an automatic shifter in the floor, perfectly aligned to not allow for any sort of cheap cupholder console. I'm limited to weekends and evenings for working on it, and I've got a couple other projects around that have tied up a lot of that time already, so I haven't been able to do much other than research stuff while I'm in the office. So I don't know if they just cut everything behind the fuel tanks, or if it's shorted/grounded out/not grounded out somewhere or what's going on. Electrical stuff was never my strong suit to begin with.

Any tips or advice or guidance supplied would be greatly appreciated. Right now I'd like to get this thing a little fixed up and more of a comfortable, reliable daily driver. Thanks!

[bd]

Do the front turn, park, and side marker lamps work?

[RZguy75]

I don't think so. I parked it in a garage and turned off the lights and closed the doors, and went to flipping switches to look for the glow. Seems like the right turn arrow on the dash would light up, but didn't blink. The left one didn't do anything, and none of the exterior lights did anything at all.

[bd]

Begin by removing and physically inspecting the various lamp fuses in the fusebox (or probe both sides of each fuse using an incandescent test light) and then remove and inspect all of the exterior bulbs and their respective sockets.  Do the emergency flashers work?

[RZguy75]

They do not. I did pull the right rear light to check the bulb, and it looked ok if I remember correctly. The lenses all around seem like they protrude out more than they're supposed to, so I was checking to see if they weren't screwed in all the way more than the light at that time.

[bd]

Finish checking the fuses and remaining bulbs.  Do you have a test light?

[RZguy75]

I'll try to get to it this weekend. I think I do, somewhere. May be easier to just go buy a cheap one rather than dig it out lol.