Cab questions!

[unbludictable]

Hey guys it's been a while, but here I go! I want to keep my 76 GMC but the cab is like swiss cheese in the floor, so I bought a complete 79 Chevy body for parts. The 79's cab is in good condition but my question is:

Can I tell what works before I switch cabs? (stuff like heat, turn signal, flashers, and so on)
Is this a difficult swap?

I've never done this before and I ain't no mechanic, but I'm learning!!
 

[Captkaos]

No way to tell unless you have an operational donor.
If they work on your 76, just gut the 79 and swap everything over.

[hotrod24]

i have a 73-74 cab and i am switching to 78 and 79 stuff

[unbludictable]

Can I hook up my battery and test it?

[ccz145a]

Can I hook up my battery and test it?

Take an ohm meter and convince yourself there are no shorts first. I found it hard to test everything, but I pluged up the three firewall connectors in succession and tested for shorts and finally just hooked up the battery and looked for smoke. All was well.

[topside]

Heat/defrost will require a running engine, but you should be able check the heater core for leaks by running water through it. For the electrical, 12V power, the full harness with grounds, and being able to reproduce ignition-on, and you can check the system. Gauges will require whatever they connect to (fuel tank, engine) unless you can simulate the input another way. From what I've read on these trucks, gauges that are reading at max levels with no power to them are probably bad; but they're available, and can be swapped used as well.

[joesgarage71]

Heat/defrost will require a running engine.

You can use a hand op vacuum pump for checking the vents/hot and cold door operations. Heater cores are cheap enough to install a new one, the rest can be repaied/replaced if bad easy enough. Get your self a helms overhaul/service manual for your year.