Truck Repair: gas gauge and suspension, guage wire, gas gauge

Question
I just bought a very much used 1/2 ton 1982 chevy pickup.
Iam only going to use it as a work truck. The gas gauge doesn't work on it I don't even know where to start, any ideas?  It also is missing a spring on the reared the guy I bought it from said it needed shocks but failed to tell me about the missing spring, does it need springs on the reared?

Thank you for your response.

Jesse

Answer
Hi Jesse,
Check the guages fuse first.
Then, due to the treatment it seems to have had, I would look at the wires to the sending unit in the gas tank.
A ground is necessary at the tank, but if you pull the wire off the sender, the needle should go all the way in one direction, then ground that wire to a good ground and the needle should go to the other end.
If so, the guage is good, the fuse is good, and the guage wire is good. Look at the sender ground, and then the sender.
The truck should have rear springs, and shocks.
Van