Grandpas 1977 Stepside

[samstheman]

New here Hi all. I just inhereted my grandpas 1977 stepside. I plan on going threw most of it. I didn't get a pic when I got it but had a campershell which I removed. The tires are 31" on 15'' rims. I want to put 18 or 20s on it. I lowered it 5" in front 3'' spindle and 2'' spring. I also powder coated upper and lower control arms and cleaned all rust of frame and other parts and painted with por15.I am going to lower back next any advice on how much would be appreciated. I would like it to have a little rake.

[spudz]

looks nice!

[samstheman]

Thanks

[cable666guy]

Good looking truck! Looks like a clean one...Keep checking other guys builds, there are tons of lowered trucks here... I think you may be in axle flip territory even with a moderate rake...the guys on this board will steer you in the right direction!!

[benoit454]

looks good I'd love to have it. Or I should say one like it.

Dids that ratchet strap really work? I was too scared to try one, I left my jack under there when we did a new upper control arm andnew lower ball joint on my old man's 84.

[samstheman]

Originally Posted by benoit454

looks good I'd love to have it. Or I should say one like it.

Dids that ratchet strap really work? I was too scared to try one, I left my jack under there when we did a new upper control arm andnew lower ball joint on my old man's 84.

I used the strap just to get to nuts the bushings were so worn it wouldn't stay out of the way.

[notyo_cheez]

Originally Posted by samstheman

I used the strap just to get to nuts the bushings were so worn it wouldn't stay out of the way.

I recommend using a coil spring compressor, $50 at Sears Hardware. Harbor Freight has it too but I don't trust Chinese tools. Cheaper than a trip to the emergency room.

[samstheman]

Originally Posted by notyo_cheez

I recommend using a coil spring compressor, $50 at Sears Hardware. Harbor Freight has it too but I don't trust Chinese tools. Cheaper than a trip to the emergency room.

That was not to remove spring it was for the control arm bushing it was so worn the upper control arm was stuck. But thanks for the heads up.

[samstheman]

Cool I could use some input on wheels and tire and offsets

[Devillusion]

nice work....

[benoit454]

ohhh Ok I did the same thing just had my old man behind me using a crow bar lol.

[79beater]

Good start!

[nbpro]

clean truck nice work

[87 chevy silverado]

looking nice

[samstheman]

Thanks for all the comments I should be trying to put rear flip kit in soon. Then to the wheel sizes back space and a whole other bag of worms Im not sure of. I would like to put 20s but I want a little more side wall than a rubberband. So I may go 18s and more side wall not sure though. I saw some good looking trucks on here with 20s. Sizes with back space options would be good if anyone has them and any mods I might encounter.

[samstheman]

Well had 2 weeks off work. It rained most of the time. I finished up front suspension and moved on to the rear with a good clean up and a por15 paint job on frame and rear end up to the last body mount. I painted the under side in 3 sections I still have the middle to do. I installed DJM 5'' flip kit they have a couple of issues with that kit. The shock bolts on outside need to be moved up about 3/4'' if your using 4 leafs they end up on top of each other the driver side is worse than passenger. Other than that everything went ok. I went with 5/5 I like the rake front wheel 20x8.5 rear wheel 20x10.

[sgtvanmp]

Great looking truck. Keep up the work and adding pics.

[russgt]

Damn, that turned out very nice

[dlhughes2005]

Great wheel and tire choice! How big of a pain was it painting the frame with the body still on? Suspension came out nice to, love how clean the frontend looks.

[samstheman]

Originally Posted by dlhughes2005

Great wheel and tire choice! How big of a pain was it painting the frame with the body still on? Suspension came out nice to, love how clean the frontend looks.

Thanks all, I jacked it up one end at a time as high as my jack stands would go with a second set on also. And put rust remover grinder on a electric drill motor that was messy. When I painted it I used googles and mask cause all the overspray floats around . I will mask the frame and other painted parts and under coat inside panels the same way . I will pull off bed and clean up bottom of bed. I want to keep it drivable and not let the project overwhelm me by having every part taken off. Its not a show truck its just nice to work on it and have some fun with.

[samstheman]

I finally installed sway bars front and rear handles great but still a little bouncy have to work on that. I took out old orig 3 speed trans and installed 5 speed borg warner T5 from junk yard Makes the truck a lot faster and smoother . Im working on bodywork now hoping to get this thing painted in the next few months. still not sure what to do with my straight 6 I got it running great has slight mis off idle still have to smog this truck

[ds350]

Truck is looking great! Do you have some more details on the T5 swap?

[samstheman]

Originally Posted by ds350

Truck is looking great! Do you have some more details on the T5 swap?

Stock bellhousing, astro van 11'' clutch, stock 3 speed presure plate and flywheel. That was the easy bit then you need to measure all parts on old 3 speed trans from the mounting surface as your baseline and trim down all the parts on t5 to match old 3 speed trans there is lots of resources on net. Which models have what gears and mech or computer speedo. I also made a quick shift conversion also works well with long truck style shifter. Anything specific u wanting to know. And move stock cross member towards back wheel. And shorten drive shaft 3". T5 3'' loner than stock trans It was all worth it drives really good now.

[burger]

Nice looking truck. What are the tire sizes?

[samstheman]

Originally Posted by burger

Nice looking truck. What are the tire sizes?

255/45/20on 8.5'' rim
295/45/20on 10'' rim