Help before I jack this up.

[T2DWhiteTrash]

Kinda my introduction post.. mixed with questions and everything else. I have done plenty of reading and searching so Im not just lazy but tryna get a little help here.


I picked up a lwb, 84 chevy truck.. 305, it's got a thrown rod, figure for a 350 swap.. it has new headers, exhaust, with some body work in need. Scored this for ..$32.09.. Lonnng story, but hella good deal. Ive been looking for a cheap truck to do a complete budget build on as I have other projects and zero overtime anymore... So then, Ill quit yadding and get to the questions.

The body..

It has no rust on the bed, or hood.. has some thru rust on the fenders which I can handle.. but the big concern is the doors and the rocker areas, I would prefer not to purchase new ones and I do have a simple welder but Ive never welded anything with it in my life so I really wanna avoid patching anything.. So heres my situation, can I bondo/fiberglass the bottoms of the doors if theyre thru on the rust? Will this actually hold up? And if I do use a fiberglass, I had seen people using a spray isulation foam to fill holes like what I have in the fender and mid way up on the door. Is this a total fools idea or could this actually work? Can someone recommend brands of fiberglass, bondo to finish with, and if it works the insulating foam? Keep in mind, this is totally budget.. I have a nice truck I drive daily, so Im not needing pro results outta this.. this is more fun and for the experience. I plan to paint it either by rolling the paint as Ive seen or priming it with a gun and leaving it in primer till I have the time to roll the paint..


Suspension..

Ive had an 88 silverado that had a 5-7 inch drop.. and it rode hard as can be.. never bothered me.. Im looking for the cheapest way to do this.. from reading Ive come to conclussion I wanna go the route of cutting the coils one round, drop spindles and a flip kit? If this is correct, can I get some recommendations on the cheapest brands or places to buy this? Witht this drop, I plan on running the stock wheels on it now or another 15" rally..


Interior..

I was hoping to yank some seats outta a new silverado to put in, my buddy owns a junkyard so I can get em really cheap. Will I be able to take the mounting rack from the other truck and just redrill the holes in mine? If so, what kinda hardware should I use to make sure I dont go flying out in the event on an accident.. Again, I warned.. I may be way off.. I just dont wanna go willy nilly on this and totally jack up a decent project.. also, the truck has some cracks in the dash that run all the way down? Do they make a glue that will hold this together and actually work? If not, Ive heard of dash pads.. Is this a bad idea? Same with carpet, I considered really getting backyard on this, but if the precut is cheap en ough could someone recommend a good place for this?



If you've made it this far, and don't have steam blowing outta your ears.. I salute you. Thanks very much any help and ask again for patience.. Appreciate this site as well, Ive already got about 40 threads bookmarked and have learned a lot.. sweet.

Mark

[3r!c84]

get some pics

[old Rusty C10]

as to the body work you can make a thread on that in the body section but IMHO its cheaper and better to replace the rusted pieces. Used parts or aftermarket parts are cheap and plentiful plus you have a junkyard friend
the interior you should prolly use the brackets from your existing seat and try to get another set for the split seats. otherwise make something and learn to weld
use grade 8 bolts nuts washers and lock washers and youll be fine
as to the suspension work i wont tell you how to do that because i think lowering is blasphemy lol but if you wanna add a lift kit.....
actually i dont know jack about lowering so ill leave that to the experts.. meanwhile go get some pics of that bad boy and post em up
good luck and welcome aboard

[glock35ipsc]

The rust won't stop unless you get rid of it. That means either cutting it out and replacing it with good metal, or find new or used replacement doors and simply swap them. The rockers are (for me anyhow) easier to replace that to just patch.

The spray foam idea is a BAD idea. Again, the rust will not stop unless it is gone. Plus at some point it will need redone. And if you ever decide to sell the truck, this type of repair will damage the value. FWIW.... back in the mid 80's I had a 50-something Dodge delivery that we took to a "body shop" to fix the rust above the back wheel wells. He never cut the rust out, shot if full of expanding foam, shaved it down, bondo'd over it, and primed it. When we got it home and backed it off the trailer, as soon as the rear tires hit the ground the whole bondo/foam craperoonie fell out.

Those seats are not a bolt-in deal, you will need to have custom brackets made for them to fit. Not hard to do, but just know they won't just plop right in.

Lowering on the cheap? Cut coils, spindles and moving the axle to the top of the springs works well. Look through the classifieds here, you can probably pick up springs, spindles, flip-kits, whatever you want for a decent price.

[T2DWhiteTrash]

Ok cool.. thanks for the info. Really appreciate it. The truck is still at my buddys house so it will be a few more days on the pics. Ill try to get by there this weekend. thanks again