Got one.

[68Timber]

Soooo much better!

Do you want a stock suspension, or two inch lift, or ?

[lowrodderchev]

looking good man your on your way

[eighteenninetytwo]

I probably want to go to a 2 inch lift as I do like the slightly lifted look with stock wheels.
The back has blocks (look about 4 or 5 inches) and u bolts. Cut blocks, new U bolts at the back. I have yet to figure out exactly what this will entail in terms of steering and front suspension. though i do know that the springs were changed at the front so there will be that at least plus new shocks all round.

[lowrodderchev]

Any updates on this bad boy?

[eighteenninetytwo]

hmmm well it has been mostly status quo for a while as I prepare for the next large step (lowering to stock height) with some small items getting done. Summer in CA means top off though. That created some little bits of work. Such as finding the rust on the bed rails, which was sanded, sprayed with rust inhibitor, and primed. Changed the front diff seal. Removed the tailgate and ripped out the interior in the back and found a practically rust free bed.







Under my desk I have new U bolts all round, urethane bushings for the sway bar, a new body mount kit and new Bilstein 4600 shocks. Front leaf springs still on order.

Cleaning and spraying the new roll bar with bedliner this weekend, and this will be bolted in next week. I am wondering if I can change out all the bodymounts myself or need a garage to do it?

[eighteenninetytwo]

Also I took off the HEAVY tailgate, sold it and will replace it with a truck gate from pick n pull that I got for $30.

The two BIG decisions I made were :
1) To get a softtop for the thing rather than put the 200lbs top on and off.
2) To eventually get the exterior back to original color and Cheyenne trim (Crimson red / White sidebar) as opposed to the Matt Black bedliner look.

[lowrodderchev]

Sweet yeah I know what u mean about the top I skipped taking mine off this year because of the PITA it is to do it looking good though

[68Timber]

I like what you are doing with this truck, nice to see an update. The soft tops are great, I'm rethinking one for my green truck. My only concern with one is the people who would cut it just to see what's in your truck. We have folk like that here in the "Heart of Dixie". I like your choice of colors.

[eighteenninetytwo]

The truck would never be locked and I honestly can't see the top ever being rolled down on the sides except during rainstorms - when I wouldn't be using it anyway I wouldn't think. One of the benefits of living in a city where the signs have the phrase "climate best by government test" written on them.

[lowrodderchev]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

I like what you are doing with this truck, nice to see an update. The soft tops are great, I'm rethinking one for my green truck. My only concern with one is the people who would cut it just to see what's in your truck. We have folk like that here in the "Heart of Dixie". I like your choice of colors.

Ditto ��

[y5mgisi]

Subscribed.

[eighteenninetytwo]

into the shop today to have roll bar bolted in properly. this is one thing I wanted to be done by people who actually know what they're doing. I sanded , used rust inhibitor, primed and then finished the bar with bed liner. Didn't have time to do the side bars - i'll have to refinish them in situ.

[lowrodderchev]

did you get your soft top yet?

[eighteenninetytwo]

no money does not permit and as it's summer in CA there is no need right now. Money being spent on equpt for lowering to stock and installing roll bar.

[eighteenninetytwo]

latest update. The Good -New body mounts installed and WARN hubs on front. The ride is 20 times better already just with 8 wee bushings and the vehicel feels better in genuine 2WD. The bad - Roll bar doesn't fit properly - it came out of a 74 and it hits the sides of the bed in my truck with no room for interior trim. The ugly - UPS lost one of two leaf springs coming from LMC for the lowering and can't find it. grrrr. No pics as it looks the same at present.

[68Timber]

Cool. Did you swap the body mounts yourself?

[eighteenninetytwo]

I couldn't they were completely rusted and wouldn't budge with my tools even with breaker bar as far as I could get it in there. I had to take it to a shop. They even had to drill out some of the floor of the tub to get them out and new ones fitted properly. When i look at the bed two of the mounts nwo have a small space next to them on the bed. WHat shoudl i do with them - use seam sealer to fill then use bed liner ove rthat?

[lowrodderchev]

i may have missed it but what kind of transfer case you running?

[68Timber]

Holes in the bed? I would weld in a patch. Can you post a pic?

[eighteenninetytwo]

The holes are tiny drill holes where the mounts were rusted / stuck in place and they had to drill to remove them. literally 1/8 - 1/4 inch diameter max. transfer case is a 1972 NP205 which was rebuilt and i scored from a wrecked 74 for a pittance. having said "a pittance" i did a quick mental check and yes i now have about $9K in total into a truck which I could could sell for $6k maximum. Boats, classic cars, airplanes and guitars - the biggest money pits you can get.

[lowrodderchev]

as long as you love it who cares right I try to never figure what I have in my cars I just know I enjoy them I need to get me a NP205 I'm rocking a 203 with a conversion

[eighteenninetytwo]

So this week is the official lowering to stock ceremony. Before that happens though I figured I should do as much as I could underneath the thing while i could crawl and slither with relative ease. So underneath I went with detergent and hot water and removed oil and gunk and junk and I cleaned and scrubbed. Then on the areas that needed it some abrasive, rust inhibitor and then bed liner, followed by spray on rubberized Sound deadener under the wheel wells.
All ready to be lowered now.

[eighteenninetytwo]

You'll notice in pic 2 there is a hole in the wheel well and it has a grommet through it - this is about 1 1/2 inches up from the bed inside. Anyone have any idea what this is for, and more specifically is there any reason that I shouldn't fill it in.

[68Timber]

Looks good! That hole is not stock, you can fill it.

[eighteenninetytwo]

What is the best cheap n cheerful way of doing that?