Well, I hope that I'm still allowed to hang around...

[Russell]

Duhh! Of course I am, but that doesn't change the fact that I got rid of my ol' 80

I hadn't touched the thing in literally months, and just don't have the cash to build the thing properly, so I kept things that made it what it was, like the interior and core support / front clip, and sold the rest.

If I find a nice 3/4 ton 4x4 somewhere, I'll buy it, swap my front clip + interior over, and eventually do a 6.0L or 8.1L swap on it, just need something that doesn't need such a huge amount of work to be done on it...

I'm not getting out of thinkering by any means, my 96's transmission is on the verge of scattering it's 2nd gear all over the highway (making some very scary noises), so I'm planning on buying a fresh reman NV3500, along with a 4.8L V8 from a 2001 GMC I have a line on, bolting it together, getting it running on the shop floor, then dropping it all into my 96 once I've got all the wiring etc figured out.

Once the engine / transmission swap is done, the only thing left I'd like to do to the truck is install a 6 lug 14 bolf SF, and a set of 3/4 ton springs to make it into a heavy half. Its pretty much useless to tow anything right now as a light duty 1/2 ton with an anemic 4.3L.

So I guess, tis goodbye to the old girl for now, but I think that I put the last nail in the coffin the day that I sold the TPI 350, SM465 and 205 with the expectation that a local fella was gonna make good on his offer of a 6.0L at a good price =/