Project 83 Big Brown Turd C30 Static Drop

[EricU]

Chapter 1 – Why to stay off of eBay while drinking….

I have no idea why I ended up in such a hurry to buy a one ton dually crew cab, considering that I have a 63 Suburban project that I haven’t really started and an old Caddy drop top that isn’t anywhere close to completed (but drives nice with the L99/6L80E swap)

I guess that we can use this as a teachable moment. "Kids! Stay off of eBay and don’t buy something that you don’t see in person”

After a bunch of late night internet searches, I ended up with this big brown turd of a truck. The truck is:
1983 C30 Crew Cab Dually running a 454 and a SM465 trany that makes the truck run out of gear around 45 mph. Should get pretty decent gas mileage????

Condition of the truck (A to F)?
Body: D, typical old work truck dings, twisted, bent, screwed up bed - I need to find out why the bed is so "wonky" (engineering term not to be thrown around) - There's not a body panel on this pig that doesn't have some ding or dent in it. It looks like someone tried to blend the paint on the front passenger's side door ("tried" being the main word in that sentence)
Interior: D-, WTF did I buy?
Engine: B, The 454 runs like a champ
But man does this thing need an NV4500 5-speed

Plans for the truck: as much Lowboy Motorsports Static Drop as Todd’s kit will produce using new spindles & springs up front along with a rear little C-Notch and flip kit in the rear. The flip kit will bolt up a SRW rear end to allow the 22” Alcoas to tuck under the rear fenders using the 8x10 adapters. And of course I have to have the bullet style lug nut covers.

Parts on order are a bed front panel and 4" wider inner wheel wells from AMD along with a BUNCH of bolts from LMC. Did I mention that I have six new rubber body mounts on order?

I have a bunch of interior parts ordered from USA1 but am waiting to hear from them regarding the way too expensive shipping cost.

First thing to do is to get that bent up bed off of the truck to see the frame condition and get ready for the rear C-Notch.