Heap Re-do, Pics

[S10Fan]

I’ve been busy the last several weeks doing a makeover on the Heap. I had been looking for a decent used comfortable dependable daily driver but couldn’t find what I wanted. I decided to spend what I had saved for a DD on the Heap and let it fill my needs. The process began back in July with the purchase of new front bumper, grill, hood, fenders, inner fenders, doors, door latches, cab corners, windshield, windshield and rear window rubber, outer door handles, window regulators, inner door handles, door weatherstrip, window run channel, carpet, door panels from RodDoors via Captkaos, and the rest was just old fashioned labor.

The paint is Hot Rod Black from Hot Rod Flatz, it’s a satin finish but almost has a pearl look to it depending on the angle. It’s very difficult to spray (IMO) because you’re limited to 2 wet coats. The natural reaction is to keep hitting areas to make sure you have good coverage, which causes the finish to vary. The color looks better in person. It’s kind of a bummer having real paint, now I have to dry the truck off after a washing. LOL.

Replacing most of the body limited the amount of bodywork I had to complete. Believe me though, the bed more than made up for it. My air bag setup required the bed floor to be an inch and a half higher than stock. Six 2X4’s were bolted to the cross sills from side to side along with 2 additional 2X4’s across the middle of the floor area. He 2X4’s provided excellent support for the bed floor. The 2X4’s were hit with a really good coat of Thompson’s water seal. Since the 2X4 supports were going to be bolted over the sills and cover the bed mounting boltholes, another change had to be made. I welded carriage bolts to the sills from the top. This way all I had to do was go under the truck and slip on a nut and washer to each welded bolt.

The bed floor was the simplest part of the Heap re-do. I went to Lowe’s and picked out a clean sheet of ¾” oak plywood and had them cut it to the needed length then into 12” wide boards. My bed measured out at 49.5 inches wide so I ended up with a gap between each board which was easily covered by the bed strips. The boards were test fitted then laid out on the garage floor and coated 3 times with Minwax clear. After everything was good and dry the boards were positioned in the bed and screwed down with new strips from Mar-K. I also purchased new side angle strips that were attached to the bedsides with bolts. I left a ¾” gap at the front of the bed to keep water from collecting on the floor.

The interior is very simple, loop pile molded carpet, the same Chevy Cavalier seats I’ve had, a 2005 Cadillac DeVille center console, Rod Doors door panels covered with GM Ebony vinyl and Ostrich Emu, and of course the dash metal, steering column and steering wheel are coated in SPI orange single stage. The steering wheel is also accented with SPI single stage black. The cab wall is a combination of GM ebony vinyl and black loop pile carpet. Speaker panels from bigblock73 fill the corners. The 3-point seat belts are from Retro Belt. Oh, and my signature 37” shifter topped with a retro knob from Speed Dawg. A XM receiver fills the ashtray location.

Future plans call for the dash to be filled with a speedometer and quad gauge from Dolphin Instruments. I’ll be using 3 3/8 speedo and the quad gauge will go where the factory fuel gauge is. The 4 gauge holes on the left will become the home for my air gauges. The Dolphin gauges are in the garage waiting on me to get started. I also need to replace the vent window rubber and have new door hinges in the garage that need to be installed.

A new GM 290 HP 350 crate motor will be going under the hood soon. I can’t build a motor for what I can buy the crate for. A 700R4 will handle the gears. I’ll basically have a new truck without the payments or taxes. I’m also kicking around the idea of swapping out the heater/defroster for a Vintage Air system with AC.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten some things but it’s been full speed every weekend since late June. My wife has been a very understanding woman the last couple months, why she has kept me the last 20 years is beyond me.

Pics in the next post.............