How hard is it

[84 400]

well as for all of you who stumbeled across the threade i wrote about hot roddding my 85 i have some questions. I was thinking if i am gonna do it i might as well do it all and have a solid daily driver for the winter. i know it may sound like i am putting alot of time into a junker but it will be fun and my father and i will learn alot. iI was wondering how hard it is to line up fenders if i remove the front ones as well as the hood and the inners. The truck has a bad front shock mount that drives me crazy and since i was planning on repainting it (other thread) i thought i might as well clean up the frame rails. so i was thinking of pulling the friont fenders and hood so i could get at the chock mount easyer and so i could clean the frame up. i have never removed much sheet metal so how hard is it to get everything to line back up? also since the frame in back is very flackey and every time i am under there i get rust in my eyes and down my back i was thinking of pulling the bed and eather sandblasting or just sanding the hell out of it. then painting the frame with flat black and a top coat of rubberized under coating. i also thought i would paint the under side of the bed while i was at it. BTW how inportant are the cross braces on the underside of the bed? some of them are gone and i don't have a welder so i was just gonn clean it the best i could and put it back on the truck since this is a daily driver. this brings me to my last thought. the cab is very solid but the front cab mount bushing is toast. should i just pull the cab off?? thanks for the input i am planning on starting tomarrow

[Jonboy]

Getting the fenders to line back up isn't too bad at all. If you are leaving the radiator support in place, they will bolt up to the same place in the front. Take note of where the shims are in the rear, and mark your hood hinges. The hood hinges mount to the cab, so that shouldn't change by taking the hood off.

On the frame, you can just spray the undercoat, it doesn't need paint under it. The bed braces are important if you plan to carry anything heavy, as they distribute the load and keep the bed floor from sinking. A word of caution, if you are going to pull the bed and/or cab, make sure you have the replacement bolts first, especially if this is a daily driver.

[84 400]

for the bed i was gonna get some carrige bolts from hmoe depo or somthing with a nice flange washer and lock washer

[84 400]

also i am pretty sure on my 85 the hood bolds to the fenders not the cab

[Jonboy]

There is a spring that goes from the fender to the hood. The actual pivot is mounted to the cab side. those are the two rearmost bolts.

Make sure you are getting grade 8 carriage bolts from HD. IIRC, the bed bolt kit from LMC was only $20 or so.

[84 400]

i will keep that in mind thanks for the info

[piecesparts]

I would get a catalog from LMC, they have a good breakdown on their parts and where they go. I would also go to the dealer and see if they had an extra shop manual and see if you can buy it.

[84 400]

i got the lmc one and chevy duty( even though chevy duty has no diagrams )

[krazymonkeys24]

I think everything but the question about the cab mount has been answered, so i will answer that one for you. Just loosen all of the mount bolts on that side and none of them on the other side. Then, jack up the cab slightly to remove the culprit. That will save you alot of trouble lining the cab back up by being able to drop the cab back down pretty much exactly where it started.