Whats up from Oregon City, OR!

[82stepside]

My name is Chris, and i pretty much grew up in these trucks... I think i was brought home from the hospital in a 69 stepside, and my interest/obsession grew from there...

In 2004, a year after i graduated highschool, i blew up the motor in my moms numbers matching 75 formula firebird, and found my 82 GMC stepside while looking for an 88-98 swb.

The price was right and i wasn't sure it exactly what i wanted, but its not computer controlled so everything is really simple when it comes to maintenance...

Basically when i got it it looked like my avatar except it had barb wire and hay stuck up in the frame rails, and no wood rack... It was a bit hillbilly deluxe, but i liked it.

Every option for 1982 that they had to offer, my truck didnt have. It was a straight 6, th350 with power steering and manual brakes... Base model interior trim package, what i presume is still the original seat but the cover is indicative of the patter of 75 to 79 trucks, no dome light, warning lights only, not the gauges. single center channel speaker, with a tape deck someone had installed. no a/c, no sway bar or sliding rear window. It had painted white door mirrors, fender turn signals without the chrome trim, It had a gnarly rear step bumper that was cut out to the contour of the fenders, that i have only ever seen on 62-66 long box stepsides but mine was different... and i could go on and on...

But the most oddball thing that i haven't been able to figure out is that it has a small brake pedal, just like the ones a manual transmission would have that usually go with the clutch assembly... And from my experience i thought that all automatic trucks had the wide pedal??? Its almost like they started building it at the factory with the intention of being a manual, or even 3 spd on the the tree (did they even make trucks this new with that option??) and changed their mind when it got to the drive train or something? Or maybe they were running low on wide pedals that day... I don't know...

She ran good, got the maintenance stuff done, new tranny, boosted brakes, new rear end long painful story on that one, gonna omit unless someone wants to hear how shops can rail you... but one day my buddy decided that we should paint out cars, and that was 4 years ago and alot of hard earned paychecks.


I stripped her to bare, got junk yarded sheet metal that was less work to fix than what i had where i needed it and slowly began to bury her with as little filler as i could, and a lot of Epoxy primer. She probably has like 3 gallons on her. getting her prepped for paint has been a learning process, as i guess this is my first complete rodsteration. And its a total pain trying to do it on your daily. I know what its like to start a project on friday night after work and scrambling late sunday night, just so you can get to work on monday. been there wrecked that...

Um, 2007 i pulled the 6 out, as maintenance on a tired motor was just not cost effective anymore, and put a 96 vortec 350 out of a 3/4ton 4wd. Its got 98 heads, and in not wanting to deal with computers at the time, i threw on a edelbrock performer RPM air gap manifold and a 690cfm Holley street avenger. Headers, the factory roller cam and a flex fan, make for a really reliable daily motor that has enough horse to create a tire induced smoke screen for all those ricer kids in my town!

This year my big project was suspension... I love bagged trucks, but as a daily and a truck that i use, i just couldn't hack the frame and bed, so after much research on this forum for bag alternatives, and trying to get the look i wanted, I went with a belltech 3" drop spindles, and 1" dropped coils in the front and a 4" shackle/hanger drop in the rear. I bought the belltech dropped shocks that they recommended (which suck. Loved the KYB's i had before, cant wait to wear these out a bit more to justify replacement) and their 1 3/8" front sway bar and 1 1/8" rear sway bar.

I don't think i got a full 4" drop in the front, probably more like 3 or 3 1/2" but i haven't thrown a tape on it since the coils fully settled. But i put the front sway bar on at the time of the drop and what a difference it made verses the factory one that i yarded not long after i bought the truck! It was pretty nutty. Last weekend i finally put the rear one on cause i was tired of tripping on it in my garage, and i finally got the exhaust system installed that i wanted rather than the one i could afford after running over on my motor budget. (funny how that works!). Let me tell you after getting the sway bar geometry correct, modifying the end links. if you like driving your square body like i do, back country road bashing to some classic rock or 80's hair metal, and high speed lane changes while taking the local freeway cloverleaf off ramps, save your green and get the rear sway bar. The thing is a fricken carver man. locking the rear leafs together like it does totally changes the front steering geometry and makes it plant so much harder in the corners, its ridiculous. Truly is rally truck.

If you havent gotten my build concept yet, i guess you could call it restomod, or what i like to call ProHauling. One of the things id like to do is put a roll bar in it, not becuse of fear of rolling it or NHRA regulations, but just so i can have a 5 point harness to keep my butt in the seat! haha!

As for whats left to do? Um paint, i have all new black interior in my attic waiting for final install, i would like to do a posi unit for the rear, and potentially a 700r4 conversion someday. When the drums wear out in the rear im gonna do a caddy disc brake conversion, other than building a new wood bed for it and getting a Mar-K tailgate with the hidden hinge kit not much...

Any rate thanks for reading, ill try to put my two cents in where i can, feel free to ask questions, i have become fairly educated on these trucks, cause when a project gets this involved thats what happens...

I dont have current pics but you can check out the joke myspace page i made for my truck

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...ndID=348629733

[DREAMS OF A 67]

FROM KNOXVILLE TN!!!

[krue]

Welcome to the board from South Mississippi!

[shaneschevys]

Welcome from FT Worth TX.

[scotts62]

from OKC!!

[jsbgump]

Welcome to the board from Texas

[Cyclone44]

from Knoxville Tn....

[panhandler62]

Welcome from WV .. y'all still got that giant elevator inthe middle of town?

[Coalson01]

Welcome to the board from Weatherford, Oklahoma

[ENHANCED AIR RIDE]

WELCOME!!! from FL! Good luck on your rides!

[DB Smith]

Welcome, Chris.

I'm not too far away from ya.....just north of Seattle. '68 stepside here.

[72BlckButy]

to the board from Mid-MO!!!

You'll find this place to become your second home. There's tons of information, friends, parts, .... and so much more.

[82stepside]

Thanks all For the Welcome!!! anybody have any input on the brake pedal deal? just curious...

I hope to post a few pics in a few days!

Originally Posted by panhandler62

Welcome from WV .. y'all still got that giant elevator inthe middle of town?

Yeah we do! Some Rtards decided it would be a good idea to try and pry the door open and break into it in the middle of the night, and screwed part of the mechanism up, but they got it fixed and now they are restoring the paintings on the top side...

Been out to the land of Orygun before have you?

[67-72crazy]

welcome from greenfield,in

[1971c20]

Wlecome from vancouver wa i am in oregon city about 2 times a month, how do you like all the trucks?

[L0WRIDE]

Welcome to the boards

[gulfcoast66]

Welcome to the board fm So.Texas..