Look what the F0&D dragged home

[502ms]

I agree with keeping the drivetrain simple and old school. I love the roof finish on this truck...keep at it....this will become your baby soon enough!
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[Mr. 250r]

After finishing all but one class for my applied science degree im going back for my computer science degree =-p as far as newer motors into older vehicles etc etc i don't think it ruins the look because the carb look is boring..... *flame suit* haha anyways the one question i have what is all the stuff on the rear end of the frame is that just a bunch of metal welded on with a ball?

[americanmusc1e]

Originally Posted by Mr. 250r

After finishing all but one class for my applied science degree im going back for my computer science degree =-p as far as newer motors into older vehicles etc etc i don't think it ruins the look because the carb look is boring..... *flame suit* haha anyways the one question i have what is all the stuff on the rear end of the frame is that just a bunch of metal welded on with a ball?

that is where we differ my friend.. I much prefer the simple look of a properly carbed small block Chevy.. Did you know that when they designed the SBC that aesthetics were part of the design discussion?? true story

This truck was originally a flatbed.. yes it has some metal welded on the frame that will probably be cut off later. it even has holes in all the braces where they ran they PTO driveshaft through for some kind of rear-mounted PTO accessory.

[Mr. 250r]

What about a newer motor with a carb setup on it?

[americanmusc1e]

while there is nothing wrong with a carb on a newer motor.. if i was going to put one in something and i had the time to do it right. I would probably go with EFI. Although if i had to put one in my classic vehicle I would probably leave it carbed so I wouldn't have more wiring than i needed.

For Example: My 92 RC/SWB v6/5spd gets 19.5mpg combined average. If the motor ever goes out I would probably look into swapping in a 4.8/t56 and although i have considered adapting the original TBI for use on the newer motor i would probably go ahead and use EFI... I don't care what it looks like. I just want it to drive good and get good mpg..

If I ever sell that truck i would like to get a 70's Vega for a daily driver. It would need to get excellent fuel mileage so I would probably replace the factory 4-cylinder with a 4.8/t56 and it would get EFI.

[americanmusc1e]

So much for working on my truck on my three days off.. I have a programming project that I've been working on and it's due tonight. and I go back to work tomorrow.

I got my parts in at least... too bad I can't work on them..

[americanmusc1e]

Sooo.. In between study breaks this weekend and last. I have been looking at how I am going to afford the $1300 in at least 35" tires this thing is going to need with its 4.56 gears..

I have been looking at starting out with a set of 37" military Humvee tires. I am finding some good deals on Craigslist and I think I can find a whole set for less than $800. I could probably find a set of OK ones for around $500. They fit 16.5" rims which is a plus because I already have 3. i just need one more. Anybody ever used them before?? i'm sure they aren't as great as a new set of TSLs like I was planning on going with, but I need to be cheep for a while.

[Mr. 250r]

When i bought my suburban it had 36in military tires and the only thing i didnt like about was the flat spots that took about a minute of 55+ to get out other than that they were good and even did good in the mud for me
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[americanmusc1e]

3 months later and I'm almost done with the cab. It has been a long process and I have learned alot. Mostly that pretty much every replacement panel i bought I had to slice and splice to get to fit right. As soon as I finish the top side of the passenger rocker, I will flip the cab over once more to finish some last-minute welding and then prep and coat the underneath in bedliner. Then I will flip it back over and coat the inside floor in bedliner also (although it will probably end up with carpet over it anyway.

Next, I'll start prepping the frame to accept the cab. I'm still trying to locate a good Dana 44 on Craigslist because I really don't want drum brakes. And i found what looks like a good way to go to rear disks as well. http://www.northwestfab.com/Eaton-HO...et_p_1769.html

I've sort of changed my mind on the paint scheme too. I'm really leaning toward mostly satin black with some gloss red accents (tailgate letters etc..)

Here are some pictures of my amateur, but rapidly-improving work

[hiway]

great build!

[americanmusc1e]

thanks hiway!

Well I pretty much have the entire bottom coated finally. I haven't worked on my baby in two weeks!!! I've been busy with work and school and in the mean time I've been trying to save up money for the many parts I'm going to need including my trip to the junkyard tomorrow to look for a Dana 44 or a 10bolt disk brake front end. Tuesday I will get to work on her again and I hope to have the cab floor coated and then I'm going to switch over to prepping the frame for the cab.

So far my mechanicals (the stuff I like) looks like this:

Motor- my existing 383. It now has a 9:1 compression and makes a ton of midrange power after a head/cam/intake refresh last year that tamed the 11:1 screamer that it used to be.

Transmission - I'm going to rebuild the SM465 myself. Its as easy as they get from what I understand. Its going to use the '89 Aluminium hydraulic clutch bellhousing and my existing RAM clutch out of the old truck.

Front axle - Disk brake D44 or 10B.. whatever I can find cheap with 4.56 gears to match the rear.. I will consider upgrading to a D60 in the future, but i'm on a tight budget for now.

Rear axle - Eaton H052 with disk brake conversion kit using 75 chevy callipers and rotors. It will get a Detroit locker some way or another as soon as I can afford it.

Lift- Looks like it's going to be 6" pieced together from ORD. 4" shackle flip and 2" lift blocks in the back and 6" springs in the front

Tires- 37" humvee tires for now. Later when I'm rich 37-38" TSLs

Wheels - stock steel 16.5"

T-Case- Rockwell T221 rebuilt by me unless a NP205 falls from heaven into my yard for free or I blow up the T221

Exhaust- I don't want a clearance nightmare. I'm thinking shorty/streetrod headers coming down with 2 1/4" with a crossover to the drivers side Y'd into a single 3" with something loud (single chamber) exiting right in front of the rear wheel.

[Rufton]

Ziebart allegedly coated interior of panels, frame and under carriage and claimed to prevent rust.
Nice to see a Ziebart vehicle after some years.

[americanmusc1e]

Well my v6 C1500 dragged some more parts home today. I scored a 4" lift, new shocks, a set of axles, a set of worn out tires on aluminum wheels, an unknown transfer case, and most of a truck for another $600. I know they are half-ton axles, but I'm going to run them for now. Later when I can find a 8-lug D44, or afford a D60 I'll swap out to 3/4ton axles. The bonus is I already have two spare 12-bolts laying around if i need parts. One with a lock-rite in it.

[americanmusc1e]

since this truck was originally a diesel, i scored a nice hydroboost unit too.

and a power steering gear i needed to convert mine from manual steering!


The body and frame are going on craigslist real soon, but if they don't sell in a couple of weeks I think I'm just going to haul them off.