Project Reno - 72 cheyenne rebuild

[cmabolt]

Hi all, I'm starting my build thread. Purchased truck from a town just south of reno, transported it to Montana for temporary storage and to have bodywork done and will drive to the east coast later this year to finish at home.

[cmabolt]

picked up some seats to have redone. here's the before and after. I had them done in black leather with repaired padding and repaired hardware. They should be ready to drop in once bodywork is done. I will have the body shop
weld nuts to the floor so the seats bolt in like factory. It now has a bench seat.

[CARZ1968]

What are your plans for the truck? Daily driver,show or something in between? Changing colors? Stock or custom? Good luck on the build!

[jason65]

Nice truck dude.

[cmabolt]

Hi gang, well the truck is getting a full ground up restore. I searched for this truck for about a year or two. I wanted a west coast truck with very little rust, 4spd, ac and I found one. It only had a little rust on the floor seam between the rocker and kick panel. I think the carpet just rotted it away. I have never seen a 72 with so little rust. I've seen some trucks for sale with so much rot that the cabs where literally sitting on the frame with a couple bolts missing the rubber bushings. Not good!


I laugh when I say, "The plan is..." to have all the body work done (it's in the body shop now) panels blasted, trim holes filled, rust repaired and a fresh one color paint job. I am also going to have them install a rear 20 gallon gas tank and a custom filler that will look stock. I am also going to have the bed, underneath, of cab and bed and lower 3 inches of the body panels sprayed with color matched bedliner.

The chassis will get a blast and repaint with the panels off and new urethane bushings all around. I think I am going to do a modest 2" lift just for a bit of clearance over the tires. Once I get the truck home I will get rid of the ho52 rear to a dana60 and gear ratio to 3:73 since this will almost be a daily driver for me. I figured rather than buy a new truck, why not recycle and build a brand new truck for less. No plastic panels, cheap parts, limited options etc. It just makes sense.

The trans is a sm465 4spd granny and I think I will keep it stock for now with a new clutch. It has a 350 that has been rebuilt, but until I dig into it I don't know to what extent. I am guessing only the top end has been touched. The long term plan is to install a Ls1 to take advantage of modern motor, fuel injection gas mileage and reliability.

So we'll see how, "the plan," goes. I will post pictures of the body work as it comes along and whatever parts I wrangle in the mean time. This will probably be a 2 year build or something, but we'll see. The real fun is going to be the cross country drive this summer. I figured I would drive her home instead of throwing away a grand on transport. Trucks were meant to be driven anyway. We'll see how that pans out.

[cmabolt]

So, an update. Went to see the truck this thanksgiving in Montana and found that nothing had been done to the body yet. "Son of a b__tch." 11 months and nothing done??!! Apparently, It was a busy year for the body shop and he had just pulled it into the shop. I am crossing my fingers that this thing gets underway or I may have to change body shops. Of course if I had my own garage I would just get to workin on it myself. I picked a color so next time I see the truck, hopefully it will be dark rose red mica (#904674). This is an almost black paint until light hits it and it gleams dark metallic red. Should be interesting. I am relying on the references I have gotten and work I have seen that will hopefully make the wait worth it. Hopefully progress pics soon will tell the story

More to come on project reno

[VA72C10]

Hope it works out...many have experienced body and paint shop prison...

[cmabolt]

ok, so some progress. The front clip has been removed and the fenders are being worked on. Hopefully this is a sign of progress to be made. In the mean time I am wavering on colors for the truck. This is tougher than I thought. As I have seen with others, I am all over the place. I started with an 06 dark Red almost black kia color and am now thinking more of a period color like this 75 corvette steel blue (top 2 pics) or a deep dark Matador red (see bottom pic). Pretty cool colors. I think keeping it in the period is probably wise for holding value.

[alwaysbroken]

very nice truck.

[cmabolt]

Finally the body shop is getting some work done. Front clips is being disassembled
and piece by piece brought back to life. After much thought and seeing some more
period colors, I think I am going with a 1973 GM metallic midnight blue... we'll see.

[cmabolt]

Progress! Just got some more pics of the body work. The front clip is done, some progress has been made on the bed sides and the cab is next. An 80's chevy gas door is being fit into the rear bedside to accommodate the new gas tank. I wanted it to look stock so will be pleased to see it welded in. Hopefully all the rust work will be done by this summer's end. Though this is a cheyenne, all the trim holes are filled. this truck is going back east and i am trying to eliminate any possibility of rust or water entry. Paint??? who knows what'll happen with that. Still on the fence. Should have more pics toward the end of the summer. Stay tuned

[cmabolt]

more pics

[cmabolt]

even more pics

[madmopar]

What kinda quote did they give you ona all the body work being done? Looks like mucho dinero!

[cmabolt]

This job started 1.5 years ago. It is being worked on when collision work is absent from the schedule. So 6K including paint and tinted spray in bedliner. I added frame sandblasting and paint so don't know that total. I am extremely pleased with the work. It's a deal, but patience is a virtue.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by cmabolt

This job started 1.5 years ago. It is being worked on when collision work is absent from the schedule. So 6K including paint and tinted spray in bedliner. I added frame sandblasting and paint so don't know that total. I am extremely pleased with the work. It's a deal, but patience is a virtue.

As long as youre ok with the wait this is the best way to go. My body guy explained to to me very well, he said "if I work on yours exclusively and get it done in a week i'd have to charge you by the hour, and you dont want that". I agreed, he kept mine as long as he needed to and I got her back in under a year. It's hard to find guys who are willing to do this kind of work, most want to just do insurance work. Looking nice btw!

[cmabolt]

Hey Thanks! This is exactly the situation. His passion is restoring old trucks/cars. He does collision work to keep the lights on. I am happy to wait because he really does good work.

I am hoping he will get her done before summers end. The work is actually being done in Montana. I will bring her home after. For now I just sit and wait.

[cmabolt]

Well some more good news. I finally found a dana 60 in good shape out of an 71 gmc 3/4 ton 4x4. I cleaned it up, stripped the hubs and am having the 4:10 changed out to a 3:73 and all new bearings/races seals on the entire axle. I also stripped off the drums and will be going with the disc brake kit for the rear. After pricing everything out, it was actually less expensive to go with the rear discs as apposed to all new parts for the drum brakes. I am also shipping the axle to the truck so I have to consider weight as well.

BTW, this axle should be a direct bolt in at 40.5" spring perch width and both shocks facing forward, but am not sure about the yoke and u-joint combo. i have an ho52 at the moment. Does anybody know if the stock dana 60 yoke will work?

[cmabolt]

Hi all. Well it's been a while. Still waiting on paint to be finished. In the mean time I have been stocking up on parts for the truck. I purchased a billet dash panel here on the forums and have been piecing together gauges and prepping it to go into the truck. I also purchased new 2" lift leaf springs and the rest of my brake parts so I can Install in the truck when I get to it this Labor day weekend. It's tough restoring something that is all the way across the country.
The dash panel had to be machined a little to accept the Classic Instrument gauges. i have brushed the edges of the panel and am about to have the crinkle black power coat put on to finish things off. I think I'm gonna have the panel clear coated as well to protect the brushed edges.

Hopefully the paint will be done when I get there and i can start thinking about driving her home. More to come.

[69GWC]

Nice, been thinking of doing something like that with my gauges as well,
Iam doing about the same thing i bought my 69 with plans on selling my 06 and using the 69 as my driver just have to work out the PO problems, rig job
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[cmabolt]

Well.... a lot has been happening with the truck. I got tired of waiting for progress on the bodywork and pulled it from the shop that has had it for three years. I am moving it to another shop with the agreement that it will be done as a priority. The priority thing definitely bumps up the cost. So, we'll see how this shop does as far as progress?? At least, I won't be hearing, "Nope, haven't really made any progress." anymore. So I hope to see the bodywork and paint done by this holiday season. Ugggg! In the mean time, my dash is done. Just got the bezel back from powder coat and it looks great. I got it all assembled and led lights inserted so one more item off the list.

[cmabolt]

Asked if the shop could line-x the bed both inside and underneath as well as the inner and outer floor of the cab. Should be pretty protected from rust in the usual spots. Just waiting for the new bodyshop to get me some numbers. Also, here is the final color choice. It's a honda basque red pearl II code R530P-C. This is a newer honda red that is very deep.

[cmabolt]

Update! Well bodyshop 2 wanted $15K to redo old bodywork and finish all the new bodywork. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! The truck has very little rust. Born in Cali and lived in Reno the rest of it's life. Why ohhhh why??? The bodyshop blues continues. The truck didn't even need rockers or cab corners.

So, after much thought, I put her and all her parts on a truck and shipped her home to the east coast. I now have the truck in a garage, I think I found a body shop in MD that will do the panels once piece at a time and starting january, all hell will break loose on chassis work. Pics and work to commence in January.

Rant over
Chris

[cmabolt]

Making some progress. Truck arrived via transport and I began tearing things down over the past few weeks. Removed remaining parts from cab: AC controls, box, steering and clutch assembly brakes and wiring. as well as front clip, bed. I am waiting for many parts to arrive so I can continue.

[cmabolt]

OK, some more progress in the last few days. Got the 350 out as well as trans and transfer case, but I am going to sell this motor. It is a good motor and after pulling the pan, looks like it has had a recent rebuild. I went with the turnkey 6.0 lq4 motor from BD engines in AZ. To make things easier, I removed the bed and cab for body work and to make chassis work easier. I then built a dolly for the bed and cab out of wood to move around and transport when ready. I received and installed my crossmember from pacific fabrication and plan to moch-up the new motor this week. I also received and installed my aluminum tank from boyd welding since I will now have fuel injection. I installed the tank to sit on top of the bottom frame rail and as far forward as I could to feed it from the fabricated filler door on my bed. This week I hope to get new motor bolted in, with new crossmember then start taking it all apart for sand/soda blasting so I can get POR15 on chassis.