The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Well I mentioned I was trading my lil tractor for a 77 Chevy K10 and the trade took place on Saturday. She is just an old rough farm truck nothing more. I have wanted a solid axle Chevy for a while now to play off road with and drive year round. This truck is going to be fixed up and rust proofed in the spring. Right now I am going to get it inspectable so my father can drive it during the winter. It is my first 4x4 Chevy and my first short bed and my first stepside. Keep in mind I am a college student who lives at school so the only time I have to work on this is on school breaks after work. I have a line on some used front sheet metal and a used bed. As well as a set of doors. The cab is going to need one brace and a rocker panal but is very solid. the frame looks great as well.

History of the truck:
I bought this from the orginal family. the guy I got it from enherited it from his grandfathers farm in 1996. His grandfather who is now 102 bought it brand new from chevy back in 1977 and worked it on his farm in PA. IT was a farm truck from the get go and rarely left. When he took delivery of it he imedatly took it over to the paint shop and had it sprayed the metalic green color. He did this because he was afraid it would be stolen. From the factory it was black with a red pin stripe. It had the wagon wheels and aluminm running boards mixed with the green paint made it just scream 70's style:metal:. I still have the running boards but the grandson removed them many years ago. The grandson drove it when he turned 16 until 2000 when he parked it in favor of a more gas friendly car. He tried selling it a few times but could not because of sentimental value. He tried to move it one day and it would not move so he posted it online. I offered to trade him for my 62 wheel horse tractor and a deal was struck.

To my surprise:
After Decoding the vin I learned a lot more about the truck. IT has a 350 v8 instead of the 305 that I thought it had. It also was a big ten model which means it is a heavy duty 1/2 ton truck. IT sports a 12 bolt rear end and I am uncertain on the front diff at this time. Un fortunatly the RPO sheet is gone from the glove box. It is a Scottsdale and has PS and PB. It also has a quarts clock in it. It is an np203 all time 4x4 and 3 speed auto which i am guessing is a th350 but have not looked. Another neat thing is this is my frist square body to be built in Flint MI. this is cool because my dad grew up in flint and probibly knows some one that had a hand in building this truck. Also this truck has 28,000 original miles on it supported by the title.

Plans:
Get her reliable and inspectable. start hording sheet metal to re skin in the spring. Maybe a 4 inch lift in the future. New bumpers and a possible winch. I am going to keep it simple and keep it a truck.

Okay here we go with the pics
Bringing the wheel horse:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...upthe77002.jpg

look a Chevy fallowing me: I bet they thought we where crazy towing the little tractor on a car trailor
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...upthe77004.jpg

The monster is loaded on and headed home:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...upthe77005.jpg

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

home at last:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000007.jpg

Just in time for the first snow of the year:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000006.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000008.jpg

Taking her place behind the sleeping 84:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000009.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000011.jpg

mmmmmmm yum moldy steering wheel prefect dash pad tho:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000014.jpg

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

underside is clean and thats what counts:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000012.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000013.jpg

Can you Id the front axle? 10 bolt or dana?
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000020.jpg

rear 12 bolt
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000021.jpg

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

The 350 whish i had more time at the car wash with the simple green:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000015.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000016.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...0/P1000018.jpg

More to come in 2 weeks when I am outta school for winter break...........

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Now I don't feel so bad about the underside of my '86 C20! :two:

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

I cannot believe how rust free the underside of this one is. You should see trucks up here all scaly and rotted. Alot have rotted in half.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

looks like its got alot of potential... wat are ya plans for it?

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Damn sweet looking Stepper I like it man. Looks like its in good shape.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Lots of great potential in that thing... plus I can't wait to see what the lawn looks like after you mow with it. :D

Good luck with the rebuild!

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Looks good to me, should be lots of fun. That undercarriage is in very good shape. My dad use to have a 76 with the same colour of this beast. Looks like a 10 bolt to me. Did you ever figure out what was with the transmission?

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Front axle is a 10 bolt. It has the little ears on it.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Man, must be a tough life working on a farm in Flint, Mi. But with only 28k miles it should be in decent shape mechanically.

The front axle looks like a Dana 44 to me. http://www.coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

if you look at the bottom of the diff, there are little extra pieces of metal, which sdavid refered to them as little ears. The dana 44 does not have this. The GM CORPORATE 10-BOLT for the front does.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

First off thanks for checking out my post!

To answer some questions:

For the imedate futre it will look pretty much the same. It is going to get a wxhaust put on it and all fluid flush. Also need to give it a good once over. In adittion it will get a new front cab support on thje drivers side font and maybe a rocker panel.

this spring I hope to :
Plans include rust free used sheet metal and a back yard paint job. I am unsure what color as of now but i like the metallic green it is now. Also a set of diffrent bumpers and possible winch and 4 inch lift. I am going to use this as a truck and have a very limited budget by which to fix it up.

72BlckButy- she should mow the lawn nicely leaving some good sized ruts!

vern350- any pics of your fathers? Nope not sure on the transmission as of right now. We pretty much picked it up and i headed back to school (final exams coming up).

454HO- Thanks for the input on the axle. To clarify it was it in Flint and worked on a farm in Pennsylvania. She defiantly has a lot of bumps and the bumpers are really shot!

Again thanks for the encouragement. I found a deal on a front clip and a step side bed so I might check those out and pick them up.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Made this video Saturday night just for the heck of it. Sorry about the light.... It kicks down fine but then after shifiting it into park goes back to high idle.

THERE IS NO LIGHT AND YOU CANNOT SEE MUCH OF ANYTHING!! fast forward to 3:45

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

I have to see if I can find a picture to scan. Was a long time ago.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

dana 44 diff cover is more square, definitely not a 44...
looks like a fun truck!
nice score!

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

From the pic of the transfer case, the trans looks like a th350. Sounds like the timing is off a little. Should be a good project.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

yeah I figured it is a th350. I can't wait to get an exhaust on her and drive it a bit more (exhaust cut off after the Y pipe). More progress in 2 weeks.

Thanks for ID ing the axle for me guys

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Now that's an interesting method of security.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

This looks like one fun project and will make a really nice looking truck when it's done! I really like the stepside 4x4 shortbeds in this body style! Are you planning to keep it a stepper? Are you planning to paint it, and if so, what color? Sounds like the engine and drivetrain are low mileage, and if it runs good I'd just get a new set of gaskets, clean it up, tune it up, and paint it up if it were me.

I'll be watching your progress on it as you go, and good luck with it! Looks to me like you got the better end of the deal and he probably already is kicking himself! That front diff is a 10 bolt, so I'm guessing the year has to be 1978, right? Dana 44s were used through 1977 then changed to the 10 bolt in 1978.

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

It is defiantly going to stay a step side. They are classic. It is also keeping the Same style front end. I am uncertain on the final color. I actually like its current color but it may end up in a dark forest green or.... It is infarct a 1977 model year built truck according to the vin number. I highly drought the axle was swapped. Maybe it got one of the first 10 bolt's?

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

It is possible that it was built as a late '77 with a corporate 10 bolt front since GM made quite a few rolling model year changes on the assembly line. They might have used up all their stock of Dana 44s and switched to the Corporate front end on some of the late 1977 model year trucks. it's really hard to say, but I'll bet that you are right about the fact that it's not likely that someone changed the front axle with the low mileage that it has unless there was a problem while it was still under warranty, but that's not likely to be the case either. ...Joe

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

whats that white stuff on the top and hood? lol

Re: The Green Monster Just an old farm truck
 

Looks liek a pretty decent old truck. Now just add some a/c. 3/4 ton axles, and a lift kit and it will be reay to roll.