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Old 07-02-2010, 08:18 AM   #7
ERBSIX
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Missouri
Posts: 208
1978 Silverado - Illustrated - Front Roll Pan

Recently, I finally put down in text the lits of modifications I wanted to do to my 1978 Chevrolet C10 Silverado Half-Ton.

Over the past 10 years I have collected a large assortment of Truckin' pictures and internet*pictures of trucks which I liked, in order to get a better visual of what my truck will look like when completed.

I am going to try to explain some of that here, but obviously I won't be able to cover everything in one post. Plus, I have not been able to find some of the old Truckin' articles I saved. So I will dig those up as soon as possible.

Checkout the pictures and then read my comments below to see how they fit into what I want to do.

Custom Front Roll Pan – Fabricated by Me







These are three very good examples of front roll pans. The bottom two are the same year of truck that mine is. The top yellow on is a 68-72 model, so the body style is different, but the front roll pan on it looks really good.

Regarding the second and third pictures, this is very close to what I want to accomplish; however, I do not want it to appear that there is a bumper there at all. Instead of having it "bump out" like all three of these do, below the grill, the sheet metal will go straight down and be completely flat.

Also, I plan to not have the "slots" beneath the grill either. I'm not sure why they are there. So far as I can tell, they serve no purpose, so they will be removed to leave a very clean front end!


Removable Bumper


Since the front roll pan will leave the front of my '78 a little too vulnerable for my taste, fashioning the old bumper into a removable accessory is key.

The solution will be to fabricate two brackets in a V shape. One leg of the V will attach to the bumper and the other leg will have four bolt holes on it which will match up to four holes (two for each bracket to keep the bumper from "flexing" from side to side) on the frame underneath the front of the truck.

This will allow a bumper to be on the truck when driving around town, but if it is entered into shows, it can quickly be removed (just remove 4 bolts) for maximum prettiness.

To Turn Signal, Or not to Turn Signal






You can also see from the last two pictures that the orange truck still has the front turn signals and marker lights, while the green one has neither.

My truck will definitely have the marker lights shaved (removed) so the fender will look just like the green truck.

I also want to remove the front turn signals, again, like the green truck, but I need to verify this is legal in the State of Missouri before doing so. I sure hope I don't legally have to have front blinkers in Missouri. If anyone knows please shoot me a comment.

Verbosity


Wow, this turned out to be MUCH longer than I had anticipated.

I will cut it off here for now and create more posts to keep showing pictures similar to what I want to accomplish.

Feedback and Tips are always welcome!
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