So I found a decent frame for $100 then got it blasted for $150. Probably less than what it would have cost to fix the old one. Only catch was that it was a leaf spring frame so I'd have to grab a few parts off the old one and drill a few holes. Here it is in my garage after stripping the unnecessary parts off of it.
Now this truly is a build, rather than a rebuild/restore, pretty much starting from scratch.
So I might as well reveal my plans then. I guess I should explain the name Wintergreen. Not really much to it, mostly just comes from the colours I'm planning to paint it. I'm going to go with a green and white 2 tone in the Sierra Grande style with wood grain trim. Then I wanted to name it so I came up with Wintergreen. I do have some planse to give it a bit of a signature but those you'll have to wait and see.
The plan is for this truck to be my daily driver in the non-winter months, so it has to be able to do everything a truck is meant to do. It will stand about the same height as stock but will have air bags in the back to replace the coils for adjust-ability and improved ride. The only other suspension upgrades will be addco front and rear sway bars. I plan to add A/C somehow, decent sound system, and whatever else I want to have in my dd.
Drivetrain will be as follows (already bought and built):
1995 LT1 5.7L
0.030 over balanced and blueprinted shortblock, stock aside from the FP pistons
Ported LT1 Aluminum Heads w/ 2.00/1.56 stainless valves and dual springs
LT4 Hotcam kit w/ 1.6RR (minus the crappy springs the kit comes with)
ported intake (gasket matched same as heads)
30lb injectors
52mm Throttle Body
electric waterpump
1995 4L60E 4spd auto transmission
stage II build for 500+hp
2300 Stall w/lock up spec'd for towability
Auburn pro series limited slip rear diff
3:73 Gears
Their are a few more plans to iron out, but this is the way it headed for now.