[kipps]

This reply is mostly so I can get email updates on this thread.

I'm really intrigued with this build. I've dreamed of similar.

My dream vehicle would be a round-eye squarebody with a single cab, long bed, dually(optional) with mud tires(or at least the look thereof). The engine would be a silver 453-t detroit. Air starter, sm465, advance adapters overdrive transmission, np205 with a twin stick conversion, driveshaft parking brake, air compressor mounted on one of the tranny pto's, hydraulic pump for the dump bed mounted on the other pto. In case you lost count, that's a forest of seven sticks bristling from the floor.

The starter would be actuated by a foot pedal mounted under the edge of the seat, and would be a pilot air valve which would switch the main air valve near the starter. No electric would be needed for starting. Some form of a generator/alternator would be used that would not require a battery. When the engine starts, the electric system comes on. When the engine dies, all electric power dies with it. The dash would be simplified with round surface mount gauges, and surface mount glass fuses directly on the dash. The speedometer would top out at 60.

It'd be interesting to try a rag-top conversion on the truck, and skip the side windows altogether. The cabin heater and defrost would be using an exhaust heat exchanger. The whole truck would be shot in military drab, and all pertinent service data is stenciled on the fenders, dash, and underhood in white.

Basically, what's the most macho truck I could build without looking like it has a lot of added on bits of trash? The overall theme would be a squarebody version of a military deuce-and-a-half truck. Problem is, the only practical value to this truck would be for hot-shotting, and even then, it would not be very pleasant driving for multiple days at a time. It would mostly be a piece of art, and an expensive one at that. Oh well, dreaming is cheap....