My 81 Sport truck rebuild

[CoyoteCustoms]

I have been putting off starting a build post for a while but I might as well get one started. First off, this forum is the BEST place to get information on these trucks. It is a big reason my truck is getting restored.

I need to give a back ground on this truck so I am sorry if I ramble too long. When I was in grade school, a guy across the street had a SWB Chevy truck that I thought was the coolest truck out there. I remember the sound of the engine, how cool the truck sat, and everything about it. The guy kept the truck prefectly clean all the time and I wanted a truck like it when I was old enough. When I was in the 8th grade we moved outside of town so I didnt get to see that truck anymore but I did get to begin building my first one. I built a 74 SWB with my Dad and learned how to weld and do alot of work myself. I kinda forgot about that old truck but one day my Dad said he needed another pick since the one I built was his old one. He told my Uncle who owns a Chevy dealership and they found him a cheap SWB. He brought it home and someone had tried to make it a 3/4 ton so we did some work to clean it up. I was 14 when he bought this truck. He drove it everyday until about 4 years ago when he gave it to me. The truck was pretty worn out by then so I started patching all the rust and changing some things around. I painted it flat black, put a lowering kit on it and put my shop name on the doors. I have been building motorcycles for the past 10 years. We put air ride on it for a while and just had some fun with it. I knew I would fully restore it one day but I just didnt have the time.


One day, my Dad was in town and ran into the guy that owned that truck I used to stare at every day. They talked for a while and put some missing links together and figured out that the truck I now owned was the exact truck I used to dream about. It was a 1981 Chevrolet Sport SWB. I was in shock and mad at myself for changing the truck from what it was.

Once I found this out I started my search online for information about the Sport Package. I stumbled on this site a few years ago and it helped me realize that I owned something pretty rare. My bike business was so busy I just checked here sometimes and looking through all these trucks made me decide to start this one up and make it what it should be.

I tore the truck down about a year ago and didnt have as much time as I thought to work on it. I sold part of my motorcycle business and now, I have the free time I need to do this truck right.

My plan for this truck is to restore it back to the Chevy Sport look but give it a few custom touches similar to what it had back when it was new. I am not real big on prefect restorations because I think every car or motorcycle should match in the individual.

I took the new frame and put my air ride back on the front for the adjustability and smoother ride. I flipped the rear and for right now I am leaving off the air ride. I might add it later but right now a C-notch with good shocks is kinda the look I want. I am taking the body off my old truck and putting on this new frame and in the process I am repainting, powdercoating, and restoring all the pieces along the way.

Here are my pics so far and sorry for the long winded story.

Here is the truck when I got it.
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Got all the rust out of it and got it ready for some flat black.
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I drove it this way for a while. I planned on restoring it anyway so I thought, lets have some fun with it.
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And we had alot of fun with it. This is what I normally build. I sponsored a bike show so we used the truck to sell T-Shirts out of.
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Here is how it sits now waiting to be transformed. I now have the front clip off and the engine pulled getting it back to looking good. We are painting the inner fenders, firewall, and core gloss black. Our new bike shop is the set up for restoring cars. My business partner has a few things we are going to build down the road.
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I hated the blue interior from day one with the black and silver paint. I seat guy is recovering the factory bench with a graphite gray leather and we are dyeing all the parts to match. I might use a hounds tooth pattern in the seat similar to the 69SS Camaro.
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This is the parts truck I bought to help with my restore. $200
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I bagged the front, flipped the rear and got all the stuff off I didnt want.


Since its going to be a driver, I stripped all the rust off the frame and painted it with some Heavy Equipment gloss black so I can touch it up easily when needed. This paint works well if you prep the parts correctly.



I think I will have this done by the Summer 2010 but I am not rushing it. I want it to be cool and functional. I don't mean this to sound cheesy but this forum has been a big inspiration to make this truck new again. I have been on here for 2 years trying to figure out how I want this to look in the end.

I am going back with the factory paint, black on top and silver on bottom. I found the original blue stripe it had on it on the inside of the driver door so I will be putting that back on it. I am trying to find out if it said Chevy Sport on the stripe over the rear wheel but I have not found anything yet. I know some of them did. The engine was updated to a 87 TBI 350 so I am keeping that but giving it a fresh look. The wheels I am still up in the air about. I would like 20" Coys or something like those but I think 18" or 17" wheels would fit the style of this truck better. Opinions on any of this would be great. I went to the salvage yard today and was able to pull an original grill in good shape, prefect set of sport mirrors, and a set of black seat belts to go with my new color. A few months ago I found a brand new sport rear bumper and a Chevy Sport hood ornament from an 82 model.

Thanks again guys and I will keep you posted.

Jason