1971 C-10 Cheyenne

[sangell]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

Just found this thread. We appreciate you being here, good dad with mad skills and determination. I had a feeling the one piece shaft was going to be a problem as I have a background in metallurgy and harmonics but I was too late to the party.
Folks like you make this place kinda special, thanks.

Well thank you very much, I try my best.

[Ian71GMC]

Hello from just across the state line! You and your son have done some great work! Oh, and I'm an Eagle Scout, too.

[sangell]

Originally Posted by Ian71GMC

Hello from just across the state line! You and your son have done some great work! Oh, and I'm an Eagle Scout, too.

Thank you. We pass through Harrisonville often as we own land that we hunt on just North of Urich MO.

[sangell]

Well after being on the road for only two weeks the truck is back in the shop/garage. The original plan was to redo the interior this winter however I got thinking that with the interior and glass removed this would be the best time to paint the truck, and if we were painting the truck now would be the best time to make the conversion to a short bed so we are diving in head first. Truck is getting a combo of spray in heat/noise reducer and hush mat, new carpet, door panels, all new rubber seals/gaskets, and glass for the interior. The exterior is getting new front fenders, short bed sides, bumpers, and paint. The body, interior from the glass up, and engine bay will be single stage satin black while the bumpers, grill, mirrors, door handles, and wheels will be gloss black for a little bit of accent.

This past weekend was getting the interior and glass gutted then some rust repair done. The roof header panel was worse than we thought so we put in a patch panel. While the old piece was out we took the time to clean up what we could and paint on some rust encapsulator and then used the Eastwood inside frame spray on stuff in the rest of the roof. The panel is not done yet but getting closer.

[ChuckLee]

Good job man! It's funny how things snowball when you start tearing it apart. It's so much better to do everything at once if you have patience, garage space, the finances to buy parts, and a lot more drive!
I'm in the same boat, it's all torn apart, so now is the time! I'm just trying to decide where my "for sure limitations" will be before I start putting things back together.

Things i've decided to cave in on while it's torn apart: fixing/painting whole
frame, fixing/painting whole body, suspension bushings etc, wiring, etc.

Things i am still on the fence about during my build/ls swap: turbo lq4 build or NA lq4 build, cheapo $1,000 airmaxxx air ride.

All in all, I love what you've done so far. You are clearly much more experienced than I, so I'm learning as I read yours. I wish I had the metal working skills and experience you have, but I'm a absolute novice there.

question: your top bed rail near the cab.......what happened to it? it looks bent in the middle.

[sangell]

Well as we got more into it we found more issues and being that I suck at body work we went with a new from clip including a core support. We got the new parts "fitted" as best we can then blew it apart to cut the frame down. We have decided to have the cab and doors blasted which will happen next week sometime. The new bed parts will be picked up in the next week or two which will included short bed sides, tail gate with the embosed CHEVROLET and a new header panel.

[sangell]

Originally Posted by ChuckLee

Good job man! It's funny how things snowball when you start tearing it apart. It's so much better to do everything at once if you have patience, garage space, the finances to buy parts, and a lot more drive!
I'm in the same boat, it's all torn apart, so now is the time! I'm just trying to decide where my "for sure limitations" will be before I start putting things back together.

Things i've decided to cave in on while it's torn apart: fixing/painting whole
frame, fixing/painting whole body, suspension bushings etc, wiring, etc.

Things i am still on the fence about during my build/ls swap: turbo lq4 build or NA lq4 build, cheapo $1,000 airmaxxx air ride.

All in all, I love what you've done so far. You are clearly much more experienced than I, so I'm learning as I read yours. I wish I had the metal working skills and experience you have, but I'm a absolute novice there.

question: your top bed rail near the cab.......what happened to it? it looks bent in the middle.

Thank You, your truck is super cool. We plan to do a single 78mm turbo on the 5.3 in the next year or so.

While the body is off and since we have the material laying around we are going to make tubular cross members for the rear three and new rear shock mounts and a new adjustable track bar.

The rear bed header panel is bent and even has five holes in it, I'd say it lived a hard life. We will be replacing it.

This is my son's truck so the turbo is his call, if it were me I would do a NA bigger cubic inch LS like a 408 or along those lines.

[sangell]

We got the frame cut down, the exhaust will pass through the frame in the same location so it's getting an oval fish plate on the inside, 4"x.120 wall DOM sleeves, and straps both top and bottom. I ordered the bed header, Chevrolet stamped tailgate, and bedsides today to be picked up early next week.

We have a decent amount of 2"x.120 wall DOM laying around and we both prefer tubular cross members over stamped so we made some.