I did not think it was going to take this long to get the decision made to be able to move forward. Its been 4 weeks and still not resolved...
In the mean time, I have been collecting parts and looking for parts that I need. I am on the fence about a couple of parts at this point. One of which is the frame. Since this truck is mostly original to the way it came from my Grandpa, I am reluctant to cut up the frame for a few mods I want to make that would be hard to change back later.
I found a complete LWB frame and suspension for about $200, but I would have to drive 3.5 hours to get it. It solves the frame mod issue and gets me a 12 bolt housing that I do not have. What do you guys think? The mods are basically, raise the front crossmember like it did in Korbin's truck, do a rear frame mod to raise the rails up 4" like Rob did to his shop truck JT, and then do the LWB to SWB conversion. Once all that would be done, I would get (or build) an X brace around the trailing arm suspension like I have seen Porterbuilt make....
The end result for the exterior will be a shop truck theme in the original light blue with a white grill and bumper and this logo on the doors in white:
That is the farm that my family has and where I learned to drive that truck before Grandpa gave it to me. The farm has been in our family for 164 years and my sister and I are now the 5th or 6th generation owners.