Dz’s 71 Cheyenne Build

[dz1087]

Going to start documenting the rebuild of this 71 Cheyenne SWB. My wife’s father bought it in 1981 and has owned it since. Came original with a 350/3sp combo, but a T350 was swapped in before her dad bought it. Manual everything besides that, no AC.

My wife grew up with it so it has a lot of sentimental value for her. It has sat mostly unused for the last 10 years and definitely shows it. We got it down to Florida in late December and I have Ben tearing in to it and rebuilding it since then. This is my first rebuild.


Leaving Sevierville for Florida!



Little bit of bondo...







Hoods in good enough shape.



Interior is a bit rough but not too bad.

[dz1087]

What’s this? A wood bed?



Oh, I wish it were a wood bed...







There’s the lovely wife sweeping out her truck

[dz1087]

Original engine. Repainted a few times, it never opened up past the rocker covers.



Bit of rocker panel rot





An old pencil from the 80’s

[dz1087]

Attachment 1924241

[dz1087]

Alright, anyone know what I did wrong in this last post?

[MDPotter]

Awesome project man. What a great truck to begin with - a 71 Cheyenne has the front end I like, it's a factory short bed, it's already 5-lug, it has sentimental value, and your wife is excited about it!

There is a ton of info on this forum and I've learned so much from it, just by reading through builds and asking questions.

Are you sticking with the SBC or doing an LS swap?

[68Gold/white]

LOL, it always helps when the Lovely Wife has enthusiasm for something like this. Never seen a bed floor like that!!! I'm parting out a LWB pickup bed trailer. Going to scrap the floor because of it's condition. LOL it's only pitted and has a few extra holes drilled in it, nothing like yours!!!
Another 71 or 72, you've got disc brakes, always a good thing!!!

Carry on!!1

[dz1087]

Thanks guys.

As far as the engine goes, it's already been rebuilt, bored .20 over. Got a slightly hotter cam in it. The T-350 has been rebuilt with an updated shift kit, and the rear has been rebuilt with 3.44 gears and limited slip. Frame and drivetrain are completely back together and prep'd. Just need to get the body work and electrical done now.

I've pulled the entire floor out of the cab and am going to start cutting the A and B pillars at the bottom this weekend to fix those. Going to try to reuse the doors, hood, tailgate, bed front and fenders. Not sure on the bedsides yet, they are pretty eat up with rust pitting. Obviously, I scrapped the entire floor, so I'll be ordering a new one. I can only find LWB around here, so just buying a donor truck is almost out of the question.

I didn't post any more pics because they kept turning upside down like that last post of mine. I can't figure out how to fix that.

[MDPotter]

It sounds like you and I are in about the same spot on our builds. If I were you, I would buy a whole new bed floor if you can't find a shortbed (bed only) for sale. It's rare enough to find a factory shortbed, so it's even harder to find a SWB bed for sale.

I think the orientation of the pictures has to do with the way you hold your phone when you take the picture. With my iPhone, I have to hold it sideways (power button on top, volume buttons on bottom) when I take the picture. If I take a picture in any other orientation, it ends up sideways or flipped when I attach.

[1971Stepside]

I save my pictures to my PC and then open them in paint. Turn them and save. Then post them here. It's a pain. I think you can trick your phone by taking the pictures with your phone turned sideways and then somehow they post correctly here, not sure. Love the project and that your wife is all about it. I just hope you get to drive it when it is completed.

[dz1087]

Yeah, the problem is that all the pics I posted that are the wrong way are actually the correct way on my computer and on my phone. Something in the forum software is turning them upside down. I've noticed on some other threads that a lot of pics are sideways or upside down.

[dz1087]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

It sounds like you and I are in about the same spot on our builds. If I were you, I would buy a whole new bed floor if you can't find a shortbed (bed only) for sale. It's rare enough to find a factory shortbed, so it's even harder to find a SWB bed for sale.

Yeah, that's the plan right now. I was going to purchase the one in LMC when the time comes. Do you have any other suggestions to source the floor or bedsides?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by dz1087

Yeah, that's the plan right now. I was going to purchase the one in LMC when the time comes. Do you have any other suggestions to source the floor or bedsides?

I avoid LMC just because they're almost always more expensive than other retailers. I would go to SOKY Classics and GMC Pauls, they're both pretty close on price but shipping varies between the two.

[notsolo]

I have read here, "Top Banana" had good quality sheet metal. Page 5 complete short bed fleet side for 71.. $984...good looking project ...

[dz1087]

Okay, I just loaded everything up to my Imgur account because I could not get the pics to display properly.

Anyway, here’s the beginning of the tear down:









Engine was a bit dirty

[dz1087]

Got the engine all disassembled and toted off to the engine builder. Guess BMWs are good for something!


The lovely wife helping take the cab off





Me taking a break on the chassis.

[dz1087]

The truck has between 280,000 and 380,000 miles. The odometer had turned over a few times over the years. Well, evidently the center pin was trying to work it’s way out of the carrier for a while. Luckily it held over the years and didn’t explode going down the road.


Getting the frame ready to strip and seal. I wasn’t going to do a frame up resto originally, but the can had to come off due to the severe rust on the floor, so while I’m here might as well do it up right.

[dz1087]

Here’s the frame with the suspension all back on. Went with CPP upper control arms. I replaced all the suspension components and re did the bearings.


Engine all painted up after getting it back from the builder.

[dz1087]

The cab mounted on the rotisserie I made. Drew up the plans and welded it all together myself. Not too shabby for not having welded since high school.


The cab was pretty darn rusted up on the bottom.












And finally, got the floor completely cut out of the cab. Now to start on the a and b pillars and getting the new floor back in there.

[Katrina/10]

Great work so far! Where was the truck stored those 10 years?

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks like you're off to a good start.

[dz1087]

A little update:
Got the floor in and the lower pillar panels all replaced.


Also got to the rust under the inner cowl.

[dz1087]

Got the rust all cut out and welded back and primed. I did the driver’s side first. Got a little impatient on the passenger side, so it is a little tougher than the driver side.

[dz1087]

Had a lot of rust holes to cut and patch on the rear window channel.

[dz1087]

Finally got it the firewall and the roof primed.





Any good ways of getting out those dents in the roof? The previous owner used body filler on it. Held up really well and I couldn’t tell until I started stripping the roof.