It's been a long two years, but I'm finally starting to see some results with the rebuild of my truck.

For those of you that don't know, my "Frankenstein" truck is a mix of 80-91 parts that have been carefully selected to make my idea of this body style come to life.

It's not finished yet (it probably never will be - there's always something else to do to it) but at least it's now a respectable daily driver compared to the rust bucket that it used to be.

I've replaced:

• 80-86 Rust free cab - $250
• 80-86 Rust free bed - $300
• 80 Hood - $20
• 80 Rust free tail gate - $32
• 80 Black grille and headlight buckets - $25
• Aftermarket fenders (not happy with them but they work for now - traded for old computer) - Free
• 80 Sport bumper - $32
• 91 Doors - $32 each
• Under hood tool box - $10
• Fawn dash, dash pad, instrument cluster with tach and seat - Free
• Fawn door panels (Ebay find - Mint) - $100
• Misc Fawn interior pieces - $40
• XLT Steering wheel - $10
• OEM Carpet (steam cleaned) - $12
• OEM Sliding window - $40
• 96+ 16 X 7 Van wheels - $10 each
• 285/70 R16 Tires - $12 each
• All new brakes/drums/rotors/calipers/wheel cylinders/hard lines/flex lines/shocks - $200

There are probably some other things that I'm forgetting, but I'd much rather have something like this that's paid for rather than blowing hundreds of dollars a month on a new truck and insurance to go with it. Been there, done that (too many times and I'd rather not think about it).

Phase two of this project is a complete 1 ton suspension upgrade with about 6-8" of lift and 37-38 inch Hummer H1 wheels and tires. I have a Dana 60 front axle, a Sterling 10.25 rear axle, Super Duty front springs, and F350 rear springs already and they are just about ready to go in.

Phase three is a radical 545 stroker motor that I've been collecting parts for, and either a C6 or a ZF 5 speed. This one is going to take a while.

Took some pics at the car wash today:

 

Looks Great....

 

very very nice high props and luckily it didnt cost that much to restore only about 1100 to 1200 very good job

 

Looks good. You'd never know it was a bunch of pieces grought together.

 

I thought the axles were going in your stepside project. Truck is looking good though.

 

Right now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My rear axle bearing is going and the front end needs u-joints and all of the bushings.

I hate this TTB setup and I really don't want to rebuild it. I'd rather just swap it out. I know where there is a solid D44 (8 lug) for $125 and may just put that one in this truck instead of the D60.

The Step Side is on hold for the moment.

 

Excellent its coming along nicely

 

I like it a lot.

 

I just hope I can get mine as nice and as far along as yours in 2 years. That's kinda what started me on my 80 from hell project- it was an emergency truck that I picked up for $1000. to drive while my Toyota was down. I got to looking at it (after I got my Toy running) and thought- what if I took the $300 -$400 or whatever it would take to buy a new truck and put that much into the 80, how nice a truck I could have long before a new one was half paid off. Unfortunately, when I was sold a 351w (I thought I was buying a 302), it started me down a path where I forgot about making a daily driver and started going crazy on the performance parts. Also economic constaints have caused me to abandon the $100 a week budget and now it's a couple of hundred every couple of months, but that may change soon. Anyway- I figure I'll make a nice looking hotrod truck, drive it a couple of months, then sell it and then find a decent 80-86 with a 300 six to make that daily driver. Did that newbie looking for parts ever PM or email you?

 

No, and I do not have the time or patience to teach someone how to PM.

 

I explained it to him twice- oh well.

 

Very nice looking truck for the money! I'm surprised you picked up a nice cab/bed for that kind of money. Local finds?

 

Wow, that's a good looking truck. Nice job.