Hey Buddies,

I took over my late grandfathers truck we used to cruise Woodward in when I was a kid. It had a peppy 71' 302 with a c4 and a 10 bolt. All steel, but far from original.

After getting it going and crusing around town, I decided to pull the motor to beef it up. This turned into yanking the fenders...the bed...the running board...and the cab. I put some hours in every week, so posting should be relatively consistent. Here's the story so far:

 

Once I blew out a tire and the engine felt tired, I decided to pull it in to the garage to pull and rebuild the 302. Naturally, we took off the fenders for easy access. Which then led to the rear fenders, running boards, etc. Every bolt was rusted and either had to be cut, or would snap on the final turn. I had build a nice wood frame that I could attach to a cherry picker to lift off the cab. good stuff.

 

Once I got it down to the frame, I had to paint it right?? So after a trip to harbor freight and home depot, I created a plastic room and started up the sand blaster!

 

And now to today. I have finished sandblasting and laid on 2 coats of primer. My next step will be a nice gloss black top coat.

 

And moving forward. The truck is in my brother-in-law's garage as I love in an apartment. He bought a house last week so in the next day or so we will be transporting everything to his new garage. From there, everything will be new.
Steps:
Box in and Paint Frame
New front suspension (control arms, coils, disc brakes, sway bar, etc.)
New rear (9 inch rear, new leafs)
Putting in a 460/c6
and everything else in between.

The goal is to have it all set up by dream cruise, but well see. I put in a few hours every week with my brother in law, so progress is relatively quick.

All of your knowledge and advice is welcome!!!!

 

What is that front frame clip/suspension? Kinda looks GM, but that crossmember looks odd...
How well will the 460 fit in there? those engines are huge!

 

You beat me to it. I was going to ask the same question about the front suspension. Your pickup has a great body! It is good to see that you are making good progress on the rebuild. What kind of a steering system do you have? It seems unusual that the original steering sector mount is still intact.

 

Wow, I apologize for all of the spell errors. My eyes were half open while posting all of that.

I THOUGHT it was a mustang II front end, so I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, it's a 67-69' Camaro. I have nothing against them as I used to own one in high school. I just thought it would be cool to have all Ford.

Yeah, the 460 will suck lol. Instead of fabbing up some motor mounts, I'll be running both a front and mid motor plate. I'll be cutting off those weird mounting plates since they're just welded on there. The idea was to put something in there that I won't get sick of, and if I do, it has unlimited potential.

It had a steering box from god only knows. It was leaky and old so I tore it out. My best bet will probably end up with a rack and pinion. But that will come after I have the motor in and mocked up.

The truck is sort of a Frankenstein. I'm 5th owner (the original farmer, some guy cleaned it up, my great uncle, my grandfather, myself), so it has a little of everyone's old school magic.

 

You are doing great work and I love a good build thread!

 

Thanks, I really appreciate it! I'm getting some things together at the old garage after work today to move to the new spot. I'll take some pics of the body I'm working with. There will definitely be some patch work done.

 

If this stuff didn't involve patch work, it wouldn't even be a hobby. Roll up your sleeves and have at it!

 

You couldn't be more right. Body work has always just been intimidating to me on some level. I'm trying to do every aspect of this truck myself though, so I guess I have to suck it up.

Here are some pics of the body. I'm replacing the majority of the floor, grinding the old gas tank section flat. The new tank will be in the bed. Here's a couple connecting points of the fenders.

 

Hey can anyone please give me some insight around my frame. I'm going to drop in a mild 460 (maybe 400hp) and am unsure if I should box my frame in. I know they are built to flex, but I'm unsure on how much they can take. Thanks for any advice!

 

Just subscribed, you have a great old truck..

 

Awesome, thanks buddy! I was just checking out your build, it's pretty much everything I want mine to be. Only being 27 and learning as I go, I'm sure you'll be getting a LOT of questions. Especially around welding.