[MTCK]

Thanks guys. I was pretty happy. It took finding the right crew to convince me to get rid of my '77. This will be a fairly budget build. I'm going to use as much junk yard loot as possible and spend money where I have to. I did pretty well selling my old truck and got this one for a very fair price, so I saved a little change.

I plan on using this truck for everything from hauling fire wood, to hopefully sliding a camper into some day. We like to do a lot of exploring and camping, and hope to do even more of that once we have kids. It will need to be very reliable, comfortable and safe, as it will have some long hauls. I'd like to increase the fuel capacity, as it's not going to use any less once I repower it.

Short term plans are to replace the shot flexible brake lines with a set from ORD that I have lying around. The brakes are mushy and warning light is perpetually on, so hopefully new lines and a flush and bleed will fix it up. I also have a stereo that I'll put in so I can listen to more than just the radio. The graphics on the side should come off with a heat gun and some elbow grease. Hopefully the paint will buff out well enough to be palatable until I can get the whole thing shot.

Longer term, and in no particular order...

Interior out of a suburban - front buckets and recover the rear bench. I'd like to find a headliner, but imagine those are pretty hard to find. The red has to go and I'm thinking grey on grey would be fine. It needs to be as quiet as possible but will not have carpet - vinyl all the way.

A/C - probably some combo of vintage air parts and as many factory pieces as possible.

L18 swap, drive by wire, medium duty truck accessory drive, manifolds

Suburban 40 gallon tank, factory fuel filler (will take some body work). Not sure how I'll do the transfer yet.

Spray in bed liner and paint eventually

Cruise control, tilt column, hopefully from the same burb as the interior and gas tank

Rebuild the 4L80E / 205 as needed to survive with the high GCVW and torque of the big motor

4" ish lift. Would like to clear 35's, just enough to get off the highway a little bit without getting crazy. That's kind of a minimum with this school bus like wheelbase. I haven't decided how to deal with the rear suspension, as I don't want air bags and do need to maintain high load carrying capacity. A shackle flip will make the overload springs unusable.

Trailer brake controller and new trailer wiring harness

Two full size spare tires, probably on rear bumper swing outs. We go a long ways between tire shops sometimes and two spares are a minimum. I've seen three lost in one trip to Deadhorse in the summer time.

A winch and traction aiding device or two would be nice. I'd like ARB's but a detroit is pretty economical since I already have an open carrier in the rear.

Four Wheel Camper Grandby or equivalent (this is last). They are light enough that I'll still be able to tow a boat, some quads or sleds, and all aluminum framed so they can take some beating and twisting on and off our crappy roads.

Settle in, this is going to take some time.