In my previous post, I highlighted my overall goal for the appearance of the truck, but purposefully left out all the details since I hadn't hammered them out yet. Well, now I want to provide some basic details on what I plan to do to the truck, for at the very least a reference that I can go back on to remind myself of the specs I wanted. Since my progress is limited by our two biggest enemies against a build, time and money, I have decided to break my build up into three stages. So here is my plan:
Stage 1
In terms of appearance, Stage 1 will leave the truck essentially stock and as I bought it with the 15x8 steelies. There are enough mechanical bugs and cleaning up to do that has kept me busy on this truck for several months now. My basic goal on this stage is to get the truck into fine running order and to clean it up. Mechanical issues that need to be cleared up (some of which already have) are: rebuild carb, new exhaust manifolds, new exhaust, plugs, wires, HEI distributor conversion, rebuild brakes and new lines, fix oil pan/timing cover leaks, inspect rear gear and trans, etc. In terms of cleaning up the truck, I plan on preserving as much of the original paint as possible. To do this, I will do the CLR bath, but from there I am undecided on whether or not I want to polish the paint. I kind of like the dull faded paint look versus shiney faded paint. Also, the engine needs to eventually be repainted (when/if I do this depends on if I ever have to pull the engine). for the rest of the truck, I will basically leave it as is aesthetically and only clean parts where it is mechanically favorable to do so.
Stage 2:
This is where the axe comes out! As I alluded to earlier, I plan on shortening the truck with used GM shortbed sides that I got from GR8-68. For the sides, I will paint them as close to factory as I can (black sealer/primer, single stage color) and then sand it lightly to match the patina on the cab (which there is not much of, and none of which you can see in these pictures). Every other part of the longbed I will reuse. I will section 8" out of the rear of the bed floor (to preserve the bed floor rear edge), and cut 12" straight off the front of the floor. While I'm in the process of shortening, I will also raise the steel floor 2.5". I will do this by basically raising all the bedside mounting flanges up 2.5". This will accommodate the 2.5" step up I will also add to the frame when I shorten it. During the process, I will determine how far forward I will move the trailing arm crossmember so that the rear wheels are centered in the wheel wells (right now I'm thinking 11" to essentially move the rear 1" back in the openings). To correlate with the 2.5" drop in the rear, I will also pancake the front crossmember 2.5" as has been outlined by ChiefRocka. Ultimately, all this will give me 2.5" of lowering without any major suspension modifications. I'll also throw on some white line tires for that nostalgic look (sticking to my theme!).
Stage 3
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Finally, Stage 3 will get the truck essentially how I want it to look overall. I will finally upgrade to disk brakes in front at this time so that I can incorporate 2.5" drop spindles. For the rear, I will use either 2" or 3" blocks from way2low (whichever works best with the total front drop), and also do a c-notch in the frame. Last but not least, for wheels I plan on going with 20" Detroit Steel Wheels. The rear setup will be 20x9 w/ 4.25" backspace and 285/50 Nitto 420S tires. The front setup will be 20x8 w/ 4" backspace and 245/45 Nitto 420S tires. Badger69 was kind enough to share his wheel/tire setup which is what I plan on using exactly. Ultimately, I will be right around 8"-9" static drop (including the 3"-4" drop springs on the truck already) with clearance built in thanks to the pancaked crossmember and raised bed which should make for a nice ride height.
Daydreaming a bit further, I would eventually like to do an airride setup with height management and the Porterbuilt deluxe stage 2 front/rear kits, but at this point that is not included in my realistic plans. I'm not sure how long it will take to get through to complete Stage 3, but as I make progress I will keep this thread alive. More than likely, I will ride around at Stage 2 for quite a while since Stage 2 is mostly limited by time (which I can commit steadily), and Stage 3 is limited by money (which I cannot commit to significantly). Overall, I bought the truck to drive and to work on, so it will be an enjoyable project and I hope you enjoy following along.