Project "The Beibs" (For now...)

[tex_waco_usmc]

So, a little background on this build. 11 months ago I married my beautiful bride. Long story short we have both been married before and we both brought children into the marriage. I have known her since we were little and she and I just plain work. We are the odd couple that everyone said we were crazy to get married, but we dont do anything the "normal" way and that works for us!
I now have a 14 year old step daughter who is, well, awesome. She can be a handful at times, but what teenager isnt. One day we started talking about what she is going to drive. We looked at newer vehicles and older vehicles, she finally said she wanted an older pickup. So after a long process, she chose the squarebody chevy/gmc pickup. I was in luck because my old man had an 86 model GMC LWB sitting out at my workshop.



But, she hated that truck the first time I showed it to her. Come to find out, she has a hard time seeing what it could be over what it actually looks like now! LOL... Her problem with it was that it was a LWB and she wanted a SWB but not one with the funny bed (stepside) on it. So I told her we can make it a short bed and basically make it look exactly like she wants. After much talking and reassurance that this is the vehicle she wants we sat out for a good SWB frame and FLEETSIDE bed. In the meantime I happened to snag this from my father as well.



This is an 87 GMC LWB 1/2 ton. Dad bought it because he was going to put the drivetrain from the 87 into the 86. The 87 has 48K miles from factory and runs like a top and of course it was TBI with the 700R4. It was ugly and I had to quickly get the drivetrain out and get rid of the remnants before the stepdaughter saw it. LMAO

Next step of my journey took me out into the country to a piece of land that was owned by the mother of a contractor that put a metal roof on my house who has since become a friend. His brother had this one and it was exactly what I needed. Price was right and so she got loaded and hauled to the shop, one problem is that he had lost the title and had no aspirations of going down and filing for lost title for me, but not too worry...



So it began... The agreement that I made with my stepdaughter is simple. As long as she is out there with me I will turn wrenches on her truck. But, if you arent out there I will turn wrenches on Project Heaven (My 67 build) instead. She agreed and we began the tear down of the 84.

We decided to use everything from the bed forward off of the 86, except the stuff we needed to make the TBI drivetrain work (gas tanks, fuel lines, wiring, etc...)

So, this is what my shop looks like today. Hopefully before the end of the week I can get the trailer to scrap and get the 86 hauled to the shop to begin tear down on it.





We are calling this "The Biebs" temporarily until she comes up with another name. Reason is simple: She is a teenage girl who is hopelessly in love with Justin Bieber. The truck will be painted purple (his and her favorite color) and as far as interior I am not sure yet, but I am thinking either a black or grey on the interior.

Plans for drivetrain and suspension setup are going to be simple. 3.5/5 drop with a stock drivetrain (cleaned up and painted with all the pretty chrome, of course) from the 87 and probably 20" wheels on all four corners. The plan is reliability and so it will most likely get better/bigger brakes up front and maybe a disc brake conversion for the rear. Also thinking about doing a rack & pinion steering setup for the front.

So Hope you guys enjoy! I have exactly 18 months to complete it, wish me luck!