1978 Chevy Crew Cab Ultimate Offroad Build

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice progress and work on the frame! Those headers were a nice score too!

[77K10Silverado]

Looks killer!

[Chevy1TonFun]

I've been working on fixing all the rot on the cab. A buddy of mine came over and helped replace the cowl.

[Chevy1TonFun]

Finished rebuilding the 14 bolt.
G2 Gears - 5.38
Yukon Spool
Ruff Stuff Disc Brake kit

[Chevy1TonFun]

Ok so I'm a little behind in my posts. I finished the cage last month. Here is the pics of the evolution of the cage.




Tube Bending 101












So after looking and sitting in the front and back seat we found some issues. The bottom X brace took away all foot room for my rear passengers. The upper X we narrowed to clear our heads. Overall the rest of the cage worked out perfectly.

[Dieselwrencher]

Great work! That looks like a beast of a tubing bender too! Nice layout! That is a great idea to do that.

[Chevy1TonFun]

So I have the entire week off to hopefully finish the truck or get it to 95% finished. So I have had parts arriving almost daily. I am so excited to be putting the truck together finally! My wife is happy too!!

So here is how she was sitting on Saturday when I started!







My view from the driver seat. Tyler is 6' tall.



Here are the cool parts that came is last week.






What I got finished yesterday was the front shackle hanger and getting it all boxed.. I don't think I have to worry about this failing.



Also mocked up the dash and center console frame

[68post]

Who makes the fenderwell headers, or are they custom ??

[Chevy1TonFun]

Originally Posted by 68post

Who makes the fenderwell headers, or are they custom ??

Mine are custom, but check out mad dog headers.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Chevy1TonFun]

Well I didn't get much done to day. My son was rushed to our local children's hospital for a febrile seizure. My buddy stayed and work some. I'll post some pics of what he accomplished.

[Dieselwrencher]

Man, I'm sorry to hear about your son! I hope he is alright!

[68post]

Originally Posted by Chevy1TonFun

Mine are custom, but check out mad dog headers.
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks, I hope your son will be ok.

[swamp rat]

Projects can wait.....

[Chevy1TonFun]

My son is doing much better. Thanks for your thoughts. Its just something we are going to have to watch when ever he is sick.
He came out and helped me and my buddy Tyler the next day.






I have a good amount of pictures of all the tasks we accomplished this week. I'll post that shortly.

[Chevy1TonFun]

I am so pleased with how much I was able to get accomplished this week.

Worked on all the little details to get the motor started. Wiring is almost finished. I fired the motor last night to break in the headers. I will post a video once I get it all dialed in. The new brakelines are all bent and connected. This was the biggest pain in the ass. I have need to finish the center console and mount the trans shifter and tease shifter. I also need to fix a bearing in the front axle before I can drive her for the first time. I finished the dash, it turned out perfect!










Welded up the gussets for the front frame horns and spring hanger.

Finally received my yokes for the drivelines.. so those got put in too. Happy with the angles. Probably going to have to remove the shim from the rear axle.





Worked on the new steering link. Still working on this, can't quite get the steering to go lock to lock. I'm shy about an 1" when turning left.





This is a great view of my under carriage

[LT7A]

What a BEAST. Glad your son is ok, cute kid with a big smile. Thanks for bringin us along on the build and showing all of the pictures.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's great to hear your son is doing good! The truck is looking awesome! Will you have to lower the pitman arm to achieve your steering sweep?

[Chevy1TonFun]

I've had to put the build on hold to fix other daily driving vehicles so I its been super busy lately. Last weekend I started working on it. I managed to paint the roll cage and get the shifters installed.







Seats and seat belts installed





Also cut out the rear inner fenders

[Chevy1TonFun]

Got a lot accomplished on yesterday. Gears are finally installed along with the front driveline. I finally got the balls to cut out the fenders. It has taken a while to figure out what I wanted to do. I am really happy with it so far. I may make a slight adjustment to the front cut.

**DISCLAMER** I know most of you are against cutting/hacking up these trucks. I want to let you know that I am using already hacked or rotten body panels.

[Dieselwrencher]

It's looking great!

[Chevy1TonFun]

I have a pretty good update for you. Its been really hot in Cali so I haven't had the will to be outside much when its 105*+.

I was running into an issue with my plastic fuel cell ruining the gas. I think that two things were happening, one water got into the tank through the filler cap and It was off gassing and turning the gas to solvent like fluid in a matter of days. I also had to completely rebuild my carb because I found that the bad gas has caused the inside of my carb fuel bowls and ports to calcify. There was bunch of calcium build up. That was a very bad and infuriating day. I love Summit Racing! I called them up and explained the situation and they gave me a full refund and paid for the returned shipping. I pleasantly surprise that took a used product that was purchased 14 months old. I order a RCI aluminum fuel cell that has so far fixed the issue. With the new cell I decided redesign the layout of the rear. Here is the new setup.






I figured out a cool color to paint the dash and love my dash even more!







I finally got to pull the bumper design out of my head and get it put together. I really like the way it turned out.

[Chevy1TonFun]

I was very happy to go out a “play” a little with the truck this afternoon. I took the truck over to a buddy’s shop to use his forklift. I wanted to test the articulation to find my travel numbers to know what size shocks to buy. Here are the numbers...

Front Travel: Stuff 16” to 21” Droop
Full Droop: 23”
Ride Height: 18 ½”

Rear Travel: Stuff 9” to 17”Droop
Full Droop: 19”
Ride Height: 13 ½”

[Chevy1TonFun]

Mocking up the exhaust today.






Posted via Mobile Device

[68post]

Thanks. Been wondering about the routing with fenderwell headers, and how well it tucks-up. How about a side view !?

What size are the pipes ? 2 1/2" ?

[Chevy1TonFun]

Originally Posted by 68post

Thanks. Been wondering about the routing with fenderwell headers, and how well it tucks-up. How about a side view !?

What size are the pipes ? 2 1/2" ?

I am running 3" pipe. The only piece you can see is the bend that routes around the body mount. I will take a picture once I put the exhaust back up.