[63whoopie2]

Here are my plans. I have decided to keep it low-buck, as I am reinvesting most all my money into my business and cold months = my slow season (I’m a landscape contractor). We have until about the first week of June to have this thing running and roadworthy for approx. 1,500 mi of cruising:
Frame/Body Switch- undecided what is best, but am planning to switch the GMC sheetmetal into the C10 frame so I’ll have the trailing arm & coil setup in rear. Leaving all the body as is with patina, rust, and all. Probably put my C10 grill and tailgate on the GMC, which currently has a wooden tailgate (darn rednecks). May try to get a body guy to weld in totally new floors, as they were rusty and patched with some thin steel by someone with a combination of Ray Charles’ eyesight and Michael J Fox’s steady and patient hand. 5-lug disc conversion by taking entire front suspension from an ‘73-’87 truck and purchasing drop spindles, maybe cut a little original coil in front for abt 3”+ drop. Jeep coils in rear, not sure best way to convert rear axle to 5 lug. Going to price drilling existing axles or finding a 5 lug rearend. Need some sort of gas tank relocation, but don’t want to pay $300-$400 for a kit. Will look for some steel 15” or 16” and put a cheap set of new tires on it. One day I’d like some American Racing 17s”, but I’ve got to leave some money to spend in the future!
Engine/Drivetrain- If it goes on the C10 frame, the 250 will be checked and once again pressed into action, as it previously ran beautifully. If I can find used, would like a Clifford 4-bbl intake and split headers. S10 or Camaro T5 conversion w/ adapter plate as necessary. Cut and rebalance driveshaft. Stock rearend.
Interior- Rewire entire truck, as a little investigation shows GMC’s rear taillights might be wired with typical orange extension cord? (damn those same rednecks). My neighbor has a lot of confidence in his electrical abilities and we will be wiring his S10 with one of those universal cheap harnesses, but I’m not sure what to do abt mine. Need to find something to do for gauges in the GMC dash, but may end up with a cheapie oil and temp gauge and use my phone as a speedometer if a decent cluster can’t be had. Would like to get a late-model Silverado 40-20-40 bench/bucket combo seat thingy, but if they’re all $300-$400 + some welding, we’ll grab a cheap bench seat somewhere and Mexican blanket it. My C10 windshield exploded in the fire, and of course the one piece of glass the GMC is missing is the danged curved-expensive-and-hard-to-deal-with-windshield. Will talk to local glass companies about that.