1971 Stepside LS Build

[68Stepbed]

Very nice choice of wheels!! I may be biased, though.

I'm looking forward to seeing this completed!

[1971Stepside]

They look great! I bet you felt like a kid on Christmas morning.

It really did feel that way! I wanted to go for a drive, but my wife reminded me I need brakes and steering column

They look great!!

Thank man!

Very nice choice of wheels!! I may be biased, though.

Matt, I kept going back to your truck and that is what made me decide to go with these wheels.

[1971Stepside]

4/6 may not be enough drop....hmmm

[1971Stepside]

Picked up a set of bucket seats this weekend. They were pretty cheap, so I thought it was worth it to see what I thought of them. I think I like the looks of the buckets better than the bench, but I may end up going with the Snowden seats before it is all said and done. I think if these were recovered they would look decent. Also not sure about the center console that came with them.

[1971Stepside]

It was a nice day yesterday so I rolled her outside and took a few photos of her in the daylight. I'm very happy with the wheel/tire set up. Like I said earlier, I may go a little lower, but that will have to wait until she is pretty close to done.

[TA_C10]

Those are same seats out of a 96 Tahoe I had years ago. I can say they are very comfortable but suck sliding in and out as the material wears out quickly and the foam breaks down on that left side as driver gets in and out more frequently. The lumbar is air bags and they leak too rendering them useless..

Now having said that, if you take them to upholstery shop that knows what they're doing, you can have better foam with lower profile that would be really nice. They can fix the lumbar too or better yet I've seen guys replace with heaters instead and used the lumbar switch to control. That would be cool.

I love the wheels man. Personally I like to fill the wheel well best I can but leave just enough space it looks proportioned. Our front wheel wells are so large it's hard to do that. I think if you lower the truck a little like you said that will really look good and more proportional.

I feel like this post is very critical but I only mean to give ideas/constructive criticism... The truck is badazz man and I can't wait to see it progress

[MDPotter]

Those are comfortable seats! And they're in great shape for the age. My grandpa's seats in his 95 Sierra are about the same shape and I like them. I welded shut all of the seatbelt attachments on my cab and I wanted to have the integral seat belts or else I would have gone for seats like that.

Wheels look good!

[sprint_9]

Awesome, I like those wheels. The feeling when you pull it out like that is always fantastic.

[1971Stepside]

I feel like this post is very critical but I only mean to give ideas/constructive criticism

No problem here. Good feedback. I'm really leaning toward going with the Snowden seat option at this point. Will probably sell these seats.

Wheels look good!

Thanks man! I am pretty happy with them. Went back and forth between 20" and 18's. I think once the truck is fully built it will sit about right. I want a little more sidewall, but not many options to do so in 18's.

The feeling when you pull it out like that is always fantastic

We are talking about the truck, right!? LOL. Yeah, it really feels like I can finish it now that it has the new wheels and tires. That seems strange, but it really makes it feel totally different. The last set of wheels I bought for this truck was in 1986!!

[67C10GS]

are those the U111 or the U390 ramblers?

[1971Stepside]

are those the U111 or the U390 ramblers?

These are the poor man versions. If I could swing the 2 piece I would have gone another direction.

[1971Stepside]

Nothing like a fresh coat of epoxy to point out all the spots you missed on the initial pass. Looking forward to seeing the bed back on the truck. It is just temporary, but I haven't see it all together and one color since the 90's.

[MDPotter]

You're on the home stretch now! Once I had what I thought was all of the bondo work done and epoxy over that, it was very minor work and before I knew it I was in paint.

[TA_C10]

Very cool, wish I had a setup like that booth!


.

[1971Stepside]

You're on the home stretch now! Once I had what I thought was all of the bondo work done and epoxy over that, it was very minor work and before I knew it I was in paint.

I am going to take a break and work on other stuff. I'll pick back up on blocking next summer.

Very cool, wish I had a setup like that booth!

Very thankful to have a buddy that owns a couple body shops. He lets me jump in after hours.

[1971Stepside]

The wife and I assembled the bed last night and set it on the frame. Lots of adjusting left to do. I realized my panhard bar has never been adjusted as my center line on the axle is off about a quarter inch. It looks like a truck again. The weather sucks here today. Hopefully I can roll her outside this weekend and get some better shots.

[IronCanine]

Dude...that is slick. Solid work.

[TA_C10]

Very nice! So what's the plan, are you taking bed back apart to paint or are you painting it together? Will epoxy between the panels be enough to seal for years down the road?

[MDPotter]

Well that's nice of your wife to help! Looks good!

[1971Stepside]

Dude...that is slick. Solid work.

Coming from you...that means a lot. She isn't even close to what you guys are doing.

ery nice! So what's the plan, are you taking bed back apart to paint or are you painting it together?

Yes, bed will come back apart. They are pretty simple really. It will be slower assembly with red paint on it though

Well that's nice of your wife to help! Looks good!

She makes me think she is enjoying this build anyway! The new bedsides didn't come with the taillight bracket holes or the welded nuts on the inside of the bed corner. Her hand fit in there perfectly whereas mine would not. After we got those bolted on, she stuck around to see it on the frame.

[KMC3420]

Very nice progress! One step closer.

[1971Stepside]

I know it is going to be hard to take this thing apart for paint. I centered the rear axle and got the bed fenders all aligned and finger tight. Gonna be a long winter...

[TA_C10]

It really looks good. Long winter indeed man.

Keep up the good work, ready to see your next steps!

[KMC3420]

Just make sure you keep the battery charged so you can fire it up when the need arises! For motivation. The last picture looks great, it is just patiently sitting and waiting!

[1971Stepside]

just make sure you keep the battery charged so you can fire it up when the need arises! For motivation. The last picture looks great, it is just patiently sitting and waiting!

She burns really rich right now and the furnace pulls the smell directly into the house and then I'm being yelled at Smells good to me...HA! It gets the kids off the video games because the open headers scares the crap out of em.