Project "Shop truck"
 

O yeah its beginning!!!
The story of the truck is that when i turned 16 my dad gave me a 1972 chevy 3/4 ton longbed to drive to school and work. Well that summer i found a short bed and 1/2 frame. So after a few weeks grinding and grinding and grinding on the frame I got all of the crusty rust off of it and painted it. Then after a few paychecks I ordered a drop kit form early classic enterprise 4/6 btw and put it on. A few weeks after that I was ready for the swap. I parked the truck and began to rip on it. in a matter of hours I had the whole front end off and the motor in the 1/2 frame. Then swap, swap and more swaping. At the end of a long weekend i rolled out of my dads house with a lowered shortbox chevy. I drove it tell my senior year of highschool and one month from graduation i rearended a guy.:whine: It didnt total it, the guys bumper went right through my grille and bent my core support against the engine. so after a month of working on it between school, work and my girlfriend it was back on the road. That brings us up to today, im 18 now and have always dreamed about opening my own restoration shop. Im fallowing my dream and going to school for business and autobody. This is where my truck comes in, im going to build one hell of a shop truck to help my future shop grow hopefully. So it begins, Im going to...
crossmenber drop the front 1 inch and 1 inch blocks in the rear for a total drop of 5/7 (Air ride it after i get some $$$ ahead)
shave it, handle's, tail gate, gas tank
Suicide the doors
section the hood
relocate the gas tank
interior
paint
Theres more but the progress pics will show
O yeah one more thing, this truck is my daily driver. progress will be slow but it will get done. PICTURES TOMORROW
thanks for reading
Robert

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

I can`t help it...How does it work with a 1/2 frame?Sorry:rolleyes:
Best luck with your dream.

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

Sounds like you have a plan, that's always the 1st thing needed, good luck
with this & please post some pic's, hope all of your dreams can come true.

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

i should start with a "stock" truck myself and realy do a awesome paintjob on it to start with .
your future customers will look at the paintjob more than the tricks you put on it (from wat i hear you will start a bodyshop).
the bread and butter bodywork is wat will make you the most money , the custom work will eat alot of youre time even when its for paying customers the time it takes to do one custom wil be equal to 3 normal carswreck repairs and those customers will tell others about youre work , you'll need as mush people spreading the word as possible when youre starting
the money you want to put intoo the truck would be better spent in tooling out youre new company .
i allways go by the saying : IT TAKES MONEY TO MAKE MONEY

once you get the company running you could start over on the truck again and do some customwork

i hope you be able to make a living out of it .... i had to stop doing paint cause of an alergy to epoxy , the mistake i made was not to wear cloves when sanding and painting

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

Here are the pictures

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

special-K- sorry i meant a 1/2 ton frame

watahyahknow- I am also restoring a 1974 (i dont know if i can say this on here but its a) "Ford" back to original and my 72 is just a play truck. I just want something to drive up to shows with and wow people.

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

If I went by the firewall markings, I would swear that was the original paint.

If that's the case, a lot of guys would pay seriously large $$$ for it :)

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

Some progress today. mocked up my new underbed gas tank. cut a hole in the floor for a gas door and got the tank sucked up tight to the bed. next weekend i will get the gas filler hooked up, run the lines, and Finally get that gas tank out of the cab.pictures attached of progress

Re: Project "Shop truck"
 

Great looking truck, Robert. Sounds like you have a great vision for the truck and your career. Good luck with both!