New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Hey everyone, just picked this truck up about a week ago from craigslist. I've always loved this body style but this is my first one. I had a 72 GMC several years ago however.

This truck is mildly modified with a 383, 700r trans, drop spindles and shackles, roll pan, and a few smaller things. The engine isn't really how I would have built it (stock heads with a big cam) but it's fine for now. I may throw in another engine while I freshen this one up and change to some twisted wedge heads. I plan on swapping for a manual transmission just haven't narrowed it down to the one I want. I'm leaning towards a Muncie m20 but any suggestions are very welcome. Other plans include swapping back to a stock grille, stock bumpers, 15x8 and 15x10 rally wheels, drop coil springs, axle flip and notch, paint job, stock tach dash, etc. Going to be a very long time before I'm done since I'm on a tight budget but it should be a fun project that I can drive.

To the people who make this site happen, thanks for having me on this awesome forum.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Here are some pictures. Can someone tell me why when closing my hood I have to lower it, then push the side closest to the cab down, then push down on the front to get it to close?

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Welcome to the forum! Looks like a great project! Sounds like your good hinges are going bad. Try oiling them and see if that helps.

As for the twisted wedge heads. I've heard alot of nightmare stories about setting up those heads. Mostly it's the geometry and the the guides that are bad. They are nice though but only slightly outflow vortecs up top. I would recommend the vortecs or brodix Ik series or profilers. All really great heads that will be similar in price.

Also for transmissions the muncie m20 has a good spread for gear ratios. A company called A.G.E. sells parts to beef up these transmissions. Such as a cast iron midplate to help with power shifting and a super case for clutch dumping. They also of coarse sell whole NEW muncies for pretty decent prices that are way stronger than the originals. Better made gears with better metals in thier clusters is a big benefit too. An original muncie if you already have one is good to go as well. Just be carefull sidestepping the clutch. These were road racing boxes and not so good for drag racing.
http://autogear.net/ag_archive/order...eedpricing.htm

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Hood hinge is getting tight on one side. Over time the next thing that would happen is you would develop the kink in the hood at the crumple zone point, looks like that hood is already starting to bow upwards a little there already in fact.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Insidious '86 the reason I thought about going with the twisted wedge heads is my cousin has some he'd sell at a good price. My dad may have a set of brodix heads in his stock pile from his dirt track days, I'll have to see. Thanks for the link to A.G.E. that may come in handy. Was hoping to get away with a stock, rebuilt M20 but we'll see.

79 Silverado - I do see that the hood is bulging in the middle now that you mentioned it. I shot some lube on the hinges and they are definitely smoother and I can get it to close but the back stays raised up a bit. My first instinct tells me to put something under the front of the hood and kind of lean down on it in the center to flatten it back out. Will this work or is that a bad idea? Thanks guys.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

You can adjust the hinge to tilt the bottom back. Going through this with my body swapped 1 ton. With hood open loosen the bolts on the fenders just enough to be loose. Push up on the front (i did with my back as toget to anything i'm on my knees on the core support) and tighten them down. Some people will grind the slots longer if it still won't go down all the way. Hope this helps!

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Definitely helps! Going to try to get it dialed in tomorrow.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Nice I also have a stepside

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Well I rattle canned it satin black. Plan on taking a week off in spring to do 9 days of body work to it. Sure the extra paint will mean extra work come spring time, but I couldn't stand that color.

I have another question, I have long tube headers...I plan on dropping this thing down at least 2 more inches up front and leveling it up out back, how high should the lowest point on the truck be to be safe from bottoming out?

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Looks good. GM went over kill with these hood hinges. As long as you keep them oiled you wont have any problems with the hood kink. Just make sure the hood doesnt get to that point. I always just push the hood down on the sides after I close it.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

In the front the lower a arms and cross member will be the first things to hit the ground.So watch your ground clearance at that point.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Small update. Found some rally wheels, trying to figure out if I want to keep the 15x8s and 275/60/15s or step up to 285/70/15. I've decided I kind of want to build a period correct muscle truck out of it. So I'll be running bigs and littles with some rake to the stance which I know isn't take in style these days. Need to order some drop springs to go along with my Western drop spindles, then I'll be trashy to install the flip kit that's been laying around. Also considering swapping to a 73 front end if I can find one at a decent price.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Those wheels and tires look good just like they are.

Re: New member and my 1977 stepside
 

Nice truck