what route should i take

[73chevyman]

right now it's at the rat rod stage but i'm thinking along the lines of the knuckle buster not sure yet. just lookin for some imput from the forum. Here some pics of it right now..

[diponyou]

looks pretty cool man.
and what do you mean by a knuckle buster?

[73chevyman]

the truck that stacey david did on gearz

[Fastest32]

I like the crap out of it like that. I'd get rid if that rear bumper though. I have the same one and i hate mine. Cool truck

[Rogue_Sentinel]

2nd on the rear bumper. i would be driving it now .

[flamingbig10]

ratrod

[redneckchevy]

I love the rat rod look. If i was you i would stick with the simple yet so sexy ratrod style.

[Restrorob]

Leave it as is, Freshen up the paint and ditch the step bumper for a sport bumper.

[73chevyman]

don't need to tell me about the bumper that thing is driving me crazy... it looks stupid on it lol.... if it would stop raining it would be off today lmao..... going to be going to my cousins house today and strip a another truck for the brakes, powersteering, and what else i can get before it gets towed tomorrow... looks like I'm getting wet today screw it it's worth it... I thinking of going with a roll pan and having my rehitch behind the tag and when I need it have the tag flip down... and rid off the hood if i had a garage to keep it in then i would probably keep it but everything in the engine bay is rusting and pissing me off....

[73chevyman]

i say one thing though for a 73 it only has 90,000 on it and it pretty solid only problem with rust so far is the rocker panel on the driver side is gone and the bed above the wheel openings other then that its a farm truck 3 on the tree manual everything brakes, steering everything hard as hell driving it with it like that, like driving a tank around

[bharrison1]

i dig the louvered hood!!!!!!!!!

[69BBsuburban]

The rat rod "look" is kinda dumb...IMO. Being a hotrodder myself, I hated when people called my traditional hotrod a rat rod....the uneducated public buys into everything they see on TV and jump on the bandwagon....
And referring to any car newer than 1950 as a "rat rod" is an oxymoron anyway....
Rat rods are cobbled together POS's....
Sorry, those "terms" kinda hit a nerve...haha...
Yer truck looks to be well on it's way to a neat, mild CUSTOM truck....looks fairly straight.
I like the hood....needs either longer lakes pipes, or really short one's (which are "sneaker" or drag pipes) and a nice coat of Hot Rod Flatz paint....

[Slonaker]

Like 69BBsuburban said...it will make a nice custom. There used to be a guy on here who had a baby blue SWB with fender skirts. I think I was only one who liked it, but the skirts would go well with the louvers and the spots.

The term rat rod is overused, and implies a POS in the hotrodding community. I wouldn't want anything of mine called a rat rod.

Slonaker

[Chlsnk]

See if you can find a picture of the truck with the fender skirts you've sparked my interest.

[73chevyman]

ok stuck my nose into the truck alittle more lots of rust.... looks like im gonna have to take it all apart... found rot in the driver side floor board and the outter and inner rocker on driver is gone.... passenger side door toast.... grrrrrrrrrrrr took the tear drops off just not my style sorry guys..... the fake me out side pipes rusted the driver side to hell they r gone it was the way they were installed..........

[73chevyman]

well after further inspection of the cab there is way to much rust. driver side is rotted away and to many patch jobs that didn't work to the favor of the cab.... well i think i got a donor a 83 going to go and take a look at that this weekend and see if it is even worth my time of taking it grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... then it puts me in the option to stick with the 83 front end or stay with the 73 look..... well the 73 look is the look i like then i can update the instruments and dash pad and i'm going to take all the wiring with it this is going to be a fun terrible job for me lmao............

[73chevyman]

but the other question is should i still use the 73 vin.. or use the 83 vin....what the heck to do or am i going to have to get a custom vin made from the dmv due to it being 2 different trucks rutroe raggie........... any help in that department

[N2TRUX]

It depends on how soild the 83 is and if it has a title. Rather than swap cabs, I would swap clips if the 83 is solid enough.

[billnorman]

My brother lived in Lusby. Lusby Md. that is. He lived with a Lusbian. If it wasn't really rotted out it would seem like a candidate for media blasting and a good flat paint job to set off them louvers. The lakes pipes are a good '60's accent with the louvers but I guess they are rotted too. Do you remember gascap lakers? They were a cutout before the muffler, and a pipe down under the door with a gascap or similar cap to remove at the strip. Or in the country where "The Man" wasn't around. Now that other readers have blasted the rear bumper I guess I better take mine off. It is just like that one and lets me bolt three different size balls on permanently for towing. It's one tough bumper.

[73chevyman]

Originally Posted by billnorman

My brother lived in Lusby. Lusby Md. that is. He lived with a Lusbian. If it wasn't really rotted out it would seem like a candidate for media blasting and a good flat paint job to set off them louvers. The lakes pipes are a good '60's accent with the louvers but I guess they are rotted too. Do you remember gascap lakers? They were a cutout before the muffler, and a pipe down under the door with a gascap or similar cap to remove at the strip. Or in the country where "The Man" wasn't around. Now that other readers have blasted the rear bumper I guess I better take mine off. It is just like that one and lets me bolt three different size balls on permanently for towing. It's one tough bumper.

honestly the truck looks good but the louvered hood is killing my motor and everything in the engine caparment.... weather has taken over the cab... i removed the ate up seats in it and found tons of holes. if i keep the cab i'll have to replace the whole floor pan, inner and outter rocker inner is gone cause of the lake pipes they used toggle bolts to install them. back of the cab is rotted due to the fact of bad mud work. the more i look at it the more it pisses me off cause it's really a good looking truck just has to much cab rot.

[73chevyman]

n2trux i would have to change the cab and use my frame the other truck is a stakebody... but the other question is will my front clip work on the 83.... if so is the alot involved trying to make my clip work????

[westofb]

Originally Posted by 73chevyman

n2trux i would have to change the cab and use my frame the other truck is a stakebody... but the other question is will my front clip work on the 83.... if so is the alot involved trying to make my clip work????

I think it is a direct bolt on for the 73 clip to the 83 cab. You need to save your wiper arm shaft assemblys, I believe they are considerably shorter in length as compared to the 83. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, good luck with the swap.

[73chevyman]

i hope it's not going to be a pain in the butt doing the swap..... this is going to be the biggest project i ever did with a vehicle so all imput will be appreachated

[69BBsuburban]

I recently swapped a rusty '73 cab for an '85 cab....easy as pie....they swap right over. Can be done over the weekend.

[73chevyman]

sweet thats the answer I'm looking for..... when you jump into a project like this you know there is people out there thats done what I'm getting ready to do thanks burban for the info......