LFD's low buck truck build!

[Rokcrln]

LFD's
Low buck truck build

This is a new project that I am starting at a slow pace when I have time between customer builds and life in general. It will be a diferent kind of build thread for this board. I will be showing all the work and most steps needed to do it your self. I will also be giving the hours spent for diferent tasks that I am doing so others will have a guild line for their own work. It may also help when looking for a shop to help you out on your project. I will be sharing any and all money I spend on this build. Some parts will be bought from normal shops, some will come from the wrecking yard and others will be donated or traded for Parts I have laying around here to help cut down on build costs.

I just got these trucks from another board member that lost interest. The build truck is a 70 CST LWB 350 auto, ps,pb, A/C, disk and rear leafs. The price of the truck is not important because this build is to show how much money and time can be extected for doing the same mods to a truck you already have or may be looking at buying.

Now for the build info.
I want to build a low dollar 2wd short bed that is capible of towing my 16' car trailer and look good at the same time but not so cheap that their are compromises in quality or reliability.

First thing is get it running and on the road as is. Then we will move onto the ride height, it will get drop spindles and lowered springs up front and in the rear I will keep the leaf springs and most likely do an axel flip kit, C-notch and a set of over load bags to level out the ride with the trailer hooked up.

Once that is done I will move onto turning the fleet side bed into a short bed and cutting the frame down as well. I will show step by step pics for taking your fleet side bed and with a little cut and snip end up with a short bed and also cutting down your long bed frame to match.

After that is done we will move onto rust replacement, body work and paint. I think this will be a fun build for all of us and I hope people get good info out of it. If you have any susgestion or coments please let me know, while I have a plan I will be following it is not set in stone and may change here and their just abit.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Here is the truck that will be built for my new tow rig. Right now it has a new crate GM350 in it that had a broken bolt in the intake manifold water neck so it was pulled apart for repairs. I got this truck with almost all the parts needed to get it on the road and have a great start for this build. So far I have only found rust in the kick panels. The floor and rockers look real good but the water that ate the kick panels came from some where so I expect to find problems down the road that we will deal with. Alot of parts are in boxes in the cab, bed and many other places. It comes with a 67 parts truck that is not really needed tor the build but will come in handy for other projects in the shop as well as parts for other members.

Here are a few pic's from today after I got it home. I will get more detailed pics in the next few days.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

A few more.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[low'n slow]

I can't wait!

[Rokcrln]

After 2 trips to Sacramento making full loads we got it all home and I still had a few hours to play. I started with sorting out engine parts to put it back together. I was able to find most of what I needed but had to make one parts trip so far.
I picked up a new PS return hose, battery, thermostat and a new carb to maniforl gasket. I still need to get a dist hold down bracket in the morning. I spent $80.09 on parts today and 2hrs 20min in labor. I removed the valve covers and cleaned the old intake gaskets. This motor looks like it is brand new on the inside so I hope it runs good. I then replaced the intake and set the motor for TDC and dropped in the dist. I could not find a dist clamp in the parts boxes so I will pick one up in the morning. I then replaced the battery box with a new one (that was in the bed) because it was rusted out. I also put in the new battery from Napa auto parts.

While looking for parts I did run accross a box in the bed that I was not aware of. It had two new stock mirrrors in it, lic plt bracket and light, gravel guards (don't know what they are) New rear bumper brackets and bolts

I am not sure how much more I will be getting done right now because as soon as it is warm enough I need to spray project lemon drop with high build primmer for block sanding and paint. But as time allows I wil up date this thread but their will be down time between posts, sorry but customers come first.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Retro68]

Good luck on the new build project. Any chevy we save is one less japanese vehicle purchased. Yeh man!!

[RJGeister]

Looks great!! Can't wait to see the final product.

Rich

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

damn that looks good, makes me want to paint my truck even more, i dont know if you mentioned it already or not but what color is that?

It is just medium blue in Nason brand paint. I can get the code if you want it!

Originally Posted by Retro68

Good luck on the new build project. Any chevy we save is one less japanese vehicle purchased. Yeh man!!

Who said it was a chevy, I was thinking about upping the Volts on my hybred But in this case it will be my 70 2WD Blazer

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Who said it was a chevy, I was thinking about upping the Volts on my hybred But in this case it will be my 70 2WD Blazer

Kevin
LFD Inc.

DO IT!!!,


yea id love to have the paint code if its not to much trouble

[SactoJim]

Looks like you did a helluva job for your first.

I agree with the cut and rub process.........it's when the "fruits or your labor" really start showing!

Look great!

[Rokcrln]

Well not much progress the last few days with my wife working a ton of hours and me getting to spend extra time with my son. I did finish my LT1 cover tonight while he was napping and my Dewalt polisher came in today as well. When my wife gets home I will try and get the core support painted so I can start bolting parts back on once they have been polished.
I am waiting for the new emblems to come in for the covers then they will be really finished but for someone that does not have a steady hand they turned out not so bad!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Piece by piece it will become one again! I might have the truck together minus the bed by next monday night. Then off to the glass shop while I get back on project Trazer. Once that is done then I will finish the bed and time for a dump run!! One door and one fender polished! Once the truck is together I will go back over it again depending how it looks in the sun plus I fugure by the time I finish polishing the truck I will know what I am doing and the first 3/4 os the truck will bug me enough to redo the whole thing

Kevin
LFD inc.
166hrs main build
$6043.00 main build
101 Paint hrs
$905.00 Paint

[Draggn66]

Great Idea! Thanks for sharing

[Bishops Trucks]

I'll stay tuned!

[68C15]

I'm watching you.

[Boog]

Great idea Kevin. Looks like that engine has never been run. Now if the tranny and brakes are ok. I've given similar thoughts to pulling our camper with my 69 step. Working on this one as time allows when would you expect to see this one on the road?

[ortegamotor]

hey Kevin, i like the thread you started.im doing the same thing right now with a 70 chevy long bed that i picked up for $300.00 . it is straight and rust free.but it did have a rod sticking out of the side of the motor.my whole goal with this truck is to put together a cool looking parts runner and something i can haul my dirt bike around in.i might have to start my own thread as well.good luck and i look forward to viewing your build . Tony , Auburn Ca

[Crank]

Tuned in.
Brandon

[Hart_Rod]

Everyone buckle up , this is going to be fun!!

[LUV2XCLR8]

GO KEVIN, GO KEVIN

[Rokcrln]

Well right now it is 21* out side in sunny California and I will not be able to spray the primer on Lemon Drop so it should be running today and once I find a seat (and cut up the parts truck sitting in front of it) it wil be on the road. Comming off the trailer the brakes seemed good and I have two new rotors sitting in the bed as well! I am going to try and keep it a semi driving resto/ custom as it goes. I will swap out the rotors the same week end it gets lowered. then the week end I cut the frame I will pull the bed and set it aside for shorting, have the drive shaft made (one piece) and be able to drive it while I do the bed work. The only real down time will be when I do the interior rust paint work because I will have the glass out to fix and rust I find. This way I can finish the interior and put in new glass and keep it running while the rest of the body is done.

I have already been offered a set of Air Ride bags from "PorterBuilt Street Rods" to use for load levlers. He is donating them to the build I jusat pay shipping. I will get a bag price so it can be included in the build.
Thanks Nate!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Here are a few sub zero (21* close enough) pics from this morning. Like I said the only showing rust in the two kick panels but we all know their will be more that will want to come out and playas this build develops.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Hart_Rod]

That's what mine looked like when I started, and we know how that turned out . OBTW, since you were giving me such a hard time about the liftgate, it's a sunny 75 in FL !

[Yukon Jack]

You contributions to this board by your detailed posts are priceless - now I've got another thread to watch very closely - thanks!

[BustedTruck]

Nice This is going to be a very helpful build