Finished - 1978 Chevrolet Truck - Frame Off Restoration - Pancho Finale

[BruthaMan]

Hey Everyone,

The time has come (finally!) where I can say "restoration completed." There were plenty of times I wanted to say it, but deep down, I knew there were still things to finish.

So what does a man say after tearing a truck all the way down to the frame, then rebuilding it bolt by bolt? "I'm tired," that's what he says! What a journey!

The Journey

Build Thread

Sale Thread

Here's a video that takes you through the journey, from start to finish:

1978 Chevrolet Truck - Frame Off Restoration -...

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The Details

Drive Train

• 383 stroker engine
• AFR 195 Street heads
• Comp Camps 262h roller cam kit
• Comp gold 1.6 rockers
• Edelbrock carb
• Edelbrock intake
• Edelbrock high flow water pump
• Edlebrock fuel pump
• Approximately 480 horsepower
• Headman headers, xpipe with Corsa DB exhaust
• Aluminum four core radiator
• Billet specialties overflow tank
• Billet Specialties brackets and accessories
• Billet pullies
• Professionally rebuilt 700R4 with lockup and corvette servo
• Hughes Street Master 2,500 rpm stall converter
• 3.73 posi-trac gears, professionally built
• Even the drive shaft was powder coated!

Brakes

1. Converted rear to disk brakes
2. Polished GM Calipers at each wheel
3. Slotted/cross drilled rotors
4. Polished resevoir
5. Proportioning valve for four wheel disc brakes
6. New Stainless steel brake lines

Interior

• Updated with complete Vintage Air AC kit (nice and cool!)
• NOS Dash pad
• NOS Dash pad insert
• NOS Door panels
• NOS Door panel inserts and trim
• Power windows
• Power door locks
• Custom billet window/door lock switches
• Fatmat base, Second Skin audio secondary, followed by Second Skin density foam for sound proofing.
• Alpine am/fm/mp3 deck with remote
• JL Audio amplifier
• JL Audio component 6.5s (in kick panels)
• JL Audio component 6x9s (behind the seats with custom brakets)
• Powered compact subwoofer to bring out the base
• New plush light gray carpet (the thickest most expensive available)
• GM Floor mats
• Under dash lights so you can see when getting in or out of the truck
• GM low back bucket seats with all new vynil covers
• GM center console with custom billet aluminum cup holder
• NOS Gauge bezel
• NOS GM speedometer (rare ebay find!)
• All gauges work correctly, including rare correct GM tachometer
• Rare wiper delay switch
• '59 impala steering wheel
• Tilt steering
• Billet gear shift, signal lever and tilt lever
• All new glass, including door front and rear window, with light tint
• All new weatherstripping
• GM NOS vent windows
• Custom Ostrich skin sun visors
• Chromed glove box door
• New Retro seat belts for bucket seats

Body

• Frame sandblasted, then epoxy primered with Dupont (expensive!) and top coated with GM Restoration satin black
• The entire body was sandblasted and coated with Dupont expoxy primer
• The bottom of the bed, cab and inner fender wells were then coated with POR-15 black chasis paint
• Made a trip from Texas to Iowa to pick up a barn find that included two nos inner wheel wells, to NOS outer front fenders and two NOS doors. All documented in the build thread and on the truck!
• Bed was epoxy primered then professionally coated with lining
• New front and rear bumpers
• NOS drip rails over doors
• NOS "Silverado" fender emblems
• NOS aluminum cab trim
• Immaculate aluminum tailgate trim
• NOS GM grill.
• NOS GM headlight bezels

Electrical

The electrical system is all new, courtesy of Painless Wiring. Powered by a red top Optima battery.

Suspension

• All new suspension components, including tie rod ends, bushings and ball joints
• 2.5 inch lowering spindles on front, with new springs
• Rear dropped four inches with shackles and removed one leaf spring
• New shocks all around
• 15 inch GM rally wheels, powder coated.
• New rally wheel caps with spinners for that classic look
• Brand new BF Goodrich 275/60/15s
• Front end professionally aligned

Lessons Learned

• This forum is your resource. There is nothing that cannot be done on these trucks, that you cannot find find information on here, or someone here who knows.
  
  
• Start with a good base. Pancho was not the best base to start with, which in turn added to the overall cost of restoration.
  
  
• Refrain from adding finished body panels until *everything* under the hood is done. There is nothing worse than doing finish work under the hood in tight places because you were too anxious to get those fenders on!
  
  
• Ensure your motor is the way you want it before buttoning everything up. This cost time on my part, because I decided to go back and swap in AFR 195 street heads and change over to a roller cam. Working in tight spaces is not fun!
  
  
• Try and do something, no matter how small, every day. There were days I was absolutely exhausted and just wanted to rest. On days like that, I would force myself to do smaller tasks, telling myself "anything I can get done today, I won't have to do tomorrow."

Thanks and Credits

• Our Father in Heaven - for guiding me to the solution all those times I was ready to give up. I pray He will forgive me for those moments when I lost my Christianity.
  
  
• My family, for their wisdom in understanding I was absolutely nuts for taking on a project like this, and their understanding help in making this dream come true.
  
  
• The owners, administrators and moderators of this forum who work tirelessly to make this site an amazing resource and a place that makes us feel at home.
  
  
• The online friends I've made here who provided encouragement, a kick in the pants when needed and help when I was at my wit's end.

Hope you guys enjoyed the build, the photos and the end results.

[bigblock73]

Beautiful truck!! honored to say I was a small part of the project!

Great advice too btw...

[daryn67]

Wow, quite a feat. Something to be extremely proud of

[winningz]

this is awesome.

[nekkidhillbilly]

nice. impala wheel looks neat in it too.

[JWall]

Very nice truck!

[MusicMan70]

An Awesome Truck, an Awesome Accomplishment; thanks for sharing this moment with us all.

[old Rusty C10]

very nice!! we need to get you and Ken together lol you both have similar trucks

[Zane M]

Stunning!!

[Malo83]

Beautiful truck
Hands down, Truck of the Year.

[LEEVON]

One of my favorite square body builds, the best part is that it's completely driveway built...cheers!

[Axle]

Looking really good!
Quick semi-related question, what is the diameter of the Impala steering wheel?

Alex.

[BruthaMan]

Hey everyone, thanks for the kind comments.

Oddly enough, I came down sick after posting this, been trying to shake it since.

Axle: The steering wheel is a 15" diameter. The original wood steering wheel I used was a 14" diameter and could not get used to it being so small.

[nekkidhillbilly]

it is cut down though from what it was in the impala right? seems like there wheel was huge. the one in my 66 gs was.

[russellh575]

I've been tossing around the idea of chroming the ash tray door and glove box and it looks like you beat me to it. Are they actually chrome plated? I've been thinking about wrapping mine with the chrome vinyl to see if I'm going to like it or not.

[Sodell]

Excellent truck, I followed your build thread. Can't believe you are selling Poncho..

[83GMCK2500]

Awesome! Beautiful looking truck, great attention to detail. Love the custom touches...

&

Fantastic summary thread here, thank you for the organization/layout.

[BruthaMan]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by nekkidhillbilly

it is cut down though from what it was in the impala right?

I'm pretty sure it is. This is reproduction Impala steering wheel. For me, it "feels" right. Not too small, not too big.

[nekkidhillbilly]

i figured so the originals are huge like 17 inches.

[78 Big10 454]

Beautiful truck - I bow before you!

[mud.man.rj]

Yes, really turned out nice. You could eat off that engine.

[Theoriginalsilverado]

I admire you brother. Beautiful truck

[fluffyfreak]

Gorgeous truck man!! Quick question about the seats and center console, where are thry from?

[cadillac_al]

Shwing!! Awesome job. Looks like a truck of the month/year to me.

[Low Elco]

Just Gorgeous. Did it sell, and how did it go? Shame to let it go after all that work, but you gotta do what ya gotta do. Glad to see you still kickin', and hope all is well for you.