87 R10 SWB - Low, Slow, and Full of Holes

[hobbz]

Project Name - Low, Slow, and Full of Holes

I just bought this truck the day before yesterday for $600. It has a good running 305/th350. I believe it sat for a few years because the drivers side has a good bit of rust, but the pass side has very little.

Plans are:
Strip it down,
fix rockers/cab corners,
clean and paint frame,
5/6 drop,
new drivers side fender,
new drivers bedside or fix with panels, not sure yet,
front and rear roll pans,
paint darkish blue,
16" black wheels,
tarp on bed,
black interior,
no/very little chrome on it when done...

Planning on taking about a year to get it done so the wife doesn't complain too much about the money I am spending on it.

Here are the start pics. I started stripping it down some yesterday, but didn't get pics. I am going to try and get the fenders and hopefully the bed off tomorrow and will get pics then.





Not sure what these seats are out of, but they will be replaced with the factory bench most likely.

[Ol' Drippy]

Looks like a good start, weird how one side is a lot more rusted then the other. Those seats are out of a 5.0 mustang fyi, my 89 GT had the exact same ones. You could probably sell them back to the mustang guys when you remove them.

[hobbz]

Got a little done today. The rear bumper is off. Here are pics of the last couple days work. The engine is soaking in degreaser...

[hobbz]

Parts!!! Rear flip kit came in today. Hopefully the 5 piece rocker replacements will be here soon too. I also picked up an air chisel to help with all the rusty bolts...


Also, the truck still has the original owners manual in the glove box. And everyone likes to see these too...

[hobbz]

Got the bed off today. It is in a little worse shape than I thought, so I am going to look for one in a junk yard that is in decent shape. Worst case, get one from LMC or somewhere like that.



I had to cut all the bolts to get the bed off. I even managed to get the bed off and on the ground all by myself. It helps knowing I am not going to try and save it.

[MalibuSSwagon]

man, my truck was a northeast truck it's whole life and the only rot was the cab corners. Wow thats some rot.

[hobbz]

They overdo the salt on the roads around here.

[hobbz]

Today's progress, I coated the frame with rust converter, and got the battery tray and passenger fender off...

[hobbz]

Got some more done this morning. Got the drivers fender off, and got a coat of black on the rear frame. While I was painting, I noticed there is a broken leaf in the spring pack on the passenger side... my solution will be to just pull the broken one, and pull the same one out on the drivers side...haha

Pics from today:









If you look at the hood, you can see what I am dealing with today, snow, sleet, and rain...

[MalibuSSwagon]

wow apparently. The most I had to deal with is cab corners. I actually just got the truck all back together this morning. I'm waiting on getting my headers back from being coated then it's back to DD duty.

[hobbz]

Finally got a chance to work on it again for a little while today. I got the inner fenders off, which took about 10 minutes... Also took the seats out, which took a little longer. The genius that put them in used 4 different size bolts, and you can see by the pic, one corner was supported by wood.



On the bright side, I pulled the rubber mat back and scrapped the liner off the floor, and to my surprise the floor was not rusty at all. I took a pic to it and couldn't find any spot that was weak. I put the wire brush on the grinder and hit it a little, and it looks in pretty good shape.

Tomorrow I hope I can finish cleaning out the interior.

[hobbz]

Got the rest of the interior cleaned out today. I am ready to start cutting the old rockers and cab corners.

Here are a few pics from today...

How many people got this stuff with their truck???






Drivers side, you can see there is more rust over here.

[hobbz]

Started cutting on the passenger side today. Found some bondo and rust on the b pillar higher than the cab corner will go so I had to order another piece of metal. Also, the kick panel is a little worse than I thought so I will be ordering that too...

[hobbz]

Update





Also found a rattle at idle. pulled the inspection cover on the trans and it is either loose crank to flex plate bolts or the flex plate is broke around them. I am going to try and get the trans out tomorrow to see what it is

[hobbz]

No progress on the rust, but got the driveshaft out and exhaust and exhaust manifolds off in preparation for pulling the transmission. Also got my headers and ball joints in.

[hobbz]

More progress today. My cousin(the welder) come over and we pretty much got the passenger side knocked out this morning, and he started on the drivers side. I had to leave for work, but when I left he had the floor and kick panel tacked into place already. Hoping he gets the drivers side to a point that I can finish it myself. I can weld half way decent...lol I still have to weld a little more on the passenger side and grind and fill everything.

Pics:

[77c10]

Looking good!

[dnights]

You got some nice progress going. Just glad I don't have the rust you got but at least you got some good help to work on the truck with you.

[hobbz]

Got some work done today. Finished welding everything into place, did some sanding and bondo work on the passenger side. Also got the front and back glass out.

[Paul83]

Great job man. Seeing all of the rust makes me happy to have Texas trucks no salt on our roads during the winter. Remember when I lived in Michigan and my dad working on his 74 Camaro and there was rust everywhere.

[hobbz]

Update

cab body work done


interior stripped ready for paint


everything in front of engine out and engine unhooked and ready to pull

[Gordonr1973]

Great progress on the cab! Rust is a pain in the rear, but it just takes a bit of time to have a whole new cab like you have!! Keep the updates coming...

[hobbz]

Been a while since my update...

Engine out:


Bed lined floor:


Semi smooth firewall:


Shaving mirror holes:


Primer:


Paint:


Scrap hauled off:


Flip kit in rear is on, 3" spindles and 1 coil cut up front. Going to pick up a stepside bed this weekend. Motor is found, just waiting on it to be pulled out of my uncle's 82 corvette.

[westpoint]

Great job. Your inspiring me.

[hobbz]

Picked up my bed today. With about $100 it should be like new.