1991 1 Ton Crew Cab 4x4 Build

[Matt21lutz]

Originally Posted by 91V3500

I ordered a sample of "torch red" colored seatbelt from seatbeltsplus.com, it matches perfectly! I'm gonna order enough to do all of the seatbelts. Thanks for the link!

Can't wait to see the final product! Looks bad ass! But was wondering, are you doing the seat belts yourself or having someone else do it for you?

[y5mgisi]

Keep at it. Worst case scenario, you finish it and sell it. At least then you can say you finished.

[91V3500]

Originally Posted by nekkidhillbilly

kept it longbed.....i love you for this

Ha ha, I thought about it but I don't like the look of the 4x4 crew shortbeds as much as the longbeds. To me the shorbeds don't look proportional with the lift and big tires. Plus I want to be able to haul my Polaris RZR in the back (with the tailgate down) which is about 9 feet long!

[91V3500]

Originally Posted by Matt21lutz

Can't wait to see the final product! Looks bad ass! But was wondering, are you doing the seat belts yourself or having someone else do it for you?

Thanks! I ended up buying all new seatbelts/mechanisms for several reasons. I was going to let my upholstry guy install the red material into my old mechanisms but after looking at my old mechanisms, they were in bad shape. The plasic covers had cracks in them and some of the release buttons were rusted stuck. Plus, just the seatbelt material was going to cost around $100 and I had to pay my guy to install it. I got all 4 complete seatbelts for less than $300. I highly recommend seatbeltsplus.com, they have about any color you would need.

[91V3500]

Originally Posted by Greenlee

Slow and steady wins the race. Can't wait to see it with some paint!

That's me, slow and not so steady lol. I can't wait to just see it all 1 color!

[91V3500]

I've been working on the rust repair, I stripped the interior out of the truck so I can weld in the rocker panels. Also removed the doors and frontend so I can put a good coat of paint on the jams and inner doors. I have the driver's rocker almost fully welded in and the driver's rear lower bed panel is welded in. I also replaced all of the seals in the AC system and pressure tested it for leaks, so far so good. Still need to replace the low pressure switch, pull a vacuum on it and charge it up, it will be nice to have AC this summer.

These repair panels from LMC truck suck, they're not even close, some of the measurements are off and the bend radius' are different. I made them work but is there a better place to buy repair panels? These have "Key Products" name brand on them and "Made in Taiwan".

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by 91V3500

I've been working on the rust repair, I stripped the interior out of the truck so I can weld in the rocker panels. Also removed the doors and frontend so I can put a good coat of paint on the jams and inner doors. I have the driver's rocker almost fully welded in and the driver's rear lower bed panel is welded in. I also replaced all of the seals in the AC system and pressure tested it for leaks, so far so good. Still need to replace the low pressure switch, pull a vacuum on it and charge it up, it will be nice to have AC this summer.

These repair panels from LMC truck suck, they're not even close, some of the measurements are off and the bend radius' are different. I made them work but is there a better place to buy repair panels? These have "Key Products" name brand on them and "Made in Taiwan".

I used a cab corner from Summit on my 86 regular cab. Since I was only using a portion of it, the fit worked well. My buddies have used some panels from Top Banana and they seemed to be better quality but still needed a bit of tweaking to fit just right. LKQ/Keystone have two lines of panels, a high end and a low end quality. Again, the high end ones seem good but not 100% all the time.

[90crew]

Question you don't still have the grill from that suburban do you? I have a 90 Crew that is your twin and wanted the double light set up and the GMC Grill. If you still have it let me know if you would be willing to sell it to me. Love your set up my build will start soon. Like I said mine is like yours when you first got it.

[91V3500]

Originally Posted by 90crew

Question you don't still have the grill from that suburban do you? I have a 90 Crew that is your twin and wanted the double light set up and the GMC Grill. If you still have it let me know if you would be willing to sell it to me. Love your set up my build will start soon. Like I said mine is like yours when you first got it.

Sorry, I don't have any of those parts anymore. I sold everything that I didn't use because I don't have anywhere to store extra parts.

[91V3500]

Originally Posted by silverbear

I used a cab corner from Summit on my 86 regular cab. Since I was only using a portion of it, the fit worked well. My buddies have used some panels from Top Banana and they seemed to be better quality but still needed a bit of tweaking to fit just right. LKQ/Keystone have two lines of panels, a high end and a low end quality. Again, the high end ones seem good but not 100% all the time.

That's good to know. The main problem with these rocker panels is the measurement on the top step plate (from the lip for the wetherstrip to where it turns down for the door opening) is about 1/4" short. The only way to fix that is to cut it and weld in an extra 1/4". Also they didn't bend the bottom lip inward 1/8", so it was just a raw edge across the bottom which made the new rocker panel hang down 1/8" lower than it should and didn't line up with the cab corner. Luckily we have a full sheet metal shop at work and I just bent that 1/8" myself.

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by 91V3500

That's good to know. The main problem with these rocker panels is the measurement on the top step plate (from the lip for the wetherstrip to where it turns down for the door opening) is about 1/4" short. The only way to fix that is to cut it and weld in an extra 1/4". Also they didn't bend the bottom lip inward 1/8", so it was just a raw edge across the bottom which made the new rocker panel hang down 1/8" lower than it should and didn't line up with the cab corner. Luckily we have a full sheet metal shop at work and I just bent that 1/8" myself.

I found that same issue when I was patching my driver side rocker. I ended up using some 18ga sheet metal and making my own patch and seal lip.

On an Astro van that I replaced a rocker panel with an aftermarket panel, I had the same issue with the bottom lip. After I welded it into place, I used a body hammer and bent the lip over the inner panel. Having a sheet metal shop available sure would make things easier.

[91V3500]

I finally got all of the welding and the patch panels done on the truck. It's getting sanded, bodywork, and primed now. We should have some some color on it next week. I'll post pics when I get some good ones.

[1968vetL-71]

Can't wait to see that beast with some paint. Gonna look killer!

[91V3500]

Working on getting all the panels back together.

[arrover]

Looking great!

[91V3500]

Still working on getting it all back together but it's driveable again.

[y5mgisi]

Certainly come a long way!

[carboncrew]

wow....looking good. I like the lift, wheel/tire and now color combo.

[COS399]

Sweet. Looking great!

[Greenlee]

Looks great with paint!

[silverbear]

Truck looks awesome. Can't wait to see some more part pics of it as you wrap up the details. Excellent job!

[Flatpat]

Looking good! More motivation to jump on mine when I get back to it. Keep it up.

[NewMexCrew]

WOW.... Truck looks good. This just might inspire me to lift and paint my 90 Cummins conversion. I'm looking to put a 10" or 12" lift but might need to have springs made to hold the weight of the Cummins.

[1968vetL-71]

That looks awesome! You've done a great job on that thing. It is a beast!

[91V3500]

Thanks guys!

Progress has been slow but I have been trying to get the interior all back together