Hello all

[mikep]

I guess I should introduce myself as I'll be here quite a bit in the forseable future as my project is in its infancy. A few months ago I was going through my brothers storage locker and I found a forged steel 350 crank I had ground 12 years or so ago and I thought it would be good to build up a 350 around except I was missing a 350 and a chevy to put it in . So I bought myself a really nice 4 bolt block, had it bored and decked , got a new set of scat 4340 I beam rods, some .125 domed HE pistons, a new set of world product sportsman II casting heads, an edelbrock torker cam and a rpm air gap manifold with a bunch of chrome and stuff to tie it all up,had it all balanced and bolted it u with all ARP pro series hardware. .then went out looking for a truck to put it in. I looked in the paper and found a 68' C20 long bed for $700. I thought it had to be a basket case but I went over to look at it. As soon as I saw it I told the guy I'd take it for $500 . Didnt even test drive it. The guy thought I was nuts. He agreed and I drove it home. It was rust free, reasobly straight with original paint and all and NEVER wrecked, all original with factory air conditioning , power brakes, power steering and the original 396-4 speed all intact. So I committed sacriledge or something like it and yanked the 396 and promptly sold it off for $1000 to help defray the cost of the new wheels and tires I bought for it and installed my nice 420 or so horsepower small block. It runs like a champ . So now I'm broke until overtime season comes around at work so I'm doing the labor intensive sanding etc. Funny thing though. The other day I was changing the carpet out as the original was growing mold under the seat and my neightbor whom I have never met before comes over and starts talking about the '70 he used to have but wrecked a few years ago. Then he said he had a new interior set that he had made just before he wrecked it and asked if I wanted it. I asked him what he wanted for it. " just get it out of my garage" he said. All new reupholstered in grey velour with new foam with matching door panels in like new condition and I had it bolted in the same day. I'm calling this my lucky truck! Ive had it less than 4 weeks but its moving along pretty fast. I havent decided what to paint it yet but I'm leaning towards ....I dont know yet but the factory gold and white has got to go.

[This message has been edited by mikep (edited May 16, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by mikep (edited May 16, 2002).]