Cue-Ball's 1980 SWB

[Cue-Ball]

I've had my truck for over a year and not really done much to it, but now that I'm looking at suspension and thinking more about body and paint I figured I should start a build thread. The first few posts will cover the last year to bring things up to date.

Bought this 1980 Chevy in Sept of 2010 for $2800. It's not perfect, but it's in really good shape overall. Mostly, I wanted to make sure I bought a reliable truck that would get me to work and back without worry. This definitely fits the bill. The truck is a V8, automatic, short bed, fleetside, with no A/C and a single fuel tank. This is exactly what I was looking for, since I prefer simplicity and have a "less is more" attitude towards my vehicles. Here's what she looked like the day I brought her home:





The driver's door has a dent in it from a Home Depot rolling cart (you can see it in the first pic). There's a tiny dent on the roof and the paint is getting thin, especially on the hood. Otherwise, it's in very nice shape. It's never been wrecked, there's virtually no rust, and everything looks pretty straight.

The maroon (red) interior looks to be almost completely stock. When I bought the truck it had a seat cover installed, but otherwise it's mostly untouched. The headliner is in great condition, visors, gauges, etc. The dash has two cracks, but is far better than any other truck that I looked at. The carpet has a hole on the driver's side, but still looks pretty decent. And the truck has tilt and gauges, not idiot lights (no clock or tach though). One thing that the owner did add, which is really nice, is a variable delay on the wipers. The box stuck to the dash isn't particularly attractive, but it works fantastic.




The previous owner had installed some compartments in the bed. The design is actually pretty cool, it's just ugly as sin. The compartments on the side hold stuff in front of and behind the wheel wells, while the center pieces can be moved up into a track on top of the side pieces. This basically creates a completely flat raised floor the height of the wheel wells, with a big storage area underneath. The idea is that you can go camping, store all your gear in the "tunnel" between the wheel wells and in the storage compartments, while still having a totally flat area to use as a bed. Pretty ingenious, really. But still ugly. I was going to remove the carpet and cover it in something less offensive, but in the end I just took it all to the dump. It was just too much work for something I didn't think I'd ever use.


The truck was originally a 250 6-cylinder with a TH350, but the previous owner installed a 305 crate engine about 47,000 miles ago, and replaced the TH350 with a remanufactured trans. The engine bay was tidy, but dirty, and the cheap air cleaner had begun to rust. I hosed everything off real well and replaced the air cleaner with a spare I had sitting in the garage. It could still use some paint, but it's good enough for now. The original jack was behind the seat when I bought the truck, so I put it back on the fender where it belongs.


I removed everything from the bed and was greeted with nearly perfect sheetmetal. Dent free and barely even scratched. The only issue is some rust at the front edge of the bed that will need addressed.


I cleaned up the interior a bit and removed the seat cover. Underneath is the original upholstery in very nice condition. The driver's side is worn a little on the edges, but there are no rips or stains. I'm not crazy about the velour, but it's stock and in good condition, so I'll keep it for now.


I wasted no time removing stuff from the truck once I got it home. The first thing to go was the bug deflector. Second was the cheap, rusty fog lights that the PO had installed. Getting rid of both cleaned up the front end very nicely. The canopy was useful, but the windows caused reflections off of reflections and drove me nuts. Also, because it steps up in height it would just *barely* fit in my garage. I decided just to take it off. It's sitting by my shed right now and if anyone wants it, it's yours.

So, here's what the truck looks like without all the "old man gear" on it.


I'm the third owner of this truck, but the previous owner bought it barely used, with only 5,000 miles on it, and kept it for the last 30 years. So, it's essentially been a single owner vehicle for 99% of it's life. He gave me a stack of paperwork with the truck, including the original owner's manual and documentation, build sheet, tons of receipts and hand written notes, etc.

The first big job that needs addressing is the handling. This thing is a turd in the corners. Since it was originally a 6-cyl it came from the factory without a front anti-roll bar. That needs addressed because right now you practically roll to the other side of the truck when making turns. I'm not going to make it an autocross attack vehicle, but it needs to handle better than my parents' Winnebago.

It's going to remain a utility vehicle, so it won't be getting slammed to the ground and I won't be putting on 20" wheels (sorry, lowrider fans). I've already got one lowered vehicle and don't want to have to crawl over speed bumps in this thing. However, I'm planning on lowering it a few inches front and rear. Just nothing too drastic. I want it to look good, but still remain usable as a truck and I don't want to have to worry about if I'm going to scrape anything coming out of the grocery store parking lot.

The interior doesn't NEED any work, but I would like to replace the door panels. They're plastic one-piece units that look and feel cheap. I'd like to dress it up a little bit and make it feel factory fresh inside.

When I bought the truck I didn't like the square '80 only headlights, but they've really grown on me. Actually, I think they kinda fit this body style better than the round lights. Having said that, the main reason I bought this truck is because my dad and grandfather both had them. So, while it would be cool to have the more rare 1980 front end on there, I'm planning to swap over to the round headlights and bezels. The whole truck will need bodywork and paint eventually. I've already got one project car in the paint shop now, so that will have to wait until it's done. Maybe this spring?