new to the board along with my 70 gmc shortbox

[no_rice]

Hello, new to the board, and to the truck. just traded one of my bikes for it last weekend... so... i have plenty to learn. ive built plenty of stuff from full ground up(including frame) jet powered bikes to my old ss nova and my 383 stroker motored shortbox s-10(way back in 95 when i had only seen a pic of one in hotrod and no swap parts existed) had a handful of mid to late 70's chevy 4x4's, but this is my first of this generation.

i think its a decent platform, and has a few things going for it. obviously the brand new 20x8.5 and 22x10 coys wrapped in nitto's. has new lowered coils and front shocks as well as an axle flip kit on the rear(yes its leafs, apparently most were coil and trailing arm?) although he said it had drop spindles, it was obvious when i first saw it that the front spindles are definitely not new drop spindles. i assume they are extras off his other trucks he had laying around so that he could put the front discs on.

all the cab/box mounts are solid and so are the floors except for one 2-3 inch hole in the driver rocker and the passenger inner fender well and radiator support under the battery.



the body is pretty dang straight.






fairly fresh 350 in it and an ok working 350 turbo. so atleast its drivable in its current state. cruises down the interstate at 70-80 no problem except for a minor vibration i need to figure out...


heck even the box floor is fairly smooth. and the box rails arent all beat to hell!


interior is pretty toast. apparently it had a busted windshield while sitting(really didnt help) dash pad is destroyed as well as the seat springs and foam and of course the vinyl.



trying to figure out what to do about the interior. i actually dont mind the green color on this truck. but lmc has the whole interior kit(minus foam and spring) in black for around $550. just cant decide if i will like that look though... otherwise i need a green seat and dash pad and armrests. just have to find the correct of shade green stuff somewhere. the lmc 67-72 "green" im sure doesnt cover every green in that time frame. heck, i sell harley parts for a living, black isnt even just black anymore. and im the odd hd employee... garage full of bikes and not a single hd. mostly buells, a 65 bultaco metralla, and a husqvarna sm610... much more fun!

the po also took out the 3 on the tree column and replaced it with a light blue auto column and original green cracked into pieces wheel.

i dont know if i just want a light update(as in seat, armrest, dash pad) and leave the patina door panels and dash, or if i completely redo the interior... gauges need work anyway(only speedo and fuel are hooked up). temp gauge is an old aftermarket unit, and wouldnt mind finding the tach.

then there is the underside. i want to do new body bushings and new suspension bushings all the way around. just need to decide how far im going to go with the suspension before i waste money revamping stock parts and then replace them anyway besides the drop spindles i plan to get...?!

but... a couple of the first improvements i want to make are power steering and power brakes. i want a solid driver. something thats tight and i can throw around a bit with relative ease. so now i just have to come up with those parts.

oh, and one of the stock sport bumpers for the back in a worn white if i can find one somewhere... that may take a while i would think.