Xephius's 1957/1998 Chevrolet 6.5TD 4x4 1 ton build thread.......

[Xephius]

Howdy!



I am new to posting on the board, but have been lurking for a while. I have a 1957 Chevrolet 3100 pickup that I wanted to turn into a daily driver. Over the last year I have gone through a couple different ideas about what drivetrain combination I wanted to have, but always came back to the 4x4 NAPCO farm trucks rolling block 16ply farm tires, white bumpers and grills. Seeing as none of the '57 gear was remotely suitable for city daily driving, much less in Houston, I started looking for updated gear. More on that later...













The truck is a former Texas road service truck, and is in great shape largely due to the thick coating of tar coating the underside of the truck. Very little rust! Having a complete truck, and the generosity of my friends spare shop space (Yea right, no such thing, he was just being very kind) over at Vintage Upgrades and Performance in Humble TX. So after taking possession of the truck, I dove straight in to strip it.









Sandblasting the cab.





In process, I purchased a house and got a home shop of my own!









So after much debating on what drivetrain to get, and picking up a couple "almost" donors including a 80's 6.2 Suburban....



I realized I wanted Diesel and 4x4. Fortunately, I was able to land a 1998 Chevrolet 6.5 Turbo Diesel 4x4 4L80e 1 ton wrecker SWB truck. I couldn't have wished for a more ideal truck. I am told that the Duramax is one heck of an engine, but I feel very comfortable wrenching on the 6.5 and it is cheap to work on.









BAM turned me on to the link below and I was thrilled to see that my project has been proven possible and well documented!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=398361

Tomorrow I continue to tear down the '98. I plan to get it down to the frame and see how things look. I appreciate any advice and guidance, this is my first truck build!

Clear skies,
John