Best route to take

[lilbuster20]

Hey my truckin buddies! I am going to start overhaulin my shortbed truck in the next month or so. I was wondering, how should I start or better yet, what should I do first. My shortbed has no motor or trans. I already switched the radiator core from 2 headlights to the 4. You guys have some awesome trucks! And I'm sure you didnt do all the work at the same time. Should I rebuild my engine and tranny first or focus on the body itself. Any help or direction will be gladly appreciated!!!!

[1980GMC]

IMO, get the stance how you want it first and take care of the frame and suspension. Then build up the drivetrain and then do the bodywork and paint. After that, interior and sound.

Well, thats how I'm planning mine.

Best of luck.

[Restrorob]

Ocala huh,

Well, I did my drivetrain first. Engine/trans rebuild along with front suspension/steering, Rear-end/U-joints, Brakes all the way around then dropped it. This let me drive it and get any bugs worked out (which was few). Then pulled the cab and bed for body work and that left the frame open for paint.

I didn't want to be doing any mechanical work after paint.

Good luck with your project.

[slugish]

good advice here

[old Rusty C10]

my truck came with alot of rust and it ran when i got it plus it is driven at least twice a week for work. I put the exhaust on just so i could drive it without getting stoned
In addition ive come into body pieces in the course of my travels so ive done some of the minor body work already like changing the doors fenders and inner fenders ive not done anything with the rusty rockers and corners except to get the parts from one of our site vendors who is nearby
In the very near future im going to get the trans done and when the weather warms, i will do the rebuild of the front suspension, shocks all around, u joints, hanger bearing, and prolly do up the complete brake system.
Sometime in the summer I will replace the worn out 305 with a good 350 and eventually ill paint it up possibly the end of 08 or summer 09
In between ill be doing the interior.. my seat is messed up so ill do that in the near future
Im not saying thats the right way to do it but its the way im doing it so i can work the truck while i do it up and once its done it will be retired and a new wreck will be brought in to do this ones work

[slepysal]

hey Old Rusty, sounds like a good plan!!! Thats the way my 60 was built. My 73 will get built like that too... when I get it back from the frame shop

[chromyelow1]

if your starting from the ground up, start with suspension then engine and trans. that way you can drive it around and everyone can see your progress. Good luck with the truck, im sure the guys here can help you if you get stuck along the way just like they have helped me.

[wicked_sky_gazer]

my truck is a daily driver for now so i bought a pretty clean chassis for $150 full rolling with all the accessories (brakes, tank, wiring, bumpers... ect) included. I'm starting with a compleate rolling chassis with my suspension drive line and pre wired, so that all i have to do when i'm ready is plug-n-play, when i have all that out of the way i plan to start the body work and paint then finishing with the electrical inderior and sound.

[James McClure]

Morning guys. I just finished mine, well mostly. I started from the ground up. Got down to bare frame and worked up from there. I figure thats the way they build them, thats the way to rebuild them. In all reality, I found doing it that way made things simpler and you could see and repair things you won't see if the body or parts of it are still on the frame. For me it was a huge undertaking because for the most part I have to work alone, but, I did it and if I can anyone can.
I'll be putting up a description of the job, what was done and how I did it for anyone who cares to see. I do have some pics of the finished product but they aren't real good so I'm not putting any up yet. When the danm snow is gone I'll get more. I have 50 pics of the job along the way.
It is an absolutely daunting task!! I can't count the number of times I said "what the hell have I gotten myself into now"? Have faith in yourself and you'll be able to do it. Mabey you have to farm some stuff out, so what? I farmed out the paint work and I'm real glad I did. It was way more complicated than I thought it was, I'm used to laquer. Jim