72 C10 winter budget build

[c10vortec]

After installing the doghouse, I installed the lights on the front of the truck, and rigged up the rear lights to the frame so I could drive it until I figured out what to do for a bed.



I also picked up a new front bumper along with a sport bumper for the rear of the truck.





It didn't take many drives to realize that the shock relocation kit was needed. Without a bed installed this part was a breeze, I had everything replace within an hour. I ground the rivet heads off and used an air chisel to remove them. All of the new bolt hardware was included. This made a huge handling improvement, the back end was much more settled at all times. The most noticeable change was crossing bridges on I-65, before the shock relocation it was a bit sketchy..





And these are just a tiny look into the mess of a shortbed that I purchased. At first it seemed salvageable as a temporary replacement, but after attempting to remove the fender wells I found more rust than I anticipated. So shortly after this we moved the bed back outside and starting thinking about some other options.

A neighbor ended up offering me what I paid for the bed and loaded it up and left with it, so that problem took care of itself. About a month after this we finally decided to get a shortbed kit from SOKY.

[c10vortec]

At the Beginning of this summer I was hired on at the Corvette plant as an intern. This helped me gather the funds I needed to finish the first stage of this project. About mid way through the summer I bought a shortbed fleetside kit with stake pockets and rear marker lights. I just wish they made a kit that also had the holes stamped out of the bedside for the trim.

Assembly was pretty easy and straight forward. It took me from Tuesday to Saturday of one week. It would be possible to install this in a weekend. Only the passenger bedside needed some reaming and filing to line up with the front bed panel. I got some help from my dad to help me set the bed floor on the truck, after that I was able to manage everything else on my own. I used a paint marker and a hole saw to drill the hole for my gas filler neck in the bed floor. The two rear bed floor bolt holes needed to be drilled into my frame. After that everything else lined up. The aluminum tank in the frame blocked my access to the 2 middle rear bed bolts so for now I just left them out. It feels really solid with 6 bolts.










The Bed was about 1/4" closer to the cab on the pass. side. I believe that my cab is a little off center, but for now It will not affect anything. At this point I had to make another trip to SOKY Classics to get the bed light fastener kit, some new lights, and a rear bumper bolt kit