New to the Forum and "New" Truck

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by marks1972

nice truck.
that 307 is actually a good engine. i would rather have that then a 350. raps up faster and takes a beatting alot better. most people just automatically put it in the same class with the 305 and its not.

I agree the 307 is a great little engine (way better than a 305), but I can't go along with the 307 doing anything better than a 350. There's a reason 307's were never performance engines nor wer they used in medium duty trucks. The 307 is great garden variety engine for a light truck or passenger car, and that's what they designed to be. The 350 is best small block ever produced!

[Redleg]

I figure its also time to give a quick background on me since Im a newbie and ill be asking/begging for help down the road with this build from some of you miracle workers.

29 year old Army Vet from Kentucky, now in Mississippi. First car was a 78 GMC Sprint that started with me as a 305. Ended its life with me with a 327. (Its life ended when a van backed out of a driveway and i T-boned it) Won 3 car shows with her. Still miss that car.....

Next 2 trucks in my teens were a 78 Chevy 4x4 to 4x2 conversion (before me). Beautiful truck, strong as a mule. Sold that truck after 2 years and bought a mint condition 78 Scottsdale 4X4. 3/4 ton. An older gentleman had babied it and restored it before he died. Had 1100 miles on a new 400/350 combo and 2500 miles on the complete restoration when it came in to my hands. Not a scratch, dent, or mark on that truck.....inside or out.

Unfortunately at that time the Army was taking me everywhere and the gas mileage was killing me so that ended my classic truck career. That was 2002.

Last week I sold my Nissan Titan with no real plans to buy another car or truck. I spend 90% of my free time on my Harley. (wife has a car when i need 4 wheels) Well this truck came into view and was local and in my budget and there was just no way i could pass it up.

I have torn into a few 350s and the 327, but I honestly should have pulled my head out of my butt and stopped being so bull headed and retarded and paid more attention when my step-dad was helping me back then. He owned a machine shop and literally could build anything out of anything.....

Cosmetics I can do. Making a truck look good I can do. All basic mechanics i can do, but my plan is to rely heavily on you guys for the rest. (Surely if i can work on a Harley i can work on a Chevy right) My plan is to make this MY project. Not the project of the local shop, so yeah. Again i will need yalls help i do believe. Been reading over builds the last few days and have already gotten a tremendous amount of knowledge by just reading. Cant wait to actually start diving into my own problems and getting your help.

Yes im long winded, thanks for sticking me through this book. (if you actually read it all that is)

[JORGIE95961]

any updates?

[Redleg]

Have a build Thread. WIll post a link...

But right now all i have done is black out the nose of the truck and repaint the interior.

As i am using it as a daily driver its really hard to do tear down work.

Been pushing the wife hard the last few days as GMC is offering 0% on trucks. If i did that i could park this one and restore it as planned. We will see. Dont miss that payment though.....

But here are the little things i have done to it so far.....Interior and Front end.... Also replaced the steering wheel. Will get pics of that when i remember!!!!

[tubbedII]

1st time I'm reading this thread, and when you 1st said you were going to get rid of the green, I didn't agree, but the red does fit it much nicer. So, no plans on lowering it some more? Even as is, it's a really cool lookin ride!

[jjtackleberry]

Great look

WELCOME

[Rooster144]

Very cool ride, have fun with it.

[Redleg]

Well my plans are changing about every time i change clothes. The current plan is over the next 12 months to upgrade the complete drive train. But even that i am fighting myself over. The current ORIGINAL 307, 3OTT combo is working just fine. I hate to toss it for a 350/5 speed combo that really isn’t going to improve what i am using it for right now (Daily Driver 20 miles a day to work, max speed 55mph.) I would love the more power, more gears option. But don’t know if thats a "right now" change.

But I’m rambling again....

The plans as it stand. For the future. (no idea how near or far in the future though)
307 replaced with 350. Nothing special but good strong dependable SB.
3OTT replaced with 5 speed. T-5 or T-56. Depends on engine strength.
Replace/Repair passenger side bed panel (crappy bondo work)
Replace Tailgate
Replace front grille
Replace rear fender with roll pan
Replace Rocker panels (bondo'ed right now)
Repair inner cab roof above visors. 1 small spot rusted through
Body painted Army Green. Green Rims, black center caps. Black star on the doors with U.S. Army stenciled on the tailgate. Black bumpers, Pretty much everything currently chrome is turned black and everything currently black is made Army Green.....

As for lowering. That depends. If my next Daily Driver is a truck, then yes. I would like to drop it at least another 2" front and back. Right now it has 2 1/2 drop spindles in the front. And it is leaf in the rear. 3" lowered. If i can make this NOT my TRUCK daily driver then i would like to do 4 1/2" front and 5" rear. I have 2 harleys that have yet to see a trailer, but i like knowing i could pull them if need be....


Again, this is all hopes. Im moving away from the shop truck/ rat rod style into an Army themed truck. But before i do all that i would like to get the drive train and body completely straight and in place. Paint is always easy..

Here is some more threads of my ideas etc.....

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=483441

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=472314

[oldblue1968chevy]

cool truck im in!

[BOZO]

Heres something to think about concerning your future engine plans. Some 307's can be bored out to 4 inches, giving you a 2 bolt main 327. Just be sure to have the block tested for wall thickness before you start. Slap on a set of Vortec heads and you have a quick revving engine with plenty of low end grunt. For years I thought the engine I just recently took out of my truck was a 327, but upon looking up the engine numbers I found out it was a 307. This old motor ran good and strong for many years. I been thinkin about boring it to 4.030 and putting it in something else.

[gearys 5600]

cool truck..

[doubleb's69]

Sweet truck. Love the old shop theme but the Army theme sounds awesome as well. I like the old 307s but you can't beat a 350 just for the fact that they are the cheapest engine to bolt on horsepower as you go. A Ford fan I work with said they are junk but then I stumped him when I asked why there are so many small block Chevys in Fords. LOL.