1971 Cheyenne "One For the Road"

[msgross]

you sure do make it look easy, even the painting. Nice project and it shows that it can come together with a decent budget and some sweat!

looks good.

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by nuke1

seeing those 22's on your truck , makes me wish i got them g=for mine instead of the 20's, either way they both look great

I think you'll be much happier with the 20's. My 22's ride rough on the street. The next set of wheels I buy are going to be 20's.

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Just read the whole thread. You are kickin azz and takin names on this one (as usual). I think you have motivated me to do my own paint. Keep it up!!!

Thanks. I took a break from my suburban for the last year. I wanted a project that would give me challenges I hadn't had before, I needed practice at welding which this truck was perfect for. I'm not saying I'm good, I'm just saying I'm better than I used to be.
I've been painting cars since '94 it seems the more practice I get the better I am. I know with your skills and patience, you'll do just fine. I say go for it. You're doing some killer fab work on your sunbeam. When it's finished, you'll have the sweetest sunbeam on the planet.

Originally Posted by msgross

you sure do make it look easy, even the painting. Nice project and it shows that it can come together with a decent budget and some sweat!

looks good.

Thanks. Painting is the easy part, it's the body work I don't like. I'm into this truck about 2200 bucks. Not including my labor, which I've lost track of. It's hard to keep track of time when you enjoy what it is you're doing.

[Slick67]

$2200!?!?!? Awesome budget build!!! SWEET.

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by Slick67

$2200!?!?!? Awesome budget build!!! SWEET.

Thanks. I finally broke down and spent some money 18'' and 20'' tires. they should be here next week. Now I just need to pick out some wheels.


For the last two weeks I've spent most of my time working on the DD, but I have managed to find time for the Cheyenne. I installed the 3 point seat belts from the 93 Jimmy and started cleaning up the old trim pieces. Most of them are in good shape. I also changed the front rims and tires for smaller ones, the old ones rubbed. Now it looks kinda funny.

[19723DR]

Man It's been a while since I updated my post. Well, I got most the interior completed, except the carpet. I put on the trim in places I could. And best of all, I got my wheels and tires. I just need to find some time to mount the tires.

Test fit. They are MB old-schools 18 & 20's








I'm slowly getting this together. I've been spending the majority of my time and money on my daily driver.

[Slick67]

Great rim choice, the truck is lookin awesome!!!

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by Slick67

Great rim choice, the truck is lookin' awesome!!!

Thanks. Summer is so hard to find time to work on the truck, between camping and home projects I did find time to mount my tires.

[19723DR]

Yesterday I located some used front tires. I had the rears, that I bought off Discount tire Direct, mounted as well. Total cost of my tires and rims--mounted and balanced--was under a thousand bucks. I know they're not Coys, but that's like half price.


Fronts are 18/8 on 245-45-18.

Rears are 20/8.5 on 275-45-20.

[bigguy69]

i like them, i think they look good.

[lolife99]

Wheels and truck look amazing!

[19723DR]

Thanks. I'm really happy with the way they look. I went for a short drive tonight around the neighborhood, they ride really well. Now if I could just find the time to get it finished!

[19723DR]

The last week I have been working on my tailgate. This gate I got a while back and because of the rust have been putting off finishing it. This gate was kept on it's end behind a shed in the dirt so the side is in pretty bad shape.

This is what I started with - straight, but rusty.






Patched the front edge.

[19723DR]

More patching:






That was a fun piece to make.

[19723DR]

Last weekend I help a friend change his truck from 3/4ton to 1/2ton. Lots of fun. No really it was. For helping him he gave me some doors and another tailgate, thanks Chad. This week I've been working on the drivers side. There were a few patches to the bottom, but the rest was in good shape.

[19723DR]

I took the Cheyenne to a local cruise night.











Hopefully by next weekend I can paint the doors and tailgate.

[VA72C10]

Cool....will be sweet to see it all together. How are you keeping the colors consistent...especially considering the time between painting...

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Cool....will be sweet to see it all together. How are you keeping the colors consistent...especially considering the time between painting...

Soon. Very soon. The paint is from the same gallon. Just make sure to mix the paint well every time you use some. For the metal flake I put roughly ten drops of sparkle silver paint into a cup of clear. That isn't a measuring cup, just a regular disposable drinking cup I use to mix.

[Booya]

Read the whole thing last night, have to say great job and it’s looking real good, keep it up… Plus it was a great motivation to get my arz out there and start on mine…

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by Booya

Read the whole thing last night, have to say great job and it’s looking real good, keep it up… Plus it was a great motivation to get my arz out there and start on mine…

Thank you. I actually went back and read through it the other night, and I can't believe how much work I've done to it. Many of my friends come home after work and veg out in front of the TV, I go out the garage to relax. It's nice, my kids even come out to play and chat. In fact, the other day, I was waiting for a weld to cool and I took my youngest around the block on scooters several times. I guess I'm saying it's nice because I get to work on my truck and spend time with my family.

This site helps me to stay motivated. Good luck with your build. It's hard work sometimes, but well worth it.

[19723DR]

During the last two weeks I've made some progress on the truck. Last weekend I painted the doors and tailgate and this week I mounted the doors and tailgate. Saturday I installed the glass, wing windows, door panels and the trim on the doors. I'm glad I painted last week because this week has been too cold. I was lucky enough to pick up some carpet for a '88 to '98 Chevy. With the hing hump it should be a close fit. We'll see.
















I have a few more trim pieces to cut down on the bed and clean up the tailgate trim.

[nuke1]

Thought i posted a bit ago, i was wrong, have to say, the truck has come a long way, looks Amazing. Sure is coming along, and glad to see you spend time with the kids while you are out there too, i hope i can do that with mine also will see in a bit, next year when she is walking. What happened to the MB rims that were on it? Not mulxch more and she will be done, well sort-of

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by nuke1

Thought i posted a bit ago, i was wrong, have to say, the truck has come a long way, looks Amazing. Sure is coming along, and glad to see you spend time with the kids while you are out there too, i hope i can do that with mine also will see in a bit, next year when she is walking. What happened to the MB rims that were on it? Not mulxch more and she will be done, well sort-of

Thanks Nuke.
Family comes first. Last summer at a car show I was talking to a guy who had built cars his whole life, he saw that I had young kids because my 5 year old at the time was bugging me that I was taking to long and wanted to move on. He said that he had missed his kids growing up and wished he could go back. That really struck me. I've always tried to involve my kids when I can, although they don't understand why I build trucks. I don't build trucks to win awards or have the nicest truck in the neighborhood or anything like that. I do it because it's challenging and I enjoy involving my family.
As for the wheels, I pulled them off and put them on my suburban to haul the family to a local car show. I'll put them back on the Cheynne at a later date and do a photo shoot.

[19723DR]

This week end I managed to clean up the tailgate band. I had to make a new letter 'T' by using a 1/4 piece of plastic. I also put the carpet in, it fits ok, but it was free, I can't complain.

[VA72C10]

looks good. nice work on making the T

[19723DR]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

looks good. nice work on making the T

Thanks. I wish I had the money for the chrome letter set, but I'm happy with the way It turned out.