New guy in Atlanta

[lofthouse_gt]

Hey Guys,

My name is Dustin. I just recently acquired a 1971 GMC 1500, 350ci w/ auto tranny. This truck has been in my family since it was purchased in 71'. The original and only other owner on this truck was my grandfather. The truck was used for many years to haul lumber in Colorado where I am from. I have spent many hours driving around my grandfathers property in this thing chopping down trees with a chain saw. Because of that the truck does have some imperfections mainly in the body where it has acquired multiple dents, the bed is the worst. There is also a pretty gnarly dent located on the roof in the cab. Besides the dents the truck is in great shape for being 40 years old and has minimal rusting.

My GMC is going to be my first restoration project. Since I am only 23 years old the majority of my car experience has been working on late model vehicles. With my first being a 2001 Chevy Cavalier z24, that I did a bunch of crazy stuff to and even rhinolined when I was 19 because of how bad the paint had oxidized (it was beater). For the last two years I have been working on my current car a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon 5MT, while this may not be everyone's taste this car is my baby and I have put a lot of work into. I have attached pics of my last projects.


I am very eager and have a lot to learn about these trucks, I've already found an abundance of knowledge here on this forum. I am very accustomed to using forums and appreciate the knowledge and experiences others can provide. My goal for this truck is to restore a lot of the vehicle while also adding a custom touch to some aspects. Right now my plans are as follows.

-Drop it, my goal is to go around 4" in the front 6" in back
-New Wheels, I am totally undecided on this honestly haven't even looked
-Bigger Brakes up front and Swap out the drums for disk in the rear
-Rebuild the 350 its got 103,000 miles on the original motor right now, I am not trying to make it crazy fast, but I plan to try and get the truck running at least 14's in the quarter. (Honestly don't know exactly what it would take so I bought a book called small blocks on a budget by david vizard) I hope to have a better idea after that read)
- Body work and paint (while I would love to shave the drip rails and door handles I think I will keep it simple with shaved moldings, tailgate and a roll pan in the rear) the color is still undecided, but I love the orange on this and am thinking maybe keep the same layout but go matte/satin orange lower and matte/satin black upper on the cab although this is ways out.
-Restore the interior I want it took look very clean with just a classic stereo, and no electric anything!

I have also attached some pics of my 71'. Please let me know what you guys think!

[lofthouse_gt]

Here are some more pics. I took these right after removing some bedrails that looked horrible. I should have done before and after, but I was just to anxious to get to work.

[lofthouse_gt]

And the last ones I have for now.

[1ATony]

Welcome to the site.

[luifer76]

Welcome to the site....

[late68]

[lofthouse_gt]

Thanks guys I appreciate it!