79 build 4x4 conversion basically finished... With some pictures.

[bikes&bowties]

To start off im 17 and have taught myself everything i know with little help. But ive grown up on a farm (for all you people who may understand why i know my way around a shop). All the parts i have had. And the farm has an abundance of metal so all but one piece was had on hand which explains how overbuilt the parts are and the angle iron... I had never done or got pointers on body work until after I did it haha.

Start off with an old service truck. It had been repainted once horribly..


Took the bed off, which was bolted and welded on very very well,


Now the hardest part of these builds is taking the crossmember and front end out. Lots and lots of hard to reach bolts... 2 hours later I had this... Also notice the different grill... Much better than the broken to **** one...



Now I don't have pictures of this because I wasn't planning on a build thread but next was to fix that insane exhaust leak and add some long tube headers. Turns out the passenger side manifold was missing half the bolts and had no gaskets installed.... Haha

So next up was building the spring mounts as it was easier (maybe not cheaper for the steel tho) than removing them from another pickup.


You can see the pile of parts I had for it. Organization is always good when you have a tiny shop and to many projects. Shackles, blocks, u bolts, steering box blah blah blah



Well here's the crossmember... It's easier for me to build one. And use the 2wd engine mounts on it than changing everything.

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[bikes&bowties]

Now the front spring mounts on. They are adjustable. For shackle angle and possibly different length springs...


So the 52's ride smooth but are way to flexy for road use. I built a crossmember for a swaybar and this is what we have... It was only red then. Now it's black and blends in..

Got a bed for it... Pretty straight and free of course...


Lots of sanding.... Notice the nasty mudflaps. Yuck! The back end Doesn't sag. Just the slope it's on...


Some primer after a lot of body work. It was a huge learning experience and I got to buy a lot more tools (if you are on garage journal you know that's a good thing).


That front fenders body line was destroyed. With some metal bending and help from bondo and a belt sander it's mostly back to good haha


It now has black wheels and hubcaps all around with 31's. It will have 35's on Micky thompson classics in the summer!


A sport bumper to come for the back and lots of little things. Right now the person is just driving it. And the list of needs gets longer.
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