1971 Stepper!!

[pbjsammich]

Already introduced myself in the welcome area. Picking this up tomorrow:







Owner claims this used to be a work truck up in Washington. 6cyl 4 speed. Tank has already been relocated to under the bed. I haven't seen her yet in person, but the pictures indicate the body to be in pretty decent shape. Runs and drives.

Not too sure what direction I'm heading in with this. My full inspection will determine what's needed. I have a Goodwrench 350 sitting in the garage that will likely make it's way under the hood. I'm sure I'll be doing a rebuild of the steering and suspension. Future mods will likely involve a drop, however I must say she looks very "authentic" sitting at the current stance. Time will tell!!

First things first....I'm 6'3", so I'm going to have to do some alterations inside to make it a little more comfy.

Hope to have some more pictures this weekend!!!!

[no moa]

welcome, sweet truck. i look forward to see more pics and what direction you head in. I have a 72 stepper i'm stuffing a 454 in, Should be interesting. lol

[pbjsammich]

Originally Posted by no moa

welcome, sweet truck. i look forward to see more pics and what direction you head in. I have a 72 stepper i'm stuffing a 454 in, Should be interesting. lol

I'd love to do a big block, but kind of hard to pass up the SBC sitting in my garage. We'll see!!

[no moa]

Small blocks are great, I'm doing a BB only because I have one. I was doing an LT1 out of a caprice untill I got the BB. Good luck!
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[David67]

niiiiiice! Welcome from Spring!

[gearys 5600]

Nice truck !

[pbjsammich]

Got her home and cleaner it up a bit this weekend. Nice surprises included finding the wood bed in decent shape underneath the diamond plate floor. Also impressed with the fuel cell set-up under the bed.

Still not running very well quite yet. Drained the old fuel and put in new, replaced a few gaskets here and there, new fuel filter. Ordered a carb rebuild kit. Going to play with the timing tonight and make sure all my plug wires are in working order. She idles pretty well, just stumbles under any kind of load. Minimal funds going into getting the sixxer running as I have my sbc standing by for the install.

Overall in better shape than the PO pictures showed. Paint is in pretty good shape. A few cracks here and there, but gives it character. Small rust bubbles on both doors at the bottom.

Heading to outbacktruckparts this weekend to find me some new bumpers and grill. A few quick pics.

Hoping the TX heatwave breaks here soon. Too damn hot to be working in the garage!!

[pbjsammich]

[pbjsammich]

Quick update to my slow progress with the truck. She's finally running well enough to get her out on the road and assist with some parts hauling over to my storage unit. I upgraded to an ebay HEI and also found a rebuilt carb for it off craigslist for cheap. Runs like a champ now and I'm gaining confidence to get her out on longer and longer road trips. Drives and stops pretty well. Solid truck so far!

Picked up my missing cap for the spare off ebay. Been replacing small items here and there with the help of the classifieds section. She's having an identity crisis at the moment. I really like the look of the 69-70 grill and bumper, so I'm trying to slowly swap her over. Found a grille locally pretty cheap and on the prowl for a new front bumper. Before I get too much ridicule for the rear bumper, it was almost required. The fuel tank was removed from the cab and a generic fuel cell and skid plate were installed by the previous owner. It hangs low enough that a stock bumper won't hide it. So I found this one on the cheap for now. I actually think it may look cool when it's lowered. It's effective for now, and that's what counts.

My latest craigslist find is an original bench seat to replace the somewhat strange high-back bench seat that's currently in the truck. Hoping the bench will give me some leg room back. Going to pick up some blankets to cover it and keep things simple. Oh, and an aftermarket steering wheel was installed to help give me some room as well.

Anyway, onto the pics:










Near future probably will involve a 4/6 drop kit, front bumper and some new tires. Also want to paint the wheels black. Once I get the look right, then I'll be tearing into the engine swap. She may just make it on the Hot Rod Power Tour this year!

[pbjsammich]

Had a day this weekend to work on the bench seat swap out. Thought I'd include a little write-up with it.

Decided on the mexican blanket look...goes well with the direction this truck is heading in. Picked one up at a mexican market in San Antonio for $20. FYI, this style is actually called a "serape." Largest one I could find. I didn't actually take a tape measure to it but it should be somewhere around 8' x 6' and JUST enough to cover the bench.

I laid the blanket out and centered it up, giving a little extra on the bottom and where the crease is in the middle. I took a 1" dia piece of PVC pipe I had laying around and stuffed in in the crease to keep things tight in the middle.

I had read on this forum of another guy using zip ties to keep it in place, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I folded the blanket over on the edges and/or wadded it up a bit and used an ice pick to poke holes and thread my zip ties through. Made some folds on the sides and just worked my way around. Made some cuts for my seat belts and made the swap.

Blanket seems to stay put pretty well. I installed it slightly stretched so we'll see how she looks after some use. These blankets are pretty sturdy, but we'll see just how well the zip tie method works out. I figure if I get some slack in it I'll install some springs around that PVC pipe I have in the crease.

I'm pretty happy with the results:

[SeanHickman]

I love the blanket! You couldn't have found a better seat cover