Got one.

[68Timber]

Best and cheapest is to cut a patch and weld it in but if you don't have a welder I'd leave it. It's fairly hidden and not hurting anything.

[eighteenninetytwo]

Truck lowered to factory height. Pics to follow.

[eighteenninetytwo]

Lowered to factory - before and after.
Also started to clean out the interior to prep for lining. Found some unpleasantness inside, but more detail on that in next post.

[eighteenninetytwo]

Spent this weekend on seats. I got some beaten up old poop brown original seats but they had all the plastic and the brackets intact. sent the seats to the upholsterer(can't do that mysefl ) and focused on the parts I CAN do.
Started by sanding down and removing as much rust as possible, quick spray of Rust inhibitor, Rustoleum black primer and then using rustoleum bed liner to finish. Also used SEM to repaint the black vinyl set backs.

[Ski-me]

Looks great! I like the lower stance now. It looked a little goofy with the rock star rims!

[eighteenninetytwo]

Been picking up some wee things on ebay recently for the trim. I'm trying to do this with original stuff that I can fix up up as much as possible. Rear fender emblems, first pic half done and before I cleaned up the paint that has spilled over the edges of the lettering. Second pic is with both rear emblems finished and the two front fender emblems just arrived pre-clean up and painting. The yellow was a match with the the original yellowy mustard color of the interior Cheyenne emblem I have on the dash (it's Ford chrome yellow), and seems a little lighter than the original paint on the exterior emblems but I guess it could have faded over time. The red is 1973 GMC Crimson red.

[68Timber]

Looks good! Did you paint the emblems on the K5 badges too?

[eighteenninetytwo]

No they haven't been touched yet. They are just as I received them from ebay. The yellow looks a bit brighter on the new painted one because they are perpendicular to the camera angle and reflected the flash a bit.

[eighteenninetytwo]

Quick addition to the refurbing of the emblems and the seat bases. Just got the first seat back from the upholsterer, attached the resprayed back and they look nice.

[lowrodderchev]

wow those look really good

[68Timber]

Looks good! Is that bed liner on the seat backs?

[eighteenninetytwo]

Its SEM vinyl paint on the backs. They were a typical 1970's poopy brown color beforehand. Seat covering is leather as being in CA the vinyl BURNS alot more when it gets hot. I'm doing the interior in black so it's easy to paint original items and some stuff is available now in black.

[eighteenninetytwo]

And completed. All original but reconditioned passenger side seat and frames reading for bolting into the truck when the interior is ready for it.

[Ski-me]

Looks really good! Can't wait to see it installed. Really sharp.

Are you doing new carpet too?

[eighteenninetytwo]

Carpets when I get the welding completed on the rust in the footwells. Just about to post a thread on that asking for advice actually.

[Ski-me]

I used "stockinteriors.com" but it ultimately came from ACC. I think a lot of major vendors get their carpet from ACC. Find the lowest price, verify they are sourcing from ACC, and then ask for sample set of colors. Then take that sample and match it up with an area that wasn't exposed to sun or wear. Like under the 4WD lever bezel, under seat or under door sill chrome trim.

I also added the tar backing to help with sound dampening too.

Lookin' sharp!

[eighteenninetytwo]

This is the last weekend I have to get stuff done and take parts OFF the 75 before it goes to the bodyshop for ding repair, some welding and a respray. I have the tailgate off, interior stripped completely of trim apart from dash and dashpad (which I failed to remove last weekend). The seats I got are upholstered and ready to fit, roll bar in and all I THINK I have left to do is label all the boxes of parts for the bodyshop to fit exterior trim etc and remove the dash and dash pad (didn't get it done last weekend), and consolidate some of the wiring spaghetti in the engine bay. Can anyone think of any gotchas that they have experienced at this point in the process before?

[Ski-me]

Do as much labor on removal of items as you can. Or you end up just paying a body shop to do stuff you can do. Didn't know you were going for a re-spray...nice!

Try to protect anything you don't want oversprayed (thinking out loud now). What comes to my mind are the tires/wheels. If they are keepers, be sure they get covered well.

Sweet work!

[eighteenninetytwo]

Off to the bodyshop guy this morning. Still humming and haaaing over the final colors. Definitely the white sidebars, but I'm debating whether to go original Crimson Red or another color?

[diponyou]

Looking good man. I approve the suspension change.

[68Timber]

I'd have to vote the original crimson, can't go wrong there.

[eighteenninetytwo]

While the dings and stuff get beaten out, I've been finishing some of the trim refurbs.
40 years old and pretty rough on close inspection but from 2 feet they'll pass.

[68Timber]

Those look good, nice work.

[lowrodderchev]

they look great can I send mine next

[motornut]

Originally Posted by eighteenninetytwo

While the dings and stuff get beaten out, I've been finishing some of the trim refurbs.
40 years old and pretty rough on close inspection but from 2 feet they'll pass.

they look great