Resurection of a project

[StingRay]

Well after over 15 years on a back burner I am going to build me a short box.

We moved to an acreage 15 years ago so I could have the space to do this kind of stuff. Along the way I finished the shop, built and repaired a bunch of drivers for myself, wife and friends, worked on the house, the yard, family stuff, health stuff and list goes on. I'm getting old and I want to do this while I still can LOL.

The back story is I picked up this unfinished project fresh out of the body shop from a neighbor. Paid too much too. When I stripped off the primer on what was a nice a looking cab I found a nightmare. Everything I bought was junk. I junked or sold most of it over the years but had the cab media blasted and started the metal work before we got the acreage. The big stuff I got done with lots of pics. I still have lots of smaller stuff to do but the 80/20 rule comes into play and the little stuff is still lots of work. The floors and cab corners are done. The rockers are ready to be final welded and some of the under body needs a little more welding. I will take the bottom corners off of the doors and replace with new material to make sure that no rust ever becomes a problem there.

The up side to the stalled project is how much has changed since I envisioned a short box. Instead of a small block it will get a 6.0 and 4L80E that I have for it. I have acquired multiples of lots of parts and have factory A/C, tilt, 67-68 buddy buckets, tach dash, power windows and locks, delay wipers, AM/FM and more. I picked up repop bed sides before the moved and have a real SWB frame that I've had for that long as well. SWB frames are very rare up here.

I built a rotisserie last summer and a cab/box lifter as well. This weekend I got the cab onto the rotisserie and even started tinkering a little.

Unfortunately there will be a few small lawn and garden projects that I need to clear up and sell to clear space and generate cash before I can really dig in. I'll also be parting my Old 72 GMC for what I can use and sell. It's just too far gone. I drove it daily for about 15 years. This was to be it's replacement but newer stuff took the roll of daily driver. This one will be lucky if I let it out on rainy days LOL.

And Damn it collected a LOT of dust in that amount of time!

[LockDoc]

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Good to see you back at it. More people than you think have the same scenario they have gone through, including me.

Keep us posted on the progress....

LockDoc

[35boulder]

I expect after 15 years of thinking about your plan its going to be a nice truck. Hope to follow along on your project.

[StingRay]

The plan is SWB, GMC with a 4/6 static drop, 6.0/4L80E, 3.73 Posi. No side trim and factory 507 light blue in color. It's the same as the 69 I had as a kid. I will get the body laser straight and I'll work the panel gaps pretty hard without resorting to major surgery. I'm going with the 67-68 hood. The interior will be pretty much stock components from a few different years with modern functionality. I like the looks of most of the stock stuff. Wheel and tire choices will be made when it's done and on the road. It'll roll on rally wheels I have until I figure that part out. I'm partial to Torque Thrusts but my mind can be changed to something not so main stream. There are some other really neat vintage style wheels I'm seeing around. I've had the good fortune of being able to attend SEMA the last 6 years so I've been keeping on eye out for what I like. Yes I've had lots of time to think about it and to acquire parts too. Not all of them by any means but made a good dent.

I put my 72 out to Pasture about 10 years ago when the body pretty much fell apart. I've had my 69 one ton to keep me from total withdrawal. It needs some TLC too but it'll get some love during this process as all the paint and body stuff is going on it's easier to work some other little stuff in once the tools and materials are on deck.