New Member and Truck

[Dieselmech52]

Hello, Im a new member here and I love the site. I have already found some good information on here. Well, I want to start by showing you my truck. Its a 76 Chevy stepper with a fairly stout 350 backed by a muncie M21 close ratio 4speed (originally a 3 on the tree). Manual steering and brakes, no AC, pretty much your bare bones beater. But it does have gauges now. I do have big plans for the truck though. Just need a little funding first.

[old Rusty C10]

That is a hot looking truck ! welcome aboard and what are the rest of the plans for it?

[Dieselmech52]

Thank you. Well, I have a 383 rotating assembly in my shop and a new set of World motown cylinder heads, so Im going to get a 4bolt main block and build the 383 for it. Will probable run a tunnel ram with dual quads. It has drop coils on the front and I will most likely put drop spindles and shackles for a nicer stance. Some fatty tires for the rear, and of course paint(color undecided). And will definitely keep my 4speed, best thing I ever did to that truck. I want it to smoke a ford lightning in the 1/4. Its gotta be fast and look good, but I also want to still use it as a truck. I dont want to have to worry about getting a scratch on it or something.

[C10-Driver]

Welcome to the boards from Canada.

[redrat]

Welcome from Oklahoma. Good looking truck. Sounds like you have some good plans in the future. Keep us all posted. We love pictures

[Jerry Jones]

Welcome from Northern California

[streetstar]

making that thing shiny again looks like an aggressive undertaking --- love the high hp engine idea though -- you could put it in the weeds and run it with the dog dish hubcaps and everything -- it would be like a modern "2-lane Blacktop" stealth mobile (an old hot rod movie)

[OJOE]

welcome, from montgomery, al

[spudz]

welcome from the carolinas

[old Rusty C10]

well while you have some excellent plans there, you gotta keep us updated with lots and lots of pics!

[N2TRUX]

Welcome to the hood...

[Ric83]

Welcome, and nice truck. Def. keep us posted on the progress and the pix.

[knightlife]

welcome to the boards...

[68GMC454]

howdy, welcome from utah..cool truck, i like the plans you have for your truck...

[chev74]

Originally Posted by Dieselmech52

Its gotta be fast and look good, but I also want to still use it as a truck. I dont want to have to worry about getting a scratch on it or something.

If you still want to use it as a truck, you better get that bed cover off of there!! and dropping it sure eliminates how much you can pull with it

[Dieselmech52]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. The bed cover is off of it now. Those pictures aren't very recent. And im not going to be using it for towing, thats what my diesel is for. Its going to be my shop truck for parts running. Will post new pics soon

[chev74]

you plannig on redoing the wood bed? nice oak wood with stainless strips?

[Dieselmech52]

For sure. The previous owner attempted it but failed miserably. New oak wood with polyurethane on all but 2 slats. Why he left 2 bare wood I dont know. But he did put in new polished stripes and polished side stripes over the rusted out original ones. My uncle is a extremely talented carpenter so I will get him to rip some new planks and finish them for me. I dont know If I want to go dark or light though

[chev74]

depends on the color of the truck!!

[Dieselmech52]

your exactly right, and im unsure of the color also. Might even keep it satin black like streetstar said (it would be like a modern "2-lane Blacktop" stealth mobile (an old hot rod movie))

[chev74]

black stepsides sure do look nice (cough cough); i may be a little bias though

[Thumpin455]

All righty then! Another 76 in flat black with some rusty doors.. Feels very familiar. Welcome, its a nice place to be new.

More power is always a good thing. Consider Sunset Orange Metallic, mine needs buffed for it to really work, but it looks good when it shines. Basic flat black works good too, and doesnt show the scratches as bad.

Strange that dropping a truck would make it unable to tow as well or as much weight. Had a C30 dually on my trailer behind mine and it pulled fine. It pulls my 4200lb GTO effortlessly, and you barely notice the street/strip Formula back there. Of course my trailer isnt poorly designed and doesnt need a vast amount of tongue weight to pull straight. Sure I throw a couple engines in the back and its on the axle, but it wasnt lowered right in the first place..

The problem with dropping it if you want it to move quickly is getting the weight to transfer rearward, and keeping the pinion angle usable. Too much power means too easy to spin, especially in a truck. When you lower it, the front end wont come up as easy, and the pinion angle does fun things that dont make for a quick launch. Not that it cant be done, it just needs to be addressed.

Cool idea and direction. Waiting with great anticipation of more pics..

[85gmcguy]

Welcome from Asheville, NC!
Nice looking truck. Sounds like you've got plans and are headed in the right direction. Stroker motors are SO nice. Lots of good info and advice on this board, I always look here first for good ideas to steal....