my 1971 longbed project

[waylon.brown1]

hey everyone, im new to this board, my name is waylon and i am currently serving my 2nd tour in iraq with the army! i have a 71 longbed that my dad picked up for me pretty cheap, its in pretty good shape and has a lot of new parts on it but theres a lot that i want to do to it! while in iraq ive been ordering parts and dad will install some for me and i will finish it off when i get home in september! i want to go with a 70's style, i was thinkin a 2/3 drop and some 15" torq thrust D's to stay nostalgic. but i really want to update the interior with modern luxuries from a newer chevy truck and also a 6.0 from the same! these are just ideas and any advice would be greatly appreciated! oh and can anyone tell me how to post pics??

[eagleuh1]

Thanks for serving first, and theres lots of Ls builds here with lots of good ideas. Get your order in with boyds for an in tank pump rear fuel tank now. Hope to see your build In September. Get some pix up. Jim

[waylon.brown1]

id love to put up some pics, but not sure how on here!

[Luis_gz06]

Originally Posted by waylon.brown1

id love to put up some pics, but not sure how on here!

Just press "Go Advance" button on the bottom next to the "Post Quick Reply" button, and then go a little bit more down and you'll see the button that says "Manage Attachments", press that!! Then, a box will pop up saying to browse. You'll see 5 browse buttons. Then after browsing pics, press submit reply. Hope this helps.

[waylon.brown1]

thanks luis, i figured that out but another problem, all my pics are too large and im not sure if i can resize them or not! lol not sure how to do that either!

[waylon.brown1]

ok so i found an online image resizer! here is ole yeller.

[stich626]

nice and thanks for your service..

[waylon.brown1]

picked up a bunch of chrome replacement parts for the dash today on LMC truck.com... ac vents, washer and hdlt knobs, steering column parts, etc. really makes me wish i was home to work on it! september cant come fast enough!!

[waylon.brown1]

did a little cut and paste to see how low i want the truck! i think i got it!

[VA72C10]

Nice truck and thank you for your service.


The drop you did looks great..but FYI it's more like a 6/8 drop which will necessitate airbags. Not a bad thing, but I don't think you'd want to run static that low

[waylon.brown1]

thanks for the advice! ive had a ton of muscle cars but this is my first truck and also will be my first lowering experience other than all the springs my dad cut on his cars when i was a kid! how low can i get it with a static drop and still be a functional driver? i got a wife and 3 youngens on a crappy army salary so lets just say the budget is tight!!

[VA72C10]

You can actually do bags cheap and run them as static with schrader valves where you can still dump them at shows/cruise ins and then fill them back up to drive (if you have a friend with or you have a compressor-or are close enough to a tire fill spot)

On static drop, about 5.5/7 is as low as you'd want to go. And on the rear you'll need a c-notch of the frame to go that low. The tried and true drop that will work fine all around without a c-notch (unless you plan heavy hauling in the bed) will be the 4/6 or 4.5/6 drop. That will require a drop spindle in the front.

Cheapest would be a 2/4 or 3/5 drop with just springs and shocks (maybe shock relocators on the rear)

Check with our suspension marketplace for good deals and/or look on ebay. I just saw springs sell for $70 shipped brand new on ebay...

[waylon.brown1]

awesome!! the 4/6 drop will probably be the route i take as it seems to be the most economical and i have big plans for many more upgrades. bringing it down to earth is first on my list though! any suggestions for a little tighter suspension to take out some body roll?? (again, not lookin for anything too elaborate, just some simple upgrades!) and thanks again, all help and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[VA72C10]

a sway bar in the front and an adjustable panhard bar in the rear will help with the overall performance of the suspension....but just doing lowering springs with the proper matched shocks and going through your ball joints/tie rods, etc and making sure they are up to par will make the biggest improvement.

And a 3/5 kit will be much more economical, (no new spindles and you don't HAVE to have the super trac bar in the rear or worry about a notch)....but I think you're wanting to go a little lower than that

[waylon.brown1]

ok cool, im gonna investigate the prices on the 3/5 drop kit and the sway/panhard setup! cant say thanks enough!!

[dan42]

X2 on what Jonathan said about the 3/5 - and welcome to board from the left coast - thanks for your service to our country. I have a 2/4 on my shortbed and the ride's a little harsh, but all I've done so far is change the springs and add a front swaybar. You have a really nice looking truck - is that the original paint? More pictures, more pictures, we are picture whores here!

[waylon.brown1]

ok, a little more about the truck.... while here in iraq i decided i wanted a project for when i get home other than my usual camaros and chevelles! so i started lookin on CL for a truck, found that i like the style of the 67-72 the best and told dad to keep a look out for one! just so happens a friend of his was hurtin for money right before christmas so he offered up ole yeller to my dad for 3500 (3000 less than what he had it on CL for), well, dad never pays askin price for anything so he of course low balled the guy and offered him 2500 and they ended up settling on a price of 2700 bucks.

its a solid truck with no rot except for some surface rust in the bed. no its not the original paint but it is the original color as far as i know. i can tell that it had new rocker panels installed but they are the only replacement sheet metal on the truck, the rest is original. it has all new chrome trim, grille, bumpers, etc. new tires, most of the interior is new, new dual exhaust, although too quiet for my taste, it has disc fronts, power steering, a/c, but no power brakes so i will be adding that soon.

the plans for the truck are to turn it into a good handling, reliable, comfortable daily driver (it also needs to turn some heads!!)

here are a couple more pics.........

[VA72C10]

That was an absolute STEAL!!!!!!

The truck looks fantastic. Probably would bring 7-8K around here....maybe more!!!

[waylon.brown1]

thanks va72c10, yea when i went home on r&r and saw it for the first time i was very shocked as to the condition, i even thought about sellin it for a profit but tooooo many ideas in my head for it!

[dan42]

No, keep that old girl, you would regret the day you sold it for sure - you definitely stole that thing. Keep us posted on your progress!

[waylon.brown1]

can someone tell me where to find the for sale section of this board?? im lookin to buy and sell some stuff, or trade!

[Fesser]

Just scroll up to the top, on the left click on "Home" then scroll down and you'll eventually see the classifieds. Be safe.

[waylon.brown1]

Originally Posted by Fesser

Just scroll up to the top, on the left click on "Home" then scroll down and you'll eventually see the classifieds. Be safe.

thanks fesser! now i cant stop lookin for the parts i need! haha

[Fesser]

From the looks of your truck, you don't need much. Very nice.

[waylon.brown1]

dad went to the local annual auto show (carl casper custom auto show) and while there he picked up a new emblem for my new grille! (thanks dad) on the 15th ill be purchasing 3/5 lowerin springs, dynomat for the interior and a new steering wheel! ( i hate that 17" wheel)