chevy single cab, complete build

[Andrew]

Alright, it's about time I start posting some build pics as I go along.

Just to introduce myself and my truck, my name's Andrew and I've loved desert racing and off-roading since before I could drive. I'm 21 years old and since I've been 16 I've had a slough of cars/trucks, but inevitably I always wind up wanting a truck again cuz I love off roading.

Well, it just so happens that about 3 months ago I get this insatiable itch in my head to do a complete build, and once that itch was there it WOULD NOT go away. This itch gave fruition to me buying a project truck I found through this very site, race-dezert. I originally bought the truck because it already had a cab cage, bedcage, and it also came with a trussed ford 9", some tires, bedsides, and a 350 block and transmission. Off the bat, I thought the truck had potential, but as I learned more and more about fabrication and roll cage design, I quickly decided to ditch ALL fab work that was done to it and start from scratch again. This is where the fun started =)

This is her, the day I was loading her up on the trailer


You can see how far the cab cage comes from the actual cab. 6"= no good at all


And of course, the bedcage. At first glance it might not look too bad, but notice the weird shock towers, and bars that don't really serve a purpose... not to mention all the welds sucked... and it was crooked. lol. And the point where the 3rd link met with the axle was weak too... I've decided to junk it all and go with a redesigned 4 link.


So this is where I started

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[Andrew]

So since it looked like that, I've plasma'd out anything and everything that came in the truck. Bye bye to bad fab work. Also cut the frame off in the front and added some much needed paint to take care of the eye-sore.

Now comes some pics of what I've done so far. But before I do that, I'll go over the game plan for the truck:

Front suspension: Centered arms, trophy truck front end. Coilovers and triple bypasses. Bumps too, of course. Approximately 24-26" travel

Rear suspension: 4 link. Coilovers, triple bypasses, bumps. 30" travel

Engine: (changing constantly, but for the moment..) 383 stroked motor, carb'd (truck avenger), high compression heads, maybe some other internals, etc. Hoping for 500 solid, reliable horsepower

Transmission: Built turbo 400

Wheels/tires: Beadlocks and 37" tires... hoping for bfg projects... depends on what I find at the time

Rear axle: Trussed ford 9" for now. Probably gunna run gearing close to 6:1. I want it torquey in case I want to take it to the sand also =)

So anyways, on with some pictures...

Front facing view of the cab. Firewall's the next thing to go probably sometime next week


Side view of the cab, cab cage, and bedcage started. Tire in picture is a 35"... I will run 37's


A peak at the redesigned cab cage. I think it came out a lot better then the old one. It's still not 100% done. I'd like to add some more support bars, truss's, and probably make an "X" where the door is... we'll see


Better view of the work I have done on the badcage so far. It'll look and function much better than the old one.


As I'm moving along in the build, I feel like I'm getting much better at tube intersections. I'm learning!

[LIL ROG]

looks good man keep up the good work!

[ChromolyKid]

I remember seeing this truck in the classifieds... It's looking a lot better now though! Keep up the good work!

[bean dip]

Looks good, keep it up and keep us posted.

[Alex Paterson]

Looks good. I always see those projects for sale on RDC and think to myself that it would be easier to start fresh

Alex

[Mark Newhan]

Looking good... Keep at it!

[glamiskid395]

that looks good
ill keep up with your build, as im doing my 98 chevy also, but not cutting off the front end.

[Brock_Beeson]

at that point why keep the 30" of frame rail?

[Andrew]

Thanks guys. All of your posts are really encouraging. It's my first build, so I'm very open to criticism/pointers, but I'd like to think I'm off to a pretty good start. I've been reading up a lot, doing my homework, talking to as many people as I know, and getting a lot of good advice. We all have to start somewhere, right?

And to answer CrownRanger, you have a very valid point. For a while I thought about just ditching the frame and going complete tube-chassis

The reason I'm sticking with the frame under the cab is cuz the frame rails are from a pre-75 vehicle, so if I keep them it means smog-exemption =)

That's right, when I'm done, my goal is to have it street legal

btw, just so you guys know, it will probably take about another 3-5 months to finish, cuz I'm a working man. I'll try to update as much as possible though. Thanks again for all the encouraging words