My "Official" Stepside Restoration Thread and LS Swap 2021

[Greg72]

Glenn, I gotta know, do you think if your truck was a crew cab that was a little quieter and had a nicer ride that you would have driven it more?

Basically, what are some things you would have done differently if you knew then what you know now?

MGisi,

Keep in mind that us New England boys have a thing called "salted roads" every winter..... Michigan boys do too.

If you build a "nice" vehicle and then DD it year round, you end up with a "rusty" DD in a couple of years. It's just not worth it.

That said, having a nice finished truck to drive in the summer months, I'd rock that thing every chance I got!!!!



-G

 

[Chevy305]

Wood bed kit and one of these would be sweet. View attachment 192517

As far as tie downs, you still could add some nice looking ones and have a nice bed overallView attachment 192518

Like these stainless pop-up ones.

I really like these stainless pop ups, do you have a link to them and the tire carrier?

 

[Chevy305]

Glenn, I gotta know, do you think if your truck was a crew cab that was a little quieter and had a nicer ride that you would have driven it more?

When I had the 78 I almost never drove it. Mostly because it rode so bad and was so noisy. Not to mention it didn't look too good... It was so rough and loud that my wife didn't like to ride in it. She would, but she preferred not to. Then, take into account the lack of space inside, and the thing was a last ditch option for us to go anywhere in.

That's what trying to build off of for my crew cab project. I got extra space right of the bat, I'll do whatever I have to to get a good ride, and I'll be doing extensive sound deadening with a quieter exhaust. My hope is that I won't end up with a truck that sits! Obviously for you it's best for your truck to sit through the winter but that's different. I want a truck that when me and the wife are headed out some place I can say, "wanna take the crew?" she'll say, "sure!" instead of "I guess". And I want a truck that doesn't beat you up when you drive it. Doesn't need to be a caddy, but it does need to not kick your arse over every bump!

Basically, what are some things you would have done differently if you knew then what you know now?

Ah I see you've edited your post.
What would I have done differently knowing what I know now?

- LS swap over the 355 that I built
- I would have gone custom leafs
- Painted the body all at once rather than piecing it together over a few years

But really not much else. I'm actually very happy with where the truck is now.

 

[Deuling]

I still dig the bed Glenn, function over form on that application.

Those fancy wood beds are really nice, but more for a vehicle that sits in a garage most of the time other than to hit up a car show. Id feel terrible loading anything in the back of one and scratching up the nice metal runners and or the wood.

Although I think your metal bedside covers would look way cooler with some beads rolled into them..........

 

[82355]

Ah I see you've edited your post.
What would I have done differently knowing what I know now?

- LS swap over the 355 that I built
- I would have gone custom leafs
- Painted the body all at once rather than piecing it together over a few years

But really not much else. I'm actually very happy with where the truck is now.

How about AC?

Martin

 

[campfire]

Man everyone hating on the plywood.

I still like the practicality of it because I can screw eye bolts into it anywhere and have an infinite amount of tie down options and also not worry about sliding stuff in and out of it although it really never hauls anything anymore especially since I picked up my '12 Silverado.

I still dig the bed Glenn, function over form on that application.

Those fancy wood beds are really nice, but more for a vehicle that sits in a garage most of the time other than to hit up a car show. Id feel terrible loading anything in the back of one and scratching up the nice metal runners and or the wood.

As a fellow owner of a wooden bed, I'm gonna agree with Adam. In the spring of 2012 I installed a beautiful varnished-oak bed into my Big Blue truck. Pic from the build thread:

I then promptly ran into the practical considerations that Adam mentioned. So a few weeks after the build was completed I went down to the local farm store and bought a 4'x8' mat made out of 1/2" thick rubber to protect the wood. It has never been removed. I haven't seen the pretty wood since then. Instead, it looks like this:






Every few months I peel it back a little bit just to make sure that the wood is still down there. Here is what it looks like today:









You can tell that 4'x8' is smaller than the actual size of the bed, but it has protected most of the wood. I'm quite pleased with how well it has been working, given how much faster the exposed wood is deteriorating (this truck has never had a garage to keep the elements away).

And, yes, the paint has picked up many scratches in the last few years. Yet another reason that I'm glad I covered the boards.


So if you like the practicality of plywood, keeping it is a fine idea. Much less hassle than trying (in vain!) to keep oak looking pretty if you are thinking you will be hauling stuff.

That being said, I have no regrets about choosing oak instead of plywood. I still think it looks awesome, even full of leaves and dirt.

 

[campfire]

MGisi,

Keep in mind that us New England boys have a thing called "salted roads" every winter..... Michigan boys do too.

If you build a "nice" vehicle and then DD it year round, you end up with a "rusty" DD in a couple of years. It's just not worth it.

That said, having a nice finished truck to drive in the summer months, I'd rock that thing every chance I got!!!!



-G

This. Big difference between "cool truck for summer cruising" and "truck I wish to watch dissolve on a daily basis." Even a lot of the the 10-year-old vehicles are rusted out pretty badly here. Finding something 20, 30, or 40 years old that still has a floorboard is an interesting adventure. Kinda like hunting big game.

And putting lots of time into restoring your big game trophy...just to watch it dissolve before your eyes... As Greg said, it's just not worth it.

 

[Chevy305]

How about AC?

Martin

I really don't think its that worth it.


One mod that I'd really like to do that I haven't mentioned before is the H3 brake upgrade. When my tires wear out sometime soon, I'm planning on upgrading to a 16" or 17" wheel and new tires so that I can fit the bigger brakes. One of my complaints I've always had with my truck was that the brakes are pretty bad and quick stops are sketchy.

Adam,
I agree with you, some sweet beads on the stainless bedsides would be badass!

 

[82355]

I really don't think its that worth it.

Not for you, but to make the old lady happier about riding in it?

Martin

 

[Deuling]

Adam,
I agree with you, some sweet beads on the stainless bedsides would be badass!

Did you say beads? What about some dimples too??? (foams at mouth )

 

[beags86]

I really like these stainless pop ups, do you have a link to them and the tire carrier?

Home depot carry's them. They are actually for stake pockets. I was kind of eyeing them up on day while I was wasting time in the depot. I thought I could just recess them in the boards.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Better-Bui...2EmeOl1amKpnSjg2dVDjrBoCU2Lw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

The tire carrier is just a basic Baja styled one. I pulled off a Google search. But I think the whole thing would come together nicely in your truck.

http://www.amazon.com/Fabtech-FTT10002BK-Angled-Spare-Mount/dp/B000CMD3HI

There are bunch of different ones out there if you search Baja style spare tire mount.

The last few posts crack me up. A whole bunch a posts about wood beds and using them and getting beat up and mall drawer status when he literally said he doesn't haul anything anymore since he got his '12.... Lol

 

[Chevy305]

Some minor updates:

Got the truck out of storage at the end of March only to have 2 snow storms still come. What a screwy winter

It was great to be driving it again but there were some things that needed attention. First the gas gauge stopped working, the rear brakes were groaning, the tcase was leaking, needed a new parking brake cable, a recall on the short throw shifter, and the lower radiator hose started leaking again.

First thing I did was pull the drums and inspect the brakes. They looked fine to me but the passenger side had some slight contamination on the shoes so I changed them out and readjusted both drums. The groaning is gone and the pedal feels a little better but I still get a pronounced clunk from the rear every time I hit the brakes. I deduced that it was the slop in the Detroit Locker causing it. It's annoying but I guess it's the nature of the beast.



Parking brake cable was easy enough so I dove into the tcase which threw some curve balls at me. See my separate thread here: https://ck5.com/forums/threads/np208-reseal.325564/#post-3631805
I basically split the case, the internals looked good so I cleaned it up, new seals, new rtv, new output bushing, new slip yoke, and new Spicer ujoints.





Onto the gas gauge. After troubleshooting every possible thing it wound up being the sending unit... damn
So I dropped the tank and down comes a crap load of sand imported from Michigan



So I installed a new sending unit modified (again) for my Walbro fuel pump:



I've sent the shifter out for the recall and The lower radiator hose will have to come up with something better.

 

[Deuling]

Haha dune sand

 

[campfire]

What sort of recall is on the shifter?

 

[Chevy305]

What sort of recall is on the shifter?

There's a long term wear problem on the end of the stub where it contacts the actual shift forks. You send it in and the they'll replace the affected stubs with a hardened one. This only affects the NV4500 short throw shifters. Any new ones for sale should be upgraded already.
Mine only has a few thousand miles on it and after I pulled it I could see some wear. I'm very happy with the upfront customer service about making sure they fix a minor defect in their product and keeping their customers happy.

Plus now this gives me a perfect opportunity to come up with a better shifter boot situation.

 

[Chevy305]

Finally more progress!

So my universal marine grade lower radiator hose started leaking on me at the water pump again. I am so sick of messing with this lower radiator hose! It turns out the sharp turn into the water pump is just too much for any universal hose. The only solution I can come up with is splicing two molded radiator hoses together. It actually came out not half bad. The hose isn't binding anywhere and isn't touching the frame either. I got the splice piece from Jegs.




I also gave some attention to the filler neck situation. After having dropped the tank I noticed the filler neck hoses needed to be replaced. I was hoping to find a better solution than the flexible stainless radiator hose I had in there for many years. However, finding a proper filler neck and hose for a driver's side stepside bed is impossible. I ordered every filler neck LMC has and I still ended up going with the same one I had which was for a passenger side fleetside bed.

The old setup:



The old filler neck was mounted upside down by the body shop when I had the bed painted years ago. I thought they were just idiots but it turns out that its the only way it'll mount without pointing straight into the bedside. You can see here that it has to be upside down to work:





Now from here my plan was to run a single piece of bulk (marine) fuel filler hose but that curve is just too much for a straight hose without kinking. Well after a lot of trial and error I ended up reusing the flexible stainless hose I had on there. I adjusted it so it has no low spots and replaced and modified the 5/8" vent line so that is has no low spots either. The result is a leak free filler neck that for the first time since replacing the bed I've been able to hold the gas nozzle wide open. (Despite the nozzle flapper hole still being upside down ) With the old setup I had low spots and a poor vent that wouldn't allow me to run more than 1/2 open on any gas pump while filling up. Super annoying and I consider this a huge victory that I can actually lock the handle wide open now.

 

[Chevy305]

P.S.
While at the gas station today I caught a guy taking a video of me leaving. Definitely made my day . I smiled and rev'ed for him.

 

[Chevy305]

So moving forward I was looking to upscale my interior. Particularly my Custom Deluxe door panels. LMC sells some cool stuff to dress them up like a Silverado truck or better. I bought the lower door carpet sets. I think they look great but I don't know how to attach them. They didn't come with any instructions, just a pack of sheet metal screws. How and where are they supposed to be mounted?
I think I like the contrasting red and black just like my seat and black carpet.






I also picked up door handle inserts as well. They look great however they don't fit at all which is disappointing. I'll guess I'll throw them into the return pile

 

[Chevy305]

Okay one more...
Lastly, I got the door panel inserts from LMC too. (it was a big order, you know to save on shipping )
Just like the door handle trim inserts, I love the idea of them but they just fit like garbage. Not to mention I'd have to also do the upper brushed aluminum trim to bring it all in. Of course that would require I change the dash too which all together is not cheap. Also, they material is close but not an exact match to my custom seat upholstery (which is darker btw). So I'd have to reupholster them and if that's the case I might as well just have the upholstery shop just make them from scratch to actually save money on the deal.

 

[78SWB]

My lower carpet pieces are held on by screws as well. Not the prettiest option but it works. Could try double sided tape or weldwood cement.

You might have to trim out some of your existing door panel to fit the handle bezels.