First post. Need restoration advice on my truck.

[80stepside]

Hi, first post.

I have a 1980 Chevy K10 350 automatic stepside (Custom Deluxe) which I have had for 5 years, runs great, but needs a total body restoration. I drive it occasionally to get the fluids moving around, otherwise it just sits parked at my house. I just have been spending money on other important things, and this truck has been on the back burner for a little while. But now I am looking to do the thing over this winter.

There are quite a few things that need attention with this truck, especially with the body. My cab mounts in the front are totally rotted out, along with a small hole in the floor, and the front of the cab actually sits lower than the nose of the truck due to the rot, and is pressing both front fenders away from the body slightly.

Should I not mess with the cab that is currently on the truck, and just find a good rust free cab? Or would this cab be worth fixing. I just want to do this truck over right, and not half-done.

Also, I would like to put in all new wiring, since everything is kind of mickey-moused right now. Who sells a good wiring kit for these trucks?

I would like to upgrade the exhaust eventually, since the current exhaust is in rough shape. I would like to have the exhaust exit before the wheels on both sides (so I can hear it), and replace the headers. I am looking for a very deep sound, so would a 3-3 1/2 exhaust give the deep sound I am looking for? How about Glasspacks too? (I have Flowmaster mufflers now, but want something a little less common and meaner) And also would like to know how to place the exhaust's exiting point so it is not too close to the fuel tank.

So far, these are the only questions I can think of right now, I'm sure when I tear down the truck, I'll come across more.

What I want to do with the truck:

I want to give this truck an appearance like it would have came from the factory this way. I do not want to put on any aftermarket appearance mods on this truck at all. Since it looked so sharp when I first bought it. I do not want to lift it, just maybe get some 33" tires to fill in the wheelwells a little more. In the interior, I'd like to replace the carpet and seats, and find a factory gauge cluster with the factory tach. The truck is corvette yellow, with tons of clearcoat, looked very nice when I first got it, and the truck still looks pretty nice today if you look at it at the right angle (I still get the thumbs up from other drivers, even if the truck does appear a little raggedy)

The semi-built 350 (really a 355) runs great, I've replaced quite a bit of the mechanical parts, but it is getting pretty tired. I may build it into a 383 stroker, or possibly drop a big block. I also am considering converting this truck into a manual transmission, this truck is my toy, so I would like to make it a little more fun to drive (Don't ask me why, but I like the long throws an old truck's manual shifter gives).

I just want to do this truck over right, and plan on keeping the thing forever. I have always liked the look of the 73-87's (especially the 73-80's).

Any advice would be appreciated.  

(sorry for the long post)

Edited by: 80stepside at: 10/6/06 6:46 pm

[80stepsideguy]

When you say mounts are you referring to the ones on the frame?And when you say the front are you saying the radiator support?Sounds to me the frame cab mounts that hold up the cab are done for.I have a auction for 1 of them cab mounts on ebay right now and if you take the part number you can order 1 thru GM and they still sell them brand new.But do yourself a favor and look over the frame and make sure it isnt rotted in the back by the bumper or under the bed.I am restorodding a 1980 stepside myself and these areas were very badly rusted so i had no choice but to buy another frame.If you want this cab mount PM me and i`ll stop the auction and sell it to you.Also the cab doesnt sound to bad in shape, if you need to replace a floorpan thats not hard to do.I say save the cab and repair the areas needed,if the cab is really bad i say look for another 1.

thanks
pat

Edited by: 80stepsideguy at: 10/6/06 11:28 pm

[Destro]

Sounds like you have a good plan.
I would get a rust free cab and sandblast,strip,and seal it while in your garage. You can get to all the nook and cranny's that way.They aren't as heavy as you would think empty. You can really get it nice and clean off the truck.Since your planning on keeping it forever this would be a nice way of knowing everything is rust free.OH and you wouldn't have any patches in your floor!!
Also remember it's super easy to work on your engine/tranny without a body on it.Good opportunity to address that frame too.

[80stepside]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

I'll try to explain the rotted out area a little better. It is directly below the area of the cab where you would put your feet on the floor on both sides. That's why I referred to it as the front of the cab, too. The "brace" which is about 6 inches long and is welded to the bottom of the cab is totally gone. And makes the front of the truck's cab sit lower than the nose (fenders, hood, grille area). The floors and the braces are the only areas of the cab rotted out. The cab corners and rocker panels seem to be fine, unless if I strip the paint and see tons of bondo in those spots.

The truck's frame is surprisingly in great shape, almost rust free.  

[roundedline]

Depending on what the current cab looks like and how bad the floors are, I would opt to fix it.  

We sell 5 piece repair kits for the floors that include the rocker, extended floor, cab corner, floor brace and rocker backing plate.
www.73-87chevytrucks.com/...ry_Code=C1

Chris Lucas
www.73-87chevytrucks.com
www.captkaoscustoms.com
Project Su
Jimmy 2WD Project

[80stepside]

That repair kit doesn't look too bad.

But if I wanted to put a new cab on the truck, would an 81-87 cab work along with the 73-80 nose? It is easier to find a good 81-87 cab around here than the 73-80s. I know the hood on the 73-80's go right up to the windshield, and 81-87's dont. And I do not want to put an 81-87 nose on the truck, since I personally like the 73-80 nose more.

If it is only a 73-80 cab that I should use, unless if I want to go through the trouble of cutting up the floorboards, all it needs to be is a 73-80 cab for an automatic 4x4 truck, right?

And also, how about the C-50 C-60 cabs? Since they sit higher off the ground in those trucks, there seem to be a lot of them at junkyards that aren't rotted out at the bottom of the cab. Would they work without too much cutting and welding on the smaller trucks?  

[roundedline]

You can use a 81-87 cab and the 73-80 front end will bolt up.  The wiper assembly will have to be swapped out though as they are longer, and the 81-87 version bolts in with 3 bolts in comparison to the 73-80's 2 bolts.

Chris Lucas
www.73-87chevytrucks.com
www.captkaoscustoms.com
Project Su
Jimmy 2WD Project

[dumpbucket]

How is the rest of the body of the truck? If your replacing pretty much everything on the body, maybe you could just find a better starting point? Or will this be a learning restoration experience? Don't get me wrong I am guilty of taking trucks that really needed to go to the junk yard and totally restoring them because I love to but many times I think to myself I just should have found a better truck to begin with.