Ground up 86 4x4

[thirsty]

Great site! Really glad I found it just can't believe I never came across it before.
I'm in the middle of building an 86 swb 4x4. Probably won't be a show stopper but should be a tough reliable truck when it's done. It always was in the past and this will be it's second major rebuild.

[thirsty]

I got a few pics on our garage website of what we are doing now and the whole project when I broke the frame years ago.

This is where I'm at currently
http://www.suitorsgarage.com/projects/86chevy4x4/86chevyphase3a.html

This is from 2002
http://www.suitorsgarage.com/projects/frameproject/trkhtml/projectsredtrk1.html

Last night we pulled the motor, tranny, and transfer.

[thirsty]

Thanks everyone for the welcome.
Fitz I found out that letting your rig sit and wait for a body job is probably worse than driving it in the salt.
After I replaced the frame I ran the truck for a few years then bought a temporary truck to drive while I finished the bodywork. Seems like everytime I started work on it something came up (bought a home, kid's knee, jeep cj project for someone went bad....ect) and it got rolled out of the garage. Next thing you know my cab had disolved and was junk. Now that I am on my third temporary beater truck I really need to get my old chevy back! Could use the space of all the parts I got collected also. Best part is my wife really wants it also! That means late nites are ok

[thirsty]

New plan for the 86. My frame needed some repair and got worse than I expected. I was ok with that and had planned on taking my chassis to work and sandblasting it, then lugging it home and doing some work to it. I got a call from a friend that I always get rid of anything 73-87 I don't want. He tells me to come over and take anything I want cause he was getting rid of it all. I have plenty of stuff collected after 4 years of waiting to do this truck. I went anyway and came home with a nice 2wd swb frame (gotta laugh cause it was out of a truck I gave him) and a 4wd lwb frame. New plan is taking all the stuff I need off the lwb and making a 4wd out of the swb. Lot of work but I will have nicer frame in the end. 4wd frames are real hard to find in northern NH. They get run to death in the heavily salted roads and most are junked. Thank you everybody for saying welcome.

[thirsty]

Finally got some serious work done on my 86' stepside. My new frame is finally done.





This is the 79' 2wd frame that I converted to 4wd.

 Friday night when I went to the garage it was a rolling chassis,when I left a 2:00am it was ready to load up and take it to where I work for sandblasting, primer, and paint. Saturday I got the frame done. Sunday I did the rear end and a second coat of paint on the frame.

[thirsty]

Some more pics of the weekend.

Friday night tearing it down.





Saturday morning loading it up







Sunday

[hotrod24]

I am at the point you are at just got to get the engine out and out of the way

nice work

[thirsty]

Today I went to work early and got the final coat of paint on my rear differential, also had to move my frame out of the building. What I got left is the front end and a bunch more brackets. Can't wait to assemble it one last time for good. It's been a slow process converting the frame an hour or two at a time. Hopefully I can work the other parts in during the week and have everything to paint for the weekend.

In the garage this week while the chassis is gone is a 72' Alfa Romeo Spider I got to get running, but the most inportant project is to make the wife happy again...guess I forgot to mention to her that I was going to be gone for the whole weekend doing up my chassis.

Hotrod24-thanks for the compliment.

[murraygmc]

keer up with the good picks man

[thirsty]

Pics aren't a problem lately. Should have plenty more coming this weekend. I also plan on putting something
together for the 2x4 to 4x4 conversion if there is any interest. I made a few jigs and would like to share that with anybody that wants to convert a frame.
I got to admit that the pics are great...big brother is a photographer.

[Engineer]

Looks good.

Now, when can you sandblast mine? 

[velojym]

When I saw the subject title, I was thinking "cool, truck burgers!"

 

[SGarage]

When I saw the subject title, I was thinking "cool, truck burgers!"

I stopped by last night and the old frame was getting "burgered" up into easy to carry pieces.

[79K20]

That is sad.. Pieces of a Chevy being hauled off in a Ford, of all things.

[thirsty]

Engineer...If anybody from this site was close enough to me I would gladly blast anything for them. Only problem is that the blaster that I use at work is rough on the steel and you got to do alot of sanding after it is blasted. My frame was hand sanded before primer and paint. Good thing is though it cost me nothing to blast or prime and I didn't have the mess around our shop either.

79K20...Hope you realize I am pretty embarrest to be driving a f150 around while I build a real truck, but for $500 it goes to the dump and to work ok. Notice the pic of it was at night?? Nobody saw us haul a chevy frame in it I promise you.