My Brand New 81 Chevy Stepside

[pcguysam]

I promised pictures, and here they are.  I finally got it to pass Texas State Inspection, so I am a little more excited about starting my build now.  I'm looking for ideas, paint colors, interiors.  It has a brand new transmission, should I swap out the 305 for a 350 or something else?  I think that I am going to build a custom fiberglass dash for it.  I want to add buckets and a center console.  I have found lots of inspiration on the web already.  I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everything is subjective, but I still want to know what you guys would do if this was your truck and you could start over again on a restoration or a build.  Thanks for looking!

[69byrd]

Great looking truck. Looks like you have a good one to start with. As far as restoration goes, do what you like and what makes you happy.  Because at the end of the day it is your truck. But as a suggestion, I say keep it simple and clean. U can never go wrong that way.

[Marshall]

Sweet truck!

[Engineer]

If the truck is a daily driver, and you don't plan on towing, I'd keep the 305. Atleast until it needs rebuilt, then that would be a good time to upgrade.

[gto109]

If it was up to me I would keep the 305 until it goes and of course I would lift it as well.

[cvbear]

Do what makes you happy.  What i might think is great you might hate.  I would start with getting it mechanically sound.  I would stick with the 305 if it works.  If replacing it i would personally get an LS (5.3 or 5.7).  If you like to drive fast think about disc brakes for the back.  Figure out what the rear end gears are, if you don't do much highway driving a bigger (higher numerically) gear will get you easy performance.  Don't overlook replacing the stock bushings under the cab with urethane ones and getting new shocks.  Maybe new springs too, you will be surprised at how much better it rides.  Another cheap fix is to replace the carpet and while you are at it put some modern (Dynamat is one example) sound deadening on the floor.  This will really improve your enjoyment of the truck if you spend much time in it.  Lots of ideas on here, find the ones you like and give it a try!

[pcguysam]

Do what makes you happy.  What i might think is great you might hate.  I would start with getting it mechanically sound.  I would stick with the 305 if it works.  If replacing it i would personally get an LS (5.3 or 5.7).  If you like to drive fast think about disc brakes for the back.  Figure out what the rear end gears are, if you don't do much highway driving a bigger (higher numerically) gear will get you easy performance.  Don't overlook replacing the stock bushings under the cab with urethane ones and getting new shocks.  Maybe new springs too, you will be surprised at how much better it rides.  Another cheap fix is to replace the carpet and while you are at it put some modern (Dynamat is one example) sound deadening on the floor.  This will really improve your enjoyment of the truck if you spend much time in it.  Lots of ideas on here, find the ones you like and give it a try!

Thanks CVBear.  I am in the process of getting it mechanically sound.  It already runs great.  I'm working on getting the ac running.  The 305 is strong.  It smokes a little.  The tranny is new.

It has new carpet but the dynamat is on my list as is new carpet when I change the interior.

Trust me, I'll do what makes me happy, I just love to hear ideas especially from guys who have already been through it.

[pcguysam]

Just wanted to post an update.  It's been a rough couple of months.  I had a motor built for it but the heads have given me nothing but grief.  The builder used push in rocker studs which should have been fine, but instead, the studs keep coming out of the heads.  The engine builder has my truck for the 4th time since I got the motor put back in.  He said that he's replacing all of the remaining studs with threaded ones so that this won't happen again.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  At least he is standing behind his work.

On a positive note, the performance cams make a HUGE difference in power.  I have never driven anything that takes off when you punch it, either from zero or 50, doesn't matter.  It just jumps.  So, if I can keep it on the road for more than a week at a time, I will be doing other upgrades soon.  I purchased the head unit for my stereo this week.  I'm pretty pumped about that.  It looks like this:


Will be building a custom console to house it and the rest of my system.  Will post pictures as that progress happens.

[pcguysam]

I did get these buckets a few months back.  They still need to be covered, but I picked them up cheap on craigslist and everything works great.



This is the bracket I built.  It sags in the middle, so I'm going to have to put something underneath it to keep it from doing that.  Other than that, it worked out great.