My Build Thread, 78Chevyrado's 1978 C20

[78 Chevyrado]

Thank you guys!   I had a bunch of "errands" to run and ended up driving it around 200 miles in the last few days.

Looks awesome. If I would make a suggestion it would be to get some wheel spacers so they don't stick inside the body so much.

I definetly want to get some spacers, but first I need to get some seat covers, and do something with my seatbelts but have to save up for them now.  The seats did look fine, but now they look like crap since the whole interior is like new. 

[Dirtydog]

Spotless! I love the paint.

-Josh

[Blazin]

Very sweet, looks sharp, ditto on the spacers, plus longer wheel studs!

Now you need to do a 4x4 for a mate to it!!

[Captkaos]

...but first I need to get some seat covers, and do something with my seatbelts but have to save up for them now.  The seats did look fine, but now they look like crap since the whole interior is like new. 

Isn't that how it always happens...

[78 Chevyrado]

Hadda add one more.  Here's the before and after pics


Before



After

[78 Chevyrado]

Very sweet, looks sharp, ditto on the spacers, plus longer wheel studs!

Now you need to do a 4x4 for a mate to it!!

I've always wanted a fullsize blazer.  That would be awesome.  Have a matching 4x4 blazer!  Nice thought!


It's funny capt I thought those seats looked pretty good....  till now.  The passenger one is fine except the arms have heavy wear, but the drivers has wear everyWEAR...

[joesgarage71]

Kenny,
 Are those side body molding repo's and if so did you have any problems with them fitting right? They look good in the pics. Nice truck.

[78 Chevyrado]

Kenny,
 Are those side body molding repo's and if so did you have any problems with them fitting right? They look good in the pics. Nice truck.

All the mouldings are  new repo's EXCEPT the front and rear lower bedside pieces on both sides. I was able to reuse my old pieces (they didnt get much wear at all).  The front and rear lower bedside pieces ranged from 1/4" to a 1/2" too long between the 4 pieces.  The fender pieces fit well, the door pieces were a tad short like a 1/16" or something.  The upper bedside pieces were a bit long, but that made them fit a little bit nicer than the OE stuff did. The tailgate pieces were a bit shorter then the OE stuff, which was too short to begin with, but they still look good.  The 4 small pieces on the cab behind the door fit like OE.  The main problem with the kit was the fasteners.  It was kinda like pot luck.  an exampe is that between the 4 door pieces, where they attach at the rear, I had 3 different kinds of fasteners.  Also the screws that go in from the outside through the black stripe aren't black, and half of them were wrong I got 4 different types of screws (bought some at the parts store that were even painted black).  On the double sided taped  parts, the tape used was pot luck again.  Lots of different thicknesses and the tape really is crap.  Some of them are coming off already,  and the few I've fixed so far with good 3M tape haven't given me any problems yet.  So as enough of the sticky tabs let go for me to easily get the part off, I'll replace the tape on them.  The trim itself looks good though.  Just make sure to keep the old fasteners off of the old trim or you'll regret it big time.  I had no problems with the wheel opening trim, good stuff.   Most of the exterior screw holes (the ones for the black screws in the black stripe) like at the front of the door and especially where the bedsides meet the tailgate had to be redrilled strictly because the OE trim lined up pretty poorly to begin with. but no prob just an adjustment, the trim still covered the old holes of which some were off "up/down" by a 1/4" or less.

[joesgarage71]

 Thanks Kenny for the info.
 Steve

[boatpuller]

very nice.well done mostly stock looking.i really like it.

[Unofficial]

What are those seats out of and how hard was it to get them in there? I'm going to be doing a bench to bucket swap and I like your set-up.

Truck looks great!   

[Captkaos]

They are Suburban seats as described in the bench to bucket post...

[HellaHellaLowLow]

wow, that is one cleaaaaan truck...im totally jealous...neither my 73 or my 77 are that clean....i always loved the fact that you could take a classic car/truck and completly redo every little thing and make it look brand new again...gives me hope since i dont like 90+ anything as far as vehicles go...there is no character and style to cars and trucks anymore imo...

where did you get that dash bezel with the HU port where the stock stereo goes?...haha i recently rigged mine in my 77...right now my HU is sitting in my glovebox haha...id like to make it legit sometime soon, do they sell a kit? or did you completely fab all that?...i know in my 77 the metal behind that plastic bezel isnt wide enough for a aftermarket HU...so im assuming ill have to cut a little to make it fit right...

[78 Chevyrado]

wow, that is one cleaaaaan truck...im totally jealous...neither my 73 or my 77 are that clean....i always loved the fact that you could take a classic car/truck and completly redo every little thing and make it look brand new again...gives me hope since i dont like 90+ anything as far as vehicles go...there is no character and style to cars and trucks anymore imo...

where did you get that dash bezel with the HU port where the stock stereo goes?...haha i recently rigged mine in my 77...right now my HU is sitting in my glovebox haha...id like to make it legit sometime soon, do they sell a kit? or did you completely fab all that?...i know in my 77 the metal behind that plastic bezel isnt wide enough for a aftermarket HU...so im assuming ill have to cut a little to make it fit right...

Thanks man!


I bought the   bezel with the holes for the knob radio like stock and modified it.  I love cutting new stuff   I didn't buy any kit and you shouldn't need anything that doesnt come with the radio unless your dash is all hacked up and you want to cover it up.  You'll have to cut the bezel and the metal dash behind it. 

First make the hole in the bezel only, and then install the bezel and mark the metal dash for cutting.  Be sure to screw the bezel down because that makes a difference.




The DIN hole for the new radio won't take up the entire hole the old radio used, so just as long as the trim ring will cover the top of the old hole, you can leave a slot at the bottom, and no one will see it since you always look down at the radio.  I also reused the old radio support bar in the back of the radio.  I had to twist it 90 degrees and without it you'll be able to see the radio bounce over bumps.  The sleeve has to go in last thing, and then just bend over a few tabs to the plastic bezel to keep it tight, but bend them all you can behind the metal dash since that does the real holding.   

Notice in the 2nd pic, where the bezel meets the trim ring in the lower right corner; dont try to make the bezel fit the trim ring, instead sand or file the trim ring to fit the bezel and it will look 100 times better.  You will also have to shave the corner off of the radio mounting sleeve for this spot too.

[HellaHellaLowLow]

awesome, that helped a lot...but what is the "mounting sleeve" you're refering to?...like the plastic kits that you can buy for different makes and models of cars??...or is it something simple im overlooking?...i have my HU brand new in the box...so if it comes with a HU stock, i should have it...but the cutting and fileing and everything made sense...and the bit about leaving the bottom hole....that made sense too